January, 1919 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



161 





The American Rose Society proposes that 

 its members unite to "make the first year of 

 peace a year of Roses." "Proof that the Rose 

 has tremendously helped in fighting this war to 

 a righteous finish is constantly coming in," says 

 Prof. E. A. White, Secretary. "The sight and 

 the smell of a Rose which reminded him of home 

 has put fresh 'ginger' into many a wearied and 

 worn French, English, or American soldier. It 

 is certain that France and Belgium will blossom 

 in joy in 1919. Ought we in America be any 

 less attentive to aiding nature to rejoice? * * * 

 "Let us make 1919 — the first year of peace — 

 the greatest Rose year in the history of the con- 

 tinent. Let us grow Roses, give Roses, and live 

 Roses, the season through. The Red Cross, 

 the Y. M. C. A., and all the other great ameliorat- 

 ing agencies will need help. Let us show Roses 

 to assist in getting that help." 



Early Winter Flowers. — I was much interested 

 during the last part of November in late-blooming 

 flowers. My experience gives the Calendula the 

 lead, though Thanksgiving week saw also flowers 

 in good numbers of Verbena, perennial Gaillardia 

 and certain Marigolds. Sweet Alyssum never 

 stops blooming, though the variety I have is not 

 very conspicuous. I was much pleased to find 

 in a retired part of the garden late in November 

 a nice bed of Virginian Stock, all plants about 

 as bright as they would have been in summer. 

 This modest plant is not raised much, but it 

 has its uses, if only to come out strong late in the 

 season. I would be glad to get some further 

 information as to the raising of such flowers that 

 are indifferent to light frosts, as they are a real 

 comfort when most of the garden is dormant. 

 'I suppose that such plants ought to be kept 

 from blossoming early as much as possible or 

 maybe sowed in midsummer. The Calendulas 

 that flowered so late were almost as large as a 

 silver dollar and they came out so fast that a 

 single plant furnished an abundance of color 

 for the table. I saw on November 19th a beau- 

 tiful bouquet, as fresh as it would have been in 

 August, made of a few green leaves, four or five 

 white Bachelor-buttons, two Verbenas and a 

 head of Mignonette, displayed on an office girl's 

 desk. Why do they send us frosts out of time 

 to spoil the gardens long before the arrival of 

 winter? We can get the better of the freeze-ups 

 somewhat if we make the proper effort. What 

 say others on the subject? — John W. Chamberlin, 

 New York. 



My Shirley Poppies were the admiration of 

 the neighborhood. It was only a plot 6 ft. x 4 ft. 

 but morning after morning I picked more than a 

 hundred blossoms. I appreciated them the more 

 coming after years of failures for when they 

 would be ready for blossoming the hot, dry, 

 Iowa winds would blast the buds. Here is 

 my secret of success: One late February day 

 the sun had melted the snow in spots so I was 

 able to loosen the earth to a depth of a few inches. 

 I sprinkled freely with fertilizer, then sowed my 

 seeds, pressing the ground firmly, and covering 

 with cloth held down by boards. The snow 

 and freezing weather followed but the last of 

 April when I removed the cover there was a soft 

 film of green over the ground. The late frosts 

 did not hurt them, and how rapidly they grew! 

 They blossomed early and endured the later dry 

 spell. — Mrs. E. J. Brownson, Iowa. 



Petunias as Fillers. — I doubt if one can find 

 an annual other than the Petunia that 

 makes such excellent "filling in" material. It will 

 grow in sun and in shade, in light soil and in heavy 

 soil, in rich soil and in poor soil, not equally well 

 perhaps, but always well enough to justify its 

 use as an expedient with which to patch up some 

 ugly spot in the garden. In one place the 

 Petunia brought forth its joyous bloom along a 

 stretch in the garden that the sudden wilting of 



Phlox threatened to leave bare for that season — 

 the plants receive about an equal portion of sun 

 and shade. In another place the Petunia bright- 

 ens a clay ridge till that ridge can be brought 

 into proper condition — full sun and partial 

 drought was its portion. Along a fence where 

 Roses newly planted are taking a hold a double 

 row of Petunia bloomed prettily throughout the 

 garden season and even beyond the first light 

 frost. — C. L. Meller, No. Dakota. 



A Two-Purpose Hoe.— Cutting an ordinary 

 garden hoe diagonally across from one corner to 

 within a few inches of the top at the other side 

 makes a serviceable two-purpose tool. Hoeing 

 is as easy as with any other tool while the acute 

 angled corner gives one the advantage over a com- 

 mon hoe in working close to small plants without 

 danger of injury to them. This corner also makes 

 the hoe as good a tool as any in preparing the 

 trenches for seed sowing. The tool is really a 

 hoe and a small cultivator combined. The cut- 

 ting can be done either with a hack saw or a cold 



Hoes adapted with right and left handed pitch to suit the 

 worker 



chisel. The edge can then be smoothed down 

 and sharpened with a file. Actual experience 

 with this hoe among a number of workers brings 

 out the fact that one works with the right corner 

 of the hoe while another always uses the left 

 corner. This matter of working naturally with 

 the right or left side of a hoe must be taken into 

 account when cutting such a hoe for your own use. 

 Therefore, to make the hoe of real value to your- 

 self, find out first what corner of the hoe you 

 naturally work with and then cut the hoe diag- 

 onally down to that corner. — C. L. Meller. 



American Committee for Devastated France. — 

 In the Garden Magazine for November refer- 

 ence was made to what is being done by one 

 organization- in reconstruction work in the 



Photo by Harry B. Lachman 

 Worker of the Committee for Devastated France in a 

 courtyard at Chateau-Thierry after the Germans left 



French orchards, and one of the illustrations 

 showing the return to a flower garden at Chateau- 

 Thierry was supplied by another organization, 

 the American Committee for Devastated France, 

 the national headquarters of which are at 16 



East 39th Street, New York. For a little over 

 eighteen months it has been concentrating its 

 efforts upon reestablishing people's occupations 

 in northern France. Apart from being instru- 

 mental in clearing five thousand acres of barbed 

 wire, filling shell holes and trenches, plowing 

 and seeding barley and rye in quantity to feed 

 four thousand people for one year, this institution 

 planted seven thousand fruit trees. This effort 

 is really greater than the figure would seem to 

 indicate; for the cost of operation which in normal 

 times is about eight dollars an acre, in these re- 

 cent months amounted to three hundred dollars. 

 The value of the reconstruction work must be 

 measured, not entirely in the future possible 

 crops, but also in the present employment given 

 to the civilians and returned soldiers in clearing 

 up the land. A year ago February millions of 

 vegetables were set out by children in various 

 communes. When the March offensive began 

 the reconstructed region had to be abandoned 

 with such protection as a hurried and forced re- 

 treat could permit. But the work had been 

 well done; and when the tide rolled the other 

 way the American Committee found its work 

 well in hand, and about ninety per cent, has 

 been saved. The work of tree planting done 

 by this committee is confined to the region of 

 the Aisne. 



Do Melons and Cucumbers Mix? — In the 

 October Garden Magazine there is a very fine 

 article entitled, "How about next year's seed?" 

 which I have read very carefully and hope to 

 reap some benefit from doing so. I must differ, 

 however, on one point from Mr. Rockwell. I 

 refer to the last paragraph of the article wherein 

 he says "cucumbers, melons, and squash will 

 not mix in spite of the popular assumption that 

 they will, but the different varieties of each 

 mix readily." Now I had occasion this past 

 summer to inspect an acre of ground that was 

 planted to what was supposed to be Perfection 

 cucumber but through some mistake or accident 

 the seed had become mixed with musk melon 

 and I think off the whole acre the grower only 

 got two fruit (melons) fit to use. The vines 

 were quite distinct; but as for the fruit! some 

 looked like very nice melons but had a very 

 decided cucumber taste, others vice versa. I 

 would like some one to explain this as whenever 

 the subject of seed saving is mentioned I am all 

 attention. — Hugh Milloy, Ontario. 



Dwarfing a Grapevine. — A curious but very 

 practical method of dwarfing a grapevine has 

 lately been discovered by merest chance. It is 

 possible that this method may become popular 

 with growers of grapes who like to keep the vines 

 within narrow limits. Among a dozen grape- 

 vine cuttings that were stuck out for purposes of 

 propagation, by mischance, one was stuck with 

 the bud-end in the ground. But this vine, as 

 well as the others, grew. Its formation, however, 

 was peculiar. Its branches, instead of being 

 sent upward at an angle of 45 degrees, were sent 

 downward at the same angle. The stem seemed 

 to grow stout by a suppression of growth. In 

 due time this vine was transplanted to its perman- 

 ent site, which was against a building. Here it 

 continued its stocky, down-branching growth. 

 Proper pruning and a little training shaped the 

 vine readily; and to-day it is a very heavy bearer. 

 Its curious shape, while confining its spreading 

 propensities, seems to improve rather than to 

 hinder its powers of bearing. — Archibald Rut- 

 ledge, Pa. 



Wood Ashes for Potato Bugs. — I noticed the 

 article about paris green being hard to get since 

 the war, and thought it might be worth while 

 to mention the fact that wood ashes for potato 

 bugs are quite as effective as paris green. Sift on 

 when the vines are wet but do not use too much 

 at one time. — Mrs. Iliff, Kan. 



