270 



The Garden Magazine, June, 1922 



one's back, which is inclined to resent the second thinning on hands 

 and knees. This follows closely after the first, and leaves the in- 

 dividual plants intended for heading with space for development in 

 accordance with the size of the head. This last thinning is done with 

 the aid of a slender knife, and the soil is worked up lightly about each 

 plant at the same time. We always save the strongest plants, discard- 

 ing those which have grown spindling from crowding. 



After fifteen years of experience both with and without water for 

 irrigation, we find that where warm weather comes early and no facili- 

 ties for watering are available, transplanted Lettuce plants do not head 

 as well as those which have not been disturbed. The fact has become 

 so well established for our climate that we never transplant Head Let- 

 tuce except to fill vacancies early in the season. It has also been our 

 experience that certain varieties behave differently in different sections 

 of the United States. 



This year our list of varieties for a Wisconsin garden includes May 

 King, Black Seeded Tennisball, Mignonette, Salamander, All Sea- 

 sons, Hanson, Iceberg, Wonderful, and Paris White Cos. We try 

 new varieties each year, but some of the older sorts, such as Mignon- 

 ette, Salamander, and Hanson are so well adapted to our climate that 

 they have never been quite supplanted. 



After much experimentation with Chinese Cabbage we have decided 

 to grow only a variety called the Vaughan Strain. This forms a tall, 

 astonishingly solid head of excellent quality, and behaves properly in 

 every way in our garden. We plant the seeds in the open ground the 

 latter part of June; for July is usually very dry with us, and seed does 

 not then germinate well. Our plants grow slowly until the latter part 

 of August, when the rains bring them on with amazing rapidity, ready 

 for use late in September. Wong Bok develops a disease in our garden. 

 August plantings of Chinese Cabbage do not, in our region, produce 

 heads before freezing weather. 



We find that our Witloof Chicory does very well when the roots are 

 laid horizontally in the bottom of the box in which they are to be 

 forced. This enables one to use boxes of moderate size, and still cover 

 the roots deeply with sand. The slender heads can be cut well be- 

 low the surface and are nicely blanched. The same roots produce a 

 number of crops, in fact boxes planted after Christmas have been 

 growing rampantly in May. — Harriet L. Kutchin, Wisconsin. 



The Praise of the Rake 



To the Editors of The Garden Magazine: 



THE man with the rake is just as useful as the much be-sung "Man 

 with the Hoe." In fact, the rake may advantageously replace the 

 hoe to a greater extent than generally realized. 



The first use of the rake is, of course, to pulverize the soil after plow- 

 ing or spading. Personally, I prefer one not less than fourteen or six- 

 teen inches wide, with straight, flat teeth. By striking the lumps with 

 the flat of the rake in a slanting manner, you can make them crumble 

 easily into fine soil if the ground has dried on top, as it ought. Then the 

 soil may be raked smooth, and cleared of any remaining hard lumps. 



For fine seed, a shallow furrow may be made by drawing the end of 

 the rake along the garden line. For larger seeds and for Potato sets a 

 furrow may be started with the hoe or the hand-plow and cleaned out 

 deeper with the rake, which does this work more rapidly than the hoe. 

 When the seed has been scattered in the furrow, the rake again is the 

 best tool for filling in the soil, which it can make finer, if necessary, at 

 the same time. 



Some years ago the Rural New-Yorker made a considerable stir 

 by Potato experiments, some of which produced a crop on small plots 

 at the rate of i ,000 bushels an acre. Deep furrows were made in which 

 the sets were placed, the soil was then carefully raked back into the 

 furrow, this being a principal point in the operation. 



When sowing in spring the soil may be firmed over the seed by using 

 the flat of the rake, which presses down the soil just enough, the ground 

 being plenty moist at this season. As soon as the seedlings appear and 

 are thinned out, the tiny weeds which come up in the row may be 

 destroyed by drawing the rake across the rows. It will not uproot or 

 break off the seedlings if done in the afternoon, when they are not so 

 brittle as in the morning. This is especially useful with Potatoes, 

 Peas, Beans, and Corn. Much hard labor at hoeing may also be saved 

 if the rake be drawn between the rows as soon as a crust forms after each 

 shower. The "stitch in time saves nine" here especially. The rake 

 covers much more ground at a stroke than does the hoe, and leaves 

 the ground more level and fine. With a small hand cultivator and 

 rake there will be little need of the too well-known, back-breaking work 

 of hand-hoeing. Cultivation should be given early and often, as much 

 for the comfort of the gardener as for the good of the crops. 



Notches may be made in the handle of the rake at one foot, two feet, 

 etc., which will be useful in placing the garden line at the proper dis- 

 tances for the seed furrows. The smaller crops, Carrots, Parsnips, 

 Onions, Lettuce, Spinach, etc., do well in rows a foot apart. Cabbages 

 and Potatoes need a good two feet in garden culture, and Corn at 

 least three. 



Make a resolve to have the rake always handy and to use it more 

 freely, and you will get much more satisfaction out of your gardening. 

 — J. M. Long, Washington, D. C. 



The Beneficent Ladybug 



To the Editors of The Garden Magazine: 



I WONDER if someone can tell me through the Open Column of 

 Garden Magazine how to destroy ladybugs — we have them by 

 thousands and I find they injure my potted Ferns when put out-of- 

 doors in summer. They also hide under the leaves and grass in my 

 bulb beds, seeming especially fond of my large clumps of Funkia. — 

 Mrs. Thomas J. Farrar. 



— We are inclined to believe that the injury to your plants is not done by 

 the ladybug but by the plant lice which the ladybug larva? come to 

 feed on. The ladybug does not live on plants at all, but in its larval 

 form, an active gray-black grub usually spotted with bright color and 

 sometimes known as the "aphis lion," it devours hundreds of thousands 

 of aphis. You can get rid of the ladybug by destroying the aphis. — Ed. 



Driving Away Delphinium "Blacks" 



To the Editors of The Garden Magazine: 



ON page 48 of the March number "C. A. G., New York," inquires 

 for the remedy for "blacks disease" of Delphiniums. 

 Permit me to submit the following which I found in an issue of The 

 Garden Magazine some years ago, and have since been using with 

 much satisfaction and success: 



4 lbs. lump lime 

 1 lb. powdered tobacco dust 

 1 gal. water (to slake the lime) 

 Let the mixture boil as long as it will, and add more water if neces- 

 sary to completely slake the lime. When the mixture has ceased to boil, 

 add water enough to make 5 gals-. 



In applying, use 1 qt. of the solution to 1 1 qts. of water, pouring one 

 or two cupfuls about the roots of each plant, repeating every ten days, 

 if necessary. 



If plants are badly infected, the tops and any dark leaves should be 

 cut off and burned. If Delphiniums are sprayed with Pyrox from 

 time to time, beginning in spring when a few inches high, there is less 

 danger from "blacks." Since doing this I have seldom had to use the 

 above mixture as it keeps them in a healthy condition and apparently 

 more able to resist disease. — Mrs. Alexander Davidson, Ambler, Pa. 



The Editors of The Garden Magazine: 



IN THE March issue of The Garden Magazine I notice an inquiry for 

 the cure of Delphinium "blacks." Liquid lime solution, mixed 

 with about 30 parts of water, and applied with a spray pump is a sure 

 preventive of this disease. It will not cure plants that are already 

 afflicted but it does keep the disease from spreading. 



The black plants should be cut off to the ground, and the new growth 

 kept clean by spraying. — John W. Eierman, Bellflower, Cal. 



The Non-Orthodox Rose Grower 



To the Editors of The Garden Magazine: 



TN HIS article on "Learning What Roses Like" Mr. J. Horace McFar- 

 1 land touches a responsive chord. If there are any who have been 

 scared from attempting Roses, let them pluck up heart and go to it — 

 heedless of what the orthodox teachers may stipulate. After a life- 

 time's experience in amateur, professional, and trade circles, I have come 

 to the conclusion that the average amateur may be divided into two 

 classes: one lacking all knowledge and slamming into things on the hit 

 or miss principle; the other being saturated with orthodox book teach- 

 ings, either makes his life a misery trying to carry out these principles 

 or concludes that this, that, or the other plant is not for him. There 

 are exceptions to the rule, of course.; some are born gardeners and can 

 figure out things for themselves and work accordingly. 



I fear that with all my professional instinct, I am far from being 

 orthodox. Therefore when well meaning friends assured me I could 

 not hope to grow Roses on my sandy, stony soil, which could not be 



