440 AMERICAN: HOMES AND GARDENS 
: 
Around the Garden 
DECEMBER AND THE GARDEN 
HAT the Christmas holiday and its attend- 
ant joys make us forget the bleakness of 
December, until we become reconciled to 
the advent of Winter is a compensation that 
helps us to forgive Jack Frost, the irre- 
sponsible. I am not sure but that the fine, 
wide stretches of clean white snow are not for a little 
while a pleasant relief from Summer’s luxuriantly green 
landscape. Every season brings with it those changes 
in aspect which man should learn to understand, to appreci- 
ate and to love. Our poets have sung of the Springtime, 
our artists have immortalized the color of Summer, but 
just as truly the legend of Kris-Kringle has endeared the 
crackling snow-time to our hearts, if we have not forgotten 
the days of our childhood’s belief in Santa Claus’s reindeer, 
Frau Holle of the Brothers Grimm, the Snow Queens and 
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Rockwork for garden nooks and corners can be planned now 
A MONTHLY KALENDAR OF TIMELY GARDEN OPERA- 
TIONS AND USEFUL HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS 
ABOUT THE HOME GARDEN AND 
GROUNDS 
All gueries will gladly be answered by the Editor. If a personal 
reply is desired by subscribers stamps should be enclosed therewith. 
cooc$0000 fi (O33 c0008s0000 
December, 1912 
the Ice Kings of dear old Hans Anderson of tender memory. 
OT in every part of the country will it be possible to 
gaze out upon field, hedge and road decked in the 
traditional and sparkling array pictured by the Christmas 
card painter, and in the warmer sections of the country, 
our yards and gardens will be sere-brown instead of white 
until the coming of January. Where the snow-carpet has 
not covered our garden beds there is still left to be done 
a little outdoor work in the garden. ‘Trees, shrubs and 
vines should be mulched. ‘This will prevent the havoc con- 
sequent to alternate thaws and frosts which will inevitably 
damage unmulched shrubbery in cold climates. Then the 
tree should be looked after and all dead limbs sawed off, 
and pruning may be extended to the grape-vines. If your 
garden suffered from a visitation of tent caterpillars and 
there are any wild cherry trees on the premises, cut these 
down now, and next season you will probably find the gar- 
den freed from the bothersome pest. ‘Tree-surgery has been 
intelligently developed and all garden lovers are urged to 
interest themselves in the subject. ‘There is no gift of 
nature more generous than the life of a fine tree. Carefully 
inspect the home-grounds and examine every tree, not neg- 
lecting now to take the steps necessary for its preservation. 
KILLING WEEDS ON LAWNS 
EADERS of AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS who 
keep a garden “recipe” scrap-book will be glad to 
have for use next season the following information concern- 
ing weeds on lawns, contributed by a garden enthusiast. “TI 
have experimented,” he writes, ‘with both sulphate of am- 
monia and sulphate of iron as effective cures for the weed, 
Prunella vulgaris that dishgures many lawns. The latter 
chemical is cheaper than the former, but the sulphate of 
ammonia is, to my mind, more effective, inasmuch as it also 
encourages grass growth. The method of weed destroying 
with these chemicals is to pulverize the crystals of sulphate 
and sprinkle the powder rather thickly over the weedy spots 
during a dry spell. ‘The blackened patch resulting from the 
treatment will, in turn, when the grass has taken its new 
growth, be green and free from the unsightly weed.” 
FLOWERS THE BEES LIKE 
N article on “Bee Keeping as a Pastime,” which ap- 
peared on Page 63 of the February, 1912, issue of 
AMERICAN HoMES AND GARDENS, occasioned several ap- 
preciative letters addressed to the Editor. Among them 
was one containing a paragraph clipped from an English 
periodical of such interest that it is worth quoting here: 
66 HE garden lover generally delights in seeing bees in 
the garden, although he may not care to keep hives of 
his own. It is cheerful and pleasant to hear their hum, as 
we wander among our flowers; and many of our plants set 
their seeds more freely if these industrious insects fertilize 
them as they pass from flower to flower, carrying with them 
the exceedingly fine yellow dust of the precious pollen.” 
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