204 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



December, 1913 



Conducted by Ellen Eddy Shaw 



Christmas Gifts 



ONE side of Christmas is made 

 up of giving. There is lots of 

 fun in giving after you decide 

 what to give. This department 

 each Christmas tries to help its boys and 

 girls to decide upon suitable gifts. If 

 one is in the gar- 

 den business why 

 not give garden 

 presents? A gar- 

 den gift should 

 either be a sort of 

 practical thing or 

 else something 

 bringing with it 

 some of the beauty 

 and feeling of out- 

 doors. Now garden 

 reels, markers, 

 stakes, seed envel- 

 opes, plant rests, 

 baskets, and 

 stands, are all prac- 

 tical garden gifts. 

 Many, yes aU, of 

 blooms in three weeks these can be made 



at school. They are good pieces of indus- 

 trial work. Look through the last three 

 Christmas numbers of The Garden Maga- 

 zine and you will find in each illustrations 

 of such articles, and directions for making 

 them too. 



The garden gifts which have feeling in 

 them are such as these: little evergreen 

 trees transplanted from the woods into 

 pots; bowls containig partridge berries, 

 hepatica, violet and arbutus roots, gold- 

 thread and moss, all gathered by yourself 

 and fixed up nicely at home; Chinese lilies 

 started in pebbles and water; a hyacinth 

 in a tall glass; a box covered with birch 

 bark and filled -with ferns; cherry, apple 

 and pussy willow branches forced into 

 bloom; a tiny garden started in a box for 

 the baby to enjoy. Such gifts are full of the 

 feeling of outdoors and gardens and beauty. 



Many of these for their preparation de- 

 mand a trip to the woods. In digging up a 

 young evergreen tree be sure to take with 

 the roots plenty of soil. Wrap this ball 

 of soil and root mass in sacking to carry 

 home. Be sure the roots have plenty of 

 spread in their new quarters. If you have 

 injured the roots any, cut the bruised 

 end off so no ragged surface is left. 



A small garden reel is an excellent piece of knife 

 work 



Flace branches in warm water: leave in the dark 

 one week: then force in light and heat 



Gather the branches for forcing after a 

 good frost. Dig up moss from the woods 

 for the plant or 

 berry bowl. If it 

 is impossible to 

 secure this, pur- 

 chase ten cents' 

 worth of sphag- 

 num moss from 

 the florist. Em- 

 bed the plants in 

 wood soil and 

 moss. Saturate 

 with water. The 

 bowl should have 

 a cover of glass. 

 Every few days 

 place the bowl in 

 direct sunlight. 

 The water evap- 

 orates, i s con- 

 densed on the un- 

 der surface of the 

 cover and falls 

 back again into the A green wicker hangln3 



bowl. basket for the piazza 



Three garden Christmas gifts - 



- a oowi of blossoming trailing arbutus, a wooden pot rest, and a playhouse for the garden, 

 home with some labor but little expense 



All of these may be prepared at 



