90 
T II E G A 11 I) E N M A G AZIN E 
March, 1915 
ence in the varieties of dahlias and it is generally 
noted that the finest cactus dahlias will produce less 
bloom than the more ordinary types; and under 
adverse conditions, the old time double kinds and 
the single ones are almost the only ones that will 
produce a few flowers at all. My advice is that 
where suitable dahlia soils cannot be secured the 
amateur had best switch his affection for dahlias 
to some more grateful kind of flower. — J. G. 
Bacher, Portland, Ore. 
According to the letter “What’s the Matter 
with the Dahlias” in the December Garden Maga- 
zine, the trouble must have been as prevalent in 
the States as in Mexico. During 1914, dahlias, 
especially the double ones, were not nearly so 
beautiful here as they had been in previous years, 
although weather conditions were about the same. 
Even the florists exhibited but few specimens of 
dahlias during the flowering season, and these were 
nearly all single ones. 
My own dahlia plants, from which I have had 
flowers six to seven inches across, did not make any 
show at all. The double ones did flower, but the 
stalks were weak and the buttons dropped off before 
they bloomed. To find out what was the matter 
with the plants I dug out some of them and noticed 
WAR ON THE BUGS OF SPRING 
(See opposite page Jot illustrations) 
Poison Spray for Early Work . Arsenate of lead 
is the most satisfactory material for leaf-eating insects. 
For caterpillars that have just hatched 2% to 3 pounds 
of arsenate of lead paste to 50 gallons of water is 
sufficient. For large insects that are nearly full- 
grown a dose may be required of 5 to 8 pounds to 50 
gallons of water. 
Digging Out Borers. Search for the burrow by 
cutting in with a sharp knife at a point where saw- 
dust has been thrown out. Then probe the burrow 
with a soft copper wire, nicked at the end. 
Kerosene Emulsion. In one gallon of hot water 
(soft) shave up 5 pound of soap, add to this 2 gallons 
of kerosene and at once agitate violently until a 
smooth, creamy emulsion is formed. Dilute with 10 
to 12 parts of water. 
When to Spray Apple Trees • Apple trees maybe 
given a dormant spray, such as lime-sulphur or the 
miscible oils at any time up to the bursting of the 
buds. A poison spray, or a contact mixture, may be 
applied after the leaf buds open, but before the 
flower buds open. No spray of any kind should be 
applied while the trees are in bloom. Poison sprays or 
contact sprays may then be applied again as soon as 
the petals have fallen. 
[Reliable, ready prepared commercial sprays, etc., 
are on the market.) 
that during the summer they had made a big lot 
of bulbs. What I notice is that if there is an early 
rain in the month of March, the dahlias are quick 
to respond; then if we have no rain until the middle 
of May, during which time the sun is burning hot, 
we are bothered with a lot of insect pests which 
quickly destroy the plants, especially the young 
shoots when the buttons are showing up. Sprink- 
ling with nicotine or with sulphur powder does not 
help at all. — Arthur Leuze, Mexico. 
I think the trouble with Mr. Davis’s dahlias 
was due to a check in development, which may be 
due to pinching back the tops, a sure way to make 
the growth thicker with smaller blooms; or if the 
roots were started indoors, growth may have been 
checked when they were transplanted; or again 
the new and heavy soil may have choked the roots. 
Such soil should be loosened up with wood ashes 
and well rotted manure. Let one or two shoots 
grow as high as they will to get the largest blooms. 
A single shoot will make enough branches to give an 
abundance of blooms. I grew dahlias in very hard 
black soil, almost gumbo, this last summer, but I had 
treated it as above. My plants were eight feet high 
and the blooms were from six to eight inches across. 
— Glenn B. Chadwick, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. 
Practical Plans for the Home Grounds 
I. A Dooryard Garden — By Ruth Dean, 
Landscape Designer, 
New York 
[Editors’ Note: We have made arrangements to present in this series of articles a practical solution of some one planning 
problem at least each month for some time to come. This is in response to repeated requests from many readers. Detailed plant- 
ing schemes are not given, but the reader will be able to adapt portions of such planting plans as were given in the February issue of 
The Garden Magazine. All the plans in this series will have a uniform treatment of shading to facilitate comparison: — Trees are 
indicated by heavy hatched circles; shrubbery by a light stipple and irregular outline ; flower beds by a light screen; a cross hatch for a 
hedge; grass is left blank] 
I T IS seldom nowadays that the main 
approach to a house is through a 
garden. Among New England houses, 
there are some which still keep their 
prim, box-bordered, flower-filled parterres 
flanking the front walk, but for the most 
part, lawns have swept the garden to the 
rear of the house, or to some place not 
quite so public as the dooryard. And in 
most instances, this is as it should be, for a 
garden is primarily a place to be enjoyed 
as one does one’s house — privately, and 
free from the eyes of outsiders. Sometimes, 
however, the flower garden between the 
street and the front door is the only kind 
which space permits, 
a fact which one need 
not regret, for the 
dooryard garden may 
easily have a great 
deal of charm. Almost 
everyone who has 
traveled European 
countrysides, will re- 
call peasant cottages, 
snug in the midst of 
their flowers, and re- 
member how inviting 
was the color filled 
plot. A garden of this 
kind is most success- 
ful with the small in- 
formal house, for even 
though it be laid out 
along wholly sym- 
metrical lines, there 
is about it a distinctly small house feel- 
ing. 
In the plan shown, a long narrow lot, 
badly shaped, with the house occupying a 
large proportion of it, offered opportunity 
for almost no other kind of garden. The 
lot was on a corner, and wherever the flower 
garden was placed, very little privacy was 
to be gained. Frankly accepting these 
conditions, and making the most of them, 
resulted in an amazingly pleasant little 
garden, which invites if it does not conceal. 
A picket fence (with well-designed posts at 
intervals) in front of a high hedge, goes far 
toward shutting off the outside world, and 
Plan for a comer lot where the house is approached through the flower garden of the semi-formal type. The open lawn 
is bordered by shrubbery which screens it from the street. Evergreen trees could be substituted 
the perennial beds around a stretch of 
green, with their corners strengthened by 
trim little hawthorn trees, form a pleasing 
courtyard garden to the low, stucco house. 
The hawthorn for use in gardens, deserves 
to be marked. It is a native tree, of a 
most picturesque habit of growth — jutting 
horizontal branches, that cover themselves 
in the spring with blossoms, which later 
turn into pretty little apples — it stands 
trimming well, and is perfectly symmetrical. 
Because it grows wild over our own 
meadows, we are apt to overlook its charms 
— as we do those of many common things — 
but it fits very happily into the most pre- 
tentious of gardens. 
The small lead figures 
at either end of the 
stretch of turf, are not 
necessary, though 
some really good piece 
of statuary, in scale 
and feeling with the 
garden, adds interest 
valuable to so small a 
place. Tall shrubbery 
and trees disguise 
the awkward shape 
of the lot — at the 
same time shutting 
off the piazza from 
the direct view of 
passers-by, and act- 
ing, at either end, as 
a background to the 
garden. 
