52 



// you are planning lo build, the Readers' 

 Service can give you help Jul suggestions 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



September, 1909 



i$m 



Residence at Greenwich, Conn. 

 Heated by KELSEY System 



GENERATOR 



System of 



HEATING 



Means Home Health, Comfort. 



You cannot afford to buy a heating ap- 

 paratus before you investigate the KELSEY. 

 Get our I 1 2 page book " Opinions n about 

 house heating. Free on request. Ask any 

 KELSEY owner about the KELSEY. 



The KELSEY heats every 

 room alike, saves 20% to 30% 

 in fuel, gives perfect ventilation. 



The Great Battery of ZIG-ZAG 

 HEAT TUBES of the KELSEY gives 

 more than double the heating surfaces \ 



of furnaces, reducing coal bills, giving an individual heater for each room if desired, forcing great 

 volumes of properly warmed (not scorched or overheated) air to all parts of the house. Uniform 

 spring like warmth. Abundant ventilation. No cold rooms. No overheated rooms. The KELSEY 

 will outlast several furnaces and is the easiest, sfrhplest thing imaginable to operate. 



KELSEY Heating is better and more economical in every way than steam or hot water systems 

 with their leaky rattling pipes, unsightly radiators and dead air heated over and over. 



KELSEY Heating is for Homes of ALL SIZES, Churches and Schools. Over 35,000 sold. 



K"P"I QFV I-IF ATINP PO Main Office, 116 E. Fayette St.. Syracuse, N. Y. 

 rvLLOE, I OH/*. 1 11> Vi \,\J., N . y. Office, 156-R Fifth Ave. & 20th St.. New York City 



HEDGE PLANTS 



Cal. Privet, Japanese Barberry, Am. Arbor 

 Vitae and Hemlock Spruce, Specialties 



MARTIN H. MUSSER 



38 Cottage Ave. - LANCASTER, Penna. 



1840 



Old Colony Nurseries 



1909 



HARDY SHRUBS, TREES, VINES 



EVERGREENS AND PERENNIALS 



A larg-e and fine stock of well-rooted plants grown in sandy toam. 



Good plants; best sizes for planting very cheap. Priced catalogue 



free on application. 



T. R. WATSON 



Plymouth, Mass. 



Competent Gardeners 



The comforts and products of a country home are in- 

 creased by employing a competent gardener ; if you want to 

 engage one write to us. Please give particulars regarding 

 place and say whether married or single man is wanted. We 

 have been supplying them for years to the best people every- 

 where. No fee asked. PETER HENDERSON & CO., Seeds- 

 men and Florists, 35 and 37 Cortlandt Street, New York City. 



Pro'f- Brooks 



Make the Farm Pay 



Complete Home Study Courses in Agriculture, 

 Horticulture, Floriculture, Landscape Gardening, For- 

 estry, Poultry Culture, and Veterinary Science under 

 Prof Brooks of the Mass. Agricultural College, Prof. 

 Craig of Cornell University and other eminent 

 teachers. Over one hundred Home Study 

 Courses under able professors in leading colleges. 

 250 page catalog free. Write to-day. 

 THE HOME CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL 

 Dept. G. A., frpringficld, Mass. 



MY beautifully illustrated catalog of CALIFORNIA BULBS, which I want you to send for, pictures 

 and describes the grand Lilies, the wonderfully brilliant Mariposa Tulips, Dog's Tooth Vio- 

 lets far more beautiful than the Eastern species and quite as hardy; blue flowered Camassias 

 excellent for naturalizing, and Wood Lilies larger and finer than those of the East. My gardens 

 contain the entire stock of the Burbank Hybrid Lilies all of which are described in my catalog. 



Fully as interesting to my Pacific Coast friends is my book on Dutch Bulbs in which I offer, 

 with complete cultural directions, those Tulips, Daffodils, Irises, and other bulbs best fitted for our 

 climate. 



A dozen bulbs of the Mariposa Tulip pictured above for 40 cents. 



CAFLL PUR.DY. UKIAH. CALIFORNIA 



Can Melons and Cucumbers Be 



Grown Together 



IT MAY seem a little presumptious for an 

 unknown to dispute the dictum of the "best 

 authorities" that melons, cucumbers, squashes, 

 and the like do not show the results of cross fertiliza- 

 tion in the fruit of the first year, but a couple of 

 experiments, unintentionally carried out a few years 

 ago, convinced me that in my garden cucumbers 

 should be well separated from the other vines — if I 

 wanted the fruits of each kind to be characteristic. 

 I also note that in W. C. McCollom's plans in the 

 April Garden Magazine melons are separated 

 from his cucumbers by corn and limas, while his 

 pumpkins and squashes, planted together among 

 the early corn, are isolated from the other vines 

 by late corn on one side and pole limas on the other. 

 Such has been my practice since I became wise. 



My first experience was when I planted my first 

 garden. I was inspired to plant my cucumbers 

 and muskmelons in alternate rows. It was an 

 original method; I never understood why I did it, 

 and I have never repeated it. 



The grocery boy who watched my labors with 

 interest remarked, "Them melons '11 be no good. 

 They '11 cross all right." To which I replied, much 

 in the terms of the "highest authorities" (all 

 unknown to me at that time), "Never mind, the 

 results may show in the fruit from this year's seed, 

 but it can't affect this year's fruit, and I am not 

 going to let them ripen for seed." 



The vines grew, blossomed, and fruited nicely, 

 and the cucumbers were the finest I ever raised, or 

 ate. The sliced fruit had a delightful melony 

 fragrance and flavor. In some the seeds hardened 

 rather more than usual, and some of the fruits were 

 small, round and a little like melons in appear- 

 ance, but most of the "cukes" were fine. I have 

 often planted a few melon seed among my cucum- 

 bers for the sake of improving the flavor. 



And what of the melons? They were curios. 

 I wish I had a photograph of some. The most 

 common freak was a fruit that started to be a 

 melon and then decided to be a cucumber, resulting 

 in a round ball with a tail, so to speak, like a round- 

 headed nail. Some were solid, like a cucumber; 

 some*were smooth; some were spiny, none were 

 good. I abandoned melons for some years. 



My second experiment was equally conclusive. 

 On the other side of a narrow road from my cucum- 

 ber patch was a dead tree which we thought to 

 convert into an object of interest by growing over it 

 some of the ornamental gourds. It certainly was 

 an interesting object — so were the cucumbers. 

 Some were short and thick; some were long and 

 slim; some were wooden; some were "nest eggs". 

 All were horrid. I almost gave up "cukes," but 

 eventually banished gourds. The parentage of 

 those "cucu-gourds" was as clear as would be that 

 of the offspring of a white Leghorn hen and a Black 

 Minorca rooster hatched from the eggs of this spring. 

 Some of the chicks would be speckled. The effect 

 of the cross does show in the first generation. Of 

 course the flower does not show any change, but the 

 fruit does, and now my cucumbers are separated 

 from my melons by corn, beans, potatoes — and as 

 much space as I can manage. 



New Jersey A. C. Brown. 



A Novel Way to Grow Corn 



LAST spring we planted our sweet corn twice, 

 but almost every kernel was dug up by gray 

 squirrels. While we are fond of the little animals 

 and carefully protect them, we are also very fond 

 of sweet corn. 



After some thought we concluded to sow the corn 

 very thickly in a small patch and enclose it, top and 

 sides, with chicken wire. When the corn was six 

 or eight inches high we transplanted it to the garden, 

 a small spadeful to a hill, pulling out all but four 

 stalks. As the soil about the roots was scarcely 

 disturbed, the corn continued to flourish. 



Later, when the corn was in ear, we rather sus- 

 pected the squirrels of contemplating another 

 onslaught, but a generous sprinkling of red pepper 

 over the ears, given one night just after the dew 

 had fallen, completely discouraged them. 



New York Herbert Pembroke. 



