The Garden 



Vol. XII— No. 5 



Published Monthly 



azme 



DECEMBER, 1910 



One Dollar Fiftv Cents a Year 

 Fifteen Cents a Copy 



[For the purpose of reckoning dates, New York is 

 generally taken as a standard. Allow six days' difference 

 for every hundred miles of latitude.] 



New Ideas in Gardening 



THERE'S nothing new under the .sun," 

 yet the ideas presented below were 

 new to everyone on whom we tried them, 

 and cur friends even said they were grate- 

 ful for the suggestions. 



There is a new way of putting personal- 

 ity into your gifts, provided the recipient 

 is a lover of gardening. And it is par- 

 ticularly appropriate for a family gift. 

 In brief, the idea is to give nursery stock, 

 whether it can actually be planted at 

 Christmas time or not. 



For instance, instead of cutting and 

 wasting thousands of Christmas trees 

 every year, why not plant long-lived 

 evergreens as memorial trees at Christmas 

 times? Children could plant two white 

 pines in honor of their parents, with a 

 prospect of seeing these trees grow up, 

 and be admired by their grandchildren. 

 Of course, evergreens cannot be moved 

 now from the wild, only nursery-grown 

 specimens with a ball of earth will do. 



Instead of destroying thousands of holly 

 trees, why not plant hollies in northern 

 yards where their red berries will be 

 attractive all winter? Of course, broad- 

 leaved evergreens must be planted in the 

 spring, preferably April, but meanwhile, 

 you could order the holly trees, and the 

 story of your plans could be made a beau- 

 tiful Christmas feature. 



Another big idea is to have your home 

 grounds express the Christmas spirit all 

 winter. For $5 you can get a dozen 

 kinds of shrubs with brightly colored twigs, 

 and these can be safely planted in Dec- 

 ember. 



The following gifts may not have quite 

 so much personality in them, but they may 

 be easier to get and cheaper: 



Bayberry candles. A Box of southern 



decorative material, or a box of southern 

 smilax. 



A set of electric lights for the Christmas 

 tree and a battery. This will cut out 

 the possibility of those shocking Christmas 

 fires. 



A sumptuous garden book or a very 

 useful and comprehensive one, e. g., Bailey's 

 "Cyclopedia," "The American Flower 

 Garden," or "Gardens Old and New." 



A year's subscription to some magazine 

 devoted to country hfe or gardening. 



One or more portable coldframes — 

 those handy little glass-covered boxes 

 about two feet square. 



Japanese dwarf conifers in pots, costing 

 $1 to S20 according to age. (Some cost- 

 lier ones are said to be over 100 years old.) 



A set of gardening tools for the children 

 or an automatic sprayer for the family. 

 Pruning shears make a jolly gift at Christ- 

 mas time, and can be used all winter. 



A check for fertilizer enough to make a 

 garden a joy instead of a burden. Or a 

 check for extra labor enough to make the 

 difference between drudgery and happi- 

 ness in a vegetable garden. 



At Flint, Michigan, at Christmas time, 

 I noticed that all the people in town hung 

 their holly wreaths outside the window 

 instead of inside, and was told this was 

 a much better plan because the wreath 

 lasted longer, no leaves were dropped 

 in the house, and the wreath was not in 

 the way of the shades. The wreaths could 

 be seen just as well from the inside, as if 

 they were in the room. Of course, the 

 double wreath costs more than the single 

 ones, but in any case a person would use 

 a double wreath for that purpose. 



On the Grounds 



npHE most important routine work out- 

 -'- doors during the winter is preventing 

 injury to ornamental plantings from ice 

 and snow. Immediately after a snowfall 

 go around and clean off the snow from all 

 evergreens which otherwise may become 

 permanently injured by being bent out of 

 shape. While ordinary garden operations 

 are suspended you will have abundance of 

 time to do underdraining, digging trenches 

 or any construction work on the grounds. 

 Drainage, by drawing the surface water 

 down, brings air into the soil which sweetens 

 it and makes growth in that place earlier. 



WTiile the appearance of big trees carr>'- 

 ing foliage is still fresh in your mind mark 

 out any plants for special pruning if it is 

 necessary. 



Do you want to have the fun of raising 

 your own trees and shrubs ? Take cions 



and cuttings during December, bundle 

 them, labelling each one correctly, and 

 bury them in trenches for use in the spring. 



In the Greenhouse 



"^TEXT year's plants must be thought of 

 -'- ^ now. Begin making cuttings if you 

 want a large quantity of geraniums, ver- 

 benas and such things. Early in the month 

 get any supplies of loam, leaf mold, sand, 

 pots and everything else that will be 

 needed during the winter. Much time and 

 money will be saved by getting everything 

 in readiness now. Place 3'our orders with 

 florists and seedsmen now for an}- novelties 

 that have attracted your attention during 

 the past season. This will ensure prompt 

 and early deli\-ery to you in the spring. 

 Orders of this kind are handled in rotation, 

 and " First come, first served." 



Tily-of-the-valley that has been brought 

 to heat will give flowers as needed. 



If you have tomatoes under glass remem- 

 ber that you must pollinate them by hand 

 to be quite sure of the cross. 



In the ^ egetable Garden 



^TOW that the crops are harvested you 

 ** will have leisure to look up the 

 record of your work and results. iSIake 

 written memoranda of the behavior of dif- 

 ferent crops that have been results of 

 dift'erent varieties. 



Begin making up your seed list for next 

 season's order. Do this with last year's 

 results fresh in your mind, and you will 

 find it much easier than waiting until next 

 spring. 



You can accomplish a good deal on the 

 ground by starting preparations for early 

 vegetables now, throwing the soil up into 

 ridges, making them as high and as narrow 

 as possible, with deep furrows. This will 

 expose the greatest area to frost and water. 

 Such land will be valuable for use some 

 days, and perhaps a couple of weeks, earlier 

 than would otherwise be the case. 



Give celerj' in trenches a final covering, 

 using light Litter a foot deep. Protect all 

 other crops that are outdoors in pits. 



IMore " Achievements " Wanted 



NOW that the year ends we want each 

 reader of The G.aeden M.AGAzrN~E to 

 think over the experiences of the season and 

 tell us about anything that was a little 

 unusual. If possible, illustrate the account 

 with a photograph. We ^ill gladly pay 

 for anything that can be used. Try now 

 to add just one little note to the achieve- 

 ment pool of 191 1. 



