AMONG THE FLOWERS AND VEGETABLES. 



Then, when the round 



warfare against web-caterpillars on trees and shrubs. 

 Provided with a newspaper cone or holder in one hand, 

 a glove on, and a short stiff brush in the other, and a 

 step-ladder for reaching the higher nests, it is easy to go 

 among bushes and trees and sweep the webs, pests, and 

 any dead leaves into the holde 

 is made, fold the 

 holder together at the 

 upper end, lay it on 

 the ground and tread 

 on it a few times, 

 afterward committi: 

 it with its contents to 

 the flames. This is 

 the least disgusting 

 way of handling a 

 most disagreeable task 

 that must not be over- 

 looked. 



A Mass of Hardy 

 Hydrangeas. — The 

 common saying that it 

 takes half a lifetime 

 to produce telling ef- 

 fects in tree and shrub 

 plant i n g is sheerest 

 nonsense. On our 

 lawn is a large bed 

 containing 35 plants 

 of Hydrangea pani- 

 ctdata grandijlora, 

 set four or five feet 

 apart. The plants are 

 now about five feet in 

 height, and each one 

 is covered with scores 

 of large white pani- 

 cles of bloom. The 

 group is a confirma- 

 tion of our ideas on 

 the advantage of mass- 

 ing shrubs and trees 



to produce bold effects in ornamental plant- 

 ing. This mass of hydrangeas was planted 

 three years ago this spring, and is a telling 

 repudiation of the old saying quoted above. 

 Arrange trees and shrubs in masses, plant 

 enough of one kind so that individual char- 

 acter may be increased with multiplication, 

 give fairly rich soil, keep it well tilled about 

 the roots, and we will warrant that the 

 results of five, or even of two years' growth 

 will agreeably surprise the planter. Star- 

 vation and mistreatment are the most com- 

 mon causes of disappointment in tree and shrub-growing. 



Fertilizers for Spinage. — We have learned to think 

 so highly of nitrate of soda that we almost invariably 

 apply dressings of it to all our closely planted garden 

 vegetables. We have also made frequent trials of it on 



tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes and other garden crops. 

 Sometimes we have seen really remarkable results from 

 its use, and at other times have looked vainly for the least 

 difference in plants fed with nitrate of soda and plants 

 not so treated. There is one crop, however, which in our 

 experience has never failed to show the most astonishing 

 results from such appli- 

 cations ; this is spinage. 

 A dressing at the rate 

 of 200 or 250 pounds an 

 acre, costing about S5, 

 has usually doubled and 

 trebled the yield of this 

 vegetable. This sum- 

 mer we found the same 

 happy effects from ap- 

 plications of sulphate of 

 ammonia, made at about 

 the same rate as that 

 given for the nitrate. 

 Part of the spinage plat 

 received a dressing of 

 one chemical, part a 

 dressing of the other, 

 and a third part noth- 

 ing. The crop at the 

 time of these applica- 

 tions was about half 

 grown, but what a dif- 

 ference they made! 

 There was no notice- 

 able difference in the 

 two plats to which ni- 

 trate of soda and sul- 

 phate of ammonia, re- 

 spectively, were applied, 

 but a striking difference 

 between them and the 

 plat that had received 

 In the former case, we 

 obtained a heavy growth and the 

 dark green color of health and 

 thrift ; in the other, a lot of small, 

 yellowish -looking plants hardly 

 worth harvesting. 



This is a matter of the utmost 

 importance to spinage growers. 

 They can not afford to longer 

 ignore these simple means of in- 

 creasing their crops and multi- 

 plying their profits The two 

 chemicals seem to take effect im- 

 mediately after application, and 

 may be sown broadcast, even on 

 partly-grown plants ; but the better time for this, we 

 find, especially in the case of sulphate of ammonia, is 

 shortly after sowing the seed. 



Early Garden Potatoes. — It is just about 20 years 

 since the Early Ohio potato was introduced. We have 



nothing. 



MARGARIT/C. 



