The Garden Magazine, February, 1920 



285 



box were six one-inch holes: three at the bottom to supply fresh air 

 and three at the top to allow the old air to escape. Light breezes 

 blown in at the sides and through these holes caused the blazes to 

 jump up and down and to smoke, and this smoke entered the house. 

 Heavy winds blew the blazes out and several times I went out in the 

 morning only to find the fire out and the water cold. 1 did 

 remedy this temporarily, however, by sheltering the box. I was 

 never able to keep the temperature where it belonged. The 

 highest night temperature would average 40 . If the outside tem- 

 perature went below 7 above it 

 would drop to 32 or 34° inside, 

 sufficient to prevent freezing, but 

 not satisfactory. In the daytime 

 45°-50°on cloudy and 50°-6o°with 

 ventilation on clear days was the 

 best it would do — more often 

 much lower than these figures. 

 During the six weeks' experiment 

 there was an average oil con- 

 sumption of 3 to 3! quarts a day: 

 — on extreme days a gallon. Suc- 

 cess was achieved by a few changes. 

 I moved the box six inches away 

 from the frame, extended the pipe 

 to fit, boxed in the space between 

 and packed with sawdust. This 

 effectually isolated the heater. I 

 placed boards over the holes in 

 the box, with holes bci ?d lVom the 

 bottom up. This made indirect 

 air passages through to the inside, 

 and now, even during an 80-miles 

 an hour gale, the blazes never 

 even flicker. Lastly, the boiler 

 was covered with thin sheet as- 

 bestos to stop the loss of heat by radiation in the box. And 

 the top opening (a 5-in. diameter cup-shaped affair), where the 

 boiler was filled anJ which last season was left open, I fitted 

 with a tight cover to reduce loss by evaporation. The result 

 of these alterations has been quite beyond my expecta- 

 tions. The air is clear. The blazes never blow out. The 

 oil consumption varies from 2 to 2§ quarts a day at present. 

 And finally, 1 keep the temperature at exactly the desired point 

 in nearly all weather — 52 at night, 6o° on cloudy and 65°-70° 

 with air on clear days. The only time 1 was unable to 

 maintain these figures was during abnormal and extreme cold 

 weather, when the official temperature dropped to 16° below 

 zero here. At that time it went to 42 in the little frame. — 

 Clayton G. Brown, Rhode Island. 



over and over. I have reduced the pest to a very small number 

 already. — John W. Chamberlin, Buffalo, N. Y. 



Using Bold T N THE accompanying photograph it will 



Fnlifip-p for easily be seen that the total picture is 



Perspective largely dependent upon the strong fore- 



y ground produced by the branches and foli- 



age of the Wier Maple and Sumachs. The fact that these have coarse, 

 vigorous texture, as compared with the softer textures in the dis- 

 tance, assists greatly to increase 

 the impression of a long perspec- 

 tive. Most planting of trees and 

 shrubs is done for its effect in 

 middle-ground. The expectation 

 of the planter is that the planting 

 will be viewed from a medium dis- 

 tance, say fifty feet to two hundred 

 feet . Very few pi an t i n gs are m ade 

 for the effect which they produce 

 at a greater distance, and it is 

 very rare that a planting is made 

 for the effect which it produces at 

 a distance of eight or ten feet. 

 —Frank A. Waugh, Mass. 



Crinum as 

 a Hardy 

 Plant 



CLEVER EXAGGERATION OF PERSPECTIVE 



Although it is well known that a large object in the fore- 

 ground deepens the distance beyond it, foliage alone used 

 for this purpose is as unusual as it is unusually effective 



Ants in the 

 Garden 



THE complaint about ants arouses 

 my ire, for I find them about as mis- 

 chievous as any insect going. I do not 

 pretend to know how they handle, or help 

 multiply, aphids; my difficulty is that they are up to many other 

 things. They ate holes in my strawberries before they were ripe 

 and sometimes formed their dens under the roots of plants and 

 undermined them. In the sod they are quite as much of a nuisance. 

 1 had heard of poison and of sugar traps but did not try them. 

 One day I was watering some plants with a big watering pot and 

 wondering how to save an otherwise beautiful plot of Dusty-Miller 

 they had undermined, when I took the idea of watering the ants, too. 

 I poured water on their burrow till it stood on top of the ground 

 and I repeated the treatment as often as convenient. The ants 

 could not stand it and soon the plants, with the earth now well 

 packed about their roots, were growing and the ants gone. After 

 that I never saw an ants' burrow without soaking it with water 



HE note 

 in Gar- 

 den Maga- 

 zine for last 

 April may keep some lover of 

 the Hardy Crinum Powellis from 

 trying that very satisfactory bulb 

 in the open border. So I give 

 my experience with it in south- 

 ern Illinois. In Aug., 1917, I 

 received some bulbs, "put them in a bed that had been pre- 

 pared for Roses but made 3 or 4 in. higher than the surround- 

 ing ground so no water could stand over them; they were 

 set 10 in. deep, with sand under each bulb. They bloomed well 

 in 1919 (June) some very tall — one of the stalks 3 ft. 3 in. and 

 the best having 15 blooms; one of the longest leaves is 66 in." In 

 1 9 1 8 they only had about 9 blooms to the stalk. For the past 20 

 years I had grown Crinums in pots. I don't think this one would 

 ever be at its best in a pot, as I find it to be a very strong 

 grower. Another Crinum I find hardy here I received under the 

 name of Crinum amabile, some 18 years ago. Having more than 

 one bulb I left one out last winter, and in late April I found it coming 

 up. The foliage is much the same only not so long. It belongs to 

 the large blooming class of Crinums. It grows more upright than 

 the other, blooms white with pink sttipe, the leaves grow up 

 quite a way then turn down. It is a sure bloomer if given half a 

 chance. Another bed of "Lilies" I am very proud of is the hardy 

 white Spider Lily (Hymenocallis occidentalis). Their blooming time- 

 is in August and a large bed of the white Spider Lily is a lovely 

 sight when in full bloom. It thrives best in part shade. — Mrs. G. 

 M. Doty, ///. 



Beginning with the March issue THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 

 will be further improved in appearance and greatly enlarged, 

 both in size and number of pages. The publishers are urged to 

 this expansion by the great pressure of the "more and better 

 gardens in America" idea which is daily gathering momentum. 



