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TEE FLORAL WORLD 



HOW TO GROW VIOLETS 



Lovers of the violet, English or any- 

 other variety, should procure plants 

 the latter part of September or Octo- 

 ber if they wish an abundance of 

 bloom during February and March. 

 Set plants about six inches apart each 

 way in any good garden soil in some 

 slightly protected spot. If you have 

 old plants, dig up, pull apart, cut off 

 all but two or three of the new leaves, 

 also prune the roots, or plant the run- 

 ners that are not rooted, but the latter 

 will not bloom nearly so early unless 

 started a month before. On the Pa- 

 cific coast no protection is required, 

 .especially on Puget Sound violets 

 often bloom all winter. But in the 

 East a thin covering of straw or barn- 

 yard litter should be spread over the 

 plants as soon as the ground begins to 

 freeze. 



I believe my great success lies in 

 planting all plants the first or second 

 day of the new moon. Nine years 

 ago I read an article in regard to the 

 influence of the moon on plants, 

 thought it silly, but followed directions, 

 and had such quantities of bloom that 

 I have never since planted any sort 

 of flower at any other time in the 

 month. I plant my cuttings of roses, 

 such as the Queen, Caroline Testout, 

 La France, Marechal Niel and many 

 others at the first of the new moon 

 in September or October. I put cut- 

 tings, good, strong ones, in the ground 

 five or six inches deep where I ex- 

 pect plants to remain if possible, press 

 the soil very firmly around them and 

 the following spring do not cultivate, 

 only pull all weeds very carefully 

 around cuttings, and by June or 'July 

 they will bud, but I pinch off all buds 

 until late in summer. If started at any 

 other time you must wait two or three 

 years before a single bud appears. 



Sweet peas planted according to the 

 above directions will not go to seed so 

 readily; seed pods will form, but seed 

 will be scarcely larger than a pin head. 



Try the experiment and be convinced. 

 Washington. Mrs. L. J. Filley. 



AN EXPERIENCE WITH FREESIAS 



With no experience, and very little 

 information, I very hesitatingly under- 

 took to grow a few freesias for winter 

 blooming. I decided to plant my bulbs 

 in the last week of August. In a five- 

 inch pot I planted five about an inch 

 apart and an inch from the surface. 

 Experience has taught me to plant 

 them a little deeper to keep them 

 from coming up so soon, insuring 

 strong, healthy plants. I filled the 

 pots with rich wood dirt, being care- 

 ful to have good drainage through the 

 pot. I watered them thoroughly, and 

 then set them in the shade for several 

 days. After that I never gave them 

 water unless the surface was decidedly 

 dry. In about ten days my persistent 

 watching was rewarded by several 

 little green blades shooting up. After 

 growing too tall to support themselves 

 I stuck four thin sticks in the dirt 

 against the side of the pot, then wound 

 a cotton string around these, thus 

 keeping the long stalks from breaking. 

 When winter came I set them in a 

 southeast window in a room heated 

 by a furnace. Every morning I opened 

 the windows of the next room, letting 

 the fresh air circulate freely in the 

 room with the plants, but not blowing 

 directly on them. In less than five 

 months from the time I planted my 

 bulbs I had the most beautiful and lux- 

 uriant blooms anyone could desire. 

 After they quit blooming and the 

 leaves turned brown I stopped water- 

 ing them, cut the tops off, labeled the 

 pots, and set them away, and when I 

 opened the pots the latter part of 

 August my bulbs had twice doubled 

 themselves. 



There is nothing so sweet and fresh 

 as this lovely, innocent-looking flower, 

 and it certainly will more than pay 

 the amateur for the little trouble it is. 



Tennessee. Miss Edith Scott. 



