184 



The Garden Magazine, May, 1922 



seem even smaller than it is. Moreover there is a cultural 

 reason for making perennial borders reasonably wide; we all 

 know the disagreeable habit that most perennials have of 

 showering blossoms on us for a few brief weeks, and then 

 fading out of sight completely. We rush to fill in the hole 

 with willing annuals, but it requires some time for the annuals 

 to take a foothold and start blooming, and in the meantime 

 the hole gapes at us. If the border is a narrow one, say 

 only one or two plants wide, it is apt to be a series of holes most 

 of the season ; but if broad enough for five or six ranks of flowers, 

 one group can hide the fading of another, and the whole border 

 can be kept looking presentable. Borders ten feet wide, with 

 paths at least four feet, six inches, is another rule the observance 

 of which contributes to the general dignity of the small garden. 

 Perhaps it would be better to say that perennial borders ought 

 to be about twice as wide as the paths, because some gardens 

 must be so tiny that it becomes necessary to reduce the width 

 of paths to single-file, so to speak. Four feet, six inches, by 

 the way, is about as narrow a path as two people can walk 

 abreast on comfortably. 



The flowers themselves on the smallish place must be de- 

 pendable sorts that will furnish big returns for the trouble they 

 cause; and they must be planned for succession of bloom so that 

 no week is vacant of interest. In planning this feature of a 

 garden, Miss Dean's method is to take a succession of groups of 

 two or more flowers, depending on the size of the area — which 

 bloom at the same time and look well together, and lay out the 

 garden with these as its back-bone. For example, begin with 

 salmon Poppies and Italian Alkanet in May and follow these 



by Phlox Miss Lingard and Delphinium in June, Monkshood 

 Sparks variety and Phlox Peach-blow in July, and so through 

 to Monkshood Napellus and Anemone japonica in the latest fall. 

 Placing groups of these combinations all around the garden so 

 that the whole garden will present a fairly uniform appearance 

 at any given season, among these plants lesser quantities of 

 flowers are woven to give desired diversity, to furnish the minor 

 surprises, the side shows, so to speak, and to fill in the gaps. 



IN THE small garden onemust have extra regard for the jarring 

 note — the mauve that turns out magenta, the scarlet that 

 shows the pinks up plum-color. In a garden where almost 

 everything can be seen at once, the color scheme has to be 

 conceived as a whole and nothing admitted which is going to 

 disturb the peace of any of the occupants. 



The shrub borders in the Gales garden are as narrow as they 

 could be made, and still shut out the neighbors. About ten feet 

 along the property line is all that is allowed for shrubs, and these 

 are mostly tall ones that get well up before they begin to spread; 

 Witch-hazel, Red-bud, some Sumach with Sweet-brier Roses 

 and Viburnum Carlesii for their fragrance, shut in the flower 

 garden. Elsewhere there are the more spreading garden shrubs 

 such as Lilac, Weigela and Ninebark; and at several points Cedars 

 for their depth of green; and, where space permits, White Pine, 

 whose spreading, indeterminate, misty foliage sets at naught 

 the most arbitrary property line." 



Given the same set of conditions, which are those of the 

 average suburban problem, how often is the solution a similarly 

 straightforward and satisfying one? 



fe£^ 



HOW ACID IS AN ACID SOIL? 



EDGAR T. WHERRY 



Smithsonian Institution 



Aniline Dyes Supplanting Litmus Paper — A More Convenient and Exact Way 

 of Testing Soils to Determine the Precise Degree of Sweetness or Sourness 



IHE significance of the "plant-foods," lime, potash, nitro- 

 gen, phosphorus, etc. has been extensively studied, and 

 is more or less familiar to every gardener. There is, 

 however, another chemical feature of soils which has 

 attracted less real attention, although much talked about, 

 namely the acidity (and its opposite, alkalinity). Acidity and 

 alkalinity, if strong enough, can be recognized by their taste, 

 acids being sour, alkalies bitter (or "soapy"); but to detect the 

 minute amounts present in ordinary soils recourse must be had 

 to indicators. These are dyes which change their colors when 

 subjected to the action of acids or of alkalies. The most 

 widely known indicator is litmus, which becomes red when 

 brought into contact with an acid solution, and blue with an 

 alkaline one. Litmus paper is actually used to some extent in 

 testing soils, but its color change is difficult to recognize in 

 many cases, and at best permits only a very rough estimate of 

 the strength of the acidity or alkalinity. In recent years, how- 

 ever, a number of more brilliant indicators have been developed, 

 (they are put up in a convenient set and are purchasable 

 with palatte, etc., complete) and by using a series of these it is 

 possible to determine readily the actual degree of acidity or of 

 alkalinity shown by a given soil. 



Several years ago Mr. Frederick V. Coville of the U. S. De- 

 partment of Agriculture demonstrated that by keeping the soil 

 acid it is quite possible to cultivate certain plants that have in 

 the past presented problems to the gardener, such as Blue- 

 berries, Trailing Arbutus, and others belonging to the Heath 

 family. In view of these results it occurred to me that it would 

 be desirable to study the preferences for soil acidity of other 

 wild flowers reputed to be impossible to grow in cultivation. 

 A method was therefore worked out for carrying the above men- 

 tioned indicators into the field, and making tests at the places 

 where the plants grow. This method is outlined here. 



A sample of soil a gram or two in weight is shaken from living 

 roots into an empty vial, and 5 cubic centimeters of the most 

 nearly neutral and salt-free water available is added, the vial 

 being shaken well to insure complete mixing. After the soil 

 and water are thoroughly mixed, the solid matter is compacted 

 with a stick, and the vial is supported at an angle of 45" and 

 allowed to stand until the bulk of the suspended matter has 

 settled. The more or less clear liquid is then decanted off into 

 a depression in a porcelain plate (artists' "slant" or chemists' 

 "spot-plate"). A tiny drop of the solution of an indicator, 

 the color changes of which occur near the neutral point, is then 



