76 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



March , 19 11 



time. As it transplants 

 easily, I favor indoor plant- 

 ing for the double kind. 

 This gives early bloom and 

 good colors can be increased 

 at once by taking cuttings 

 and sticking them in the 

 ground. 



The amethyst (Browal- 

 lia demissa, the B. elata of 

 the florists), generally is 

 used as a greenhouse an- 

 nual, but it may be grown 

 from April-sown seed for 

 bedding purposes. The 

 African daisy (Arctotis 

 grandis) gives fine flowers 

 for cutting in July if 

 sown under glass, and that 

 is the best way to be 

 sure of perfect blooms 

 of helichrysum, one of the 

 choicest of the everlast- 

 ings. For the same reason 

 the annual wallflower, an 

 excellent substitute for the 

 perennial kind where the latter objects to 

 the winter, should be sown in April. 



Among the lesser known half-hardy annuals the butterfly flower (Schizantlius Wise- 

 tonensis) is worth knowing for its variety of coloring 



These tender or half hardy annuals also 

 should be helped to get a proper foot- 



hold by forcing the season; 

 the balloon vine (Cardios- 

 permum); the lovely Swan 

 River daisy {Brachycome 

 iberidifolia); Japanese hop 

 (Humulus Japonicus); ice 

 plant (Mesembryanthemum 

 crystallinum); Joseph's coat 

 (Amaranthus tricolor); but- 

 terfly runner bean (Pha- 

 seolus multiflorus , var. papi- 

 lio); balsam apple (Momor- 

 dica balsamina) ; giant hemp 

 (Cannabis gigantea); yellow 

 morning glory (Convolvulus 

 aureus, var. superbus); bal- 

 sam pear (Momordica Char- 

 antia); squirting cucumber 

 (Momordica involucrata); rag 

 gourd (Cucumis acutangulis) ; 

 Bryonopsis laciniosa, Eryth- 

 rocarpa, coccinea , var. Indica, 

 Rhodanthe maculata, Cyclan- 

 thera explodens, Leptosyne 

 Stillmani, Linum grandiflor- 

 um, var. rubrum, martynia, 

 Matthiola bicornis,Nicotianaalata,Passiflora 

 gracilis, Thunbergia elata, and maurandia. 



Practical Celery Culture in Florida— By p. N. Hoist, 



Sanford 

 Florida 



[Editor's Note: — Supplementing the article in the January number on the general situation, a grower now tells his routine of cul- 

 tivation and shows how $1,000 an acre has actually been made in celery in the Sanford district. It is only fair to add that such returns are 

 coupled to great speculative uncertainty, on account of the chances of losing the entire crop. As a matter of fact the writer of the present article 

 suffered a complete loss of the crop following the one now described, and at the same time the price of lettuce fell to about 50 cents 

 net. We would emphasize these facts in view of correspondence that has reached us. Any venture that returns such large percentages must 

 of necessity be speculative and is not a safe poor-man's game, although he may win largely on his first venture. Other correspondents 

 declare that the West Coast of Florida offers still greater rewards, or rather that it is on record that a still greater return was made there, 

 at least once.} 



THE fact that flowing artesian wells 

 can be drilled at Sanford, Fla., is a 

 reason of the preeminence of that region 

 as a trucking centre. Flowing wells are 

 found at an average depth of 100 feet, and 

 a 2-inch well, complete with shut-off 

 valve, usually costs only $60. I know of 

 one well that was dug in an afternoon and 

 cost only $27.50. The whole district 

 is practically honey-combed with wells 

 (one to each five acres) without showing 

 any diminution in flow. 



The land in the district is of two types 



(1) The low hammock on the lake shore, 

 distinguished by the growth of hardwood, 

 and the peaty character of the soil; and 



(2) The so-called "flatwoods" or pine land 

 with sandy soil. This land in the raw 

 state now sells at from $125 to $200 per 

 acre according to location. Hammock land 

 costs more than flatwoods, as the ham- 

 mock soil contains more humus and there- 

 fore requires less fertilizer. 



The cost of clearing depends of course, 

 upon the nature of growth upon the land. 

 Hammock land sometimes costs as high 

 as $200 per acre to clear, whereas the flat- 

 woods can be handled at from $15 to $75 

 per acre. 



Clearing by the piece costs as follows : 



Trees dug up . 



$ 1 . 00 to $ 3 . 00 



Stumps dug up 



.35 to 1. 00 



Burning the wood and 





grubbings 



10.00 to 20.00 per acre 



Grubbing roots and 





scrub palmettoes 



10.00 to 20.00 per acre 



Disk plowing (4 mules) 



8 . 00 per acre 



Four horse cutaway 





harrow .... 



8 . 00 per day 



or about 



5 . 00 per acre 



There is very little profit in selling the 

 wood. Cut up in stove lengths it costs 

 $3 a cord, and $2 a cord for delivery. It 

 can sometimes be sold for $6 a cord de- 

 livered, but as a rule the sale of wood is 

 a negligible item in reducing the cost of 

 clearing. 



After the land has been thoroughly 

 broken up and the well dug, tiling is 

 commenced. 



The well is dug at the highest corner of 

 the field, and is provided with a valve so 

 that the water may be turned on or off 

 at will. The well pours into a large terra 

 cotta stand pipe which has a cement 

 bottom laid in it. From this, a terra cotta 

 4-inch main is laid along one side of the 

 field with all joints cemented. At inter- 

 vals of about twenty feet this main is 



tapped and the water from the main flows 

 into 8-inch terra cotta stand pipes which 

 are at the head of each row of lateral tiles. 

 The object of these stand-pipes is to 

 regulate (by means of wooden plugs) the 

 amount of water flowing into each row 

 of tile. The tile is laid eighteen inches 

 deep across the field with a slight fall 

 (1 to 3 inches to 100 feet). Three-inch 

 tile, a foot long, and made of clay or cement, 

 are commonly used. The water passes 

 through the joints where the tiles meet, 

 and these joints are covered with palmetto 

 fibre to keep sand from sifting into the tile. 

 At the lower end of the rows of tile are 

 so-called pockets to regulate the amount 

 of water to be turned on the crop. A 

 pocket, made of cement, is simply a box 

 with a partition in it. The tile enters the 

 lowest part of the pocket, and if the 

 partition is not plugged up, the water 

 flows right through the pocket into the 

 drainage ditch which is dug along the side 

 of the field opposite the main. But by 

 plugging the bottom hole in the partition 

 the water is raised until it pours through 

 a hole almost at the top of the partition. 

 By plugging this upper hole the water is 

 raised to the level of the top of the par- 



