198 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



April, 19 13 



Mcchan^ 



1913 Specialty 



is full of information on well-grown trees, shrubs and hardy 

 garden flowers. Unlike most catalogs, it includes many of 

 the rarer, more unusual plants that give individuality to 

 your garden. Includes improved strains of the famous 



Medians' Mallow Marvels 



— the plant creation of the century . Introduced by 

 us in 1907 after twenty-eight years of experimentation 

 — a plant combining all the virtues of the beautiful 

 tropical Hibiscus with the hardy native mallow: 

 Grows five to eight feet high, is covered with a lux- 

 uriance of brilliantly colored flowers from July till 

 frost comes. Herbaceous — dies to ground in Fall, 

 but root lives and grows luxuriantly the following 

 season. Survives severest Winters. 



2-year roots in pink or white, 50c each 

 2-year roots in red 75c each 



Meehans 

 Mallow 

 Marvels 



Brilliant red, soft 

 pink and white. 

 Blossoms the 

 width of this page 



fcKf Meehans' 1913 Specialty Plant Book also tells about the finest 



HOP*' hardy chrysanthemums, including the best varieties, such as 



y Souer Melaine, May Suydam, A. Neilson, Golden Mile. Martha, 



Julia Lagravere and Fremy— -five plants oj each,2,oin all,beingoffered for $3. 



Write today for this book. 



If you have a new, unplanted property of an acre or less, ask us to send 

 also our Special New Property Proposition. 



Box 17 

 GERMANTOWN, PHILA. 



Thomas Meehan and Sons, 



Trees and Shrubs 



Jor Chicago & Vicinity 



\V7E have been growing Trees and Shrubs since 

 ** 1856: our stock is well grown and the varieties 

 are strictly adapted to this section. 



We make a specialty of designing and planting 

 suburban and country places. 



Whether in need of only a few shrubs or in the 

 planning of extensive grounds, avail yourself of the 

 A ustin Service. 



Our illustrated Catalog is read}}. Write today. 



A. B. Austin Nursery Co. 



Drawer 20 



Downers Grove, Illinois 



The Reader's Service gives infor- 

 mation about poultry. 



Make the Farm Pay 



Complete Home Study Courses in Agriculture, 

 Horticulture, Floriculture, Landscape Gardening, For- 

 estry, Poultry Culture, and Veterinary Science under 

 Prof. Brooks of the Mass. Agricultural College, Prof. 

 Craig of Cornell University and other eminent 

 teachers. Over one hundred Home Study 

 Courses under able professors in leading colleges. 

 250 p:i:re eatalos Tree. Write to-day. 

 THE HOME CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL 

 l»ept. O. A., Springfield, Mass. 



LOOK OUT 

 FOR SPARKS 



No more danger or damage from Hying 

 sparks. No more poorly fitted, flimsy fire- 

 place screens. Send for free booklet 

 "Sparks from the Fire-side." It tells about 

 the best kind of a spark guard for your in- 

 dividual fireplace. Write to-day for free 

 booklet and make your plans early. 



The Syracuse Wire Works 



107 University Avenue, - Syracuse, M. Y. 



Nitrate Necessary for Beautiful Lawns 



Enough Nitrate quickens and thickens the growth of grass and gives to it that deep, cool 

 green which makes lawns inviting. A rapid growth of trees and shrubs and a foliage, 

 almost tropical in density, follow close upon an application of Nitrogen in the form of 



Nitrate of Soda 



Nitrate of Soda is the cheapest form of nitrogen because it is immediately and entirely available. Its 

 effect is seen sooner than that of any other fertilizer. It is clean, odorless and easy to handle. Use it now 

 and have a finer lawn and more beautiful trees next summer than ever before. Write for literature. 



DR. WILLIAM S. MYERS, Director Chilean Nitrate Propaganda, 17 Madison Avenue, New York 



No Branch Offices 



sauce which will give a pink tint. The flavor is 

 similar to that of young turnips. 



"A cheap but wholesome salad from the brook" 

 is the water cress which sometimes is cheaper than 

 other salad materials in the city markets. Another 

 form of garden cress is really a species of mustard. 

 This and " peppergrass " have a way of sowing them- 

 selves and springing up early in our own gardens. 

 Thin slices of onion and radish with this cress make 

 an attractive salad. 



Lamb's lettuce, a corn salad, is a little plant, 

 often found in the city markets which gives an 

 agreeable variety for our salad green. 



Soon after Christmas small new potatoes begin 

 to come from the Bermudas to the northern mar- 

 kets and even at from ten to twenty cents a quart 

 may occasionally be indulged in for a spring salad. 

 Such potatoes should be boiled in their skins, until 

 tender but not broken; then they must be peeled 

 and sliced or cut in cubes while still hot and dressed 

 with oil and vinegar, salt and pepper. The exact 

 proportions must be left to the condition of the 

 potatoes and the taste of the eaters. 



Add a moderate amount of oil — at first a 

 tablespoon — for each cupful of the cut potato, a 

 teaspoon of vinegar and small quantities of salt 

 and pepper. Later, if this is all absorbed add more. 

 Half as much onion as potato may be added — 

 but it should be the right sort of onion. The 

 Spanish onion may be used more freely than the 

 Bermuda. If only a common onion is available 

 use the centre, leaving the tough outer portion 

 to flavor soup. Often chives cut fine will give 

 sufficient flavor and a dash of color to the pale 

 potatoes. Or the color may be secured by chopped 

 parsley. On such a potato salad endless changes 

 may be made from time to time. It may be served 

 with cooked dressings or mayonnaise in addition 

 to the one already described or in its place. Other 

 vegetables may be combined with it. Especially 

 useful for this purpose are green peas, red and green 

 peppers, carrots, celeriac,- young turnips, etc. 



A potato salad may be served without lettuce, 

 especially if it contains onions and parsley and then 

 it may be garnished with something of the meat 

 order, hard boiled eggs, shreds of herring, dried 

 beef or even curls of crisp bacon. Such a salad 

 will provide a substantial meal. 



New York. Anna Barrows. 



A One-Rod Onion Patch 



THE area of my onion patch was one square 

 rod, the same being a piece of ground measur- 

 ing one rod on each side. Leaving a margin of 

 six inches within this area all around, the remaining 

 area was sown with onion seed of the Red Globe 

 variety, in drills a little more than eighteen inches 

 apart. The object of the experiment was, of course, 

 to obtain the largest crop from the small area. 

 My first error was in the lavish use of seed, result- 

 ing in a dense forest of little plants, in number 

 vastly more than could profitably develop, and 

 crowding each other so closely as to make thinning 

 by mechanical means almost impossible. 



Happily at this time the maggots, apparently 

 in great numbers, as though informed of the situa- 

 tion, began their work, certainly with diligence, and 

 probably with method according to their ideas. 

 They must have kept at the job all the day through, 

 and for aught I know continued by the light of 

 the stars, for the onion patch was rapidly assuming 

 a changed appearance, and it became a matter of 

 concern whether the little fellows might not be 

 overdoing the business, when suddenly and for no 

 assigned reason they quit the job. 



In places the plants were still too thick, but it 

 seemed best to let them grow to the harvest without 

 further thinning. They crowded and pushed each 

 other in the rows until it looked as though some 

 would be uprooted, but still they struggled to re- 

 tain their hold upon mother earth, while the luxur- 

 iant tops aspired upward, reaching a height of more 

 than three feet, the while they were never allowed to 

 want for moisture, this being sometimes supplied 

 in the form of liquid fertilizer, until at last the 

 season's end was reached and the tops, wilted and 

 faded, fell to the ground, proudly revealing the 

 abundant crop of onions, five bushels (52 lbs. to the 

 bu.), and ten pounds over. 



Massachusetts. George H. Allen. 



The Readers' Service will aid you in planning your vacation trip 



n 



