160 
THE GARDEN M A G A Z I N E 
April, 1915 
abundance, and it seemed odd to find such a place 
fronting a well-paved street. 
The conclusion seems to be that double white 
narcissus are semi-aquatic, which explains why 
they make some showing in a wet season, but are 
not at home in the conventional well-drained 
garden. Possibly a sunken bed might suit them, 
especially if made up with loads of swamp muck, 
and freely irrigated in the blooming season. On 
the other hand those who have a boggy patch, or a 
low wet spot in the garden might plant them with 
fair hope of success. I may add that the fine 
specimens I saw here had been established so long 
that no one remembered the original planting, and 
the whole secret seemed to be that they were 
growing in rich, wet, black muck. 
Ontario, Canada. William Q. Phillips. 
A Division Fence of Roses 
T O ALMOST every one who owns a suburban 
place the time comes when it is necessary 
to put up a dividing fence between his lawn and 
his neighbor’s. Why not have that boundary 
line a thing of beauty instead of the stereotyped 
hedge of privet, that never blooms and needs con- 
stant care? (Not that I would decry privet hedges, 
for they have their uses.) My lawn had been 
open for many years, but in time a neighbor built 
upon the lot adjoining me and then for many rea- 
sons a fence seemed best. I priced hemlock and 
hydrangea and barberry for the distance I wanted 
to enclose; they were all too expensive. Why not 
roses? The number of climbing roses necessary was 
within reach of my pocketbook, so they were 
ordered, as well as wire, which a handy colored man 
converted into a fence in no time. Living in the 
latitude of Philadelphia, I had the growers send 
my roses about the 2 5th of April ; they were placed 
as follows: 
Flower of Fairfield (crimson, ever blooming 
rambler), White Dorothy Perkins (rambler), 
Alister Stella Gray (golden rambler), Christine 
Wright (pink climber), Evangeline (pink Wichur- 
aiana), Silver Moon (white Wichuraiana), Climbing 
American Beauty, Gardenia (yellow hardy Wichur- 
aiana), Evergreen Gem (white with lovely foliage), 
American Pillar (rosy pink climber), Alberic 
Barbier (hardy Wichuraiana, white with canary 
yellow centre), another Christine Wright, Robert 
Craig (yellow Wichuraiana), Dorothy Perkins 
(pink rambler), Gardenia, Lady Gay (cherry 
rambler), Dr. Van Fleet (flesh pink hardy climber), 
Dorothy Perkins, and Thousand Beauties. 
In many instances I bought the large sized 
plants because I wanted immediate results. The 
first year there will be a strong growth of wood 
and in climbers this produces the great wealth of 
flowers the next year. The long canes tied to 
the wires make an effective screen also and 
many varieties do not lose their foliage until 
spring, so that they are pretty all winter and 
especially so when covered with soft tufts of 
snow. The soil for climbing roses should be good 
loam with some well rotted manure, but do not 
have it too rich or you may have more growth 
than flowers. 
The posts (which may be either oak or chestnut) 
were 4x6 and 6 feet long, and planted 10 feet 
apart. The wire was plain fence wire put on in 
three strands about a foot apart. I allowed two 
rose plants to a panel, and the effect was very 
pretty. 
Pennsylvania. Lucy B. Polk. 
Early and Late Vegetables 
W ILL you not publish an article soon, for the 
benefit of amateurs growing vegetables, who 
are away from home during July and August and 
who must get crops out before July 1st and after 
September 1st. I realize that I could, no doubt, 
dig such information out of past numbers of The 
Garden Magazine, but no doubt a special article 
and tables would please many. — H. H. Heywood, 
New York. * 
[In last month’s number of The Garden Maga- 
zine appeared a comprehensive article by Mr. 
Kruhm, about growing vegetables according to a 
time table. This, we believe, will contain all the 
information that is desired. — Ed.] 
“French Endive” for Forcing 
I F MORE amateurs knew how easy it is to 
force Witloof chicory, which is served in the 
high class restaurants under the name of “French 
endive,” this delicious salad would be grown much 
more generally than is now the case. June is early 
enough to sow the seed and the plants should be 
thinned to eight or nine inches in the row. If a 
few radish seeds are sown at the same time, the 
quick growing radish plants will mark the rows and 
make cultivation possible before the weeds can 
start. Late in the fall the chicory leaves should 
be trimmed off half an inch above the crown and 
the roots lifted, being stored in earth or sand in the 
cellar. At intervals during the winter a few of 
these roots may be planted in a box of earth and 
set near the furnace or in some other warm spot. 
The plants shown in the illustration were forced 
behind my kitchen range, but the heat was too 
great for the best development of the shoots. A 
temperature of from 45 to 50 degrees is best. The 
growth of the shoots must be made in the dark to 
have them properly blanched, but it is only nec- 
essary to invert another box over the one con- 
taining the roots. In two or three weeks the shoots 
Witloof chicory may be successfully forced in winter 
from roots taken up in the fall. This is the “French en- 
dive" of the high class restaurants 
are large enough to eat and are excellent when' 
served with French dressing. I have been equally 
successful in forcing sea kale, but two seasons are 
required to get the roots large enough to force. 
Much of the “French endive” served in the 
restaurants and hotels in normal times is imported 
from Belgium, but it is probable that more will be 
grown in this country in the future. 
Massachusetts. E. I. Farrington. 
A Novel Window Garden 
T HE following experiment for a window garden 
effect proved so charming that some of your 
readers might like to try it, too. I had two long 
trays or pans of galvanized iron which, in a former 
house, had been used to catch the surplus water from 
wooden window boxes. They were about the 
width of the window shelf on which I keep plants. 
I filled these pans (one, about three weeks later 
than the other) with pebbles and fine gravel, such 
gravel as is sold in the five-and-ten-cent stores, 
placing in them as many Paper White narcissus 
bulbs as I could. I think each pan held about 
twenty-two. Then I poured in the water very 
gradually; and when both the pebbles and small 
gravel were well moistened, not submerged, I 
sprinkled Timothy grass seed well over the top. 
In a few days, the seed germinated. 
In a short time I was rewarded by genuine spring 
turf and early blooming bulbs. The second pan 
was to replace the other, with a succession of blos- 
soms, and was started in a north window. The 
first one was started in a strong light, on a wooden 
shelf in the living room over a radiator. Asbestos 
mats were placed beneath the pans. No sand was 
necessary for the grass, the fine gravel holding 
quite sufficient moisture. 
Norfolk, Va. Mrs. M. C. Gwathmey. 
Making Dahlias Bloom 
O N PAGE 165 of the December Garden Maga- 
zine, Mr. Davis of Lansdowne, Pa., tells of 
his dahlia troubles. I have had very good success 
with mine, and think I know what causes his plants 
to run to luxuriant foliage rather than flower. 
His soil is too rich, or rather too heavy. Dahlias do 
best in a sandy loam, a fact which I realized after 
a visit to a large dahlia farm near Hammonton, 
N. J., where the plants were laden with magnificent 
flowers, and the soil was so sandy that it was almost 
white. If, when Mr. Davis plants his roots, he 
digs the hole three or four inches deeper than the 
roots need, and mixes his soil with an equal amount, 
or even more, of sand or ashes, puts a good layer 
of this mixture in the hole before laying in the 
roots, and of course fills up the hole with the mix- 
ture, he will have more blooms and less foliage. 
The deeper and wider the hole to be filled with the 
mixture, the better. If a fertilizer should be 
needed (which I much doubt in his case) a handful 
of bone meal placed in the bottom of the hole before 
any soil is put back, will give the flowers rather 
than the foliage the advantage of the extra food, as 
the rootlets will not reach it until the blooms are 
coming. One foot apart seems very close. My 
plants need two, and sometimes seem crowded at 
that. Last year I planted with my own hands 
100 roots according to the method outlined above, 
with excellent results. 
Atlantic City, N. J. Mrs. E. C. White. 
It may be consoling to Mr. E. W. Davis, whose 
dahlia flowers last year were failures, to know that 
1914 was not ideal for best results; it was too wet 
early in the season and forced a very rapid, suc- 
culent growth which was suddenly stopped and 
ripened up, followed by a long and severe drought, 
which hardened the growth to a ripened condition 
before its time, naturally against the usual late- 
flowering time. The soil, perhaps, to begin with was 
too fertile, as the dahlia does better in a rather poor 
or light soil. Also, it is rank folly to plant before the 
first week in June within 100 miles of New York 
City. I am led to believe that Mr. Davis’s plant- 
ings or tubers had not been cut to one eye or bud; 
also that he waited too long before pinching the 
growth. Dahlias should be planted every five or 
six days from the 20th of May to the middle of 
June, so as to be sure of having some just right. 
Do not cover the eye or bud, but simply the tuber 
(so as not to scald) and as the stalk is developed, 
gradually draw the soil up to it, beginning as soon 
as the first set of leaves is fully shown. When the 
second set is developed, draw the soil level and 
pinch off the top of stalk. The plant will not only 
be stocky but will develop a strong base and be able 
to stand without any staking. I am thoroughly 
convinced that it is very unwise to use any fer- 
tilizer in the soil at planting time, and that a poor 
or sandy soil, quite damp, is the ideal. When the 
flower buds begin to show, disbud for better size 
and use a liquid fertilizer or a mulch of cparse stable 
litter. The dahlia grows fast, and if developed 
slowly will be dwarf. When the flower buds come, 
by forcing easily, the tissues will carry sap for 
flowers and the stimulation will go into better 
quality, color, and size. — E. S. BrowN, Long Island. 
In answer to Mr. Davis, there are a good many 
things which make the dahlias run to foliage in- 
stead of blossoms. From his wording, I should 
think he was troubled with the white fly, which 
stings the bud ends, which blasts them in their 
minute form and causes new growth. And when 
that starts to bud, it in turn is stung and no 
flowers result. The remedy which I find is best 
is to start when the plants are small, before they 
begin to bud, and spray with cold water just before 
dark, especially under the leaves. My plants are 
a mass of flowers all summer. 
Massachusetts. W. D. Hathaway. 
In the December Garden Magazine I noticed 
a query from Mr. E. W. Davis, of Lansdowne, Pa., 
as to why his dahlias did not bloom last year. The 
editor also invited answers from other readers. 
May I suggest that the soil in which these partic- 
ular dahlias were grown was too rich in nitrogen 
and deficient in phosphate and potash, especially 
phosphate, Dahlias should be grown in compara- 
tively poor soil until the buds appear, and 
then fed every week or ten days with liquid cow 
manure or a light dressing of pulverized sheep 
manure raked in around the plants. The fact 
that Mr. Davis’s plants had “luxuriant foliage” 
indicated too much nitrogen. — W. B. Correll, 
Atlanta, Ga. 
