December, 1918 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



135 



weight of "ornamentals" in the coming months. 

 Not that we feel any apology is necessary or 

 desiredforwhatthemagazinehas donein thepress- 

 ure of war gardening but "autre temps, autre 

 moeurs" as our French friends have it. — Ed. 



A Soldier in England. — One quiet Sunday 

 afternoon last fall when stationed at an Amer- 

 ican military camp in England, I had an 

 opportunity to see and admire one of the 

 beautiful English gardens. I had just passed 

 through one of the long tunnels of cool 

 shade so common along England's country roads, 

 and entered a little village, when I was drawn 

 across the street to a fence covered with golden 

 Nasturtiums. I stopped and peered over the 

 fence into the richest profusion of colors I had 

 seen since reaching this side. Asters, Snap- 

 dragons, Sweet Peas, Pansies, and many other 

 plants, some of which I did not recognize, were 

 there at their best. I stood for a short time 

 admiringthe displaywhen agroupof children came 

 toward me from the cottage set back of the garden. 

 Seeing that I was interested in the garden the 

 children began a discussion of the various flowers 

 in the planting. They told me how they had 

 assisted in the making of the garden, and named 

 all the plants and different varieties in the plant- 

 ing. I tried to decide why the flowers grew so 

 well in this garden. I thought perhaps it was the 

 cool, moist atmosphere, and rich soil that made 

 the garden a success. Still I wondered if that 

 were all, if there were not something else, some- 

 thing like love that nature understood and re- 

 warded, causing the gardens of England to 

 thrive so luxuriously. As I trudged back to camp 

 carrying a huge bouquet of Spencer Sweet Peas 

 that the children had showered upon me, I was 

 thrilled with a feeling of joy and extreme goodwill 

 for the gentle people of England. I resolved to pay 

 more attention to gardening when the war is 

 ended if I return alive to America, and I shall 

 keep in mind always England's rich gardens and 

 splendid people. — Buford Reid, Corp'l. A. E. F. 



A Really Good Looking Native. — The Cow 

 Parsnip (Heracleum lanatum), though regarded 

 as almost a weed, is yet a plant that will work 

 into the garden very nicely, especially in a more 

 or less wild planting. The effect of its foliage is 

 akin to that of the Castor Bean; it is about as 

 rapid a grower, and in good garden soil will 

 grow almost as high. Being perennial it is 



Quite 



ioble decorative plant is this Cow Parsnip, yet neglected 

 because a native weed 



there to stay. Individually, the greenish white 

 flowers are insignificant, and parted from the 

 plant have no beauty; but borne as they are in 

 broad umbels, they do become a conspicuous 

 factor during the plant's period of bloom which 



lasts about two weeks. The Cow Parsnip grows 

 readily from seed and the plants can be moved 

 at all seasons of the year. Transplanted when 

 in bloom, or thereabouts, the plant may wilt to 

 the ground and the new herbage appear to lack 

 vigor, but the following spring, the root will send 

 forth as vigorous a top as could be desired. It 

 requires no protection in the coldest winter and 

 is drought resistant. Cut down it grows a second 

 time. It delights in sunlight, but will do well 

 in partial shade. It is not an aristocrat, but 

 taken altogether it is a very effective plebeian, 

 effective as a single plant and strikingly effective 

 in masses where heavy foliage is required. It is 

 one of those natives that can add variety and 

 under adverse conditions a greater measure of 

 success to our gardens if we will only take the 

 trouble to understand it. — C. L. Meller, N. D. 



"Gardening" in the Trenches. — It was in a 

 quiet sector in the Verdun region. Rain had 

 been falling and the bottom of the trench was a 

 mush of mud and puddles. The men who were 

 not posted at the lookout points were seeking 

 such cold comfort as they could find in the cramp- 

 ed dugouts. Somewhere down the trench 

 there arose sounds of excitement and bantering 

 remarks. Jack Toomey of Union Hill, N. J., 

 thrust his head out from his shelter and thus 

 addressed an invisible comrade. "It's a Y. M. 

 C.A. guy, Bill. Maybe he's got some smokes or 

 eats. Hey, you Christian, step a little lively, 

 will ye? What, no smokes left? Gee, why 

 don't you stock up when you come this way? 

 Any chocolate? No? What have ye got, pray 

 tell? Stuff to read? Sunday papers? Mutt and 

 Jeff? Baseball dope? No? Say, what do you 

 think this is, anyway? A mission study club? 

 Well give me what you've got and run along." 

 The harassed Y. M. C. A. worker handed Jack 

 a magazine and passed on. The doughboy's 

 head was withdrawn as he settled himself in as 

 comfortable a position as possible and silence 

 reigned for a time. Jack looked at the colored 

 cover, ran over the pages, and then began at the 

 back end of the magazine that had been handed 

 to him. As he perused the pages a puzzled 

 pucker appeared between his brows, and at 

 length he spoke again. "Say, Bill, here's a 

 treat. You'll like this when I get through with 

 it. It's a wild and bloodthirsty sheet called 

 The Garden Magazine. It's got pictures in it. 

 You'll understand some of the pictures, Bill. 

 Here's a story called 'Building a Rock Garden,' 

 with pictures of the Palisades. Say, Bill, what's 

 Achillea tomentosa? Some kind of Mexican 

 chow do you s'pose? Something like hot tomale? 

 And Adonis vernalis. That sounds immoral. 

 And Aethionema jucundum. There's a whole 

 page of this dope, Bill. Whatthehell? Must be 

 in code. Guess I'll pass it up. 'Pink Daisy 

 for Next Summer's Bloom.' Oh, la, la. On 

 with the dance. Here's something in your line, 

 Bill. 'How to Judge Vegetables.' First get 

 your vegetables; hey, Bill? Guess I'll have to 

 write for this paper. 'Producing Food from 

 Wood and Oil.' That must be about the Ger- 

 mans. A wonderful people, Bill, a wonderful 

 people. Here we have 'The Month's Reminder 

 for September.' Sort of a 'Daily Food' thing 

 without Bible verses. Let's see what's in it. 

 Um, yes. 'Get after onions early.' That's 

 good advice, ain't it, Bill? 'Gather the mulch.' 

 I'll have to learn that. New slang, I guess. I 

 wonder what it means. 'Gather the mulch. 

 Begin at once to get together the materials which 

 you will need for mulching later on — leaves, hay, 

 light manure, and so forth. Keep in a dry place 

 where they are available as wanted.' Get it, 

 Bill? It's a dictionary of slang. 'Gather the 

 mulch' means make down your bunk. See? 

 Ah, this ought to be good. 'The Garden Movies, 

 No. 9.' Pictures, Bill. Reading, too. It says 

 to use a fork on potatoes. Must be a sort of 

 book on table etiquette. Hi! 'AH rubbish, 



decayed vegetable tops and weeds that have 

 been destroyed should be cleaned up and burned, 

 as such materials give harbor to hosts of insects 

 to bother next year.' That's trench orders, 

 Bill. How are the cooties to-day? 'Cover indi- 

 vidual tender plants by putting a bag over' 

 with a picture of two boy scouts and a gas mask. 

 Now we're getting near where we live. 'Any 

 kind of cover over beans will ward off the first 

 sharp frost.' Say, Bill, how long is it to chow? 

 This thing's getting on my nerves. Any kind of 

 cover over beans — you bet your life." Sud- 

 denly he cast the magazine from him out into the 

 mud of the trench. A groan escaped him. 

 "Say, Bill, you don't want to read that. The 

 man that wrote it is crazy. You know what he 

 said? 'Expose potatoes to the air before storing.' 

 Hell!"— Walter A. Dyer. 



A forty foot Green Wattle, eight years from seed is a remark- 

 able record even for California! 



Phenomenal Tree Growth. — The accompany- 

 ing photograph shows an unusually fine speci- 

 men of a Green Wattle (Acacia mollissima). 

 The seed from which this trew grew was planted 

 in September, 1910, so the tree is just eight years 

 old. It is over forty feet high, has a spread of 

 more than 30 feet, and a trunk circumference, 

 measured a foot from the ground, of 42 inches. 

 The phenomenal growth is attributed to the 

 fact that when it was planted there was a melon 

 patch near to it and a little higher up the hill. 

 This patch was made by leveling a spot, spread- 

 ing gieen manure to a depth of about two feet 

 and on the top of that good soil. The tree made 

 a wonderful growth that summer, but when the 

 melons were over and the rotted manure desired 

 for other parts of the garden, the manure was 

 found to be a labyrinth of fine hair roots. Un- 

 doubtedly the rich, moist soil had caused the 

 roots to spread, and thus the tree developed an 

 extensive root system early in its existence that 

 had a lasting beneficial effect, and it has con- 

 tinued to grow and thrive. The manure, of 

 course, was practically valueless, and was not 

 used, as it seemed a pity to disturb the tree roots, 

 but the tree has been many hundred times worth 

 the expenditure. — F. H. Mason, San Diego, Cal. 



Kale As a "Foliage" Plant.— A new "foliage" 

 plant that ornamented the entrance to one of 

 our public buildings this summer, proved to be 

 an immense kale. It was grown in a large pot 

 and stood nearly three feet high, its lower leaves 

 being about a foot long. Its plume-like leaves 

 arranged in whorls like those of the Norfolk 

 Island pine make it a surprisingly beautiful plant 

 worthy of being grown as an ornament as well as 

 for food. — Mary Rutner, Traverse City, Mich. 



