Sweet Corn for Thanksgiving. — To my mind, 

 sweet corn never tastes quite so good as it does on 

 Thanksgiving Day. Not even the tender grains 

 that you relish so much early in the season, rival 

 in delicate flavor those that have been sweetened 

 and mellowed by two or three frosts and a flurry 

 of snow. Five years ago we took a chance on a 

 late season and planted Country Gentleman corn 

 on the fifth of August. The late season didn't 

 materialize and frost came October fifteenth. 

 The ears were nearly ready to pull but the 

 frost ruined them — so we thought. The leaves 

 of the corn were shrivelled and "burnt" by the 

 frost and we naturally supposed that the ears were 

 also spoilt. Two or three more frosts and a 

 light snow came but we had no heavy freezes 

 (Ours is the latitude of Philadelphia). A few 

 days before Thanksgiving we went through our 

 belated corn field. We chanced to look at some 

 of the ears. They seemed as good as ever and 

 the grains were plump and pearly, so we pulled 

 off a couple of dozen ears and took them home. 

 Everyone was surprised to see sweet corn on the 



| Headers Interchanges <f 'Experiences 

 Of? _ v^ and Ideas ■>&»: 



the stalks they do not wilt or deteriorate in the 

 least. We bring in tomato vines in the same way 

 and let the tomatoes ripen in the cellar. Thus 

 we have another fresh vegetable for our Thanks- 

 giving dinner. Perhaps the novelty of being 

 out of season adds some imaginary zest to 

 Thanksgiving sweet corn as well as to Christmas 

 strawberries. However, the quality of the sweet 

 corn is real. It is toothsome and delicious, 

 sweet and tender. Jack Frost seems to add some 

 new taste or bring out the hidden flavors in the 

 corn that he is allowed to touch. Yes — Country 

 Gentleman corn on Thanksgiving Day is good. 

 Ask any one who eats it. — R. E. Allen, Morgan- 

 town, W. Va. 



A convenient and easily adjusted flower holder for exhibitions, seen at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society's shows. 



and firm yet light and compact 



It is rigid 



table that evening but the corn didn't last long. 

 The next day we went to the field and pulled a 

 load of the best ears. Most of that load was 

 distributed among our friends but we sold 27 

 dozen ears at 50 cents a dozen. Sweet corn was 

 a big feature at our Thanksgiving dinner. We 

 had it three different ways, just to make the 

 most of the novelty. 



Since then, for every Thanksgiving, early and 

 late, we have had sweet corn for dinner. Twice 

 we have had to bring the corn in, stalks and all, 

 a week before Turkey day in order to save it 

 from a heavy freeze. By leaving the ears on 



Tomatoes Until After Xmas. — About the 

 middle of October when a frost might be ex- 

 pected I pulled up all my tomato plants allowing 

 some soil to remain on the roots. I then sus- 

 pended them upside down to the rafters of our 

 garage close to a southern window where the sun 

 shown most of the day. As the winter was rather 

 mild the garage which is unheated remained at a 

 fairly uniform temperature. The tomatoes ri pened 

 slowly, but their flavor was delicious and the ex 

 periment was well worth while. We enjoyed 

 fresh tomatoes in profusion until way after 

 Christmas. — Christine G.ConoverJVynnewood, Pa. 



Q35 



More About Dahlias. — In the open column, 

 May issue, I read an interesting communication 

 from Mr. John W. Chamberlain of New York 

 as to the Dahlias failing to bloom due to the 

 attacks of the Tarnished Plant Bug. I can sym- 

 pathize with Mr. Chamberlain for the experience 

 I have had the past two years agrees with his. 

 I have tried spraying with nicotine and fish oil 

 soap with but little success. I suppose if spraying 

 were done every day it would kill the insects but 

 it would make a mess of the plants. The bugs 

 being juice suckers will not be affected by poisons 

 that will kill leaf eating insects. It's almost 

 impossible to catch them or get the spray on 

 them as they are very wary and quick as a flash 

 to fly or hide on the under sides of leaves. They 

 sting every bud that forms, blighting it so that 

 no bloom results. The Tarnished Plant Bug 

 attacks strawberries and many other things s 

 Roses for one; it would be a great thing to find out 

 how to combat the pests successfully and I hope 

 some one of your readers can give a practical sug- 

 gestion. — S. S. Webber, Charlestown, N. H. 



From the Other Side.— M. G. Kains, in April 

 issue, says many good things under the title 

 "Fruits Just for Fun" but when he tells of the 

 advantages of raspberries and blackberries 

 planted along property lines because they will be 

 "out of the way and gather part of their food from 

 the neighbor's land" he leaves consideration for 

 "the neighbor" out of the question. I have been 

 the neighbor for a good many years and I sincerely 

 hope no one who reads the article written by Mr. 

 Kains will feel impelled to follow his advice in- 

 sofar as it pertains to this particular method of 

 procedure. If he is writing of his own practice, 

 and not theorizing, the worst I could wish him 

 would be that he had the neighbor's property near 

 the line to care for. A dividing fence, built on 

 my land rather than exactly on the line, I use as a 

 support for ornamental vines, with a bed of old- 

 fashioned shrubs and flowers at the base. This 

 row is about 100 feet long, the other side of the 

 fence is devoted to berry bushes which are out 

 of my neighbor's way and gather their living 

 largely from my land. So far I have no kick to 

 make but every time I try to do a bit of work with 

 my vines or plants I go into the house with torn 

 and bleeding hands, smarting with pain, and in 

 anything but a Christian or even ladylike mood. 

 I do not kick. I frankly cuss. The berry 

 bushes will outgrow any other sort of vine as to 

 the above-ground part and in their search for food 

 the roots come many feet into my lawn and 

 sprouts crop up everywhere. The advice sounds 

 good to the fellow who wants to plant the bushes 

 I have no doubt but, believe me, it never will to 

 the "neighbor" who has the slightest experience 

 on the other side of the fence. If the circulation 

 of The Garden Magazine were largely among 

 farmers where fence-rows or unfenced lines might 

 be devoted to berry bushes with land to spare 

 and the "neighbor" could pick the berries that 

 wandered over to his side it would be different, 

 but it is probable that at least half the readers 

 of the magazine are town people and for them I 

 take up the defense against such practice — with 

 due apology to Mr. Kains. — Eva Ryman-Gaillard, 

 Pa. 



Conifers and Clay. — Experience amply proves 

 that a considerable number of the coniferous 

 evergreens will thrive in heavy clay though these 

 trees are naturally at home in sandy and gravelly 

 soils. Our so called Red Cedar, Juniperus vir- 

 giniana, transplanted from the light soils of the 

 Dakota Badlands to the heavy clay of the Red 

 River Valley did thrive exceedingly well, in fact, 

 with a more abundant supply of water, trees 



