204 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



April, 1914 



IMMIMIMMIUM^ 



Meehans' Hardy Gardens 



These collections, in the Meehan Specialty Plant Book, are typical of the helpful 

 policy which characterizes this sixty-year-old business — a pioneer American nursery. 



Dependable, perfected varieties of those old-fashioned plants which every 

 flower-lover prefers, combined advantageously, sold at a 

 lower price than when bought separately, and supple- 

 mented in each case with a simple planting key. 



Hardy Garden Group No. 8—50 plants, $5 

 Hardy Garden Group No. 12—100 plants, $10 



Supplementary list of Bulbs, Hardy Annuals, Old Favorite 

 Flowers, Special Shrub Collections, The Big Six Group of Hardy 

 Chrysanthemums — all these effective groupings of the finest varie- 

 ties are found in this helpful book, sent free on request. 



Meehans' Mallow Marvel 



(also described and illustrated in this book) is the plant creation 

 of the century. The hardiness of the wild Marsh Mallow and 

 the rich luxuriance of the tropical Hibiscus were combined in this 

 new creation only after twenty-seven years of experimenting. 

 Glorious shade of red, soft pink and white. 



THOMAS MEEHAN & SONS 



Box 17 Germantown, Phila. 



The Old Colony Nurseries 



offer a differ- 

 ent service 

 thanmost nur- 

 series. Our 

 half century of 

 experience is 

 yours; ou r 

 planting sug- 

 gestions mean 

 something; 

 our plans are 

 practical; our 

 trees and 

 shrubs are properly 

 grown; these are some of 

 the things we offer our 

 customers. 



THE OLD COLONY 

 NURSERIES CATALOGUE 



is different from many 

 nursery books, for it will 

 help you select the Ma- 

 ples, Elms, Lindens, 

 Spruces, Pines, Roses, 

 Spray of Flowering Apple Shrubs or Vines that will 



give character to your home. May we send you a copy? 



OLD COLONY NURSERIES Inc. 



T. R. WATSON, Pres. 

 326 Summit Street Plymouth, Mass. 



OSES ^NEWCASTLE 



Now is the time to study out your garden plans 

 for spring planting of roses. Be a part of the 

 glorious spring — have your veranda 

 covered with a riot of fragrance and 

 blossom. Why not make a start > 

 today by sending for our beautiful /\ 

 book — 



"Roses of NewCastle" \1 



It is the most practical book on roses ever pub- ^fe, 

 lished — a complete guide for successful amateur «s* 

 planting of our famous sure-bloom roses. It tells you 

 what to do — how to do it — everything that will help you 

 make your garden a success. Our prices are so low that $5 

 will assure you roses for almost a lifetime. May we send 

 you a copy of this beautifully illustrated book today — ■ 

 while the edition lasts? It's FREE. 



HELLER BROS. CO., Rose Specialists 

 Box 421 New Castle, Tnd. 



UGtter 

 Lawns 



"PNGLISH lawns are 



-*— ' world-famed for their beauty 

 and durability. It's an easy matter 

 to have just such a lawn for your 

 own by using the right seed. We 

 import the choicest quality for 

 either shady or sunny lawns. 

 Our free booklet tells you how. 



Established at Leicester, Eng., in 1800 



J. W. BARWELL 



Waukegan Box 2 Illinois 



WELL ROTTED 



HORSE MANURE 



DRIED— GROUND— ODORLESS 



To insure increased Garden Crops, larger and 

 brighter Flowers and a rich green Lawn, give your 

 soil a heavy coating of Dried, Ground Horse Man- 

 ure. No weed seeds — no refuse, it becomes part of 

 the soil. Plant food is immediately available and 

 lasting. Your planting will be successful when you 

 use Well Rotted Horse Manure. Put up in bags 

 100 lbs. each. Write for Circular "C" and prices. 



NEW YORK STABLE MANURE COMPANY 

 273 Washington St., Jersey City, N. J. 



GROW BIG, LUSCIOUS STRAWBERRIES 



You can raise large crops of delicious berries from a small piece of ground 

 if you start right — with hardy, prolific, carefully grown plants selected from 

 Allen's True-To-Name Varieties. 



All standard early and late strains for every soil and climate requirement. Write 

 for 1914 Berry Book. Allen's Berry Book is full of valuable information on how 

 to grow berries and'small fruits profitably. It lists and describes Strawberries, Black- 

 berries, Raspberries, Grapes, Currants, Asparagus, etc. Copy sent FREE upon request. 

 W. F. ALLEN S4 Market Street SALISBURY. MD. 



growing as others. Has tendency to bear too 

 heavily and consequently must be thinned. One 

 tree had sixty large apples last season. 



Baldwin. As rapid growing as Greening. Will 

 not bear annual crop unless severely summer- 

 pruned. Last year's crop was thirty apples per 

 tree on the average. 



Duchess. Vigorous and abundant bearer. Trees 

 produced more than a bushel average, each, last 

 year. 



Mcintosh. Tree slow growing but yields well 

 even when not summer pruned. Fruit needs 

 thinning on tree for size. 



Talman Sweet. Tree bears at an early age, but 

 is slow growing and needs considerable fertilizing 

 to secure size of fruit. 



Fallawater. Tree vigorous in growth. Produces 

 large apples few in number at an early age. Bears 

 regularly. 



Mann. Slow growing and requires summer 

 pruning to induce it to fruit, but bears well when 

 summer pruned. 



The varieties Northern Spy, Gravenstein and 

 Fall Pippin have been slow growing and utterly 

 refuse to bear when given the same treatment as 

 the rest of the orchard. Lemon Pippin, King, 

 and Roxbury Russett have made very slow growth 

 and have produced only an occasional apple per 

 tree. 



During the first year's growth of our orchard we 

 pruned the trees in the fall, which promoted a vig- 

 orous growth of wood on trees which were naturally 

 rapid growers; and after practising summer prun- 

 ing we arrived at the conclusion that unless dwarf 

 trees are pruned in the summer they will make a 

 vigorous growth of wood at the expense of fruit- 

 fulness. To thoroughly convince ourselves that 

 we were pursuing the proper course in summer 

 pruning the trees, we left certain trees for fall prun- 

 ing as checks in our summer pruning experiments. 

 In every instance where the variety was rapid grow- 

 ing summer pruning aided fruitfulness; but where the 

 varieties were slow growing, the effects of summer 

 pruning were not as noticeable. The trees were 

 summer pruned each season after the trees had 

 made terminal buds on the new growth. If they 

 are pruned at that time new growth will not start 

 the same season, but the foundation of fruit spurs 

 will be induced. 



In summer pruning vigorous trees, all superfluous 

 growth can be cut off close to the main branches, 

 but where it is needed for the formation of fruit 

 buds for the next season at least two thirds of the 

 new growth should be pinched off. Many of the 

 trees persist in sending out new growth which is 

 determined to grow upwardly and form a leader. 

 This is always cut off because if not removed en- 

 tirely it will check the growth in the lower portions 

 of the tree. 



When fertilized with compost our trees have pro- 

 duced a great deal of wood and under sized fruit; we 

 therefore decided to try chemical fertilizers. Where 

 compost was used the leaves were dark green and 

 the trees showed all signs of having a sufficient 

 supply of nitrogen, so in making up our fertilizer 

 we decided to omit nitrogen. By the use of muri- 

 ate of potash and acid phosphate we have' consid- 

 erably increased the size of the fruit. Each fall 

 the trees have been given an application of compost 

 which is spaded in the ground in the spring. Also 

 in spring we apply 1 pound of acid phosphate and 

 \ pound of muriate of potash. This should be 

 mixed and applied to the ground not nearer than 

 three feet from the trees. It should be spaded into 

 the ground as soon as distributed in spring. 



The soil in one portion of our orchard proved to 

 be sour when tested with litmus paper, so we limed 

 it at the rate of two tons to the acre, using agricul- 

 tural lime (ground lime-stone) in the fall, either 

 harrowed or spaded into the ground. This por- 

 tion of the orchard showed such a decided improve- 

 ment that we limed the entire garden. 



Our dwarf trees have by no means been immune 

 from insect pests. The San Jose scale was easily 

 checked by spraying with lime-sulphur. The cod- 

 ling moth was also checked by spraying with arsen- 

 ate of lead after the blossoms had fallen from the 

 fruit. There is one insect, the apple tree borer, 

 however, which is hard to control, and seems to in- 

 fest trees, no matter how healthy they may be. 

 We go over our trees every spring and again in fall 



If you wish information about dogs apply to the Readers' Service 



