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THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



March, 1914 



[Editor's Note. — We want to know how suc- 

 cessful workers do things in order to put actual 

 experiences before the thousands of our readers in all 

 parts of the country. Every reader is invited to con- 

 tribute a short note on some interesting experience. 

 Just state the facts about some ingenious idea that you 

 have actually worked out yourself or have seen.] 



When Planting Seed 



Plant aster seed in the open ground as 

 soon as the soil is in good working con- 

 dition. Then lay thin pieces of board 

 over them until they germinate. This 

 will prevent the soil from crusting over 

 and the seedlings will come through in a 

 much better condition. I have also suc- 

 cessfully tried this with other plants. — S. 

 M. A., Minnesota. 



Second Crop Cabbages 



When the early cabbage is matured and 

 ready for eating, which is usually in July, 

 do not pull up the stump and throw it 

 away. And do not cut it off down near 

 the root. Cut off the head well up, leaving 

 several of the large leaves on the stalk, 

 which will become delicious tender little 

 cabbages for use later on. They will be 

 quite large and solid if only three are al- 

 lowed to mature on each stump. — R. E. 

 H., Michigan. 



A Long=Nosed Watering Pot 



There are occasions when a long-nosed 

 watering pot is needed in watering plants 

 that stand back of plants upon shelves. 

 A long tin, or galvanized iron, tubing of 

 sufficient diameter to fit over the spout 

 of an ordinary watering pot, may be had 

 for a few cents from any tinsmith; or an 

 excellent substitute is a piece of worn and 

 discarded bathroom hose about eighteen 

 inches long. Slip this over the watering 

 pot nose, and stiffen it along its length by 

 a strip of wood tied to the pipe with twine 

 at intervals. The rubber hose will bend 

 downward at its free end, and this slight 

 curve will somewhat relieve that awkward 

 higher raising of the heavy pot which is 

 required when a stiff, straight, metal nose 

 piece is used. — I. W. B., Connecticut. 



A Pea Worth Growing 



I particularly enjoyed Mr. Kruhm's 

 article on "The Best Ten Peas for the 

 Home" in the March, 1913, Garden 

 Magazine; and I should like very much 

 to add another pea to his collection, with- 

 out which, in my opinion, no garden can 

 supply the highest pleasure in vegetables. 

 I mean the variety listed, often with lu- 



dicrous misspelling, as Petits Pois. The 

 vine is of a distinct color, different from any 

 other I have ever seen, a fine pale green, 

 always as fresh and clean as if a shower 

 had just passed. The pods are thin and 

 the peas are very small though plentiful 

 in number. They should be picked when 

 very tender and young, when the grower 

 of the ordinary pea will think they are 

 barely forming. And they must be cooked 

 with great care or they will quickly become 

 a mere paste. The gardener will laugh 

 at you for picking such tiny things, and 

 the cook will insist it is a waste of her 

 valuable time to shell such green stuff; 

 but your guest will admit that at last he 

 knows what is the Platonic idea of a pea, 

 and will eagerly ask when next he may come 

 again and feast upon a dream! — W. F. H., 

 Massachusetts. 

 Another Record Boston Fern 



In the April, 1913, number of The 

 Garden Magazine was an illustration of a 

 very large Boston fern. I, too, have one 

 of about the same age (eleven or twelve 

 years) which measures seven feet from the 

 floor to the top frond and the same distance 

 across. It has been turned so frequently 

 that it is equally beautiful on all sides. 

 In winter it is kept in a bay window with a 

 southern exposure, and in summer it is 

 put in the northwest corner of the porch 

 close to the house. About once a month 

 I use one teaspoonful of ammonia in a 

 quart of water when watering. The fern 

 is in a 14-inch pot and has not been shifted 

 for six years. Isn't this a record-breaking 

 plant? — O. B. C, Michigan. 



Rose=Entwined Clothes Posts 



In our backyard, our clothes posts seemed 

 a blemish, so we planted rambler roses 

 around them. We dug up . a circle two 

 feet in diameter around the base of the 

 posts and fertilized the soil well. All 

 common red Ramblers, or all Dorothy 

 Perkins, are beautiful; or if you wish 

 variety, plant one each of pink, cream, 

 white and crimson. Train them about 

 the posts, keeping them close to it so that 

 the branches may not interfere with the 

 legitimate mission of the posts and clothes- 

 line, and after blooming each year, cut back 

 the old wood unsparingly, that new 

 vigorous growth may be made for the 

 coming season. Try this method of 

 "clothes-yard landscape gardening" next 

 year, and see if your family does not vote it 

 a success. — F. S., Massachusetts. 

 Sure Death for Asparagus Beetles 



Early last spring I prepared a trench 

 75 feet long, in which I planted two-year 

 old asparagus roots. They grew rapidly 

 but it was not long until the asparagus 

 beetle found them. I did not discover 

 the presence of the beetles until many of 

 the larvae had hatched out and were 

 rapidly defoliating the plants. I had no 

 poison at hand the day the presence of the 

 beetles and larvae was discovered but a 

 passing automobile, leaving a cloud of 

 dust in its wake, gave me an idea. Seizing 



an old bucket, I filled it with fine dust and 

 gave the plants a complete dusting, being 

 careful to spread it on very liberally where 

 the larvae were at work. The next day, 

 when in town, I secured poison, but I was 

 not obliged to use it, for when I inspected 

 the plants not a beetle or larva was to be 

 found. I was thus unable to diagnose the 

 case but am of the opinion that the larvae 

 suffered such a severe attack of acute 

 indigestion and discomfort following the 

 external coating of fine dust, as well as 

 the internal coating, that they were glad 

 to quit the premises. My asparagus was 

 never bothered thereafter. — V. K. P., 

 Pennsylvania. 

 Engage A Spider 



In fighting the tiny black flea beetles on 

 tomatoes, eggplants and seedling dahlias, 

 when the young plants are first set out 

 into the garden, the owner of the plants 

 would be wise to engage the services of 

 one or two active and enterprising spiders 

 per plant. The spiders will come to stay, 

 provided a double handful of dried {not 

 newly cut) lawn clippings be laid about the 

 base of the plant to sustain a web and 

 serve for cover. To a certain extent, lice 

 and white fly are also kept under by this 

 excellent and desirable tenant of the 

 premises. — E. S. J., Pennsylvania. 

 Some Rare Iris 



About six years ago, after reading "The 

 Book of the Iris" by R. Irwin Lynch (which 

 should be owned by every one who is in- 

 terested in rare iris) , I sent over to Holland 

 for about twenty-seven sorts of Oncocyclus, 

 Juno and Regelia bulbs. I carefully fol- 

 lowed the directions for growing and flow- 

 ered nineteen ki ids. I planted the bulbs 

 in a coldframe, and although I followed 

 directions as to ripening off, etc., they all 

 disappeared. They cost a lot but some of 

 the flowers were wonderful. — F. H. P., New 

 Jersey. 

 A Rose "Novelty?" 



In my collection of roses I found last 

 year that from a lot of Rosa spinosissima, 

 single, white and pink, one of the white 

 plants produced double flowers. I have 

 looked over the catalogues of the best 

 rose growers of America, England, France, 

 and Germany, and find no double R. spin- 

 osissima listed. I therefore assume this 

 one plant to be a sport. The flowers are 

 about as double as Harison Yellow, show- 

 ing the stamens in the centre and three 

 rows of petals around them. The flower 

 is very symmetrical and pretty. — R. J., 

 Missouri. 



— As far back as ever I can recollect I have seen 

 double and semi-double forms of the Scotch rose 

 in both pink and white, and I am sure they can be 

 obtained from nurseries in the usual way. Nichol- 

 son, in his "Dictionary of Gardening," gives one 

 semi-double white form under the name of Rosa 

 spinosissima, var. argentea. This plant was 

 previously figured under the name of Rosa hispida 

 argentea in The Botanical Magazine, tab. 1570. 

 I do not recall that these double forms of the Scotch 

 rose have ever been given any distinguishing garden 

 names, but that they commonly exist I am per- 

 fectly sure; indeed I find them offered in one for- 

 eign catalogue. — Leonard Barron. 



