96 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



October, 1918 



" 7] IMP SOAP 



iSPRAY 



*Sure Insect Killer 



THE use of Imp Soap Spray on fruit trees, 

 garden truck, ornamental ,trees, shrubs, etc., 

 will positively destroy all insect pests and larva 

 deposits. Quite harmless to vegetation. Used in 

 country's biggest orchards and estates. Very 

 economical — one gal. Imp Soap Spray makes 

 from 25 to 40 gals, effective solution. Directions 

 on can. Pts.40c; Qts., 60c. ; Gal ., $2.10; 5 

 Gals., $9.00; 10 Gals., $17.25; Bbls., per 

 Gal., $1.70. F.O.B. Boston. Genuine can has 

 Ivy leaf trade mark. Your money back if Imp 

 Soap Spray doesn't do as claimed. Order direct 

 if your dealer can't supply. 



F. E. ATTEAUX & CO., Props. 



Eastern Chemical Co. BOSTON, MASS. 



call the attention of the connoisseur 

 to the fact that they have the larg- 

 est collection of Iris in the West and 

 one of the largest in the country. 

 We specialize in sorts especially 

 adapted to Pacific coast conditions, 

 though our collection is broad 

 enough to serve all Iris enthusiasts. 



Price list of new and standard kinds 

 free on request 



Bean 3ris <©arbert£, ifflloneta, Cal. 



"How To Grow Roses 



/ This helpful manual will save 

 /your time and insure success with the 

 "queen of flowers." Beautiful library 

 edition; 121 pages; 16 full-page illus- 

 trations in natural colors. Sent pre- 

 paid for$i. Weincludereturn coupon 

 good for$i. on first $5. order for the 

 "Best Roses in America." Order 

 to-dav; ask for free Floral Guide. 

 Abridged edition of "How To Grow Roses" 10c. 



CONARD * IITEST GROVE, 

 & Jones Co. YV Box 24, Pa. 



Read about the wonderful Hugonis Rose in 

 ike Garden Magazine, September 



VM//MMMMMWMMM//MM>M/M^^^^ 



DWARF APPLE TREES 



DWARF PEAR TREES 



DWARF PLUM TREES 



DWARF CHERRY TREES 



DWARF PEACH TREES 



Catalogue Free 

 THE VAN DUSEN NURSERIES 

 , C. McKAY, Mgr. Box G, Geneva, N. Y. 



Plant Now 



For Next Year's 



Fruit & Berries 



We are as well pre- 

 pared to take care 

 of your fruit and 

 berry garden as 

 all ornamental 

 and deciduous 

 plants. 



Over Mfi acres of specially selected stock to choose from. 



Our nurseries are 20 minutes from Pc-nn. Terminal N.Y.C. 



to Broadway, Flushing. Pay us a visit, phone or write. 



American Nursery Co. 



Flushing, L. I., N. Y. 



Potatoes Grown Under a Straw Mulch 

 E. F. MURPHY, 



Director of Home Gardens, Richmond, Ind. 



THE high-priced potato has helped much 

 toward making the cultivation of crop 

 welcome in the small garden. In 

 nearly every war garden last summer 

 one saw a few rows of potatoes regardless of 

 the size of garden, and the home gardener 

 has found that they are deserving of the 

 space. Heretofore it has been thought that 

 potatoes were out of place in the small garden, 

 but a sudden change has developed and 

 every odd way of growing potatoes has been 

 put into use. 



One of the easiest and most practical ways 

 of growing potatoes in the little garden is to 

 grow them under straw. Then they do not 

 require cultivation and are not dependent 

 on a rain at any particular time. The thick 

 layer of straw keeps down the weeds and 

 allows a more even distribution of moisture 

 throughout the growing season; and two of 

 the most common difficulties of potato 

 growing are eliminated. There is always 

 plenty of moisture in the soil in early spring, 

 and one of the big problems has been to con- 

 serve it and have an even distribution for the 

 crop throughout the growing period. 



The moisture that is beneficial to plant 

 growth is capillary moisture which rises 

 toward the earth's surface between the soil 

 particles. This moisture readily evaporates 

 as it comes to the surface unless the ground 

 is mulched and the soil then soon becomes 

 .dry and hard, which is very undesirable for 

 potatoes. A mulch of straw is an effective 

 means of conserving moisture during the en- 

 tire summer. One may lift off the straw at 

 any time during dry weather and find the 

 ground below it sufficiently moist and cool. 

 This is an ideal condition for potato-growing. 

 A dust mulch is not quite so effective inas- 

 much as capillarity is soon reestablished and 

 the moisture is then able to evaporate. 



TN ORDER to grow potatoes under straw, 

 -*- the ground is spaded as usual, and a 

 fine garden seed-bed is prepared. Small 

 furrows are then made about three inches 

 deep and twenty to twenty-four inches apart, 

 and the seed pieces dropped at proper dis- 

 tances in the furrows. Some growers cover 

 the pieces with about an inch of soil and then 

 mulch with straw; but equally good results 

 have been obtained by merely covering the 

 pieces with about six inches of straw. 



Potatoes grown under straw require no 

 attention — save for the potato beetle — until 

 they are ready to be harvested. And when 

 they are harvested, one has only to lift off 

 the straw and fill the basket! The potatoes 

 are clean, smooth, of usual size, and of good 

 quality. 



Now, as the home gardener takes pride in 

 saving for seed next year something he has 

 actually grown himself, especially if he has 

 produced something of unusual quality or 

 size, he has here a wonderful opportunity 

 to even scientifically select seed potatoes, 

 when he has grown them under straw. The 

 common method of selecting seed potatoes 

 is to go to the potato pile after digging and 

 storing and pick out the nice ones for seed. 

 In this way, one may be selecting a seed 

 potato which came from a hill that produced 

 only one or two desirable tubers. When they 

 are grown under straw, one may remove the 

 straw from all the rows, walk along, and, by 

 comparing the different hills, select good seed 



from desirable hills. If this be done each 

 year, one will gradually have a strain of po- 

 tatoes that will more nearly approach the 

 ideal. This is scientific selection as practised 

 by the novelty breeder. 



DOTATOES grown under straw ' make 

 *■ better seed potatoes than those culti- 

 vated in the usual manner according to my 



"The proof of the pudding" — just as they grew under their 

 straw covering 



observations. Investigations conducted by 

 the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Sta- 

 tion as shown by the following table indicate 

 that seed produced under mulch produces 

 more tubers than seed that is cultivated: 



RESULTS OF MULCHING MORE THAN ONE YEAR 



NO. OF YEARS 



MULCHED AND 



CULTIVATED 



MULCHED SEED 

 PRODUCED 



CULTIVATED SEED 

 PRODUCED 



Years 



Tests 



Lbs. 



*Lbs. 



2 



4 



IOO 



66 



3 

 4 



i 

 i 



IOO 

 IOO 



74 

 68 



5 



i 



IOO 



66 



6 



2 



IOO 



6i 



7 



2 



IOO 



49 



8 



T 



IOO 



54 



*Ld3. produced as compared with IOO lbs. produced from 

 mulched seed. 



There are many other ways of growing 

 potatoes. Look into the city backyard gar- 

 dens and you will find them growing in boxes, 

 pyramids, and even barrels. The practica- 

 bility of these methods remains yet to be seen, 

 but the straw method has come to stay. 



Dahlias Not Flowering? — Will not those 

 who are suffering from Dahlias not blossoming 

 please state what they think is the reason? I 

 have been taught to suppose that the buds 

 and shoots suffer from the stinging of the 

 tarnished plant bug. My Dahlias grew 

 very fast, this July, on account of good soil 

 and the heavy rains. I have them set quite 

 close together, each plant cut down to one 

 shoot and am prepared to cover the whole 

 plot with mosquito netting as soon as the bug 

 makes its appearance. — John W. Chamberlin. 



Aiverti 



■ill appreciate your mentioning Tlw Garden Magazine in writing — and we will, too 



