24 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



February, 1911 



A part of Roger's flower garden; 105 different 

 varieties were in this garden 



Experiment 2 — As you do experiment i , 

 note the number of days it takes the dif- 

 ferent kind of seeds to germinate. For 

 example, how many days before lettuce 

 starts to sprout? How many days does 

 it take corn to germinate? Suppose some 

 of the lettuce seed begins to germinate 

 on the sixth day and after the eighth no 

 more seed sprouts. Then the germination 

 time for lettuce seed is from six to eight 

 days. Work this out for your other seeds. 

 Call this a germination table or a ger- 

 mination time-table. 



Experiment j — If you have some seed 

 two years old, some of the same kind three 

 years old and some of this past season's 

 seed, test the effect of age upon the power 

 to germinate. You may have corn seed 

 from several years back. 

 • Experiment 4 — Try the effect of deep 

 planting. Take corn for this experiment. 

 Plant some 1 inch deep, some 2 inches, 

 and so on up to 4. Keep track of the 

 number of days it takes each lot of seed 

 to come up. What effect has deep plant- 

 ing upon corn seed? Try this with any 

 seed you like and in different soils. Plant 

 the seed in pots or in separate boxes. 



The Children's Contest Letters 



THE following are a few letters written by some 

 of our "contest" children concerning their 

 gardens. These are a part of the report required 

 by the contest conditions. 



I have had 105 different kinds of flowers in my 

 garden this last summer. My seeds for plants 

 sold cost me $4.25. I have sold plants and flowers 

 for S22.95 and took $2.50 in prizes, making $25.75. 

 I started my seeds April 5th, in my hotbed, ex- 

 pecting to sell only aster plants, but people 

 wanted a few of the others, so I sold them. On 

 account of dry weather I did not get large enough 

 blossoms to get many prizes exhibiting. I raised 

 some handsome water lilies in a tub. I am 

 saving my money for a greenhouse. 



Worcester, Mass. Roger Newton Perry. 



Our garden festival was very fine. All the 

 schools and many home gardens were on exhibit. 

 I am happy to report six first premiums out of 

 nine entries, including one special first on asters. 



I won easily on tomatoes (which averaged over 

 one pound each). I entered more for display and 

 must say I was much surprised when the judges 

 placed first banners on my parsnips and celery, 

 and special first on my asters. The best premium 

 or the one I prize the highest is one year's sub- 

 scription to The Garden Magazine. We have 

 had a very warm dry summer here, no rain in 

 July or August, but I am much encouraged with 

 my summer work. So far this season my receipts 

 are $35.40, my expense $4.21, leaving me a balance 

 of $31.19. I sowed all my perennials in coldframes 

 on the fifteenth of August. They are now nice, 

 hardy plants. I will only protect them with 

 boards this winter, and transplant to hot sash 

 about March 1st. I hope this, together with my 

 chart, pictures, press clippings and premium 

 cards will give you a fair idea of the interest and 

 pleasures I have taken in my garden this season, 

 and place me in a favorable position in class "A" 

 of The Garden Magazine's National Contest. 

 Cleveland, Ohio. Mabel Jane Musser. 



My vegetable garden was 24 feet long by 16 

 feet wide with two paths running cross-ways, 

 each i}4 feet wide. In this garden I grew twenty 

 different varieties. I will tell the amount of each 

 variety. 



Corn (2 varieties) 4 dozen ears 



Red cabbage ■ 4 heads 



Green cabbage 4 heads 



Tomatoes i bushel 



Potatoes J bushel 



Beans (bush) (2 plantings) i bushel 



Beans (pole) \ bushel 



Beets ii bushels 



Carrots i bushel 



Parsnips | bushel 



Turnips \ bushel 



Squash 4 



Cucumbers 1 dozen 



Radish (3 successions) \ bushel 



Onions i bushel 



Parsley £ bushel 



Spinach $ bushel 



Cauliflower and Brussjl sprouts too late for exhibit. 



My flower garden was 8 feet by 10 feet, with 

 twenty-one varieties, namely: 



Asters (4 varieties) Poppy 



Dahlias (5 varieties) Love-in-the-mist 



Zinnia Candytuft 



Morning Bride Marigold 



Phlox Dianthus 



Snapdragon Cosmos 



Larkspur Verbena 



Waltham, Mass. R. Greenleaf Bruce. 



I have a pretty good garden this year of about 

 the same size as last year, but have more and 

 better things. For vegetables I had two varieties 

 of sweet corn, two varieties of carrots, two varieties 

 of tomatoes, two of potatoes, and three of beans. 

 The other vegetables were beets, turnips, cauli- 

 flower, cucumbers, muskmelons, citron, pumkpins, 

 two varieties summer and winter squash, onions, 

 parsnips, cabbage lettuce, curly leaf lettuce, 



Howard supplied his home with vegetables all 

 summer. Area of garden 50 x 40 feet 



cabbage, and besides these I had a patch of yellow 

 field corn. I had fifteen varieties of flowers. The 

 cutworms bothered quite a little the first part of 

 the summer so that I had to put paper around the 

 cauliflower and cabbage plants when I set them 

 out. I entered a collection of vegetables and 

 flowers at the Groton Fair, September 29th, and 

 got second prize. 



Groton, Mass. Paul H. Wilson. 



I planted my nasturtiums in a place about ten 

 feet long and twenty-seven inches wide. I planted 

 two rows of seeds and put them about three- 

 quarters of an inch under the ground. They 

 came up in about a week and they grew rapidly. 

 I planted them about the first of April. About 

 May they had advanced very much. About the 

 first of June the plants had little green worms on 

 them. I sprayed with arsenate of [lead, and in 

 two or three days I had gotten rid of the pests. My 

 first flower came out on July 4th, Independence 

 Day. I have had a great many bunches of nas- 

 turtiums since July 4th. They were the climbing 

 nasturtium. The leaves were very large, and I 

 soon had to put strings up for them to climb on. 

 I planted them right under the dining-room window 

 and they were also at the foot of the porch steps. 

 I planted my sweet peas, but only a few came out 

 as it was rather late when I planted them. Those 

 that did come out were very large and fragrant. 

 They were planted against a fence in a bed about 

 seven or eight feet long and a foot wide. 



Rochester, N. Y. Esther Henckell. 



I will describe how I cared for my plot in Hudson 

 Park. The ground was measured into plots three 

 by six feet. The earth had to be dug with a spade. 

 The large stones were removed by a rake. After 

 this was completed the work of sowing the seeds 

 began. I divided the ground into five rows. In 

 the first I planted radishes, a few seeds in a place 

 and about an inch and a half apart. In the second, 

 beans, one in a place and a few inches apart. In 

 the third, beets, a few in a place and a few inches 

 apart. In the fourth, carrots, which I scattered 

 along the ground. The fifth, I divided into two 

 parts, putting onions in one part, and in the other 

 I scattered lettuce seeds, and when it had grown 

 to a certain size I transplanted it. I took great 

 care that the weeds would not choke out the 

 vegetables while growing. I watered them three 

 times a week after the sun went down. Farming 

 is entirely new to me. And I hope by next summer 

 my garden may be even a greater success. 



New York City. Richard Quigley. 



From a Boy's Garden 



AS A faithful old reliable, the foxglove is one 

 of the best flowers in the garden. Once 

 grown, it reseeds itself industriously in all corners. 

 We have grown it with much success, some plants 

 attaining a height of nine feet. 



Those in the picture were found by a little boy, 

 growing in various parts of the garden, and planted 

 by him in a "nursery." In the fall they were planted 

 in his corner at the end of an old-fashioned border, 

 Some were planted close to the edge of the border, 

 thus bending gracefully over its edge to whisper 

 courage to the daisies. For effect and charming 

 picturesqueness, the foxglove occupies a place of 

 its own. 



This summer the boy has discovered some eight 

 or nine dozen foxglove plants here and there in 

 the garden, which are now a flourishing colony 

 ready for their permanent places. It is a biennial, 

 blossoming the second year after sowing. The 

 white foxgloves are especially beautiful, sometimes 

 oddly penciled. 



When the foxgloves had finished blooming, the 

 Shasta daisies (planted in front of them) opened 

 their handsome white flowers, so the corner was 

 attractive all summer. The gap in the daisies 

 was where a mole showed an appetite for tender 

 green leaves. Next year the boy plans to have 

 a longer row by using all the new foxgloves and 

 dividing the daisies into more plants. 



The boy has started a seed-bed of his own by 

 gathering ripe seeds from the flowers, and wherever 

 there happens to be a bare spot he asks, "Can I 

 have that for my garden, too?" 



