34S 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



July, 1907 



It is, substantially, horse-shoe-shaped. 

 There are four cedar posts, two at each end, 

 large, square-sawed, 10 ft. long, 3 ft., 6 in. in 

 the ground. The intervening posts of 3 x 4 

 hemlock complete the outline. The floor is 

 No. 2 matched, laid on 2x4 hemlock running 

 crosswise, spiked to the posts and sup- 

 ported centrally by short posts set with their 

 tops even with the joists. The gable is 2 X4 

 pine, dressed; plates the same; and the 

 rafters 1x4 pine, dressed. The entire wire 

 covering is the same as the fences. Paint 

 dark green. Cost, about $22. 



THE SUMMER-HOUSE FURNISHINGS 



The heavy end posts, deep in the ground 

 and braced by the flooring, support two 

 hammocks side by side. Easy chairs, old 

 rugs that we leave out in all weathers, and a 

 table, make up the furnishings. Here we 

 live; the house is merely a place in which to 

 eat and sleep. 



As the photographs show, the principal 

 vines this first year were cucumber andcobcea. 

 Another year permanent vines — akebia, 

 honeysuckle, bittersweet, grape, Dutchman's 

 pipe, scarlet trumpet, and actinidia, which 

 are already planted, will give a permanent 

 covering. Any bare spots that occur will be 

 covered by the Japanese hop. 



PROFIT AS WELL 



A word for the vegetables, since the idea 

 was usefulness as well as beauty. The bed 

 on the right gave us plenty of radishes, 

 lettuce, parsley, beans, chard, carrots, onions, 

 squash, tomatoes, parsnips and salsify. 

 This is " intensive farming." 



What did it cost? In addition to what I 

 have stated, $7 for seeds and plants, $4 for 

 manure, and a dollar for various bug-poisons. 



As to profits? First, I came out from a 

 hard winter's work like an onion sprouted in 

 the cellar. I took a ten-day vacation, built 

 the summer house and planted the garden. 

 All the help I hired was a man half a day 

 digging post holes. In building the summer- 

 house I built myself over. 



Second, the vegetable garden paid for all 

 seeds and plants, both vegetables and flowers, 

 and more ; and gave us fresh vegetables. 



Third, the summer house gave us a vaca- 

 tion, the same which, due to pressure of 

 business, we would not have had otherwise. 



Fourth, the summer house and garden 

 combined have given pleasure to our 

 friends. They drop in for tea, for a visit, 

 and just to see the garden. In no way could 

 we have done so much for our friends with 

 so little outlay. 



Fifth — and the best thing of all — rest, 

 daily rest. 



Much as we need vacations, we need a 

 daily rest more — an hour when we let go and 

 forget. The garden gave the atmosphere, 

 the summer house the place. 



Two much-neglected human desires were 

 satisfied — the desire to create and the de- 

 sire for recreation. From year to year we 

 shall re-create, improve, beautify; and 

 each pleasant day, from May to Nov- 

 ember, we may have an hour's vacation, 

 and recreation. 



The Californian's Reminder 



JULY is the month in which lawns feel 

 the effect of constant drought. The 

 blue grass is growing in a climate different to 

 its native home, Kentucky, where it has 

 underground running stems. In California 

 these are not formed to any extent and for 

 that reason it is difficult to keep blue grass 

 lawns in good condition, especially in south- 

 ern California. 



If the lawn looks gray after it has been 

 mowed, thoroughly rake it with a sharp steel 

 garden rake, the object being to get rid of the 

 dead grass in the lawn. This is not easy 

 to do, but there will be a vast improvement 

 in the appearance of the lawn. A dressing of 

 fertilizer given at the same time will help 

 improve the lawn. One made of eight parts 

 of stable manure (thoroughly rotted), one 

 part hardwood ashes, and fifty pounds of 

 untreated bone will be effective. These 

 must be thoroughly mixed together, because 

 if much of the bone meal, or wood ashes 

 should be dropped on the lawn in one place 

 the grass would be killed. Spread the 

 fertilizer over the lawn, one-quarter of an 

 inch thick and wash it in with water. One 

 cubic yard (which is equal to one wagon load) 

 is enough for a piece of ground forty feet 

 square. The following day rake off the 

 coarse material left from the manure. An 

 improvement in the lawn will be noticed a 

 few days after the fertilizer has been used. 

 Some bur clover will come up owing to the 

 fact that the manure contains the seed, but 

 this is not an objectionable weed as it can be 

 easily eradicated. 



SWEET PEAS FOR WINTER BLOOM 



Sow seeds of sweet pea toward the end of 

 the month, for winter flowers. Spade a 

 good dressing of well-decomposed manure 

 into the ground in the early part of the month, 

 and about four or five days before sowing the 

 ground should be forked and irrigated. Sow 

 the seeds two inches deep, and after covering 

 them with the soil, spread a light mulch of 

 old manure over the bed. For pink and 

 white flowers, plant the variety Earliest-of- 

 All, which attains a height of three feet; and 

 for a white variety, sow Earliest White, 

 which will bloom in sixty days from the date 

 of sowing. 



Santa Barbara, Cal. W. H. Morse. 



TREE AND VEGETABLE SEEDS 



Seeds of native, Australian and South 

 African trees and shrubs, or those from 

 climates similar to that of California, may be 

 sown during the next three months. Make 



first sowing of stocks and pansy seeds 

 Watch the chrysanthemums for suckers and 

 unnecessary side shoots Begin the annual 

 rest of your rose bushes by witholding all 

 water from them, watering to be resumed 

 when pruned, about November 1st. 



The following may be planted during this 

 month: Beans, beets, cabbage (late), cauli- 

 flower, lettuce, peas, radishes, potatoes, 

 spinach and turnips. Radish and spinach 

 may be planted in this climate every month 

 in the year. To have these vegetables crisp 

 and to prevent the radishes from having a 

 strong taste, the water supply must be un- 

 stinted. 



Los Angeles. 



Ernest Braunton 



Ridding Land of Gophers and 

 Moles 



TO RID my lawn and garden of the 

 gophers I flooded their runs with water 

 but the soil was so sandy that the water im- 

 mediately drained away and so had no effect 

 on them. 



Then it occurred to me to try acetylene gas, 

 so procuring a small handful of the crystals 

 of calcium carbide, from which the gas is 

 made with the addition of water, I dropped 

 them down one of the holes that seemed newly 

 made and free from loose earth. Then, 

 having ready a piece of sod, I quickly emptied 

 a pail of water down upon the carbide, and 

 stopped the hole with the sod, setting it in 

 firmly with my heel. The steam-like vapors 

 soon appeared issuing from other openings, 

 which were closed immediately in like 

 manner. 



The experiment proved a success and I 

 find it never fails to kill or drive away the 

 rodents. The calcium as used in automobile 

 lighting outfits is in lumps of one-quarter to 

 one-half of an inch in diameter. I use eight 

 to twelve of these lumps to a hole as the 

 occasion seems to demand. It is cheap 

 (costing about ten cents a time) and effectual 

 and I have observed no injurious effect upon 

 either blue grass or white clover. So far I 

 had no occasion to use it upon any other 

 grasses but I feel sure no damage can be done 

 by a reasonable use of the gas. 



California. J. D. Cunningham. 



