February, 1918 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



11 



Knock Down Frame for Starting Seeds 



Can be set up in a few minutes and placed wherever convenient. Mr. J. Hayward of Hackensack, N. J., 

 describes the detail thus: 



The base or floor on which the frame rests and the door, are made of T & G roofers — the cheapest kind of lumber. 



The floor is 3'-6" by 6'-6" on which is placed 1" by 1" strips in which the 2' by 3' cellar sash fit. Two are 

 used to make the front and one for each end. The back is a solid door made of the same material as the floor. 

 Over the top is placed an ordinary 3' by 6' cold frame sash which completely closes in the frame. 



The frame is ventilated by leaving the door open or raising the top. 



The idea of making the sides 2 feet high is to accommodate high plants — if only small plants are to be grown 

 sash 12 inches high could be used in place of the 2 foot sash 



applying any covering to such plants as 

 Canterbury Bells, Foxgloves, Rockets, Coreo- 

 psis grandiflora, Hollyhocks, Double Daisies, 

 Violas of the bedding type, Pansies, Sweet 

 Williams and Forget-me-nots, all of which are 

 usually treated as biennials, although some 

 are perennials. If given well drained ground, 

 not mulched until the ground is very hard 

 frozen and then lightly covered with dry 

 leaves, stems or hay which can be conveniently 

 and neatly held in position with some de- 

 cayed manure or even loam spread with a 

 fork, applying just enough to hold the cover- 

 ing from blowing away, there should be very 

 few losses even though minimum temperatures 

 of 15 — 25° below zero are recorded. The 

 main reason why so many fail to successfully 

 winter the plants named is that too much cover- 

 ing is applied, and while the ground is soft. 

 We rarely lose any plants here, but we always 

 mulch late and then lightly. — W. N. C, Mass. 



Canterbury Bells and Foxgloves in Winter. 

 May I enter a protest against the malignment 

 of Canterbury Bells and Foxgloves as to their 

 hardiness? (See November issue, page 119.) 

 We have very severe weather in Michigan, 

 sometimes, as last winter, the temperature 

 going to 27 degrees below zero and that, too, 

 with only two inches of snow for protection. 

 My Foxgloves went through perfectly. The 

 Canterbury Bells not so well, but it was 

 entirely my own fault, as they were planted 

 too late in the season to get a good start and 

 so did not have the constitution for such a 

 trial. The covering, particularly manure, 

 that is loaded upon plants to keep them 

 "warm" during the winter, is almost en- 

 tirely the cause of the loss of plants. All plants 

 that retain their foliage during the winter 

 must "breathe." In other words, the crown 

 must be left open. I have found corn stalks 

 and leaves ideal covering for such plants, 

 using the leaves on the ground around the 

 plant and the corn stalks over them, to give 



the air a chance to circulate. If there is an 

 ice storm during the winter, that is, rain and 

 freeze, forming a sheet of ice over everything, 

 I go out and walk all through my borders 

 to break the ice up and let the air in or they 

 will soon smother. And I have very little 

 loss during the winter. Another thing an old 

 gardener told me several years ago was to 

 remove the larger outside leaves of Foxglove 

 in the Fall as they mat together and decay. 

 I have found many plants supposed to need 

 protection to be perfectly hardy under proper 

 conditions. All plants want is a congenial 

 environment. Quite often a plant will die 

 out in one position and flourish in another in 

 the same garden. Which proves soil and 

 position to be much more important than 

 climate. [With which deduction we are most 

 cordially in accord — Ed.] — Mrs. H. W. Wolcott, 

 Jackson, Mich. 



Apple scald of green and ripe fruit in 

 storage can be easily prevented by an oc- 

 casional renewal of the air of the storage room, 

 according to a discovery of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture, just reported. 

 The basis of the discovery is the fact that 

 apples are living organisms which breathe 

 and, like other living things, have ventilation 

 requirements which if not met lead to smother- 

 ing. The lack of air movement in the storage 

 rooms, and the depositing of moisture on the 

 fruit, are factors that may play a part in the 

 production of scald. The experiments indi- 

 cate that high humidities may be maintained 

 in storage without the development of scald, 

 and prove conclusively that an occasional 

 renewal of the air of the storage room will 

 completely prevent the disease. Scalded fruit 

 is more mealy and poorer in flavor than un- 

 seated and is also extremely susceptible to 

 storage rots. Scald increased with an in- 

 crease in temperature from 41 degrees F. 

 to 68 degrees F. but higher temperatures 

 were unfavorable to the disease and with 



certain varieties such as Grimes Golden 32 

 degrees F. was more favorable to the develop- 

 ment of the disease than 41 degrees F. 



Grafting Cactus. — Many of the pendulous 

 Cactus, such as certain kinds of Cereus and 

 Epiphyllum, do much better when they are 

 raised up well above the soil. For this purpose 

 grafting is employed, and it is simplicity 

 itself. In this way good-sized specimens, 

 that will flower freely, are readily produced. 

 The stock on to which the graft is to be made 

 would suitably be one of the upright species 

 of Cereus or Pereskia; naturally this should 

 be well rooted. For the making of a graft it 

 is best to choose the period of most vigorous 

 growth, that is in the spring. The graft may 

 be of a good size as can be seen in the photo- 

 graph. The parts which are to be joined must 

 be cut cleanly so that there is a good fit. 

 The lower part of the graft is fashioned in 

 the form of a wedge, and this is fitted into 

 the opening in the stock. Bind the joint 

 around with raffia or similar material firmly, 

 but not too tightly, or the flow of sap will be 

 checked. A position away from the sun 

 should be accorded to the newly grafted 

 plant, and the union will come about all the 

 more quickly if a close atmosphere is main- 

 tained. Very little water is given to the soil 

 until the union of the two parts is complete, 

 and the graft is seen to be growing. In the 

 case of a tall stock it is possible to graft two 

 different kinds of Cactus, and, in this way, 

 form a very novel plant that bears distinct 

 sorts of flowers. — S. Leonard Bastin. 



To increase France's crops and to lighten 

 the burden of toil on her old men, women and 

 children, the United States Food Adminis- 

 tration will ship 1,500 farm tractors to that 

 country. The first hundred went early 

 in January, and the whole number will 

 be in France by March, in time for the 

 spring plowing. They are expected not only 

 to be of immense service to France, but to 

 release added tonnage for the Allies and 

 American troops by increasing the amount of 

 food • produced there, thus decreasing the 

 amount of food that must be shipped from 

 America. The idea originated with former 

 American Ambassador to Turkey Henry Mor- 

 genthau and his son, Henry Morgenthau, Jr. 



Grafting Cactus is particularly easy as the parts do not 

 dry out 



