THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



August, 1918 



States Fuel Administration issued under date 

 of April 24 an order governing the use of fuel 

 by florists both public and private, during the 

 coming year. The original order reads: 



REGULATION RESTRICTING FUEL CONSUMPTION 

 BY FLORISTS 



1. That the term "florist" in this regulation shall be con- 

 strued to include any person, firm, association, or corporation, 

 engaged in the growing of flowers, plants or winter vegetables, 

 but is not intended to and shall not include the growing of 

 plants" for transplantation to produce summer vegetables. 



2. That the term "greenhouse" shall be construed to mean 

 any building, private or public, in which artificial heat is used 

 to aid in the growing of flowers, plants or winter vegetables. 



3. That no florist, as defined above, shall at any of his green- 

 houses consume, burn, or use fuel of any description, including 

 coal, coke, fuel oil. and natural gas, or other petroleum products, 

 or use power derived from any such fuel, for or in connection 

 with the growing of flowers, plants, or winter vegetables, as 

 above defined, during the year beginning April I, 1918, and 

 ending March 31, 1919, to an amount in excess of fifty percent. 

 (5 oC c) of the average annual amount of fuel consumed at such 

 greenhouse for or in connection with the growing of plants, 

 flowers, and winter vegetables, during the period from April I, 

 1915, to April 1, 1918. 



4. That whenever it appears that any particular greenhouse 

 was not in existence on April I, 1915, then and in such case the 

 period during which it has been in existence prior to April I, 

 1918, shall be considered and used as a basis in determining the 

 quantity that would constitute one-half of the average annual 

 consumption of fuel of such greenhouse. 



5. That any florist, as above defined, owning and operating 

 more than one greenhouse for the growing of plants, flowers or 

 winter vegetables, may combine such greenhouses and use in 

 such combined greenhouse the fuel allotted to each of such 

 greenhouses by this regulation, provided the amount of fuel so 

 used at such combined greenhouse shall not be in excess of one- 

 half of the fuel consumed by all of such greenhouses when 

 operated separately. 



6. That whenever two or more florists find that a further 

 fuel economy would result from using in one greenhouse the 

 allotments of fuel as provided by this regulation, to two or more 

 greenhouses, then upon application to the United States Fuel 

 Administration and receiving a permit therefor, such florist 

 may use the aggregate allotment of fuel to their respective 

 greenhouses at one or more greenhouses operated jointly by 

 them, provided the amount of fuel so used shall not exceed 

 one-half of the amount consumed by all such greenhouses when 

 operated separately. 



An addenda was subsequently issued (April 

 27) as follows: 



The United States Fuel Administration to-day interpreted its 

 regulations of April 24, restricting fuel for greenhouses by ruling 

 that the exception made in favor of greenhouses in which vege- 

 table plants were raised for " transplantation to produce sum- 

 mer vegetables" applied only to greenhouses exclusively devoted 

 to that purpose. 



A Good Remedy for Cabbage Worms. — 

 I was the only gardener in our neighborhood 

 who had good cabbages last year. I had 

 tried salt, lime, slug-shot and even hot water 

 to kill the worms, all of which helped but did 

 not entirely get rid of the pests. Finally, I 

 mixed about one part of paris green powder 

 with, say, ten parts of slacked lime. While 

 the dew was on in the morning I sifted spar- 

 ingly over the cabbages this mixture. It 

 proved to be sure death, and nothing further 

 was necessary until the butterflies had time 

 to raise another family of worms. For a 

 sieve I used a small, hemispherical wire sieve 

 with a handle on one side like a frying pan. 

 The mixture was easily and quickly applied, 

 and since cabbages grow from the inside, we 

 felt no fear of the poison. And events have 

 proved that we had no cause for fear, as the 

 consumption of gallons of "liberty cabbage" 

 (patriotic for "sauerkraut"), and cabbage 

 cole-slawed, boiled, creamed, and vinegared, 

 has left us all alive and feeling moreish. — Mrs. 

 Bertha W. Howe, Staten Island, N. Y 



The Poisonous Caterpillar. — A poisonous 

 caterpillar is common in Pennsylvania in 

 midsummer. The insect is white or creamy 

 without markings of any other color, and 

 heavily furred. It is a languid feeder in the 

 daytime, lying generally on the underside of a 

 leaf within a foot of the ground during the 

 hot hours; for this reason its hairs easily sting 

 the wrists and hands of any one weeding or 

 working in a heavily grown bed of plants, 

 before the insect's presence is suspected. The 

 contact leaves an irritated rash like an alkali 

 burn, with water-blisters sometimes following 

 on the second day. I he only treatment which 

 does any good is to rub thoroughly with kero- 



sene and scrape with a knife, as soon as the 

 stinging sensation begins to be felt on the skin; 

 but whether the scraping removes tiny hairs 

 adhering, or merely opens the pores of the.skin 

 to the full benefit of the kerosene, I am not 

 certain. A paste of yellow laundry soap 

 rubbed on and scraped off like the kerosene 

 treatment is used by some sufferers from the 

 stings. Not infrequently this caterpillar rash 

 is called ivy poisoning and treated with the 

 lead paste used for that affliction, without 

 relief. The stings are not so lasting as the 

 inflammation from Ivy, and will leave only a 

 brownish discoloration after the third day. 

 They produce local irritation more rapidly 

 than Ivy or than the stinging hairs of the 

 browntail caterpillar and moth; and the 

 trouble is the sooner over, also. The best way 

 to kill these pests is to cut them in two as 

 found, a long-bladed old pair of shears serving 

 as my favorite weapon. As they hide low on a 

 plant, I bend down the lower leaves of Dahlias, 

 Hollyhocks, Feverfew, Larkspur, Roses, and 

 Swiss chard, with a little stick or with my 

 gloved left hand; and when the enemy is 

 discovered, I snip him through and his halves 

 fall to the ground with no chance to touch 

 one's wrist or clothing and leave a bristle. 

 When once half grown, the worms must be 

 killed artificially, as birds take them only when 

 young and short haired. As a general thing, 

 they will not eat foliage which has arsenate 

 of lead dried on it and so contrive to escape 

 that scientific suicide so fatal to many foes. — 

 E. S. Johnson, Pittston, Pa. 



Anemone Vernalis. — The photograph taken 

 on April 28th shows Anemone vernalis which 

 I flowered for the first time this year. This 

 little plant is a high Alpine with a long tap 

 root which likes a good rock crevice. The 









Anemone vernalis as it flowered in a garden in Montreal 

 this year. It is a high Alpine with white .flowers 



Shortia galacifolia, native of the Carolina Mountains. 

 Attractive both in flower and leaf and well adapted to rock 

 gardens. 



flower which measures about 2^ inches across 

 is a lovely pearly white with a great tuft of yel- 

 low stamens. Outside the petals are covered 

 with silky hairs, flushed old rose, which shim- 

 mer in the sunshine. The stem is at first short 

 and stout but generally lengthens till it reaches 



about 12 inches, and by this time the seed 

 plumes have developed. Another early Ane- 

 mone is A. Pulsatilla, principally remarkable for 

 the silky bracts which surround the rich violet 

 flowers. In my garden Iris reticulata, Draba 

 azoides and Shortia galacifolia are also-in bloom 

 at this season. The latter is a native of the 

 Carolina mountains and is very attractive 

 both in flower and foliage. It requires a cool, 

 moist position and must not be allowed to be- 

 come parched during the hot summer. — F. 

 Cleveland Morgan, Montreal, Canada. 



Irises for Cut Flowers. — It would be greatly 

 appreciated, by myself at least, if we could 

 have some notes on Irises for cut flowers, 

 or Irises suitable for cutting. I, myself, am a 

 hobbyist on cut flowers. I like those varieties 

 of Rose, Peony, Iris, Gladiolus, etc., that have 

 good substance and good keeping qualities as 

 well as other good points. I. pallida dalmatica 

 is such a good Iris for cutting that it seems 

 that there ought to be other varieties of similar 

 habit in the various colors. I tried to select 

 dark purple Irises from catalogues, and some 

 that I received had beautiful flowers but were 

 either too low growing or wilted so easily as 

 to make them useless for cut flowers. On the 

 other hand, Pallida dalmatica, Queen of May, 

 Mad. Chereau, Lohengrin, Perfection, and 

 some others, have qualities that make them 

 good for use as cut flowers. — H. G. Reading, 

 Franklin, Pa. [What say the Neighbors? 

 Which varieties are best? — Ed.} 



Consult Official U. S. Bulletin. — Owing 

 to the enormous increase of government war 

 work, the governmental departments at 

 Washington are being flooded with letters of 

 inquiry on every conceivable subject concern- 

 ing the war, and it has been found a physical 

 impossibility for the clerks, though they 

 number an army in themselves now, to give 

 many of these letters proper attention and 

 reply. There is published daily at Wash- 

 ington, under authority of and by direction 

 of the President, a government newspaper — 

 The Official U. S. Bulletin. This newspaper 

 prints every day all the more important 

 rulings, decisions, regulations, proclamations, 

 orders, etc., etc., as they are promulgated 

 by the several departments and the many 

 special committees and agencies now in op- 

 eration at the National Capital. This official 

 journal is posted daily in every postoffice in 

 the United States, more than 56,000 in num- 

 ber, and may also be found on file at all 

 libraries, boards of trade, and chambers of 

 commerce, the offices of mayors, governors, 

 and other federal officials. By consulting 

 these files most questions will be found readily 

 answered; there will be little necessity for 

 letter writing; the unnecessary congestion 

 of the mails will be appreciably relieved; 

 the railroads will be called upon to move fewer 

 correspondence sacks, and the mass of busi- 

 ness that is piling up in the government de- 

 partments will be eased considerably. Hun- 

 dreds of clerks, now answering correspond- 

 ence, will be enabled to give their time to 

 essentially important work, and a fundament- 

 ally patriotic service will have been per- 

 formed by the public. 



Hot Weather Lettuce. — Garden Neighbors 

 will unquestionably be interested in one of my 

 pets among lettuces. Its special adaptability 

 for August planting will help to provide a 

 constant supply of delicious salad until frost 

 and beyond. I like to think of Crisp-as-Ice 

 lettuce as the "crisp head" brother of Mig- 

 nonette among the "butterheads, " and any- 

 one who is familiar with the distinctly unique 

 and sweet flavor of Mignonette will also 





