110 



The Readers' Service will give you 

 suggestions jor the care oj live-stock 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



March, 1911 



You ought to have 

 this greenhouse right 

 away, and start your 

 garden plants in it. 

 Costs only $250. 



That $250 covers everything, even to 

 the boiler and heating pipes. No extras 

 rung in. No foundations needed, as it is set 

 on iron foot pieces. Shipped in sections, 

 all glazed ready to bolt and screw to- 

 gether. Easy to erect. Order one right 

 now and beat your neighbor's garden by at 

 least a month. Have tomatoes Fourth of 

 July — a flower garden next fall — you can 

 "make garden" all winter. It's great fun! 

 Send for booklet. It tells you exactly what 

 you want to know. We can ship same 

 day order is received. 



Hitchings & Company 



1170 Broadway, N.Y. 



KILL ALL TREE PESTS 



and fertilize the soil by spraying with 



GOOD'S Si? WHALE OIL SOAP No. 3 



The surest death to San Jose Scale, fungi, apple scab and all other enemies 



to plant life. Contains rich active fertilizers. Free fom any injurious 



ingredients. Used and endorsed by State Experimental Stations and 



U. S. Department of Agriculture 



50 lbs. $2.50; 100 lbs. $4. 50; larger quantities proportionately less. 



Write for free Manual of Plant Diseases.' 1 



JAMES GOOD, Original -Maker, 981 M. Front St., Philadelphia 



Send Me 10 Cents- 



and the addresses of two flower- loving friends and 

 I will send you thirty seedsof the 



Giant Marguerite Carnation 



-which blooms in 4 months from sowing; also my 

 bargain collection of Royal Show Pansies, 100 col 

 ors: Sweet Peas, over 40 varieties: Asters, finest 

 mixed Nasturtiums. 20 kinds; also FREE. "Floral 

 'Culture" and my handsomely illustrated 18th An- 

 nual Otalog. MISS C. H. L1PPINCOTT, Pioneer Seedsiooman 

 u>pt 80, Hudson, Wis. (One hour's ride from Minneapolis) 



00DSEEDS 



BEST 

 IN 

 THE WORLD. PRICES 

 BELOW ALL OTHERS. 



I . give a lot of new sorts for trial with 



every order I fill. 

 A Grand Big Catalog CDCr 

 Illustrated with over * AA - ■*-* *-* 



700 engravings of vegetables and flowers. 

 Send yours and your neighbors' addresses. 



R. H. SHUMWAY, Rockford, Illinois 



\.'.^",V '■'■■ ~ ' \. ■', "-v.'.: f,l*w* 



Ji 



FIELD CROPS 



Lettuce Growing in Florida 



FOR actual hard, back-breaking work a lettuce 

 crop carries off the palm, although it is 

 the cleanest, quickest and prettiest crop of all 

 vegetables to raise. 



Lettuce is usually planted in Florida about the 

 first week in September. This time of sowing 

 has three advantages: the plants have enough 

 warm weather to grow to a large size; cool nights 

 come just in time to make them head-up with a 

 cabbage-like hardness; and the crop is ready to 

 ship after all lettuce grown north of Florida has been 

 killed by frost. Only the Big Boston variety is 

 planted, though special strains of this stock mas- 

 querade under other names. The seed, planted 

 in beds either broadcast or in drills five inches- 

 apart, sprouts in two days if well watered and 

 shaded, and is ready to set in the field in twenty 

 or thirty days from planting. Lettuce sown 

 September first should be ready to harvest in 

 November. Sometimes difficulty is experienced 

 in getting the seed to germinate in the hot days 

 of September, but I have found that flooding the 

 bed will start the most obstinate seed, even with- 

 out shading. This is preferable to sprouting 

 the seed before planting, as is practised by some 

 growers. 



At the time of sowing the seed, the field, which 

 has been plowed and harrowed, receives an appli- 

 cation of Canada hardwood ashes broadcast, 

 about one ton to the acre. This thoroughly 

 sweetens the land which has become water-logged 

 and soured by the heavy summer rains, and hastens 

 the decomposition of the sod that has been turned 

 under. Besides their potash content, ashes possess 

 other beneficial substances which lime, though 

 cheaper, does not. Ten days later, or about a 

 week before setting out the plants, one to two 

 tons of commercial fertilizer are spread on the 

 field as evenly as possible and harrowed in. 



A popular lettuce formula in this locality is a 

 6 — 6 — 6 containing nitrate, blood, bone, acid 

 phosphate, sulphate and muriate of potash. Other 

 formulas showing good results analyze a higher 

 content of ammonia and a lower percentage of 

 phosphoric acid and potash. The 4 to 5 per cent, 

 potash in the ashes supplies the necessary rations 

 of this element sufficient to harden the lettuce and 

 make it carry well to distant markets. Stable 

 manure is seldom used because almost impossible 

 to obtain. Humus is supplied by the green crop 

 that occupied the land during the summer. 



When the plants are ready to set out the field 

 is again harrowed, then smoothed and levelled 

 with a board, and marked off in 15-inch checks 

 or squares. Plants left in the seed-bed too long 

 show a tendency to run to seed. If the field is 

 sub-irrigated, the water is turned on until the 

 moisture shows on the surface, and then the plants 

 are set. One man drops the plants on the checks, 

 usually taking three rows at a time, another sets 

 them with a small mason's trowel, and a third 

 follows with a bucket and cup and drops a little 

 water on each plant to settle the earth around the 

 roots. In this way a good setter can transplant 

 about fifteen thousand plants a day, or about 

 half an acre. In two days the lettuce begins to 

 grow, and the water is turned off, not to be used 

 again, as too much moisture on lettuce induces 

 damping-ofi and "black-heart." 



From now on until harvest the only labor in- 

 volved is frequent cultivation with a wheel-hoe 

 in both directions, and perhaps one spraying of 



Says the Baron : 



"I pity a pedant; I pity a mind 

 that is made up like a bed the 

 first thing in the morning, and 

 goes on grimly like that all day, 

 refusing to be unmade till a cer- 

 tain fixed evening hour has 

 been reached ; and I assert that 

 it is a sign of a large way of 

 thinking, of the intellectual plia- 

 bility characteristic of the real 

 man of the world, to have no 

 such hard and fast determina- 

 tions and to be always ready 

 to camp." From 



I he Caravaners 



By the Author of 



"Elizabeth and Her German 

 Garden" 



which is now selling better than ever before 



DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & CO. 



GARDEN CITY, NEW YORK 



\ Spraying 

 i Guide J— 



"KANT-KLOG" 



SPRAYERS Jj| 



Something New S " 

 Gets twice the results— '— 

 with same labor and fluid. 3r 

 Flat or round, fine or coarse sprays 

 from same nozzle. Ten styles. For 

 trees, potatoes, gardens, whitewashing, 

 etc. Agents Wanted, Booklet Free. 



Rochester Spray Pump Co. gjgjlgflffi 



&£2 Mushrooms aSft'ESw 



Ad rf« in postage stamps together with the name of your 

 tU CIS. dea ] er w ;ii bring you, postpaid, direct from the 

 manufacturer, a fresh sample brick of 



Lambert's Pure Culture MUSHROOM SPAWN 



the best high-grade spawn in the market, together with large illustrated book 

 on Mushroom Culture, containing simple and practical methods of raising, 

 preserving and cooking mushrooms. Not more than one sample brick will 

 be sent to the same party. Further orders must come through your dealer. 



Address: American Spawn Co., Dept. 2, St. Paul, Minn. 



DEFEND YOUR FRUIT TREES 



From San Jose Scale and fungous diseases 

 with a Defender Sprayer. Powerful two- 

 line spraying apparatus. Made of Brass; 

 perfect construction. Quickly attached to 

 barrel; easy working. Saves time, labor 

 and fruit. Satisfaction guaranteed. 

 Descriptive circular and price list, free. 

 Write today. 



C. S. Harder, BozG, CatskiU, N. Y. 



LOOK OUT 

 FOR SPARKS 



No more danger or damage from flying 

 sparks. No more poorly fitted, flimsy fire- 

 place screens. Send for free booklet 

 " Sparks from the Fire-side." It tells about 

 the best kind of a spark guard for your in- 

 dividual fireplace. Write to-day for free 

 booklet and make your plans early. 



The Syracuse Wire Works 



107 University Avenue, - Syracuse, H.T, 



