176 
It is a nice job to cure begoniatubers. Frost must 
never touch them 
Simply remove larger or outside leaves so 
that the plant will be handled easier and 
occupy less space during the drying process. 
As the leaves dry off they can be removed 
Make Your Yard Attractive All Winter—By Evelyn Prince Cahoon, 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
one by one; but the stems should not be 
cut near the bulb, as it is better to leave 
the point of growth protruding from the 
bulb uncut. 
The cellar is probably the best place for 
these along with dahlias and cannas, though 
some think they need a warmer place. I 
have not found them hard to keep. Being 
large and fleshy, the bulb is not liable to 
shrivel. 
Any of the above named subjects are liable 
to rot or other disease, and therefore it is 
good policy to turn them over and examine 
them now and again. Incase of rot, remove 
the affected bulbs from the others so that 
the disease will not spread. Remove all 
diseased matter from the affected parts 
and rub or dust the surface with air-slaked 
lime. Should the bulbs as a whole appear 
damp to the touch dust them with lime. 
This will dry up excessive moisture and 
prevent spread of the disease. Flowers of 
sulphur are also a good dusting material. 
Should the bulbs be drying too fast, cover. 
them lightly with dry, clean sand which 
will keep the bulbs plump and firm. 
In a climate of such extremes as ours, 
it is hardly possible always to maintain 
perfect conditions, and the only way to 
counterbalance adverse conditions is to keep 
— 
NovEMBER, 1908 
/ 
a 
“ 
y . 
Itis easy to store dahlia roots but they must be 
lifted carefully 
a sharp eye on the bulbs and roots, and use 
the necessary remedies on the first appear- 
ance of trouble. 
Kansas 
City, Mo. 
THE FIRST OF A SERIES OF ARTICLES ON ‘‘CIVIC IMPROVEMENT WITHOUT THE RED TAPE,” SHOW- 
ING WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR OWN YARD AND NEIGHBORHOOD WITH LITTLE OR NO EXPENSE 
HERE is not the slightest excuse in the 
world for allowing home grounds to be 
comfortless and colorless five-twelfths of 
the year. If you have plenty of time, room, 
i 
| 
The common barberry ( Berberis vulgaris) has clusters 
of bright red berries that are attractive all winter 
and money you can plant rhododendrons 
and other evergreens. But even if you 
do not have one cent to spare this fall you 
can do much by following this simple, prac- 
tical programme. There is no need of 
waiting for the city to do anything, or for a 
balky committee. You do not even need 
to join a civic improvement society, though 
you ought to. 
Civic improvement, like charity, begins 
at home. Judge your home grounds by 
the simple standard of this article. Have 
you any of these plants? If not, you can 
add greatly to the pleasure of your home 
life by taking quick action now. Every 
plant can be gotten from a nurseryman and 
if you can afford to buy them, do so. 
If your place really comes up to the stan- 
dard implied by your article, won’t you plant 
some of these vines on the nearest ruins or 
eyesore or set some of these wild shrubs 
along the roadside where you can enjoy 
them every day this winter ?— Epiror]. 
Just to show what wonders can be accom- 
plished even in the most crowded cities by 
people who are willing to work but have 
literally not one cent to waste, I have made a 
planting plan for a back yard, which is only 
ten by twenty feet. 
It is a sort of unit plan. For example, 
if you have twice the number of square feet 
you will need twice as many plants. But 
no matter what the size of your lot I hope the 
plan will be useful to you, because it shows 
the five great classes of plants for winter 
effect that you can collect from the wild or 
buy at the cheapest rate from the nursery- 
men, viz., vines, berries, shrubs with 
brightly colored bark, perennials and bulbs. 
VINES TO PLANT THIS FALL 
The first thing is to screen unsightly 
objects, such as neighboring buildings or 
a high board fence. Therefore, I would 
plant Virginia creeper, a permanent vine 
which gives splendid reds in autumn. 
Set three of these at intervals across the 
back end as shown. You can find these 
growing wild in the woods near by. 
Why not have crocuses in your lawn? Thisis too 
dense for a small garden 
