62 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



September, 191 3. 



12 of the Prettiest 



TULIPS for 25c 



or 30 for 50c 



Be your garden large or small, its beauty will 

 be greatly enhanced by this collection of Tulips. 

 The Bulbs are first size and have just been 

 received from our growers in Holland. 



Their colors lend pleasing contrast to each other and 



clearly show the careful thought we have devoted to 



their selection. 



12 Thorburn's Tulip Bulbs (our selection) for 25c 



— or send 50c for 30 — postage paid. 



have been justly popular for over in years — not only by 

 reason of their low prices, but principally on account of 

 their exceptionally high quality. 



When ordering this collection, remember that we will also 

 send you our 1913 Bulb Catalog. It is unusually com- 

 prehensive and contains many helpful suggestions. 



J. M. THORBURN & CO. 



Established 1 802 — 1 1 1 years ago 

 53B Barclay Street, N. Y. 



Start a Fernery 



Brighten up the deep, shady nooks on your lawn, or that dark 

 porch corner-just the places for our hardy wild ferns and wild flower 

 collections. We have been growing them for 25 years and know 

 what varieties are suited to your conditions. Tell us the kind 

 I of soil you have — light, sandy, clay — and we will advise you. 



Gillett's Ferns and Flowers 



will give the charm of nature to your yard. These include not only hardy wild 

 ferns, but native orchids, and flowers for wet and swampy spots, rocky hillsides 

 and dry woods. We also grow such hardy flowers as primroses, campanulas, 

 digitalis, violets, hepaticas, trilliums, and wild flowers which require open sunlight 

 as well as shade. If you want a bit of an old-time wildwood garden, with flowers 

 just as Nature grows them — send for our new catalogue and let us advise you 

 what to select and how to succeed with them. 



EDWARD GILLETT, 3 Main St., Southwick, Mass. 



When You Build Your GREENHOUSE 



the first thing to consider is the 

 type of house which will be the 

 most productive, the strongest and 

 the most economically operated. 



King 

 Channel Bar 

 Greenhouses 



are so designed that they give max- 

 imum strength without heavy sup- 

 ports. 



They capture every ray of sunlight 

 from early morning till late after- 

 noon. That makes them productive. 



This special construction has exceptional architectural possibilities and can be built to fit 



in with any type of architecture or landscape plan. 



Lei us put you in (ouch with King Owners near you so that you can find out what they have to say. 



Anyway, send for Bulletin No. 46 which contains many fads and suggestions. 



King Construction Company, 235 King's Road, North Tonawanda, N. Y. 



All the Sunlight All Day Houses 



tftLaa'i 



The Last of Summer 



MAKE another sowing of pansies now, whether 

 or not you planted any seed in July or August. 

 Seed sown in July should furnish plants for trans- 

 planting during the month. 



Plant out peonies. They won't flower quite as 

 well in the South as at the North, but they are well 

 worth growing. Give them quantities of water. 

 A potash fertilizer will also aid in the production of 

 flowers. 



After harvesting let the hay cure well before 

 packing it away permanently. 



If you have a cow, a horse, or poultry be sure to 

 sow some rye. Manure it well. 



September is a good time to prepare for and sow 

 the following for winter greens and root crops: 

 Lettuce, kale, mustard, radishes, beets, turnips, 

 carrot, and parsnip. Remember it is just as im- 

 portant to thoroughly prepare the soil. Fertilize 

 now as thoroughly as in the spring. 



Look out for the black squash bugs and borers 

 which will appear on late squashes. Most of the 

 plants they have been feeding on are dying out and 

 they will attack the few green things that are left 

 in the garden. 



Crimson clover may be sown now for winter 

 cover crop. I believe many of the Southern farmers 

 and gardeners are making a great mistake in not 

 paying more attention to this winter cover crop 

 and pasture proposition. 



Essex rape is an excellent green food for hogs 

 and poultry in winter and may be sown now. 



Set out the winter cabbage and collard plants. 



Georgia. Thomas J. Steed. 



If the Soil be Poor, Then What? 



TWO of the most serious problems to the man 

 who owns land that refuses to yield a crop are: 

 How to fill the soil with plant food and humus with 

 little expense, and how to free it and keep it free 

 from weed pests. Fortunately the two labors may 

 be accomplished by one process; keep the soil 

 seeded with useful crops, all the year through, and 

 plow them in as often as conditions permit. Per- 

 sons with but little training may be discouraged by 

 the sight of a rank growth of weeds, but a heavy 

 cover crop of almost any kind is a reason for con- 

 gratulations. Weeds are killed by being plowed 

 under and by their decay the soil is improved in 

 mechanical texture and in fertility. Chemical 

 action on other plant food begins, and it is made 

 ready for use, and this vegetable fibre acts like a 

 sponge in catching and holding water for plant use. 



It is the soil which yields no weeds nor any other 

 growth that ought to make a man anxious. If the 

 owner has no fertilizer and must depend upon 

 plant growth to enrich the soil from the air, he 

 begins by thoroughly pulverizing the soil and sow- 

 ing vetch, which produces pods which snap open 

 and scatter their own seeds. They live over winter 

 in the earth. The ground is kept seeded and 

 covered and the plants, falling down, make a mulch, 

 or, if plowed in, provide humus. Humus aids in 

 keeping water in the soil, and this prevents the loam 

 from getting over heated. Humus changes minerals 

 in the soil into plant food. It makes clay soil 

 mellow. It binds sandy soil, giving it more sub- 

 stance and quality. Humus holds nitrogen in the 

 soil, and nitrogen is the most valuable and the most 

 expensive plant food we have to buy. 



Connecticut. Hollister Sage. 



What is a fair rental for a given property? Ask the Readers' Service 



