30 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



February, 1914 



Tested 



The Seeds With a Pedigree " 



What We Mean 

 by Tested Seeds 



Carter's Seeds are tested 

 for germination, for pur- 

 ity, for quality and for 

 production. 



At Raynes Park, London, 

 England, James Carter & 

 Co. have the most com- 

 plete testing and trial 

 grounds in the World. 

 Methods are employed 

 that are the result of 

 generations of experience. 

 They test not only their 

 own seeds but other 

 strains to be sure of main- 

 taining the superiority of 

 Carter's. 



In Carter's Tested Seeds, 

 you get flower and vege- 

 table seeds as -pure, as 

 clean, as virile as human 

 knowledge and -painstaking 

 care can make them. 



Carter's Seeds are stand- 

 ard in Europe. 



They are making a re- 

 markable record in 

 " T '" iGE0R0Ey -< America. 



Write today for a copy 

 of the new Carter Catalog of Flowers and 

 Vegetables — American Edition with all 

 prices in American- currency. 



It contains many varieties new to you — 

 many you should know. 



CARTER'S TESTED SEEDS, Inc. 



104 Chamber of Commerce Bldg., Boston, Mass. 



Canadian Branch, 133 King St. , Toronto 



// you are interested in upkeep of Lawn, Tennis-Courts or Golf- 

 Course, write for the "Practical Greenkeeper." Every Championship 

 Golf-Course in America is today using Carter's Tested Qrass Seed 



Start a Fernery 



Brighten up the deep, shady nooks on your lawn, or that dark 



porch corner just the places for our hardy wild ferns and wild flower 



collections. We have been growing them for 25 years and know 



what varieties are suited to your conditions. Tell us the kind 



of soil you have — light, sandy, clay — and we will advise you. 



Gillett's Ferns and Flowers 



will give the charm of nature to your yard. These include not only hardy wild 

 ferns, but native orchids, and Flowers for wet and swampy spots, rocky hillsides 

 and dry woods. We also grow such hardy flowers as primroses, campanulas, 

 digitalis, violets, hepaticas, trilliums, and wild flowers which require open sunlight 

 as well as shade. If you want a bit of an old-time wildwood garden, with flowers 

 iust as Nature grows them — send for our new catalogue and let us advise you 

 what to select and how to succeed with them. 



EDWARD GILLETT, 3 Main St., Southwlck, Mass. 



For the 



Starting Flowers in a Hotbed 



EVEN in California everyHtover of flowers should 

 have a jhotbed. It is then possible to grow 

 some of the plants that need to have protection at 

 the start. , 



It is the usual thing to build it so that the plants 

 will be on about the level of the surrounding soil or 

 a little above it. With such a bed it is necessary to 

 dig a hole four feet deep into which the manure 

 that is to furnish the heat is packed. 



A good size for a small place is six feet long and 

 three feet wide. Usually second-hand sash can be 

 secured for the covering, and it is always a wise 

 plan to see what sort of bargain you can get in a 

 sash before you build the bed. Then you can make 

 the bed to fit the sash. 



The back ot the frame should be eighteen inches 

 high and the front eight inches. This will give 

 enough slant to the sash to shed the rain. 



The frame is usually made of 2-inch lumber, but 

 if a cheaper and less permanent bed is desired, inch 

 boards will serve. There should be a narrow strip 

 nailed on to the top and bottom boards of the frame 

 to hold the sash in place. Other than this, the 

 frame is a plain rectangular box with the back ten 

 inches higher than the front. 



The hole, of course, should be a little smaller than 

 the frame so there will be a ledge on which the frame 

 may rest firmly. In making the compost, mix an 

 equal quantity of fresh, strawy stable manure with 

 freshly gathered leaves. Mix them three or four 

 times every second day for eight days. In deter- 

 mining the quantity to thus prepare, make a heap 

 two or three feet larger all around than the frame. 

 This will allow for the packing. 



When the compost is ready, throw in a layer 

 of about six inches and tread it down thoroughly. 

 See that each layer is evenly spread and firmly 

 packed. After eight layers, each six inches thick, 

 have been packed into the hole, spread on a layer 

 of sand mixed with leafmold. Moisten and sow 

 the seeds. Then put on the sash, leaving a place 

 for ventilation at the top. Hang a thermometer in 

 the bed and watch it for several days. If it gets 

 hotter than 85 degrees, give more ventilation; and 

 if it gets colder, close a part of the opening. 



The seed is sown rather thickly in the hotbed and 

 when the young plants are about an inch high they 

 must be " pricked off." This means that they must be 

 transplanted into small boxes or flats. Lift a bunch 

 of the plants with the soil from the bed, take into 

 a building or into the shade out of doors and shake 

 the soil carefully from the roots. The box has al- 

 ready been prepared with a 2-inch layer of sand and 

 leafmold. Set the young plants into this three 

 inches apart by making a hole with the forefinger 

 and dropping the roots into it. The soil must then 

 be pressed firmly around the roots. 



Now carry the box to the hotbed and place it 

 where the plants were removed. Place a cloth over 

 the sash just above the transplanted seedlings and 

 leave this shade until the plants have secured a good 

 rooting. If you are doing this for the first time, 

 leave a part of the plants in the hotbed until your 

 first venture has proven a success. If . the seed- 

 lings straighten up in a few days and begin to grow, 

 your methods are correct. 



After the seedlings are well established, remove 

 the shade and set the boxes outside of the frame 

 during the middle of the day. By increasing the 

 length of time out of the frame, you will gradually 

 harden the plants to the outside temperature so 

 that by the time they are about six inches high 

 they are able to stand it without protection. 



Then is the time to transplant into the position 

 where they are to flower. Choose a cloudy day to 



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