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THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



July, 1910 



WHEN you take a tramp into the wild, 

 and either don't want to be bothered 

 with a basket or are not sure that you will 

 have any plants to bring home, just fold a 

 trowel inside of a newspaper and let it go at 

 that. The package is then not troublesome 

 going, and if you happen to have any plants to 

 bring home, all you have to do is to wrap them, 

 with the trowel, in the newspaper. — B. G. 



During the past three years I have wasted 

 much time and some money in buying and 

 planting things which were either unfitted 

 to the climate, or to the location, soil, etc., 

 in which they were placed. In order to 

 avoid such mistakes beginners should read 

 assiduously some good garden publication, 

 and should also send to their state agricultural 

 departments or colleges for bulletins. There 

 are some plants and trees that will endure 

 intense heat, bitter cold and even neglect, 

 and there are others that will endure one or 

 more of these drawbacks. — J. T. B. 



There are, or there were ten years ago, 

 a few good plants of Himalayan rhodo- 

 dendrons in Golden Gate Park, San 

 Francisco. I gave them to the Park thirty 

 years or so ago, and they prospered amaz- 

 ingly. I do not know of any others growing 

 in the open ground in the United States, 

 although it is probable they exist in other 

 parts of California where I should think that 

 they would do well. I am afraid that these 

 rhododendrons will not prove successful out 

 of doors in any part of Eastern North America, 

 as they do not stand cold or limestone soil. 

 It is a pity, for among these rhododendrons 

 are some of the most beautiful of all garden 

 shrubs and trees. — C. S. Sargent, Mass. 



I have found it is a mistake to buy plants, 

 especially evergreens, from a nursery a long 

 distance away. This spring I bought some 

 young pines and cedars from one of the best 

 houses in America, but instead of being three 

 days on the road at the farthest, or two as they 

 should have been, the express company did not 

 deliver them for six days, and the roots had 

 begun to dry. I have looked after those trees 

 and given them as careful attention as could be 

 expected by the heir apparent to the Russian 

 throne, but I can see already that it is "love's 

 labor's lost," and I had better have thrown 

 them away and sent for more. So, if you have 

 a good nursery near home you had better 

 patronize it, and a small nursery may send 

 you as good plants as a large one. — J. T. B. 



When the last light snows came perhaps 

 you noticed that there were spots on your 

 grounds where the fall was either thin or left 

 a bare patch. Perhaps it was the south side 

 of a tree trunk. Keep those spots in mind 

 when you plant crocus, snowdrops and 

 scilla in the grass. It is hard lines when 

 you want to get up to have to punch a hole 

 in the bedclothes. — H. S. A. 



In reading the May number of The Gar- 

 den Magazine, I came across Mr. Royden 

 E. TulFs note on bagging grapes, and feel 

 that I can give, him a few points. We 

 have bagged ours for years, though we spray; 

 yet without the bags the fruit is not a success. 

 Last summer we bagged twenty-two hun- 

 dred; we grow them for our own pleasure, 

 and have some fine examples. We simply 

 fold the bag and pin it. It is not necessary 

 to tie it, nor to puncture it to enable water 

 to escape — it will by evaporation — and 

 spiders and various other insects are apt 

 to discover the smallest opening; we pin ours 

 as closely as possible, without pressure of 

 the stem. — Mrs. J. D. Z. 



I feel as though I had gained a point in 

 naturalizing small bulbs (scilla, crocus, 

 and snowdrop), which is worth telling. 

 Lifting up a piece of sod and placing the 

 bulbs underneath was never very satisfac- 

 tory, and making a hole in the sod with a 

 pointed stick seemed to compact the earth 

 around it too much; so last fall I took an iron 

 pipe with an inch bore and drove this into 

 the sod to a depth a little below that at 

 which the scilla, crocuses, or snowdrops were 

 to be set. When the pipe was withdrawn 

 with the soil contained in the bore an inch 

 hole was left with the surrounding soil in its 

 native condition. A small cushion of well- 

 prepared compost was put into the bottom 

 of the hole for the bulb to rest on and the 

 hole was filled with more compost. The 

 handle of the hammer with which the 

 pipe was driven into the ground served as 

 a means to push the dirt out of the bore 

 whenever it became clogged — a frequent 

 occurrence. A strong wooden mallet is best, 

 for an iron hammer will split the top of 

 the pipe. — C. L. M. 



I am enclosing herewith a picture of an 

 unusual sight in Iowa — tulips in bloom with 

 the ground covered with snow. It snowed 

 here in Burlington April 17th, and upon see- 

 ing the tulip bed I thought it might be 

 interesting to others. The best part of the 

 picture is that the tulips are not going to be 

 hurt in the least by the snow. — F. E., Jr. 



Blooming tulips covered with snow on April 17 



Nearly all the climbing roses in the vicinity 

 of Chicago were winter-killed last winter, 

 even those "strawed," etc. But mine were 

 boxed and covered with dry leaves and sur- 

 vived in good condition. Beds of Conrad 

 L. Meyer, in which the plants were several 

 years old and unprotected, were killed to 

 the ground. Young plants set out the 

 previous spring came through all right. 

 My climbing rose, Cumberland Belle, now 

 over fifteen years old and never protected, 

 was killed to the ground. — W. C. E. 



Many people in this country, when they 

 begin to beautify their home grounds, go to 

 the woods and dig up the small pines and 

 plant them. It is almost impossible to con- 

 vince these people that the exposure of the 

 roots to wind or sun will surely kill them. 

 This I have learned from experience. Also, 

 it is very hard to make people understand 

 that a nursery tree which has been often 

 transplanted has better roots and will grow 

 better than one taken out of the woods. This, 

 they say, is not natural, and it was only 

 two or three years ago that I believed as 

 they do. — J. T. B. 



Always keep a garden notebook — the 

 3x5 loose-leaf, indexed kind is best, because 

 most convenient. Devote one page exclu- 

 sively to the plants and seeds that you want 

 to buy the next spring — those that you for- 

 get this year, because you either didn't make 

 a note of them or could not tell where you 

 put the memorandum, as well as any that 

 you may have taken note of as the season 

 progressed. On another page — be sure 

 that no page has two kinds of things on it — 

 keep a list of the plants and seeds that you 

 have promised to others in the fall or spring. 

 On still another page keep a list of what 

 has been promised you, and in each case 

 state whether the thing is to be sent or 

 called for. You will be astonished to see 

 what a long memory a notebook has, come 

 next spring. — Samuel Goodrich. 



Besides the purposes for which it is in- 

 tended, a good sprayer can be used for many 

 other purposes about the home. Try spray- 

 ing the chicken house with insecticides, or 

 whitewash properly strained and thinned. 

 I have also found another use for the sprayer 

 that will quickly pay for the price of the 

 outfit. Wall paper needs continually replac- 

 ing, and it is unsanitary to place a new paper 

 on top of an old one. A sprayer is the 

 finest thing for taking off old wall paper that 

 I have ever seen. Fill the tank half full of 

 hot water, then create enough air pressure to 

 produce a fine misty spray. Apply this to 

 the paper in two applications, the first one 

 just enough to dampen the paper. The 

 water will run too much if applied the first 

 time and while the paper is dry; the second 

 application will be quickly absorbed. The 

 paper will then peel off so easily that you will 

 be surprised and delighted. The money 

 saved by removing the paper from two 

 medium size rooms will pay for an auto- 

 spray and a good nozzle, and a brass one 

 at that! — J. L. K. 



