July. 1917 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



311 



September 1st and the leaves of the small 

 plants were about the size of mouse ears. 

 But with good care they grew rapidly. 



In October, we were having deliciously crisp 

 heads of Mignonette lettuce. Soon came the 

 earlv hard frosts but I protected my late Bos- 

 ton by mulching generously with fallen leaves. 

 The added warmth, from this covering seemed 

 to be just what these Bostonians enjoyed, for 

 they not only grew more rapidly but they 

 blanched most beautifully. As a result we 

 had large ivory-yellow heads until nearly 

 December 1st; and this in New York thirty 

 miles from the St. Lawrence. — (Rev.) Otto L. 

 Nichols, Jefferson County, N. Y. 



Summer Pruning a Success. — For many 

 years I have been a close follower of the teach- 

 ings of The Garden Magazine, immediately 

 putting into practice the methods discussed. 

 One of my most successful efforts was summer 

 pruning of fruit trees (the way is told at length 

 in issue for July, 1913). Nearly all the trees 

 in (5-year apples, pears, plums) started intcf 

 vigorous bearing the very next year. There 

 was only one drawback: the trees being so 

 voung the branches were not strong enough to 



This is the crop of fruit borne on a 5-year Damson plum 

 after pruning. Its first crop about 2\ bu. 



carry the loads of fruit, and needed much 

 propping up [a severe thinning, as advocated 

 in last month's Garden Magazine would 

 have been better — Ed.]. One Burbank plum 

 bore between three and four bushels of fruit — 

 its previous crop was three quarts! — T. S., 

 Orange Co., N. Y. 



The Flowers in Spring. — Just a word Mr. 

 Editor, to you, and I hope to the "Garden 

 Neighbors." We have taken the Garden 

 Magazine since '02 but it has often been too 

 popularized to be of any real interest. Slowly, 

 however, you have developed popular interest 

 to the point when your excellent articles of to- 

 day can find general appreciation and this 

 latest correspondence page will I feel sure, 

 prove most helpful. A word to your readers: 



I hope that A. E. Thatcher (page 161) may 

 try Harison's Yellow Rose and the orange 

 Austrian Copper, both lovely, and with me 

 they have withstood 18 degrees below zero, so 

 that they should prove hardy. The latter, 

 however, has not made as large a bush. 



The recent mention of Delphinium Zalil in 

 these pages brings to mind D. nudicaule or 

 perhaps it is cardinale. I have it in a well- 

 drained place in the open sun and though it is 

 clearly a rockery plant, its clear orange-scarlet 

 is delightful, particularly with the lavender of 

 the wild Campanula rotundifolia. 



Spring is upon us as I write and I have been 

 delighting in the vivid Bulbocodium that has 

 really established itself. Nearby are yellow 

 Winter Aconites, a startling "combine" but 

 pleasing at this season. The delicate lavender 

 of Crocus Tomasianus is also nice, and the fat 

 buds of Iris reticulata show purple; the purple 

 young growth and half opened Anemone stel- 

 lata are fascinating, but best of all Iris 

 histrioides has pulled through the winter and 

 to-morrow I shall probably be disappointed in 

 my first sight of this wee lavender flower. The 

 Waterlily Tulip is almost out, and the clustered 

 buds of T. biflora, a similar color, and of lini- 

 folia (almost a miniature T. Gesneriana) look 

 promising. — R. S. Sturtevant, Wellesley Farms, 

 Mass., April 4. 



A Vine for Quick Effects. — The accom- 

 panying photograph of a rustic pergola 

 covered with Moon Vines was taken July 1st, 

 1916, and is offered to The Garden Neighbors 

 as an illustration of what can be done in a short 

 time. Not having any shade we built this 

 shelter out of poles and planted the Moon Vine 

 some time in May. I fiave been taking The 

 Garden Magazine for about ten years and 

 would not do without it. — H. B. Shawen, 

 Virginia. 



Mr. Wilson in Japan. — Under date of 

 March 26th, Mr. E. H. Wilson, who is now 

 travelling in Japan and Korea, writes to us 

 that he "had an interesting and enjoyable 

 trip to the Linkin Islands, and collected quite a 

 lot of specimens and much information. The 

 winter has been exceptionally cold in Japan 

 and the spring is late. The cherry trees 

 will not be in blossom until the middle of 

 April." 



The Title Page and Index to Contents oj 

 Volume XXV , which concludes with this issue, 

 is ready and will be sent gratis to subscribers on 

 request; or subscribers' copies can be returned to 

 us and will be bound in cloth with index for$i. 25. 



Something like Jack's beanstalk! Moon Vine arbor three 

 months after planting the seeds 



THE MONTH'S REMINDER 



These directions apply generally to the latitude of New York; due allowance must be made, earlier for the South and later for the North. Ap- 

 proximately 100 miles of latitude equal a difference of a week 



NOW is the time when the honor win- 

 ners of «the General Army of De- 

 fense, Home Garden Division, will 

 begin to show up in the ranks. 

 The easy part of the work has been done, and 

 the sentimentalists and the slackers are ready 

 to quit. But those who will keep up the work, 

 and see their gardens through, will deserve 

 this year to be doubly rewarded — and what is 

 more, they will be! 



Stick to your garden to the end this season, 

 even if it is your first garden, and full of mis- 

 takes. If your conditions are at all favor- 

 able, you can hardly fail to get enough to pay 

 well for the effort expended. And the experi- 

 ence will be of even greater value in helping 

 you in the future: for the food problem is not 

 likely to be less urgent for the next year or so, 

 even if the war should be brought to an end 

 in a few months. 



KEEP RAISING THE DUST! 



CTILL first and foremost in this month's 

 ^ J activities is keeping every thing you 

 have growing, growing as well as you can grow 



it! That means no compromise when it 

 comes to the matter of cultivation. 



Keep the wheel-hoe going 



To keep your garden growing! 



The only time to stop cultivating all the space 

 between rows, is when you can no longer get 

 through — but remember that when there is 

 no longer room for the wheelhoe, you can 

 still break the crust, and keep the dirt mulch 

 established almost as quickly with a scuffle or 

 "slide" hoe. We have repeated the old rule 

 1 — "cultivate after every rain, and every ten 

 days or so if it doesn't rain" — many times. 

 But it is still as good to follow as it ever was. 



STILL TIME TO EAT THIS WINTER 



VTEGETABLES — ordinary plain stored 

 ™ "roots," not "fresh" stuff from Florida 

 — are not going to be any joke this winter. 

 Everytime you want any extra vegetables for 

 dinner, or even for stock for a war-time vege- 

 table soup, it will make a hole big enough to 

 see through in the week's table budget. Don't 

 let any ground lie idle that you can use now 



for the growing of beets, carrots, ruta- 

 bagas, or turnips, but provide to make a 

 full planting of these things at once. Many 

 people are not aware of the fact that these 

 things are of very much better table quality 

 if not planted until so late that they have just 

 time to develop nicely, attain a fair but not 

 full size, and without being allowed to reach 

 full maturity before being harvested. They 

 are then much more like the tasty vegetables 

 you .are used to having from your garden in 

 spring and summer, than the tough unpal- 

 atable things you usually get when buving the 

 large, coarse, and fibrous "roots" one gener- 

 erally finds in the markets during the winter 

 months. The market gardener plants earlier 

 than this because he is chiefly interested in big 

 yields; but for your own use, where high qual- 

 ity is as important as yield, later planting is 

 advisable. 



TRANSPLANT FOR FALL AND WINTER 



T ATE cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels 

 ■ L ' sprouts, kale, and ^celery should all be 

 set in their permanent places this month. 



