June, 1 !) 9 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



285 



Primroses flower with the tulips and make a dainty 

 edging to the border 



Although the primrose may be grown 

 with almost no care, it will quickly respond 

 to a little attention. If the ground is made 

 quite rich the growth will be rank and 



rapid, the flowers will develop longer stems, 

 and in addition to forming attractive borders 

 will furnish dainty clusters for house deco- 

 ration or for a table centre piece. 



In England the primrose is sought for in 

 the fields and along the hedges at Easter 

 time, and it blooms here quite as early. 

 Some English neighbors come to us (fol- 

 lowing their custom in the old country) to 

 gather primroses on Easter Sunday and 

 rarely fail to find them. 



The flowers open the last week in March, 

 and continue to bloom during the season of 

 the blood root, hepatica, anemone, violet, 

 and twin-leaf in the wild-flower bed, and of 

 the jonquil, hyacinth, and tulip in the more 

 formal borders. 



Our experiments have been carried on 

 to furnish borders for a limited number 

 of flower beds, and not to see how many 

 plants could be grown; but it is safe to say 

 that a plant which could be separated into 

 thirty small plants could, in five years, be 

 made to produce ninety three thousand 

 plants, allowing seven hundred and fifty 

 for failures, which is quite too large a number; 

 as, with ordinary care, very few plants are 

 lost. 



The professional may know to a nicety 

 just what rate of increase to expect, but 

 these notes are offered by an amateur to 

 others of the same cult. The amateur 



As an edging to shrubbery on a wild flower bed 

 containing hepaticas, violets, anemones, bloodroot, 

 twin-leaf , the primrose is quite happy 



gardener will be well repaid for the 

 slight expenditure of time and trouble 

 necessary for the culture of the English 

 primrose by the wonderful profusion of 

 lovely flowers which come with the opening 

 of spring. 



Lawn Tools You Really Need — By J. Lukens Kayan, 



LESSEN THE LABOR OF WEEDING, CUTTING, AND TRIMMING BY USING THE ONE 

 MOST EFFICIENT TOOL FOR THE SPECIAL CONDITIONS — THE BUSY MAN'S ECONOMY 



Phila- 

 delphia 



THE space generally surrounding the 

 house, carpeted with grass and more 

 or less embellished with annual and peren- 

 nial flowering plants, vines, shrubs, and 

 trees, requires constant attention, not only 

 to keep it in proper order but also to make 

 the house and grounds in combination present 

 an attractive and "occupied" appearance. 

 The grass must be kept free from weeds, 



Lawn mower with grass catcher attached - 

 inch knife is the best all-round 



and evenly cut, the edges neatly trimmed, 

 paths clean, vines, shrubs and trees trimmed, 

 dead branches cut out, etc. 



To do this in the best, most effective, and 

 quickest manner necessitates the use of tools 

 suited to each purpose; the number and 

 assortment varying with the size of the place 

 and the nature of the plantings. When 

 the plot is small the grass can be kept cut 

 with a sickle, but a lawn mower will do the 

 work much more quickly and better, with a 

 saving of muscular effort. And the same 

 holds true of all kinds of horticultural work; 

 tools that will complete the work quickly 

 are as essential on the lawn as they are in 

 the kitchen garden. 



THE CHOICE OR SELECTION OF TOOLS 



All tools that are intended to replace the 

 hand tools commonly used for any purpose 

 are subject to limitations and while most 

 of them will, with less labor, do a given 

 amount of work in much less time, there are 

 times and positions in which the hand tools 

 must still be used. The lawn mower has 

 replaced the sickle and scythe for grass cut- 

 ting, but the lawn mower's work must still 

 be supplemented by the sickle or grass 

 shear. These three and the edger are the 

 tools that must first be purchased. Other 

 quick-acting trimmers and edgers will prove 

 themselves labor savers and can be profitably 



added to the outfit. The sickle, grass shear, 

 and edger will always be needed however, 

 but there will be much less work for them 

 to do. 



What was said in the article on the 

 possession of first-class tools and their care 



The high-wheel and ball-bearings make operating 

 easy. The grass catcher is rarely needed 



