106 



The Garden Magazine, October, 1921 



Method one, especially adapted to the protection of separate beds 

 and borders, consists of digging a trench six inches deep completely 

 around the plot that you wish to protect. Then take moderately 

 heavy but soft twine, run it through coal tar, lay it in the bottom of the 

 trench and fill the latter up again. The moles, it is claimed, detesting 

 the odor, will not burrow across — either underorover — this "dead line." 



From the Pacific Coast comes the second suggestion, to the effect that 

 raisins split open, dusted with white arsenic, and dropped quite freely 

 in runs wherever discovered (using a small stick or dibber and dis- 

 turbing the soil as little as possible) will do away with many moles as 

 well as the field mice that in some sections follow along after them, 

 using the same burrows. 



The third scheme, practicable, 1 should say, only in heavy soils 

 where, as suggested above, the same run is used repeatedly, calls for 

 an eight-inch flower pot and a piece of board rather larger than is 

 needed to cover it. Open the frequently used burrow and bury the 

 pot so that the top of the rim is just level with the floor of the run at 

 both sides. Then mound the earth up around the sides of the pot high- 

 enough so that the board can be supported as far above the pot as the 

 diameter of the run. Thus a covered trap is constructed directly in the 

 course of the burrow into which the unsuspecting moles tumble and 

 from which they are unable to climb out. Frequent tours of inves- 

 tigation among the traps can be made, the board covers lifted and any 

 captured moles removed and destroyed. This latter necessity may go 

 against the grain of some. For my part I had rather use either of the 

 other methods which obviate the need of personally killing the prison- 

 ers of war. — E. L. D. Seymour, Hempstead, N . Y. 



Flowers that Thrive in a Clay Soil 



To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 



I AM setting out a new garden, a delightful thing to do where one has 

 the garden spirit well developed. What I mean is a lively interest, 

 not so much in mere color and form, as in the growth and development 

 of the individual plant. I do not care for spectacular display, except 

 incidentally, for others to own and for me to look at now and then. I 

 cannot long endure the flaunt and the scent of gold that distinguishes 

 the "famous" garden. For this reason I hope to see the Open Column 

 flourish and remain with us, we who have need of it. My 50 x 100-ft. 

 garden would not yield to the display style and at the same time give 

 me something new to look at every day. I began last year with a new 

 home, finding there a yard of sod ground, some of it loamy, but some 

 pretty stiff clay. I was glad of the clay, for it is necessary to the best 

 Rose growth. 1 am finding that this flower demands clay modified by 

 leaf mould and an occasional dash of sheep manure (for example) and 

 can show already as good Ophelia, Killarney, Richmond, Gruss an 

 Teplitz, Red Radiance, Frau Karl Druschki, as are usually found at the 

 florist's. Ophelia pleases me most. I have 20 plants or so of it that I 

 have wintered twice and they are now much the most sturdy and active 

 of my Roses. 



As to clay: the Rose, Nicotiana, Dahlia, perennial Delphinium (not 

 the annual sorts so well), Calendula, Zinnia, Hollyhock, Cosmos, like 

 it best, if the soil is well stirred, but most annuals prefer loam, en- 

 riched by old manure. A big bunch of blue Pansies that I wintered 

 with a little protection does well in the modified clay and is now — July 

 — still, since winter, full of flowers, almost as large as ever, though the 

 Pansies of other colors are mostly gone, or very small in size. 



A small rockery at the rear, with woodsy earth and kept very moist, 

 shows many winter pot plants, Fuchsias, Asparagus, etc., growing 

 contentedly with various wild plants. Even some water Sagittarias 

 flourish there. But it takes more space than 1 can ask to sketch, even 

 lightly, a small garden. — John W. Chamberlin, Buffalo, N. Y. 



Increasing Strawberry Crops By Mulching 



To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 



OUR neighbor beat us every year when we first started growing 

 Strawberries, though we tried hard to produce good berries, and 

 lots of them. So one day we went forth to discover the magic by 

 which he drew such a large amount of beautiful fruit from his straw- 

 berry land, and found that the magic consisted of "mulch." His 

 plants grew in a thick, even mulch, and produced fruit much larger 

 and more delicious than any grown in our patch. 



That November we picked out all the weeds in our patch, and put 

 on a heavy covering of clean straw. Since then we have always kept 

 the land well mulched, and we now raise plenty of berries as large and 

 delicious as those grown by our neighbor. The reason why plants 

 growing in unmulched soil produce smaller and poorer crops, is that the 

 heaving of the ground, caused by alternate freezing and thawing, 



breaks and damages many of the fine roots, thus weakening the plants 

 so that they become unable to draw sufficient food and moisture from 

 the soil during the crop season. Before we used mulch, many of our 

 plants became so weak that they died in the summer. Mulch also 

 holds the rain, thus enabling the plants to obtain moisture during the 

 time of ripening, when a very dry spell may be the ruin of an entire 

 crop. Another advantage of mulch is that it forms a blanket for the 

 berries to lie on, so that they need not grow in the dirt where many 

 of them rot. Besides, the fruit is much easier and cleaner to pick. 



Oat, wheat, and rye straw make the best mulch, but all straw should 

 be free from foul seeds and grain. We have used fine prairie hay satis- 

 factorily; but coarse hay is unsuitable as it does not make an even 

 covering and lies less closely on the ground. The covering should be 

 applied before alternate freezing and thawing starts. We put on the 

 straw as soon as the ground freezes, and before any snow falls. The 

 mulch can be applied on top of the snow, but the straw is then more 

 easily blown about by the winter winds. A good time to put on the 

 covering is during a light rain or sleet, for the falling moisture will help 

 to pack the straw so that it remains where wanted. We usually apply 

 the straw in November or early December. Two or three inches of 

 grain straw make a mulch sufficiently heavy, when spread evenly over 

 and between the rows. Before putting on the straw, we go over the 

 land and pull up all weeds and level out the ruts and lumps. The 

 field is then smooth and clean when growing starts again. 



We do not remove the mulch in spring as soon as the plants start 

 growing, but keep it on as long as we can, thus developing the growth 

 for some time, especially if the season is early. By so doing, we make 

 the plants bloom later, usually enough to protect them from late frosts. 

 When the growth is well started, we rake the straw off the rows, care- 

 fully exposing every plant. The straw is not carried off the patch, 

 but is spread out between the rows. Of course, where the patch is 

 small, and the plants do not stand in rows, the mulch must be worked 

 down between the plants. — Charles Olive, Willmar, Minnesota. 



Possibilities of Potted Cauliflower 



To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 



AN INCREASED interest in growing potted vegetables leads to 

 a consideration of what plants are genuine successes handled 

 thus and which are failures? Judging from my experience and 

 from that of certain friends, there is a decided limitation on the kinds 

 of plants which can with success be potted, and among those which 

 do succeed, there are gradations of success, whether they be started 

 in pots, in flats, or boxes and then transplanted to 3-in. or 5-in. pots. 

 Tomato is undoubtedly the best grower; the Pepper, the Eggplant, and 

 the Cabbage yield favorably to this method; but Beans such as the 

 Lima, Corn, and all roots crops are hardly worth trying. 



Only lately have I begun to realize that there are considerable possi- 

 bilities in the potting of Cauliflower. Procuring some choice seed 

 early in March, I prepared a small flat for planting. When the soil 

 (fine leaf mold, garden loam, and pure sand, sifted together) was 

 levelled, I made tiny rows, an inch apart, and planted the seeds, one 

 by one, an inch apart in these rows, covering them with about \ in. of 

 soil. In preparing the soil a handful of pulverized sheep manure was 

 used as fertilizer. 



The stand in the flat was perfect ; and when the plants were five inches 

 high, I transplanted them to 6-in. pots, for which a rich and moder- 

 ately heavy soil had been prepared. In transplanting, I clipped off 

 the tap-roots about halfway down to insure the throwing out of many 

 small feeders. The plants in the pots were sunk in soft soil in a hot- 

 bed, where they remained until the first of May. By this time they 

 were exceedingly lusty, resembling small trees of some dwarf variety. 



The space in the garden in which they were set had been deeply 

 spaded and carefully worked, and into the soil had been incorporated 

 a heavy dressing of stable manure and a light dressing of commer- 

 cial fertilizer (the standard ammonia-phosphoric acid-potash for- 

 mula). The soil was clay, but of a workable kind; and this is most 

 excellent for both Cabbage and Cauliflower. 



The rest consisted merely in clean cultivation, two dustings with 

 insect powder to kill the green worm, and the pinning over of the big 

 leaves to keep the sun from spoiling the forming heads — ten-pounders 

 were the result! — A. Rutledge, Mercer sherg, Pa. 



— We very much regret that through an error, the Garden of Mrs. Rob- 

 ert C. Hill, Easthampton, L. I., (July Garden Magazine, page 31 1), 

 was credited to Miss Ruth Dean. "Grey Gardens" is, as a matter 

 of fact, the creation of its owner, Mrs. Hill, to whom is due all praise 

 for this charming and individual bit of garden making. — The Editors. 



