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The Garden Magazine, February, 1922 



however, harvested the largest and finest crop he had ever had. His 

 vines bore prodigiously; and I have never seen finer bunches of Con- 

 cords, Niagaras, and Delawares. His fruit was a triumph when that 

 of others was a flat failure, and this success I cannot but attribute to the 

 use of lime as described. The matter has impressed me so genuinely 

 that I am laying plans to lime all my Grape vines early in this coming 

 March. — A. Rutledge, Mercer sburg, Pa. 



Introducing Little-Known Plants 



To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 



IT IS easy enough for the American flower-lover to go into ecstasies 

 when rambling through European gardens. Always the new things 

 are a prime factor in the creation of this state of mind. 



Of course, some of these new things are as old as the hills, by horticul- 

 tural reckoning; the reason that they are not found in American gardens 

 is very often because they have been tried and, for climatic reasons, 

 found wanting. But if one has a rude awakening to this understanding, 

 comes also the pleasant realization that there are actual novelties that 

 ought to be widely welcomed in the 'United States. And there are dis- 

 coverable other flowers that, though introduced to culture abroad years 

 ago, are properly classable as new here, for the reason that they are 

 not generally known. By these, however, 1 mean only such as ap- 

 parently are suitable for more or less American use, but have not been 

 given a fair trial under favorable conditions. In this connection it is 

 important that American amateurs, in particular, should "get wise" 

 to the important fact that it is not altogether the difference in climate 

 that gives English gardens certain flowers that are little seen here or 

 wanting altogether. Often it is English concentration and perseverance 

 that does the trick. For one thing, many plants not quite hardy are 

 made so by the use of small movable coldframes and by the same means 

 bulbs that must have extraordinarily dry ground after blooming are 

 protected from the rain. — H. S. Adams, New York. 



Does Watering Help? 



To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 



YES Sir! Given a light soil an sand or gravel, with a low water 

 level, and a month of hot, dry weather and it is safe to say that, with- 

 out liberal watering, none of the ordinary garden stock is going to reach 

 anything like its maximum; particularly if the ground is merely 

 scratched over with a shovel or plow. Deep digging or trenching will 

 do much to conserve moisture, especially when the surface is kept 

 constantly hoed and cultivated, but it will not produce the finest yield, 

 which is, after all, what a small gardener desires. This is my comment 

 on the question put in the September Garden Magazine. 



In the field, watering is more or less out of the question, but a garden 

 is not a field. Usually, the farmer avoids locating on land that dries 

 out; the home garden has to take what is available and, generally 

 the builder does not select land for its garden possibilities. 



Personally, I have worked on all kinds of soil and am a crank on deep 

 digging, but I have never doubted the value of watering; I invariably 

 start in before the plants show signs of suffering. Try to grow good 

 Pansies, Sweet-peas, Roses, table Peas etc. without watering and see 

 what happens when the hot weather strikes them. The Pansies im- 

 mediately run small and mildew; Sweet-peas shorten in stem, Roses 

 mildew like the dickens, table Peas do likewise. After all, the interest 

 in gardening lies in ever seeking to have something better than the 

 ordinary things. — T. A. W. 



Converting the Greenhouse into a Rockery 



To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 



EXPERIMENTING with a greenhouse rock garden this year, I 

 *~* have come to the conclusion that the rare Alpines can be raised 

 from seed and grown successfully under glass. 



Outside rock gardens of America are something of a farce. They 

 are more like rough herbaceous gardens than rockeries, with rampant 

 plants of all descriptions huddled together. They do not possess the 

 rare Alpines found in European gardens. Unfortunately most of these 

 gems will not stand the American summers, to say nothing of 

 American winters. 



With coal at fifteen dollars per ton, many greenhouse owners have 

 abandoned the idea of operating stove houses where the temperature 

 cannot fall below 6o degrees, but a considerable amount of enjoyment 

 can be obtained by simply converting the greenhouse into a rockery 

 where Alpine plants can be grown. The cost of remodelling is very 

 slight, and the heating expense practically zero. This has been suc- 

 cessfully done in Great Britain, why not try in America? 



Last spring I procured seeds which with very few exceptions all 

 germinated and the plants are now thriving. Even choice gems such 

 as Androsaces, minute Campanulas, Viola gracilis, Persian Cyclamen, 

 Ramondias, encrusted Saxifrages, moss Saxifrages, Aubrietias, Primu- 

 las, etc., came quite freely from seed and are flourishing. These were 

 kept in pots until large enough to handle and then transferred to their 

 permanent quarters — Joseph B. Reardon, Head Gardener Harvard 

 University Botanic Garden, Cambridge, Mass. 



The Himalaya Still Under Fire 



To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 



1 NOTICE that W. T. A. of New Jersey asks for information concern- 

 ing this Blackberry. I have had no personal experience with it, but 

 the catalogue of J. T. Lovett, Little Silver, N. J., has a description of 

 the plant which suggests that it may not be altogether adapted to New 

 Jersey conditions, in which case it would be well for W. T. A. to plant 

 some other variety. Mr. Lovett is such a candid nurseryman that 

 he calls attention to failings as well as virtues in the plants he offers. 

 I quote his description in full: 



"Himalaya. — A giant, indeed, in growth. Although of delight- 

 fully sweet, brisk flavor, at Monmouth the berries are small and the 

 yield has been unsatisfactory. We have, however, received so many 

 letters from patrons commending it highly that we deem it proper to 

 revise our description of it. The canes are tremendous growers, hardy, 

 and with some, at least, are enormously prolific. Berries jet black, 

 very firm, but rather small. Ripens late. Should be given support, 

 as it is almost climbing in growth. When grown over stakes or on an 

 arbor it does best." — A. H. B. 



To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 



RESPONDING to the request of W. T. A. in September, let me say 

 that I have raised the Giant Himalaya Blackberry for ten years 

 and regard it as the best of all bush fruits, giving the most and finest 

 fruit for the effort expended. Few people appreciate it because they 

 have not learned how to grow it to perfection, the secret lies in severe 

 pruning, exercised frequently throughout the growing season. Left 

 to itself it spreads all over the garden, wasting its energy in foliage to 

 the sacrifice of the fruit, both in quantity and quality. 



I plant eight by eight feet and allow each plant to grow but a single 

 new cane each season. This involves cutting out all additional shoots 

 at the ground and removing all side shoots about twice a month. These 

 canes are trained along wires about five feet from the ground. They 

 frequently attain a diameter of an inch and three quarters and a length 

 of fifty feet. In the spring cut out all old growth and shorten new 

 canes to one third their length. 



Side shoots put out the second year will all bear fruit and should be 

 allowed to grow. These shoots grow three to five feet long and the 

 fruit sets at their tips out of the reach of the rather vicious thorns. 



Pruned in this manner the Giant Himalaya has borne superlatively 

 without any cultivation whatever. The prunings are allowed to accu- 

 mulate on the ground under the bushes where they form a heavy mulch 

 which keeps down weeds and conserves moisture. I have one planting 

 which has not been cultivated for six years and it produced its best crop 

 this season. 



The Giant Himalaya is peculiar in that it will not cross with other 

 Blackberries. So far as I can learn all efforts to hybridize it have 

 proven unsuccessful. If any such efforts have succeeded I would 

 like to know of them. Luther Burbank, who introduced Giant Him- 

 alaya from India, worked with it for fifteen years, and has recently 

 introduced an improved variety called the Superb Himalaya which, ac- 

 cording to introducer's description, is a more vigorous grower and pro- 

 duces more and better fruit. I have grown the Superb variety two 

 seasons, but cannot decide whether it is a material improvement on a 

 fruit which already left so little room for improvement. 



Another peculiarity of the Giant Himalaya is that it grows readily 

 from seed and comes true. Every summer I pull out hundreds of seed- 

 lings where the seed has been scattered by birds. I am so enthusiastic an 

 admirer of the Giant Himalaya that I will send seedling plants while they 

 last, and seed when the plants are exhausted to such of your readers 

 as may desire to experiment with it. — Joe Smith, Longhranch, Wash. 



To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 



WT. A. asks "What to do with the Giant Himalaya Blackberry" 

 • to make it bear and restrain a too vigorous growth. My exper- 

 ience is it won't bear; and after some years experimentation, suggest 

 the best way to restrain its growth is to take the plant as soon as it is 

 received and burn it. There is no other way to restrain it. — P. H. 

 Forbes, Kansas. 



