The Junior Gardeners 



CONDUCTED BY AUNT HEPSIE 



Another Letter from Aunt Hepsie 



Bear Boys and Girls: 



I wonder if you know liow nice it is to re- 

 ceive your letters. I am sure if all the cousins 

 knew hoAv pleasant it is to read them, I would 

 have a big pile of them every day. I have some 

 very nice letters for this month. 



Write to me and tell me all about your gar- 

 dens, flowers, fruits, etc., and what you do to 

 make your home a prettier, nicer place in which 

 to live. 



I find that those who have something of their 

 own to care for are kinder and happier for it. 



I am proud of my nieces and nephews, and 

 feel sure that through our Junior Gardeners 

 many homes will be brightened and many hearts 

 made happier. Don't you think so, too? 



Your own Aunt Hepsie. 



A Collection to be Proud of 



Dear Aunt Hepsie: 



Oh, how nice to have a junior column. I am 

 a great lover of flowers, though house plants 

 are my favorites. I have about twenty-five of 

 my own house plants, and attend to them all by 

 myself. We take Home and Flowers, and like 

 it very much. Aunt Hepsie, I wish you could 

 see my Wandering Jew (that's what we call it — 

 I don't know whether that is its real name or 

 not). I have it in a keg sitting in a box, and 

 it has run all over the keg down to the floor. 



We have a pit to keep our flowers in through 

 the winter. Grevillea robusta is real pretty, too, 

 and I have Geraniums, Heliotrope, Lantana, 

 Kenilworth Ivy, Coleus, decorative Asparagus. 

 All these I raised from seed. Am I not lucky? 



I use leaf mold mixed with sand for my 

 plants. 



Could Aunt Hepsie or some of the cousins 

 tell me what to do for small white worms in the 

 soil about my house plants? 



I am eleven years of age. Hoping to see this 

 in print, I will close. Love to Aunt Hepsie 

 and cousins. 



Your little floral friend, 



Blanche Welsh. 

 Grayson county, Virginia, August 1, 1903. 



I suppose plants in pots are referred to. If 

 Blanche will dissolve a piece of fresh lime about 

 the size of her two fists in a pail of water, and 

 then use the clear water to thoroughly soak 

 the soil, she will find that after a few soakings 

 the worms have been destroyed. Would be glad 

 to have some cousin tell Blanche of another 

 name for her Wandering Jew. 



A Little Girl With a Warm Heart 



Dear Editor : 



Could you give space in your valuable paper 

 for a little girl's experience? Mamma reads 

 Home and Flowers, and likes it very much, 

 and raises many beautiful flowers. 



As I was walking through the dry, dusty lane I 

 found a little pink Moss Eose about an inch and 

 a half high, trying to grow in happiness in the 

 grass and weeds, with its little pink face beaten 

 down in the dust. I said to it, "Oh, you poor 

 little sick baby, don't you want to go home 

 with me when I come back?" When I was on 

 my way home I w^atched for the little pink 

 face. I soon found it, and dug it up carefully, 

 and took it home with me, and as I handed it to 

 mamma she said, "Oh, you poor little Eose! 

 Where did you come from?" Mamma laid it in 

 a dish of water until after dinner, then I found 

 a jar and filled it full of rich earth, and planted 

 it in it, and now it is growing nicely, and blooms 

 every morning, and this morning it had six 

 blooms on it. Hattie Dispain. 



Buchanan county, Mo., July 30, 1903. 



A GirFs Garden 



Bear Aunt Hepsie: 



I saw in Home and Flowers about the 

 boys and girls having a page of their own, and 

 I think it is real nice, too, I will be very glad 

 to hear from you and any of the young readers 

 who may want to write. 



I never have much luck with flowers, but I 

 had a fairly good garden this year. I helped 

 mamma plant her garden, and she helped me 

 plant my garden. I had Peas, Beans, Eadishes, 

 Lettuce, Cabbages, and Onions. Mamma said if 

 she had lots of Potatoes that I might have a 

 couple of bushels to sell, because I planted 

 nearly all the potatoes we have, and planted 

 Potatoes on my birthday, too. 



I just love flowers, but I hardly ever have 

 any good luck with them. I have a few Bach- 

 elor's Buttons this year that are pretty good, 

 but that is about all I have. 



Mamma has some Beets in her garden, and 

 we have eight little ducks, and every time they 

 get a chance they get in the garden and eat the 

 tops off the Beets. Aren't they naughty little 

 ducks? But they are so funny when I feed 

 them, and they try to run to get where the feed 

 is, and they are so fat that they just tumble over 

 themselves. 



Wishing success to the Junior Gardeners, I 

 remain your friend, Elsie Colwell. 



Kingsburg county, S. D., August 3, 1903. 



