340 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



January, 1914 



jjuests from seeino^ each other quite 

 easily. Onlv perfectly fresh llow- 

 ers shoiild be used, and none that 

 are '^erx powerfully scented. On 

 laree tables plants up to the 

 heie-ht of 15 nches may be used 

 with yerv good effect. 



— The ^^varf Trees of Japan. — 



Certain guilds of Japanese flor- 

 ists, bv secrets, the full imDort of 

 \vh ch is known otilv to themselves, 

 take the baby seedlinp^s of trees, 

 which Nature intended should be 

 giants of the forest, and so mani- 

 inilate the train them that each 

 develops onlv as a tree in minia- 

 ture, but livine, growing, and heal- 

 thy, and with root, branches, and 

 leaves all in perfect harmony with 

 its minute size. Centuries mav 

 pass over the head of the little 

 tree, and yet it remains only ^ a 

 few inches in height, while, in- 

 stead of being a vast mass of 

 wood and tissue, and of enormous 

 we eht, as it would be in the I'sual 

 course of things, it remains p-row- 

 ine in a flower not. and can be 

 carried bv a child. 



— Greenhouse Baskets. — 



Gloxinia's in baskets are very 

 ^rett^•. and if the foUowine me- 

 thod is employed the extra trouble 

 will be amply repaid. Start the 

 tul>ers in a compost of leaf mould, 

 loam and sand, in r temnerature 

 of =^=; deo-. As soon as thev have; 

 madia a fair p-rowth plant them, in 

 the ba.skets. The basT^ets must be 

 first lined with moss, and then 

 fillf-d with a compost of loam, 

 leaf mould and sand. Next choose 

 five plants of about enual prowth. 

 Put one at the top of the basket, 

 the other four at enual -listances 

 roimd the sides of th- basket. The 

 wires will have to be cut or 

 pressed aside to allow the tuber 

 to be got through th'e moss and 



K BECHTEL, 



SADDLER, TRUSS & BANDAGE 

 MAKER. 

 59 O'Connell Street, 

 NORTH ADELAIDE... 



Patent Attachable* and Detachable 

 Bu"^, Spring Cart. Yankee, and Cab 

 Saddles. 



Trusses, Bandaeee, Kneecaps, leather 

 Jackets, Shoulder Straps, etc., Wade 

 to OrH.r. and tent to all parts of the 

 Commonwealth. Eit Guaranteed. 



I^Y IN ATTENDANCE 



into the soil. If plenty of shade, 

 air, and water, with a watering 

 with well diluted cow manure oc- 

 casionally, be given them, a very 

 pretty basket will soon be made. 

 Achimentes, especially the small 

 scarlet one called Dazzle, make 

 very pretty hanging baskets. They 

 are easily grown, and if given the 

 same treatment as Gloxinias, and 

 introducing the small bulbs round 

 the sides of the basket so that the 

 whole baskfet will b% well clothed 

 with foliage and flowers, they will 

 amply repay all trouble expended 

 on them. — Exchange. 



— Aspidistras. — 



Plants needing repotting' should 

 be turned out of their prasient pots 

 very carefpUy and divided into se- 

 veral portions where an increased 

 number is desirable. The old soil 

 should be shaken from them, and 

 thev should be replaced in clean 

 (inside and outsidfe), well-crocked 

 pots. A mixture of loam^ leaf 

 mould, and the well-rotted ma- 

 terial from a year-old hot-bed, 

 togeither with some silver sand, 

 makes .a capital compost. If no 

 increase in the number of plants 

 be desirable, the repottin-g should 

 merely be to a larger sized pot. 

 Large specimens of over fifty leaver 

 and in the healthiest condition are 

 easily growable. Of course these 

 plants are long enduring, and do 

 their best under starvation ra- 

 tions, but a well-nourished, well- 

 grown plant, with long healthy 

 leaves is, I think, what we should 

 aim at. 



— Hollyhocks. — 



It is easy enough to raise single 

 varieties from seed and a certain 

 percentage of doubles call also be 

 obtained by the same means. 

 Sometimes, however, one comes 

 across a reallv fine sort which is 

 worth propagating. By cutting a 

 piece of 'Stem up into small por- 

 tions, each containing an eye or 

 bud, and setting them in shallow 

 boxes filled with fine soil, one can 

 raise a batch of young plants. The 

 boxes should be stood in a cold 

 frame and kept shaded from hot 

 sunshine. When rooted the cut- 

 lings should be potted on. It is a 

 pity that this grand flower is so 

 suljject to ru.st, but spraying xyill 

 usualh' do much good in keeping 

 them, clear. 



— Mulching. — ' 

 Mulching consists of covering 

 the surface of the ground about the 

 roots of trees, plants and crops 

 with some non-absorbent material. 



the object being to conserve the 

 moisture in the ground, and in 

 some cases to pro\'idi8 the objects 

 treated with nourishment. When 

 judiciously caPried out, mulching is | 

 highly benefic al to plant life, but 

 at the same time it can be both 

 overdone and misapplied. In the 

 summer, when the heat from the 

 sun is very great, the moisture in 

 the ground evaporates very rapid. 

 Iv, and unless water is applied in 

 large quantities at frequent inter- 

 vals, vegetation suffers and growth . 

 is checked, small Quantities of 

 water given during these periods 

 being practically useless, as the 

 liquid is absorbed by the parched 

 soil before ,it reaches the roots of 

 the plants. 



— Old Time Gardens. — 



An old time gardener . writes 

 Old times were the timtes of long 

 ago when grand-parents of the 

 present dav were young-, and be- 

 fore. We had beautiful flowers in 

 those days, fifty or sixty years 

 ago, and we loved theni for their 

 beauty and individuality. Some- 

 thing was done in the way of 

 carpet bedding and massing for . 

 color effect, but we loved variety ■< 

 in our gardens ; and this lawns not 

 being so much in evidence in the 

 foreground as since the introduc- 

 tion of the lawn-mower, we had 

 our flowers in front of the house 

 on each side of the walk, with an 

 overflow supply in the vegetable , 

 garden and the back vard. When ' 

 even ng shadows gathered around ' 

 us or when dew-drops sparkled in ; 

 the morning sunlight, we had fra- 

 grance of flowers such as we sel- ^ 

 dom' enjov in these days. We would 

 not do without out lawns, and are , 

 ready to concede that it is not in 

 good taste to cut them up with 

 many flower beds, butv there has 

 been a time in later years when-; 

 we missed the old time favorites, 

 because there seemed to be no 

 place for them.— Exchange. 



— Bouquets. 



The beauty of bouquets -20 years 

 asro was often valued by the num- 

 ber of varieties of flowers grouped 

 tos-ether, and it required ^ good 

 judo-ment and taste to arran<re thi 

 various colors in harmony. Theii 

 as now there were some odd e* 

 pressions of fashion and taste ii 

 floral arrangem.ent. At a latel 

 date the fashionable bouquet 'V^^fl 

 round or pyramidal in form, wi*^B 

 a surfacing of flowers a,s smoot^B 

 as a football-each flower having 

 been stemmed with a bit of brooi«^ 

 straw and all sustained with 



