202 
The Garden Magazine, May, 1921 
Of the domestic cat there is little to be said in her favor, either from 
the economic or esthetic viewpoint. She is a pampered pet of little use, 
except that when buried in the garden she becomes good fertilizer. 
She is the worst natural enemy of our birds and where she is permitted 
the freedom of the premises, birds will not make their abode. Only 
one ignorant of the value of a nest of brown thrashers to a garden, 
would permit a cat to destroy a nest of these birds. The large majority 
of cats will take birds in preference to rats and mice. The fact that 
mice and rats are not so often seen where cats are kept is no indication 
that they are not present, but merely that they are more wary about 
appearing in the open. 
My plea is for more gardens affording sanctuary to our native 
birds. — Scott G. Harry, booster, Ohio. 
Giant Kalmia From Carolina 
To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 
Y/^OU said last spring, I remember, that you would be interested in a 
I photograph showing the size of the Kalmia latifolia at Highlands, 
North Carolina, where 1 have my tract of virgin forest. The enclosed 
photograph shows a tree form of Kalmia latifolia, five feet seven in 
circumference at four feet from the ground. 
This is the highest section of the Blue Ridge which is still clothed with 
virgin forests and has the largest tree growth in the East. 
Two years ago 1 saw on the top of a range of mountains to the 
southwest of Highlands a specimen of pink-flowered Azalea calen- 
A KALMIA TREE TRUNK 
In the mountains of North Carolina the Mountain 
Laurel makes a startling growth hardly realized as 
possible by those who know the usual garden plants 
dulacea, and a Kalmia latifolia which had six-petaled flowers through- 
out, making a very large and ornamental flowerhead. I got scions 
from both these plants and these have since been grafted at the Arnold 
Arboretum, and should in a short time be in flower. — H. H. Richard- 
son, Boston, Mass. 
Evonymus As a Substitute For Ivy 
Tolhe Editor of The Garden Magazine: 
\ A/HILE Evonymus radicans vegetus is unquestionably the best 
’ ' substitute for English Ivy in the North, and a plant of remark- 
able value, it is well for garden lovers not to plant it against a stucco 
wall. For some reason, which as yet has not been ascertained, this 
Evonymus does not seem to thrive on stucco as it does on brick or 
stone. The vine will grow, but does not seem to take hold of the 
stucco surface as it should. It is possible that the lime in the stucco 
has a tendency to kill the aerial rootlets, although nobody can speak 
with authority, so far as 1 know, on this subject. Perhaps there are 
gardeners who have had different experiences from those which have 
been reported to me, and if so, it is to be hoped that they will send 
them in, because there seems to be quite a widespread belief that there 
is a marked lack of affinity between stucco and Evonymus radicans 
vegetus. — E. I. Farrington, Mass. 
Ashes On Your Raspberries 
To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 
^PHIS is by way of reply to your inquiry on page fifty, March 
1 number, about the proper care of Red Raspberries. 
Three years ago a former neighbor gave me a lot of Red Raspberry 
plants which had been in the part of her garden where the ashes were 
thrown out. I planted them in holes in clay soil, but too thickly, and 
they did not do well. Then 1 put them in three rows only eighteen 
inches apart. The next spring they did well as to foliage, but had the 
yellow leaf, so 1 cut them back to about a foot from the ground and 
sprayed them several times. 
The following season I dug out the middle row and made another bed 
with them. This left the others in two rows, three feet apart. They 
were planted in the lowest part of the garden next my Everbearing 
Strawberries (into which beds, if not watched, they sprout so as to be a 
nuisance); on the other side is my drainage ditch, covered by a walk. 
Here they did well as to growth, and gave us the first season about 
two quarts of fine berries. The next fall I clipped off all the tips, and 
left them about three feet high; also cut out all the dead canes. I 
cultivated between the rows and plants frequently. The next winter 
I sifted all my coal ashes and put the fine dust on the ground about the 
plants. Last season 1 turned this over frequently, and watered often. 
We gathered twenty quarts, and had them about as fast as we could eat 
and preserve them, and some in addition to give away. 
Clipped the tips all off as before and cut out all dead canes last fall. 
This year have been pouring the sifted coal ashes about them as before. 
Have a fine stand in three beds of lusty canes. Have a rack or railing 
about one bed with wires stretched below the top rail. The plants 
grow thick and have heavy heads. Clipping the tips makes them 
branch and each branch will have as many berries as the single one will 
if not clipped. This makes them heady and shorter. The finest 
berries grow in the centre where it is shadiest. They bear from July 
to October. 
Believe the ashes keep away the worms. Saw but one all summer. — 
H. C. Bennett, Lima, Ohio. 
Another “Best Twelve” Gladiolus List - 
To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 
I T SEEMS to me impossible to have a “best twelve” list of any flower 
— whether the choice of the professional or of the amateur grower — 
because individual tastes vary so much, and the soil and location 
changes the behavior of so many varieties. Mv own selection of 
Gladiolus, however, is the same as Mr. Hendrickson’s (Garden 
Magazine, March, 1921, page 27) in all but two varieties, and they 
are Attraction and Scribe. Not all of this list are the best of their 
color, but they are dependable varieties, and can be grown successfully 
by the average planter. If Europa were as vigorous as Peace, it would 
be the most wonderful white variety in existence to-day. A few years 
ago I had a number of young bulbs, of which not one has endured. 
Such varieties lacking vigor, cannot be successfully grown no matter 
how good the flowers. 
In place of Attraction 1 would choose Princepine or Florence. 
Princepine is a bright red with a white throat. The individual flower 
is not so large as Princeps, but far more vigorous. Florence is a 
lavender pink with white throat, and is extra fine. 
Pink Perfection is one of the best of its color, and has only one 
fault — that of crooked stems. Arizona is a rose pink„ and doing extra 
well with me. 
Some growers claim that Goliath is one hundred per cent better than 
Empress of India. It is a taller grower, and the flowers are larger, but 
not so rich in color. The flowers of Goliath will wilt, and are ruined 
even on a moderately warm day, and the only way they can be saved 
is to cut them when the first flower expands. 
Distinction is a fine dark maroon, and in time will, I believe, super- 
sede Empress of 1 ndia. 1 1 is not quite so brilliantly colored, but has an 
extraordinarily fine spike, and is vigorous. 1 have grown new varieties 
that were wonderful the first season, and a failure after that, and 
others will improve after growing them for a few seasons. 
