218 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



January, 1914 



straw matting will often save a good 

 many leaves from falling in February 

 and March. 



7. Three kinds of trees are better des- 

 troyed (cut and burned) than treated, 

 because of our present inability to cope 



with their ailments. There are (a) hickories 

 badly infested with the hickory bark beetle ; 

 (b) pear trees badly attacked by fire blight; 

 and (c) locusts riddled by the locust borer. 

 8. Peach trees — that is, the trunk and 

 larger limbs — can now be washed with a 



one-fourth solution of ferrous sulphate to 

 destroy the spores of peach rust. 



9. Now, when the ground is frozen is a 

 good time to move large trees, and ever- 

 greens of all sorts (with a solid ball of 

 frozen earth). 



PEAS IS PEAS 



THIS is a true story with some 

 practical morals. "Last sum- 



mer," writes a correspondent, 

 "being shown some Thomas Laxton 

 peas and told how good they were, and 

 being, moreover, fond of sweet, luscious 

 melting peas, I decided to grow some of that 

 variety this coming summer. With this 

 intent I asked for them at the grocery store 

 of John Doe, but was told that he did not 

 have them. 'However,' said he, 'Gradus 

 is the same thing'; the salesman had told 

 him they both came out of the same bin in 

 the seed supply house, and Telephone as 

 well. As it happened he had assured me 

 the year before that Gradus and Telephone 

 were the same, although Laxton hadn't 

 been mentioned. 



"Of course Gradus is all right; I think 

 highly of it myself, but this time I wanted 

 Thomas Laxton, so I went on to Richard 

 Roe's, where one always expects to get the 

 best, whether seeds, spices, or what not. 

 But, strange to say, he too could not supply 

 Thomas Laxton, but didn't mind telling 

 me that Gradus was just the same — came 

 out of the same bin in fact, so the salesman 

 told him, and if he didn't know, who would? 

 But he went Mr. Doe one better, by offering 

 me part of a limited supply of some peas he 

 called Roe's Choice, in order, he said 'to 

 keep people from knowing their real name.' 

 And his candid opinion was that they were 

 simply the 'finest ever.' 



"Now I want to know why Thomas Lax- 

 ton, a pea so highly prized and recommended 

 by many, should be suppressed and merged 

 into the personality of another variety 

 which, I had always believed, is not only 

 different but in some respects inferior. 

 Or do these salesmen think we don't know 

 beans — or rather, peas — and cannot read 

 the catalogue descriptions? One . . . dealer 

 said in his catalogue, last year that the seed 

 crop of Gradus was almost a failure for that 

 season. But this could not have been 

 the case around here according to my 

 experience, unless, indeed, that versatile 

 'bin' was filled with something that was 

 neither Thomas Laxton nor Gradus either." 



That's the story, a not uncommon ex- 

 perience and here are the lessons: 



Moral I. Buy your seeds from reliable 

 houses, specialists if possible, who have repu- 

 tations to support; and not from corner 

 grocery supplies that all too often are no 

 better than the free expressions of Con- 

 gressional generosity. 



Moral II. Read Mr. Kruhm's and other's 

 articles on the best varieties of different 



JVems JVotes and Comments 



vegetables in back volumes of The Garden 

 Magazine, and choose from catalogues 

 that honestly describe those things. 



Moral III. Don't accept the word of the 

 uninformed storekeeper — especially if he 

 is trying to sell you something — as to 

 the origin of plant varieties. As it happens 

 Gradus and Laxton are related, having been 

 produced at the same place by the same man 

 although more than three years apart; but 

 they are no more the same pea, nor identi- 

 cal with Telephone, than Dorothy Perkins 

 is the same rose as Crimson Rambler, or 

 the Barred Plymouth Rock the same fowl 

 as the Leghorn. 



FOREWORD ON HOTBED MAKING 



NO GARDEN is really complete until 

 it includes some device for discount- 

 ing inclement weather of winter and early 

 spring. A greenhouse is of course the ideal 

 thing for it serves a multitude of purposes 

 in itself, but when this is not possible a hot- 

 bed is the practical alternative. A hot- 

 bed offers several advantages quite apart 

 from its inexpensiveness. 



The first is the possibility of starting 

 plants much earlier than they could pos- 

 sibly be started outside. They may then 

 be transplanted to the open ground almost, 

 if not quite, as soon as your neighbor begins 

 to plant his seeds. It follows naturally 

 that, with proper care, your harvest will 

 come from four to six weeks earlier than his. 



The second is the possibility of fully 

 maturing crops in these beds. Lettuce is 

 delicious when forced very early and used 

 in April or May; again, it may be invaluable 

 to the housekeeper late in the fall or early 

 winter when hotbeds may be utilized just 

 as in early spring. Beets, spinach, car- 

 rots, radishes, bunch onions and other crops 

 may be handled in the same way. 



The third advantage lies in the fact that 

 plants requiring a long growing season 

 may be fully matured in a short-season 

 climate by being started in a hotbed. 

 Perhaps you have tried to grow peppers 

 and had them killed by frost before the 

 edible parts were produced. If so you can 

 fully appreciate this point. 



Fourth, the earlier starting ana maturing 

 of the plants has a tendency to lengthen 

 the fruiting period, thereby returning larger 

 crops. Also it aids in the utilization of 

 space with companion and succession 

 crops, again increasing the product. 



A fifth advantage is the pleasure 

 derived from the employment of 

 all the preceding. Undoubtedly 

 excelling over the neighbors in 

 having the best garden is enjoy- 

 able, not to speak of the material con- 

 venience of having things "just so," 

 and when most wanted. 



Assuming then that you are going to have 

 a hotbed, you must next decide, first, 

 whether it will be one sash wide (3x6 ft.), 

 two sashes, or more; and second, just what 

 material to use. All wood is most common, 

 but stone, brick, or concrete may be used 

 below ground and wood above, or the wood 

 may consist merely of sills placed upon the 

 more permanent sides. 



Next, plans may be drawn and estimates 

 made for material needed — not only 

 wood, cement and sash, but also manure 

 or other heating agent, soil, mats, tools, etc. 

 The location for the hotbed should be 

 carefully chosen. A southern exposure 

 protected from the cold north winds is an 

 ideal location. 



These preliminary steps completed, you 

 are ready to take up the actual construction, 

 the cropping plan and operation of the bed. 



WHAT IS THE BEST? 



AFTER all, there is no such thing as a 

 "best" rose; or any thing else for 

 that matter. It all depends where you 

 live. In other words, different varieties 

 respond differently to different climates. 

 This was very forcibly brought out the 

 other day in correspondence from various 

 parts of the country. Similar collections of 

 roses had been tried in various sections. 

 A correspondent from California reports 

 Antoine Verdier as being by far the best; 

 in Florida it was Marie Van Houtte; 

 in Louisiana, the Queen; and so it goes. 

 Each section has its one particular variety. 

 What the average amateur wants to know 

 is which is the one best suited to his parti- 

 cular condition, and we are always glad to 

 have reports of this sort from our readers. 

 The information is helpful to others. 



INDEX TO .VOLUME XVIII 



THE present number completes Volume 

 XVIII of The Garden Magazine and 

 following the usual custom we have pre- 

 pared a Title Page and Index to Contents 

 for the convenience of subscribers who bind 

 their back numbers. This index is gladly 

 sent free to any one on request. Bound 

 volumes are also to be had. Our new read- 

 ers will find a wealth of practical informa- 

 tion in the back volumes that cannot be 

 repeated in the current year. 



