The Garden Magazine, July, 1922 



321 



amount of acid phosphate. In applying any of 

 the chemical fertilizers in dry form it is always 

 best to work them well into the soil with 

 a small rake and. then give the bed a 

 thorough watering. 



Potassium, as potash, gives 

 strength to the cell wall and the 

 rich green color of foliage which 

 denotes a plant in perfect health. 

 Most garden soils of a clayey 

 nature usually have enough 

 potash. However, if the 

 growth of the Roses be some- 

 what slender and of a poor 

 color, it may usually be cor- 

 rected by an application of 

 wood ashes, one of the 

 common sources of potash. 

 A single application of 

 wood ashes at the rate of 

 one pound to twenty square 

 feet will be sufficient for the 

 entire season. 



If these fertilizers were 

 applied the last of May or in 

 June and followed by a two- 

 inch mulch of rotten manure 

 about the first of July there 

 will be sufficient food in the 

 soil to last the rest of the grow- 

 ing season. This mulch also helps 

 retain the moisture, which is im- 

 portant, for should the soil become 

 very dry, many of the small feeding 

 roots of the plant are injured. 



The type of soil is to be considered 

 before choosing the manure as a Rose fer- 

 tilizer. Cow manure, especially if well rotted, is 

 undoubtedly the best all-around fertilizer for our 

 purpose; but if the soil is decidedly clayey, the water content 

 of the cow manure is apt to cause the surface of the bed to 



become pasty, which in hot weather is likely 

 to bake very hard. If only recent manure 

 is procurable (not more than a few 

 months old) horse manure will give 

 better results on a heavy clay soil. 

 Both cow and sheep manure may 

 be procured in dry pulverized form 

 and are undoubtedly pleasanter 

 to handle. The most satisfac- 

 tory way of applying this 

 type of manure is in liquid 

 form. A bushel of manure 

 to fifty gallons of water is 

 the usual proportion. At 

 this strength a gallon 

 should cover about ten 

 square feet. Apply once a 

 week up until the middle 

 of August. 



If used dry, first lightly 

 stir the surface of the bed 

 and then apply a thin 

 evenly distributed coat, 

 working it into the soil, and 

 then giving a good water- 

 ing. 

 Several "Don'ts" to be 

 observed when fertilizing 

 Roses are: 



Don't feed unless the plant is 

 in active growth. 

 Don't overfeed at any one time; 

 little, and not too often is better. 

 Don't feed unless the soil is moist 

 when using chemical fertilizers or 

 fresh manures. Otherwise the feeding 

 rootlets will be injured and growth checked 

 rather than stimulated. 

 Don't feed later than the middle of August. To 

 do so is to stimulate late growth which means unripened 

 wood in the fall with danger of winter injury. 



LOOKING THROUGH AUGUST TO THE EARLY FALL 



IN THAT magic slogan "Next Year" lies half the zest of gardening! Already as we watch this 

 season's garden procession — humble vegetable, goodly fruitage, and flower — file slowly past, 

 we are beginning to plan a repetition of its successes and a correction of its omissions, and have 

 dreams of plunges into the still unknown. 



And because EVERY TIME IS PLANTING TIME for some things SOMEWHERE, imme- 

 diately we commence to figure on what can be put in now. Fall and winter are not at all the ogres 

 convention fancies them, but rather beneficent slumbrously inclined old friends, so why waste 

 months when newcomers to your garden might be getting comfortably settled and ready for an early 

 start in the spring? 



EVERGREENS, IRISES, PEONIES, all kinds of HERBACEOUS PERENNIALS, 

 STRAWBERRIES take kindly to AUGUST PLANTING. Also SOW SEEDS of PERENNIALS 

 and BIENNIALS for your hardy border of 1923. 



In EARLY FALL plant SHRUBS, TREES (except the thin-skinned and the spongy- 

 rooted), and BULBS, unless you live south of the Mason and Dixon line where things in the plant 

 world move faster. If it happen you be in Florida, you will find a reliable guide in Emily Wilcox 

 who writes (August GARDEN MAGAZINE) out of the fulness of extended personal experience 

 about gardening conditions there, where the fall planting season begins considerably earlier than 

 in the North. 



HOW TO KNOW AND GROW GLADIOLUS, a miniature compendium for the amateur, 

 is being specially prepared for our August issue. Mr. Charles E. F. Gersdorff will tell about BEST 

 GARDEN VARIETIES; other recognized experts will deal with SOIL, SITE, CULTIVATION, 

 and the DECORATIVE USES of the flowers. Mr. Gersdorff 's lists of standard and new varieties 

 hold illumination not alone for the newcomer in the field of Gladiolus growing but for the initiate 

 to whom he is already an authoritative figure. Compact and comprehensive and practical — a 

 manual to be read with interest and kept for reference! 



m 



