XII 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



July, 1908 



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E OFFER our patrons and subscribers the advantages of a long 

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The Scientific American Reference Book, compiled by A.A.Hopkins, l2mo, cloth, 



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American Estates and Gardens, by Barr Ferree, quarto, I 1x13 '2 inches, 340 pages, 



275 illustrations 10 00 



The Design and Construction of Induction Coils, by A. Frederick Collins, 8vo, cloth, 



400 pages, 125 illustrations 3 00 



TheTechnological Dictionary, Spanish-English, (Vol. I, Ingles-Espahol, $8.50 j Two ,/• ™ 

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GARDEN WORK ABOUT THE HOME 



{Continued from pagt 294) 



than one mowing and raking. The result is 

 a lawn kept in perfect condition. 



On the other hand, a grass catcher attached 

 to the lawn mower saves all raking, and, best 

 of all, keeps the lawn free from the short 

 pieces of grass, which are so likely to be tracked 

 into the house on damp mornings. 



There is a disagreement between experts as 

 to whether the clippings should be removed or 

 left as a mulch, but certainly a lawn looks 

 better when they are removed, and the conse- 

 quent loss of humus should be more than made 

 up by the yearly dressing w T ith manure. 



WATERING THE LAWN 



Watering by means of a lawn sprinkler 

 never does much good, and it is a great waste 

 of water, particularly if it is done in the day 

 time when the evaporation is so great that the 

 soil is only moistened on the top. 



The sprinkler covers a large area with a 

 very little water, and it is very beautiful and 

 amusing to watch, but what the lawn needs 

 in a long drought is a thorough soaking. The 



only way to give this (except by sub-irriga- 

 tion) is to let the hose run on the ground all 

 night. You might start at six o'clock, at the 

 highest part of the lawn, move the hose at 

 nine to a fresh place, and again at twelve, if 

 there is anyone up so late to do it. In the 

 morning shut off the water and the following 

 night repeat in some other part of the lawn. 



It is well to remember that it is only on 

 rare occasions that the leaves of a plant need 

 water, never, I think, if the roots are in good 

 contact with the soil and growing. 



PLANTS FOR SHADY PLACES 



A. A. S. wants to know what to do with 

 the bare ground under some beech trees, and 

 says he has given up trying to make grass 

 grow there. 



If the trees are used to hang hammocks 

 under or if they are constantly resorted to for 

 their shade, it is hard to know what to do, but 

 I think it would be better to cover the roots 

 with a few inches of soil and lay flat stones 

 on the space which is constantly used, or else 

 pave the entire space and not attempt to grow 

 anything under the trees. Then if people can 

 be kept on the brick or stone paving it will be 



possible to grow a few plants in the rest of 

 the space. The difficulty about growing grass 

 and plants under the dense shade of trees is 

 not only that they do not get enough light, but 

 that the trees rob the soil of richness and 

 moisture. 



Shallow-rooted trees, like the maple, beech, 

 pines, etc., are particularly bad in this way, 

 while the oaks, which root deep, are not. 



If the branches of the trees hang too close 

 to the ground to permit any plant to grow 

 well, the pavement will still be an advantage, 

 for then the unused portion may be left cov- 

 ered with the fallen leaves, which make a neat, 

 beautiful carpet, so long as one does not walk 

 on it too much. 



I have known people who have tried to keep 

 footpaths through pine woods covered with 

 needles like the rest of the ground, but pleas- 

 ant as such a carpet is to the foot and eye, it is 

 not lasting, and stepping stones or bricks are 

 better in the end, even though they are more 

 formal. 



Sweet pepper bush, the fragrant Clethra al- 

 nifolia, which blooms in August, is a large and 

 beautiful shrub which seems not to mind 

 ordinary shade. This is, moreover, easy to 

 collect in the woods, and can therefore be used 

 in quantities. 



The purple flowering raspberry, Rubus odo- 

 ratus, lias showy flowers two inches across, and 

 stems and branches covered with clammy hairs. 

 It has no prickles, and it is an ornamental 

 shrub for the shady parts of the wild garden. 



The Wych Hazel, Hamamelis Virg'inica, 

 is another wild shrub of great value for use 

 under trees. It is large, reaching fifteen or 

 twenty feet sometimes. 



Fragrant sumac, Rhus aromatica, is a strag- 

 gling bush, three or four feet high, which will 

 grow in shady places. The leaves resemble 

 the poison ivy somewhat in shape, but are hairy 

 instead of shiny, and have a pleasant frag- 

 rance when crushed. 



The Indian currant, Symphoricarpus vul- 

 garis, grows well in the shade, and is a good 

 shrub because of its fresh green leaves. It in- 

 creases rapidly by underground shoots. The 

 berry is attractive in the autumn. 



English ivy can be used as a ground cover 

 under trees, and often does well, but perhaps 

 the myrtle, Vinca minor, will endure more 

 shade. 



Hypericum adpressum, too, is good under 

 trees though difficult to get, and the yellow 

 root, Zanthorrhiza apiijolia, will grow with 

 little sunlight. These are both low shrubs 

 seldom reaching two feet in height. 



Many spring blooming plants, like the blood 

 root, wake robin, Jack in the pulpit, and man- 

 drake, will grow under deciduous trees, and 

 narcissi, too, may be grown there, because 

 these things bloom before the trees are clothed 

 in leaves; but there are few plants that will 

 grow at all under the dense shade of ever- 

 greens. 



Of course, few plants will grow as well in 

 shade as in the open, and the plants which are 

 commonly found there, are there not because 

 they like it best, but because their upward 

 growth is so limited that without the inter- 

 vention of man they must always be under 

 taller plants. Moved to the open and pro- 

 tected from encroachment they often do bet- 

 ter than in their accustomed environment. 

 The reason they do not spread to open places 

 now is that they can not, when young, con- 

 tend with grass and weeds, and inevitably 

 perish the first year. 



R. R. asks "if anything can be done in a 

 small way to abate the mosquito nuisance." 



There are three things to remember about 

 mosquitoes : 



First.— They can not increase without 

 water. 



