66 



The Readers' Service will give you 

 suggestions for the care of live-stock 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



September, 1912 



CAN YOU THINK OF ANY HARDER TEST 

 FOR WOOD THAN GREENHOUSE USE? 



You know ordinary wood in greenhouses lasts not over 4 years. 



Zero on one side, hot humidity on the other, constant contact with -wet rich earth and com- 

 post, constant sprinkling and sweating, all combine in an invitation to hurry up and rot. 



NEXT TO THE GROWTH OF THE PLANTS THEMSELVES 



THE BUSIEST THING IN A GREENHOUSE 



is the decay-tendency of the wood it is mostly made of. 



THOSE WHO MAKE GREENHOUSES A BUSINESS 



One of the larg-est greenhouse manufacturers, J. C. Moninger Co., Chicago, says: 



"We first began using Cypress exclusively for greenhouse construction in 1SS5, using it previously in 

 conjunction with pine. The greenhouses then built with Cypress are being used today by their 

 owners and the wood is found perfectly preserved and free of any decay or rot. ' ' Figure it out yourself . 



WRITE TOD AY for VOLUME 3 of the CYPRESS POCKET LIBRARY, WITH 20 PAGES 



of Valuable Guidance for Amateur Greenhous e Folks. (Sent PROMPTLY and no charge.) 



"WOOD THAT WILL STAND THE GREENHOUSE TEST 



WILL STAND ANYTHING," SO INSIST ON CYPRE SS— "AND NO SUBSTITUTES." 



When planning new improvements or repairs to old ones, just remember— "Wi th CTPEE SS' you BUILD BUT ONCE" 



Let onr "ALL-ROUND HELPS DEPARTMENT" help YOC. Our entire resources areatyourservice with Reliable Counsel. 



SOUTHERN CYPRESS MANUFACTURERS' ASSOCIATION 



1209 HIBE RNIA BANK BUILDI NG, NEW ORLEANS, LA. 



INSIST ON CYPRESS AT YOUR LOCAL DEALER'S. IP HE HASN'T IT, LET VS KNOW IMMEDIATELY 



Stain Your Outside Woodwork 



— shingles, siding, half-timbers, trel- 

 lises, pergolas, sheds, fences — with 



Cabot's Creosote Stains 



The rich, transparent coloring effects are more appropriate and 

 beautiful than any other colorings, and they wear better, cost 

 less and are easier to apply. "Painty'' effects spoil the beauty 

 of the wood, and paint costs twice as much. The creosote thor- 

 oughly preserves the wood. Don't buy stains that smell of kero- 

 sene; they are dangerously inflammable. 



SAMUEL CABOT, Inc., Mfg. Chemists, 



1 Oliver St., Boston, Mass. 



W. S. Kilmer's residence, t 

 Stained with Cabot's Stains 

 £. H. Bartow, Areh't, N. V. 



side the cambric united the two glasses and served 

 as a hinge so that the cover could be raised. 



A square baking tin three inches deep held my 

 "woods." The ferns and flowery bells took so 

 kindly to their new quarters and were such things 

 of beauty, that it was not many days before the 

 "fern seed in my pocket," along with half a dozen 

 dimes and a little ingenuity, elaborated a larger 

 fernery. A broken-backed bureiu in the attic 

 gave me one of its drawers; a decrepit table offered 

 four good legs with casters. Connections between 

 the two were made, and the half dozen dimes went 

 to constructing a wooden frame with sides and 

 ends, something after the order of a window sash 

 and shaped like a gabled roof. And here let 

 me say that if you would succeed with the delicate 

 varieties of fems, as well as with other fragile 

 wildings, you must have a glass cover to the 

 fernery. 



To eke out the possibilities of my half dozen 

 dimes, the glass walls of this fernery were not 

 "diamond plate." but were made of panes of glass 

 twelve by fourteen inches, such as my grocer was 

 able to furnish and cut. These > ere fitted so 

 closely together in the sashes, that the lines where 

 their edges joined were hardly perceptible. A 

 good sized gimlet hole bored in each end of the 

 drawer assured drainage and guarded against the 

 roots of the plants standing in sour soil or too much 

 water. The entire case was stained a dark woodsy 

 brown. And then came the happy task of sifting 

 in the light leafy mold, rich and porous. 



But little water is required with ordinary glass 

 covers, and that should be sprinkled over the 

 ferns only once or twice a month, as the evaporat- 

 ing moisture creates a damp atmosphere. Too 

 much moisture will be shown by large drops gather- 

 ing upon the glass and trickling down. 



My case was large enough to hold a variety of 

 ferns. I had lady ferns that grow everywhere 

 in the country, and which anyone may have for 

 the taking, and fragrant shield ferns. In corners 

 I planted rattlesnake ferns, and evergreen wood 

 ferns and their cousins with their cruzier-like 

 fiddle-heads. Maiden hair and a half dozen little 

 mountain spleenworts stood with their feet among 

 mosses, without which ferns never feel at home. 

 Lichens, silver and green and coral tipped, made 

 charming contrasts to the green. A pipsissewc 

 with its variegated leaves, a clump of liverwort, 

 and a tuft of squirrel's corn, its finely cleft foliage 

 in mimicry of ferns, made a happy little colony, 

 while partridge vines, with tiny white velvety stars 

 and twin scarlet berries, gave dainty touches of 

 color. 



Fern balls I made myself by wrapping a fem- 

 root (with all the soil I could keep clinging about 

 it) in sheets of moss held closely in place by wire 

 or string which the mosses concealed. These 

 hung from the gabled roof of my little fern house. 



AN IDEA FOR A NORTH WINDOW 



Having had so much success with my fernery, 

 I looked around for "new worlds to conquer." In 

 my dining room there is a deep north window. 

 It came to me one day that a second sash might 

 be placed on the inside and fitted from the wide 

 windowsill up to the ceiling above. This was done 

 and I had a space between the two windows a 

 foot and a half deep and the size of a large casement. 

 Here I also have the lady fern and a few climbing 

 ferns, rare as they are exquisite. 



In a tangled bog garden I discovered a colony 

 of pitcher plants, and translated a clump to my 

 window. With their pitchers big and little kept 

 full of water they grow bronzy green and purple. 

 Here also amid the ferns, wild flowers blossom, for 

 in a congenial atmosphere a few slanting rays of 

 sunshine make for them a spring and summer. 



Christmas ferns, with their evergreen leaves 

 which are tough almost as leather, do not require 

 to be covered with glass. They mass effectively, 

 and are fine for brackets and corners, accommodat- 

 ing themselves to almost any conditions, even 

 keeping fresh for weeks in glasses of water. A 

 graceful fern growing in a sea-shell or in a fern 

 dish makes a charming centrepiece for the dining 

 table. If you want more and different ferns than 

 those obtainable in the woods, many dealers have 

 them for sale. 



Michigan. Mrs. A. S. Hardy. 



