August, 191! 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



23 



off vinegar in which the pickles are heated, add fresh cold 

 vinegar to cover, spice as desired, and allow the pickles to stand 

 for several days or a week before using them. 



Dili pickles are made from firm well shaped cucumbers, each 

 about five inches in length. Pack alternate layers of cucum- 

 bers and thin layers of dill (stalks, leaves, and seed balls) in a 

 large earthenware jar. Add IO per cent, brine and vinegar 

 solution (2 pounds salt and i| quarts vinegar to three gallons 

 water), place on a layer of Swiss chard or grape leaves and 

 weight contents securely. Allow to cure 3 to 4 weeks. Pickles 

 when removed should be firm, and ready for use. 



Pickles from fresh cucumbers. To make pickles from 

 fresh cucumbers, wash, and pack the fruits in an earthenware 

 jar. Cover with vinegar to which has been added 1 cup of salt, 1 

 cup of sugar, and \ cup of mustard to each gallon. Add clean 

 liorse radish leaves and weight down sufficiently to keep the 

 cucumbers under the vinegar until they are cured. 



Kohlrabi. Select quickly grown, tender kohlrabi, remove 

 leaves and roots with a sharp knife, wash and pack in jar, be- 

 tween alternate layers of salt (1 pound salt to IO pounds produce) 

 cover with grape or Swiss chard leaves and weight down se- 

 curely. Two days after packing add enough 10 per cent, salt 

 solution to fill the jar completely. Rinse, peel, and slice the 

 product, and use for salads; or, after soaking in cold water, 2 to 

 6 hours, use as fresh kohlrabi in soups or stews. 



Parsley. Strip from stalks, wash thoroughly in cold water, 

 pack as firmly as possible with alternate layers of salt (approxi- 

 mately 1 pound salt to 10 pounds parsley) and weight down. 

 Two days later, add a 10 per cent, brine to cover contents of the 

 jar. Rinse well and use for flavoring soups, stews, and salads. 



Peppers. Select plump, green peppers. Remove stems, 

 pack in an earthenware jar and cover with a ten per cent, salt 

 brine (f pound salt to I gallon water). Place on a layer of 

 Swiss chard or grape leaves and weight down. Freshen product 

 I to 2 hours and use for flavoring soups or stews. If seeds are 

 removed from fruits previous to packing the product will be less 

 stringent. 



Tomatoes, green. Choose well developed, green fruits, 

 wash, pack in container, cover with a IO per cent, salt brine, 

 add a layer of chard leaves and weight contents down. When 

 taken from the jar for use the fruits (though probably slightly 

 discolored) will be firm and of good quality. Freshen as de- 

 sired and use in chop pickles, salads, relishes, conserve; or soak 

 for two hours in cold water, roll in flour and fry. 



Tomatoes ripe. Select medium, ripe tomatoes free from 

 cracks or bruises, pack in jar and cover with solution made by 

 dissolving f pound of salt in 1 gallon water and \ pint vinegar. 

 Ripe tomatoes preserved m the salt solution generally re- 

 quire soaking for two hours previous to being used. Following 

 this soaking, the skin slips off easily and the fruits can be used 

 in the same way as fresh tomatoes. Soaking for 1 hour usually 

 suffices, the excess salt being used to flavor the other ingredi- 

 ents with which the tomatoes are used. Remove from liquid, 

 rinse, and serve on lettuce in combination with sliced cucumbers; 

 or soak for 1 hour and use for soups, stews, scallops, or casserole 

 dishes. 



Corn in husks. Remove loose outer husks and silks, and 



pack ears between layers of salt (1 pound salt to 7 pounds corn) 

 in jar, cover and weight securely. Several days following the 



packing add enough weak brine solution to fill the jar com- 

 pletely. 



Corn preserved in this way, though firm and of good color 

 is often of poor quality. Soaking to remove the excess salt usu- 

 ally gives the product a flat, insipid, cob-like taste. The 

 product is only fairly well suited for soups, chowders, and stews. 



(The ease with which sweet corn may be dried and the unques- 

 tioned quality of the dried product secured, makes the preserva- 

 tion of the crop with salt a questionable method). 



Other Vegetables May Be Salted 



THESE directions do not represent all the 

 possibilities of salt as a means of preserv- 

 ing perishable vegetable crops for home use. 

 Brines of different strength or density with 

 crops discussed, as well as with others, arti- 

 chokes, celery, kale, onions, spinach, and Swiss 

 chard should be given a trial. While salted 

 products are not as desirable as the fresh 

 article and while their food value may be some- 

 what lower, they afford a wider range of green 

 foods for winter use and are particularly well 

 adapted for making pickles and salads. 



The Barbaric Oriental Poppy 



SHERMAN R. DUFFY 



Telling About Companion Plants for this Showy Perennial for Present Planting 



ONE of the fascinations of gardening 

 is the battle against that law cf 

 physics which declares that two 

 bodies cannot occupy the same 

 space at the same time. We must try to vio- 

 late this law if the garden is to be the ideal 

 beauty spot for which we yearn. And in 

 combatting the well known law of the impen- 

 etrability of matter in an horticultural way, 

 the Oriental Poppy offers more difficulties, 

 perhaps, than any other subject. 



Now, what will take the place of the Orien- 

 tal Poppy — occupying the same gardening 

 space, most adequately? The Oriental 

 Poppy is bulky. It gives the touch of bar- 

 baric splendor in the garden offered 

 by no other plant. Its season of 

 bloom is short and gorgeous. Its de- 

 cline is as ragged and disreputable as 

 its refulgence. It must have a com- 

 panion planting or else there is a bare 

 spot — unsightly after the early days 

 of June. 



I have an Oriental Poppy bed 

 about fifty feet long and four feet 

 wide. Somehow or other, I want to 

 make that bed serviceable through 

 the summer as space is valuable. 

 The first task after the Poppies have 

 bloomed is to cut down the stalks to 

 the ground, gather up the leaves and 

 tie them to stakes, placing them in 

 as compact compass as possible. I 

 do not believe it to be a good plan 

 to cut the leaves away as it seems to 

 force them into earlier fall growth. 



This done, the bed is ready for such 

 operations as may be conducted, 

 bearing in mind all the time that allowances 

 for renewed growth of the Poppies in the fall 

 must be made. 



[ WAS led to plant this long narrow bed of 

 -^Oriental Poppies after seeing a similar 

 planting in Garfield Park, Chicago, which was 

 one of the most gorgeous displays I had ever 

 witnessed. The only criticism I would make 

 of the park planting was that it was composed 

 entirely of the lighter, orange red or tawny 

 shades. A selection of the scarlets and blood 

 reds is much more effective. In my bed I have 

 varieties ranging from the white |Perry's White 

 to the dark mulberry colored Mahony (Ma- 

 hnoy, Mahonoy, or Mahogany as I have seen 

 it variously spelled), the darkest of all Oriental 

 Poppies and a remarkably beautiful flower. 



Between the white and the mulberry 

 there are a score or so of various scarlets, 

 crimsons, blood reds, salmons, roses, and pinks 

 and this is one genus of plants in which the 

 mixture of colors seems to be as effective as a 

 solid sheet of one shade. 



I was told that the Poppies in the park bed 

 were taken up immediately after flowering 

 and removed to convenient quarters to pass 

 their dormant stage and later were again 

 planted where desired. While I know from 

 my own experience that an Oriental Poppy 

 may be moved safely during its dormant 

 period or immediately fall growth starts, it is 

 at a sacrifice of vigor the following year. I 



1 T" 



- 



The only problem with the Oriental Poppy is how to overcome its disappearance 

 in midsummer. The accompanying article has suggestions. 



have tried the experiment of potting them up 

 and growing them in large pots until fall when 

 they were placed in their quarters for the fol- 

 lowing year but I do not consider that the 

 Poppy can be developed to its full beauty in 

 this way. 



In addition, the Poppy grows readily from 

 root cuttings; and fragments of roots which 

 are bound to be left in the ground are likely to 

 send up growths all over the bed in the fall — at 

 great inconvenience to the crops therein at 

 the time and to plans for the Poppies in re- 

 serve for this space. So, having tried it, I 

 should say that it is best not to move the 

 plants as it is essential to allow them to remain 

 in permanent possession to develop the full 

 majesty of their growth. 



To permit of the best development Poppies 



should not be planted permanently closer than 

 two and one half feet; and three feet, I think, is 

 better. A well grown mature Poppy plant 

 will have a diameter of nearly three feet and 

 an old plant when gathered up to a stake after 

 blooming will take a space about eight inches 

 in diameter. 



Now— What to Plant? 



T?IRST of all, I should name Dwarf French 

 ■■■ Marigolds or Four-o'clocks as companion 

 plants. Either makes a beautiful mass, grows 

 quickly, covers the ground, blooms incessantly, 

 and allows the Poppies which will appear 

 underneath the growth of the newcomers 

 plenty of chance to make its fall 

 growth. Besides, there is enough 

 variety in color in these to obviate 

 the criticism of monotony in an ex- 

 tensive bed. Four-o'clocks are par- 

 ticularly fine for low annual hedges, 

 beds, or borders owing to their spread- 

 ing tops and uniformity of growth. 

 They are of simple culture and if de- 

 sired it is possible to plant them di- 

 rectly with the Poppies by marking 

 the place where the seeds are planting 

 and pushing the Poppy leaves aside. 

 This, however, is a nuisance as it is 

 as much work and less certain of suc- 

 cess than transplanting the Four- 

 o'clock plants. The French Mari- 

 golds form almost an equallygorgeous 

 display in color with their fine yel- 

 lows, oranges, maroons and mahog- 

 any browns. A foot apart is the 

 closest either should be placed. 



It is quite possible to use many 

 other annuals, notably Asters, Balsams, 

 Mourning-brides, and other vigorous growers 

 which stand transplanting well, but the two 

 mentioned fill the bill remarkably well. The 

 one essential is that there shall be at least a 

 foot between the dormant Poppy and the 

 nearest annual. 



It is not a matter of cultural difficulty to 

 grow the annuals mentioned either in boxes or 

 flats, or in the open ground in some convenient 

 spot until the Poppy bed is ready to receive 

 them. Anybody who shies at work, can't 

 expect to have much of a garden. It's half 

 the fun. 



Some Companion Perennials 



DERENNIALS are a more difficult propo- 

 *■ sition owing to the immobility of the 

 material. However, granting that the Pop- 



