June, 1917 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
273 
years, only one has appeared in the meadow — 
a pasture — beyond my garden enclosure. 
This is the Silver Thistle, Echinops spaeroce- 
phalus, a European species. It is a strikingly 
handsome plant growing from five to seven 
feet tall, with spiny, glaucous foliage and 
silvery thistle-like flower heads. It is a 
hardy and prolific seeder, able to raise up a 
family in heavy grass, rocky soil or a well 
made gravel path. But as it is of biennial 
duration, no danger from it need be feared if 
the flower heads are cut off before they seed. 
The two varieties generally grown in this 
country, E. bannaticus from Eastern Europe, 
and E. Ritro from the shores of the 
Mediterranean, are most conserva- 
tive in their behavior. The latter 
does not self sow at all in my garden 
and the former but sparingly, and 
not with anything like the persis- 
tence of Phlox, Spiderwort, Holly- 
hocks, and many other time honored 
garden plants that have not become 
a menace to the farmer. I have 
never seen the Silver Thistle in any 
garden save my own. I hope my 
experience with these particular 
Thistles may reconcile Mr. Dulles 
to their use for they really are most 
decorative and beautiful. — Louise 
Beebe Wilder, Pomona, N. Y. 
Ancient Ideas. — In the Garden 
Magazine for April, page 159 is a 
note under the title “A trick with 
Poinsettia cuttings” in which it states “that 
a bean, pea, or other seed placed in the split 
end of a cutting will form a root for the 
cutting, etc.” If the editor allowed this in 
the magazine as a joke, I think it should be 
labeled as such, as there are still many people 
that would consider this a real bit of news, 
and I feel that it certainly takes from the 
value of a paper that is considered reliable 
to have such foolish things jprinted without 
comment as to their falsity. Such items 
should be given under a separate heading of 
“Some ancient ideas concerning gardening.” 
— Albert F. Carter, Greeley, Colo. 
[Quite right, it is so ordered, hereby! But 
really it never occurred to us that there would 
be any necessity of labeling a thing so obvious. 
Our mistake! — Ed. j 
Starting Seeds in Summer. — During the 
summer weather it is very difficult to get seeds 
to germinate properly because of the hot suns 
and the general dryness of the air. If left 
for a single day without water the vitality is 
burned out of the seeds. Shading during the 
germinating period is a great help and should 
be practiced, but too dense a shade is bad too; 
and any shade must be removed at the first 
evidence of germination. A quick change 
ofttimes ruins the tender young seedlings. A 
scheme which I like very much is to cover 
the frames with cheese cloth. This admits 
air and light, but still breaks the direct rays 
of the sun sufficiently to enable one to keep 
that evenly moist condition in the soil which 
is so essential to seed germination. The 
frames are made of shingle lath with plaster 
lath cleats to ■ keep them in shape; the 
cheapest cheese cloth is good enough for this 
purpose. Make the frame the same width as 
the cloth. — W. C. M. 
Preserving Flowers. — A few years ago, while 
traveling in the South, I met an old Japan- 
ese gardener and became interested in his 
odd methods of growing and preserving 
plants. I learned a number of things from 
him, among others the art of preserving flowers 
in their natural forms and colors. I have 
since experimented with a number of flowers, 
such as Asters, Cosmos, Calendulas, Calliop- 
sis. Cornflower, Marigold, Sweet William, 
Scotch Pink, Stocks, Zinnias, etc., and with 
few exceptions have had good results. 
Fine sand is necessary, which must be 
washed until all the soluble particles are gone, 
when the water runs off quite clear. When 
the sand is thoroughly dry, pass it through 
fine and coarse sieves so that all large 
grains will be separated Store the 
sand in a perfectly dry, warm place. 
Cut the flowers when fully developed, 
taking care that they are not wet 
and bury them in the dry sand. — 
S. H. Garekol, Maryland. 
Why not let the Editor know?— 
To the Editor’s desk the other day 
came a letter from a gentleman whose 
note in a recent issue of The Gar- 
den Magazine had evidently been 
very welcome to a host of readers. 
He said, inter alia: “7 had more 
correspondence I think about that 
Matilija Poppy story than anything 
I ever wrote before.” 
It is of course gratifying to learn 
that so much interest was evinced; 
but there’s a sad side to the story. 
Not a solitary letter of comment reached the Edi- 
tor. Here then was a note that the readers 
liked; they would probably like to know more 
of the Matilija Poppy, but the Editor has 
nothing whatever to justify his affording that plant 
a single line of space in the future (except for 
the accident of a personal letter on a differ- 
ent subject). 
Now the point of this paragraph is to im- 
press on the individual reader once again the 
propriety, to say the least, of addressing to 
the Editor letters arising out of the contents of 
the magazine. Besides, it will be a really prac- 
tical help to the making of a magazine that will 
better and better serve the readers’ interest. 
THE MONTH’S REMINDER 
JUNE THE MOST EFFICIENT PLANTING MONTH FOR ACTUAL FOOD CROPS 
If you are a fresh recruit in the army of the spade and hoe and “ in the dark” about anything whatever concerning your garden write to our 
Readers’ Service Department, stating your trouble. We are anxious to help. 
W E ARE at war! We are at war 
for the avowed purpose of making 
Democracy, not only international 
but universal! Every gardener 
in the land has a part to take in the fight! 
His duty awaits him just as certainly, and, if 
anything, more imperatively, in the rows of 
vegetables in his garden, as does that of the 
soldier in the trenches at the front. The 
gardener who neglects his work and loses a 
crop which might have been saved, or who 
fails to plant even a few rows of vegetables, 
which might have been “worked in” by a little 
more intensive culture, will have brought down 
upon himself the opprobrious epithet of 
“slacker.” World famine begins to loom up 
as something more than a remote possibility. 
Shoulder your hoe, or your compressed air 
sprayer, and do your “bit”! 
GET PLANTING DONE SOON AS POSSIBLE 
TN MANY sections, there is danger of late 
frost up until the first week in June. 
Under these conditions, the setting out of the 
more tender vegetable plants, such as toma- 
toes, eggplants, peppers or melons, squash, 
lima beans, or sweet corn, started in paper 
pots, in a cold frame, must be delayed until 
it is safe to plant, but should not be post- 
poned beyond that time. Every day counts 
in the short interval between the last frost and 
the beginning of the prolonged dry spell which 
is likely to come within a few weeks thereafter. 
The later the tender things have to be set out, 
the more imperative it is to supply them with 
fertilizer mixed in the soil directly in the hill 
which will supply an abundance of quickly 
available nitrogen. Chicken manure, sheep 
manure, or a little ground bone and dried 
blood mixed together are all excellent for this 
purpose. This enables the plants to begin 
growth at once instead of having to wait 
until they develop the root system. When 
planting, use plenty of water under each 
plant, at the bottom of the hole. 
DEFENCE AGAINST THE ENEMY! 
* I 'HE most important factors in cutting 
down the yield of the average home 
garden are insects and diseases and lack of 
sufficient moisture. Prepare, at once, if you 
