ODDS AND ENDS 
FROM EVERYWHERE 
Clay Versus Sand In Rose Soil 
\^Y ROSES did not bloom well two years 
ago; the buds blasted, the new growths 
were not as strong as they should have been, 
and this in spite of plenty of watering and 
preventive treatment for black spot and other 
diseases. My soil was a rich, sandy loam 
and from the way that the weeds flourished 
upon adjoining plots, it was apparent that I 
could not attribute the cause of my failure 
to an improper location. As I had only a few 
plants, mostly Hybrid Teas and Marechal 
Niels, I decided to give them an entirely new 
soil so that I could determine whether or not 
it affected the quality of the bloom. 
About that time I chanced to read an article 
in The Garden Magazine advising a clayey 
loam as a suitable soil for all Roses. I knew 
that the soil in which my Roses had been 
growing was deficient in clay, so hunting 
around in my garden I soon located the proper 
soil in a weed patch. This I cleared about the 
middle of January and scattered over it a 
small quantity of well rotted manure, after 
which the soil was pulverized to a depth of 
two feet, the manure being incorporated with 
it. The plants were then moved. 
I had no trouble in transplanting the two- 
year old plants; the roots were taken up with 
a spadeful of soil and they hardly knew that 
they had been moved until the roots found the 
new soil, when they fairly jumped into active 
growth. 
Last April the first blossom appeared, not 
the small half-opened blighted blossom of the 
previous spring, but a bud that formed a 
great brilliant, fragrant blossom. The size 
and color of all my Roses has been much better 
this past summer than ever before. Especially 
is this true of the Marechal Niels; they have 
never bloomed so freely nor has their color 
ever been more intense. All of which I 
attribute to a clay soil. 
Arkansas. Buford Reid. 
Cleaning Old Flower Pots 
C'LOWER pots that have been used for 
some time usually become unsightly 
either from whitish irregular blotches or rings 
that form near the tops caused by a dry 
atmosphere and the consequently drying out 
of the pot at frequent intervals; or from 
greenish growths of low forms of plant life 
that appear when the pots are kept continu- 
ously moist or in a moist atmosphere. 
The whitish substance consists of various 
kinds of salts (mostly from fertilizers) carried 
in solution from the soil through the pots 
and left on the -outside when the water evap- 
orates. This may be removed by soaking the 
pots thoroughly in two or three changes of 
water. 
Soaking, however, will not alone get rid of 
the low plant life that forms a generally green- 
ish film on the outside of pots. The best thing 
to use for this is diluted sulphuric acid. Cau- 
tion must be used in making this; be sure to 
pour the acid into the water and not the water 
into the acid. When the two are mixed, great 
heat is produced and there is danger of the acid 
splashing and burning either clothing or skin. 
The safest way is to cover the pots in an earth- 
enware crock (not a wooden or a metal recep- 
tacle, which would be injured by chemical 
action); then add the acid at the rate of about 
one part to ten of water. 
The finishing process consists of scrubbing 
with a stiff brush. Then rinse the pots in clean 
water and allow the film of water on the pots 
to evaporate before setting the plants in them. 
The pots, however, should not be “bone dry” 
when used for planting, but should have their 
pores filled with moisture; otherwise they will 
rob the soil of water for several days, perhaps 
until the pores are filled. 
One of the surest signs of stagnation in the 
soil is the appearance of greenish “moss” on 
the surface of the soil. This is frequently the 
second stage, the first being the green on the 
outside of the pots. 
New York. M. G. Kains. 
Candied Cranberries 
^T'HE home economics experts of the 
United States Department of Agriculture 
have been developing new uses for the cran- 
berry. They have developed a method of 
candying them which gives a bright, firm, 
plump, semi-transparent candied fruit. 
The secret lies in so handling the fruit that 
it will become saturated with sugar. 1 his 
calls for slow cooking on the instalment plan, 
and the use of a dish large enough to permit 
all the berries to float at the top of the syrup 
during cooking. The skins are so tough that 
they must be pierced before cooking to let the 
syrup into the pulp. To do this, three little 
slits, each one-eighth inch long, should be 
made in each berry with the point of a pen- 
knife. Use selected large, firm cranberries. 
For one and a half cups of berries, make a 
thin syrup by boiling together until clear 
nvo cups of sugar and two and one half cups 
of water. When the syrup is cool, add the 
berries and bring very slowly to the boiling 
point. If the berries are heated too quickly, 
the skins will burst before the syrup soaks 
into the pulp. As soon as the syrup boils, 
take the dish off the stove and let it stand 
over night. Next day, drain the syrup from 
the berries and boil it until it is reduced to 
about half its original volume. Put the ber- 
ries into this medium-thick syrup and heat 
slowly; boil gently for three or four minutes, 
and then allow to stand for two hours or more. 
Boil gently a third time for five minutes. A 
smaller dish probably will be needed for the 
third and last boiling. On the day following, 
drain off the syrup and spread the berries 
on a lightly buttered plate or a sheet of clean, 
waxed or lightly buttered paper until the sur- 
face of the berries dries. They should candy 
separately, and not into a sticky mass. 
To make a delicious ice cream, add one half 
to three quarters of a cup of chopped berries 
to each quart of the cream mixture. They 
also may be combined with bits of candied 
orange or lemon peel, or other glace fruits, 
to make tutti-frutti ice cream. The syrup 
left over after the berries are candied has a 
pleasant sweet-acid flavor and fine color, and 
is excellent in pudding sauce or even, when 
diluted with water, for use on pancakes, 
waffles, etc. 
Tablespoon Formula for a Spray 
'HE question of “How many tablespoon- 
-*■ fuls to a gallon of spray material,” asked by 
a correspondent from Kentucky in the August 
issue of The Garden Magazine, troubled me 
greatly last year until I met a University Pro- 
fessor who supplied the following formula which 
he had worked out for use in his own garden. 
Thinking it may be of service to others of your 
readers who require only a small quantity of 
spray at a time, I pass it on. 
3 tablespoonfuls bordeaux mixture 
I “ arsenate of lead 
i teaspoonful Black Leaf 40 
Water to make one quart 
The originator recommended it for “all in- 
sects and diseases.” I have used it regularly 
on Phloxes and Roses with good results. Un- 
fortunately, I neglected to ask whether paste, 
powder, or liquid forms of the ingredients 
should be used, so I used what I had on hand, 
which happened to be bordeau,x paste, 
powdered arsenate of lead and no Black 
Leaf 40, which was not available here at that 
time. 
I never found that it burned the foliage; but 
if it should seem too strong for some things, it 
is very easily diluted. One is not confronted 
by any such mathematical difficulties as are 
involved in the proportions of pounds to gal- 
lons. 
Indiana. Laura J. Paxton. 
Is This the Largest Silver Bell Tree? 
'HE article on the Silver Bell tree, in the 
August issue, was very interesting to me. 
I have a Silver Bell tree in my garden, which 
may prove to be the largest specimen known. 
It is about 55 feet in height and measures 
exactly 5 feet in circumference about four feet 
from the base. 
It is most beautiful in the spring. If any 
of The Garden Magazine readers want 
some seeds, I will be glad to supply them. 
New Jersey. L. C. Buss. 
A Twenty-four Foot Bush! 
T HAVE read with much interest the remarks 
■^■on page 16 of the August Garden Maga- 
zine, in Mr. Dunbar’s article on “ New Ameri- 
can Flowering Tree.” We have a beautiful 
bush fully 24 feet high, circumference 100 feet, 
a Halesia carolinum probably, 25 years old, 
which flowers most beautifully in spring. It 
looks as though a central trunk had been cut 
off, and the present branches twelve or four- 
teen in number, had come out from it, some 
of them being 13 inches around. 
Pennsylvania. John B. Morgan. 
Again — Japanese Anemones 
T NOTICED in the May number of The 
Garden Magazine, Edward W. Learning 
asked for experiences in growing Japanese 
Anemones. Three years ago I bought three 
plants of Whirlwind. The first year they 
were superb; but the second year a black beetle 
almost devoured them before I found a 
remedy. I used white hellebore in powder, 
put on while leaves were wet. I give them 
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