The Garden Magazine 
Wor. Vill—No.'6 
PUBLISHED MONTHLY 
JANUARY, 1909 
ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
FIFTEEN CENTS A COPY 
[For the purpose of reckoning dates, New York is 
generally taken as a standard. Allow six days’ difference 
for every hundred miles of latitude.] 
Take Care of the Christmas 
Plants 
OU need not lose all the Christmas 
plants after they have done their 
season’s service. Unfortunately, the great 
‘majority of plants that flower for Christ- 
mas are doomed to death immediately they 
leave the florist’s, but you can take care of 
yours and preserve some of them for a very 
long time. The best arrangement of all is 
to have a sort of small frame or toy green- 
house built as an extension to the window, 
in which the plants can be given plenty of 
light and a proper temperature maintained. 
The next best thing is to put them in a room 
rather cool than warm, and which is not sub- 
ject to extreme variations or to hot and cold 
drafts. 
As soon as the plant is received from the 
florist’s it should be watered thoroughly, or 
the pot plunged into a pail of water. 
Do this in a cool place, and if the plant is 
to be put into a much-heated living-room it 
should be gradually brought up to the warmer 
“place in successive stages, resting several 
hours in each. 
Azaleas that have done service should be 
_kept watered after the flowers have dropped, 
and as soon as possible in spring should be 
plunged outdoors in a shady place and kept 
growing all summer. Forced bulbous stock 
is not worth carrying over for another year. 
If you live in the South, there are great 
opportunities for planting trees and shrubs 
during this month. Read the article on 
page 290. 
The most important thing for you to do, 
if you live in the North, is to make your 
plans for the coming season. Send for the 
catalogues of the nurserymen and seedsmen, 
and do your studying while the ground is 
still frozen. All the dealers will gladly 
ry 
send their catalogues on receipt of a 
request by mail if you mention THE 
GARDEN MAGAZINE. 
Repairing and overhauling large trees 
is best done during the winter because the 
condition of the tree can be more easily seen, 
and useless and dead branches removed more 
easily when there is no confusion of foliage. 
Are there any old decaying trees about 
your place that you would very much dislike 
to lose? You had better consult some of 
the expert tree-menders. This work has 
become specialized and is done now by 
skilled gangs who can do it more quickly, 
more efficiently, and probably more 
cheaply, than you can do it yourself with 
unskilled labor of your own. It is risky, 
dangerous work, too, and every now and 
then there are serious accidents to inexperi- 
enced workers. Is it not worth your while 
to avoid such risks? 
Everyone should know by this time that 
the San José scale has been brought into 
subjection by winter spraying with the lime- 
sulphur wash. It may make the trees and 
shrubs look unnatural, but it saves their 
lives and prevents the spread of the pest 
among your neighbours. 
The only time when very strong sprays can 
be used is when the wood is dormant in 
winter. The lime-sulphur and _ crude-oil 
sprays should never be used at any other 
time. 
DUTCH BULBS 
Do not forget the flats and boxes that were 
put up in the fall and buried. They may be 
making considerable growth by this time. 
Remove the ashes from everything that has 
grown up a few inches. They may be 
brought into heat and pushed on into flower 
as needed. Place them in a warm, dark 
place in order to make good growth, but the 
Cape bulbs must be put into a light place, 
cool and airy. Don’t let them get “drawn.” 
Anemones, calochortus, and ranunculus 
must remain in the frames for some little 
time, or if brought indoors must be kept as 
cool as violets. The secret of success in 
forcing this class of flower root is in forcing 
ever so little. 
Freesias that have done flowering must 
be put in the lightest part of the greenhouse 
or window, that the bulbs may be ripened 
off properly for starting next season. 
Take advantage of the available heat in 
the greenhouse at this time to propagate 
stove and‘greenhouse plants. Warmth day 
and night is necessary for crotons, seedums, 
and such like things. Geraniums and helio- 
tropes can also be started for stock or for 
growing on indoors. 
Hybrid perpetual roses that are wanted to 
flower for Easter (April 11th) must be started 
in January. They will take twelve weeks to 
come into flower. Start forcing Crimson 
Rambler roses. Plants that are now in pots 
and have flowered before should have a 
top dressing of bone meal and loam, the 
useless wood cut out, and last season’s 
growths trained into any form desired. 
Keep them as cool as violets until a break 
is made, and then ro degrees more should be 
given. Syringe lightly every day and avoid 
drafts. The hybrid perpetual roses can be 
treated exactly the same. 
Every year there is more or less of a scare about the destruction of our forests owing to the Christ- 
mas trade. 
Do not entertain any fear that the demand for Christmas trees is depleting all our forests. 
The material that comes into the market is nothing but weedy growth, which would be cut and sac- 
Tificed anyway 
