76 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



October, 1918 



in vegetables. It seemed to be a bean nurtured 

 in the refuse of a glue factory, sprayed with 

 kerosene, plucked and kept in a dark cellar till 

 it bluemoulded — then cooked and served, with a 

 minimum of salt, and all the adventitious flavors 

 well retained. I had never seen the horrid 

 bounder grown in this country, and never want 

 to. [That's all right in Chester but just you try 

 them in England or better Scotland. The Amer- 

 ican climate is too hot. — Ed.] But other "beans of 

 the Allies" are more or less in evidence here- 

 abouts in my district. As a curiosity, the fava, 



or Italian horse-bean, is the most striking feature 

 of some American vegetable plots, as well as of 

 some Italian residents' gardens. It is not like a 

 bean in physique, but more like some of the 

 leguminous weeds of the Rocky Mountain flora. 

 It has pale gray-green, glaucous three-parted 

 leaves coming horizontally from a strong, angled 

 stem about a yard high, branchless. At the 

 axils, clusters of three or four flowers are borne, 

 white and black, rotting to inky shreds in rainy 

 weather, and each cluster succeeded by one 

 Martynia-like pod sticking up skyward in an 



assertive manner and rapidly taking on size and 

 padding. The beans when ripe are olive-drab 

 in color, irregularly round, flattened, with a 

 heavy skin, and larger than limas. Cooked 

 green, or dried and boiled, they are a rich food. 

 Sicilians serve them with plain macaroni and 

 grated cheese, peeling the beans one by one on the 

 fork as they are taken up steaming hot. They are 

 hearty, and of good flavor. Plants yield heavily 

 in hot seasons. They should be grown four in 

 a hill, and well earthed up for support; they do 

 best planted in March or April — E. S. J. 



Roots and Bulbs for Winter Flowering 



W. SHEWARD 



Tulips, Hyacinths, and Narcissus in 

 boxes if intended for cutting, or in pots and 

 pans for house decoration. Soil: Equal parts 

 of plain loam, leaf soil, and sand will make a 

 good mixture for potting. Mix well together 

 and pass through a 1-inch sieve. The rough 

 material from the screening can be used for drain- 

 age in pots and boxes. 



Planting: With boxes the first thing is to make 

 holes for drainage in the bottom of the boxes 

 (Figure 18). Over the holes place crocks, or 

 pieces of broken pots (Fig. 17), and the rough 

 material from the potting soil over the crocks, 

 putting the fine soil on top. Fig. I shows a 

 section through a box. Fig. 2 shows the right 

 depth to plant and Fig. 3 how to space the 

 bulbs in the box. Fig. 5 shows a section 

 through a pot. Place crocks over the hole 

 in the bottom of the pot, rough material 

 over the crocks, and fine soil on top. Figs. 

 6 and 13 show the right depth to plant 

 the bulbs. Fig. 14 shows how to place the 

 crocks over the holes in the bottom of a pan. 



When the bulbs are planted or potted place 



them in a root cellar, or, if no root cellar is 

 available, in a pit outside 2 feet deep and covered 

 with planks and manure as shown in Fig. 7. 

 Place cocoanut fiber refuse over the boxes and 

 pots 6 inches deep. When the bulbs begin 

 to send out small roots as shown in Fig. 4 

 take them inside in batches as required and 

 place under the greenhouse stage (or in a dark 

 closet), water well and hang some sacking in 

 front to keep them dark, Fig. 11. About two 

 weeks later put in a light place to flower. 



Lily-of-the-Valley is generally bought in 

 bunches of twenty-five. A 6-inch pot will take 

 twenty-five pips or crowns. Make a good 

 drainage by placing crocks and rough material 

 in the bottom of the pots (Fig. 5), and pot up 

 the roots spreading them out evenly (Fig. 8). 

 A flat piece of wood is used to get the roots in 

 the pot. See Fig. 15. Place moss over the 

 crowns and cover with another 6-inch pot, 

 Fig. 9. Watering: When potted place the pots 

 in a propagating pit or a frame in the greenhouse 

 where there is bottom heat with a temperature 



of 85 degrees, plunging the pots up to the rims 

 in cocoanut refuse. Fig. 19 shows a sectional 

 view of a propagating pit. Water twice a day 

 using rain water if possible and heating it to 

 the temperature of the pit — 85 degrees. In 

 about two weeks the plants will be up to the 

 top of the pot (Fig. 10). Remove the top 

 pot. In a few days the flowers will begin to 

 open. This is the time to remove the foliage 

 (see Fig. 12). The first few batches early in 

 the year do not make much foliage but later 

 make foliage at the expense of the flowers. 

 Where the Lily-of-the-valley is forced every 

 week for cut flowers the foliage is used from 

 the preceding batch. When the foliage is cut, 

 stand the pots out of the fiber (Fig. 20). 



Spirea: Pot up the clumps in 6-inch pots, 

 ramming the soil firmly with a wooden rammer 

 as shown in Fig. 15. Place in a pit (Fig. 7), 

 and take into the greenhouse when needed. 

 Spirea likes plenty of water so stand in saucers, 

 (Fig. 16). When watering do not wet the leaves 

 but fill up the saucers. 



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