March, 19 18 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



67 



almost a forest on account of the great num- 

 ber of shade trees, and this makes a fine 

 nesting place for this bird. He is so fond of 

 sweet corn that he does not mind the proxi- 

 mity of house or barn, and is always on hand 

 at early daylight ready to pull up every stalk 

 that is showing above ground. Who can 

 tell me how to protect my corn from this 

 rogue. He does not stop with this. If he 

 perchance leaves any to mature, just as soon 

 as it is in full roasting ear condition, with 

 his powerful beak he will strip up the shuck 

 and ruin it. Does any one know if saturating 

 or covering the grains with tar when planting, 

 will prevent this bird from pulling and eating 

 the grain? I hope some one will help me in 

 this matter. — Dr. A. W. Foreman, Illinois. 



Plants Wanted. — Where can I procure 

 growing specimens of the following for 

 collections in my garden? Anemone ranun- 

 culoides (Yellow Anemone) Gaylussacia fron- 

 dosa. and Sorbus suecica (Sorbus scandica). — 

 W. H. Meyer, Cumberland, Wash. 



Why Burn Insect Nests? — On page 189 

 of the January number, there is an illustration 

 ■with printed legend: "burn out insect nests 

 in trees, using a flaming torch on the end of a 

 convenient rod." I take exception to this 

 method for the reason that we often refer 

 our students to The Garden Magazine and 

 if in class they are taught "never burn insect 

 nests in the trees, because of the injury caused 

 to the tree," and then they go to the library 



and read, "burn them out, etc.," why ! 



The object in removing worms' nests from 

 fruit and other trees is to get rid of the insects 

 which are destroying the foliage; burning the 

 nests may accomplish this but in nearly every 

 case the tree is injured. A safer and more 

 certain method is to wipe out the nest by 

 hand, or by the aid of a cloth or brush. If 

 it is not objectionable to the grower, the bare 

 hand may be used, or an old glove may be 

 worn; after the worms are in the nest, grasp the 

 thicker part of the nest and pull it carefully 

 and all parts of the nest, with the worm's, will 

 come; this may be dropped to the ground and 

 stepped upon. There is a special wire brush 

 on the market for this work, it is attached to 

 a light pole and by twisting the pole a few 

 times the whole nest is wound on the brush 

 and is removed from the tree. Cloths on a 

 pole may be used in the same manner. — 

 S. P. Hollister, Storrs, Conn. 



A Decidedly" Useful Tool. — My favorite 

 and most useful tool is an ordinary hoe with a 

 rake handle in place of the ordinary hoe han- 

 dle. I find the increased length of great 



This method of vertical strawberry culture has its attract- 

 ions in some conditions 



advantage in reaching under scratchy bushes 

 or vines, and especially for hoeing potatoes. 

 In order to avoid packing the earth by tramp- 

 ing between the rows I always go up and down 

 rows 1, 3, 5, etc., not stepping foot in the al- 

 ternate row for the whole season, but with 

 my long-handled hoe I can thoroughly culti- 

 vate in that untrodden row. Another thing 

 I do is to always go the same direction in a 

 given row. This bends the branches always 

 the same way and lessens bruising and break- 

 age. — A. B. Fuller, No. Weymouth, Mass. 



Tub Gardening. — Any form of intensive 

 culture is worth considering at the present 

 time. The growing of certain plants in tubs 

 is an interesting plan which should be revived. 

 Wooden barrels are secured, and all around 

 the sides holes are cut. The openings might 

 be round or square, and should measure 

 about five inches across, should separate 

 from one another by eight inches. Bend 

 round a piece of wire netting in the form of a 

 tube, and place this in the centre of the barrel. 

 This allows a free admission of air when the 

 tub is filled with soil and prevents the earth 

 from getting sour. Place a layer of broken 

 crocks, several inches deep, in the bottom of 

 the tub to assist drainage. As well, have the 

 tub stand upon a few bricks so that its bottom 

 is not in close contact with the ground. The 

 soil should be a rich mixture of leaf mould 



and loam with the addition of some gritty 

 material. Select an open situation for the 

 tubs so that the sun reaches all sides to the 

 greatest possible extent. These tubs make 

 pretty flower gardens for any trailing plants 

 such as Nasturtiums, Morning Glories, and 

 showy little annuals like the Virginian Stocks. 

 But they assume a practical importance as 

 aids to the fruit garden. This is the most 

 satisfactory way of raising Alpine Strawberry 

 crops. Strong plants put into the tubs in 

 April bear two lots of fruit in the summer and 

 fall. Indeed the fruit is produced until the 

 coming of the 'frost. During hot dry weather 

 copious supplies of water are allowed to the 

 tubs as, if these have been properly formed, 

 there will be a very free drainage, and the 

 soil soon becomes dry. A vegetable crop 

 that may be grown in the tub garden is the 

 dwarf French bean and only one tub planted 

 in this way will yield a large supply of material. 

 It will help the plants if they -are stimulated 

 now and again with liquid manure. — S. Leon- 

 ard Bastin. 



Wintering Canterbury Bells. — Flower Lover 

 (December issue), asks how to winter Can- 

 terbury Bells. Try my method: Start them 

 early enough to have good large plants 

 by winter, and transplant them when small 

 into the permanent bed, having the bed 

 raised two or three inches and rounded, so 

 that water will not stand on it. Then protect 

 by covering the bed with leaves, but do not 

 cover the plants. Place the leaves around and 

 among the plants and lay on sticks, cornstalks, 

 etc., to keep them from blowing off. I have 

 no trouble in wintering them in this way, 

 but when I tried covering the plants themselves, 

 well — in the spring they were not there! I 

 have often thought if people knew how easy 

 Canterbury Bells could be kept over, they 

 would be grown much more, as few flowers 

 make a finer show in the garden. — F. W. 

 Rice, Springfield, Mass. 



A New Cantaloupe. — Some years ago I 

 began to experiment with the vegetables in 

 our garden and to seek to produce new varie- 

 ties of which I soon succeeded in securing 

 several numbers. One of these to which I 

 have given especial care originated with us 

 in 1909. It is a cantaloupe, or muskmelon, 

 and differs from anything yet introduced. 

 This is a long melon and is quite similar in 

 form to the muskmelon sold by different seeds- 

 men as the Banana melon. It is unlike the 

 Banana melon, however, in that it has well- 

 netted skin and thick green flesh. The quality 

 is excellent. I believe that I have a new can- 

 taloupe that is equal to any on the market, 



Talk about "Patriotic gardens" Here are our soldiers at work in their camps. The beginnings of a flower garden are seen on the right 



