332 
The Garden Magazine, July, 192 . 
Delphinium of the picture stand in a deep mulch of compost, which is 
always kept thoroughly moist; and, although in full sun, they bloom 
well into the extreme heat of the summer, when they are trimmed 
back, and later give a long season of autumn bloom. In March these 
two-year-old clumps are to be cut into four divisions and set out into 
new beds (also heavily mulched) to provide future masses and vistas of 
blue — the color so particularly entrancing in a garden that has an 
abundance of shrubbery and trees for a background. — Mira B. Culins, 
Pasadena, Cal. 
More About Grapes 
To the Editor of The Garden Magazine; 
LJAVING seen the request for information on cultivating and prun- 
* 1 ing the Grape and having had long experience with the vine in 
question, 1 have tried to jot down points helpful to the beginner. 
The Grape may be so easily and successfully grown and is so adapt- 
able to all sorts of uses that if there is only room for one fruit this seems 
the kind usually chosen. As fine an ornamental vine as 1 ever saw 
was one of the close-pruned purple Grape lustily growing above 
door and windows across the front of a brick house in the city. 
Four or five vines in as many varieties, selected according to your 
own preference, are all that an average family requires; and even one 
vine is a treasure. Most of those grown for market in the fields are 
trained to a stake with a cross on top. A trellis, an arbor or pergola is 
a great attraction, but when so grown the vines are more difficult to 
prune and sure to be neglected. 
Among the black kinds the Concord and Moore’s Early are unex- 
celled for general purposes. For delicate flavor and keeping qualities 
Pocklington, Delaware, and Diana rank among the favorites in the 
East. These will grow and bear wonderful crops trained on the north 
of a building, which is another point in their favor; and may be left 
on the vine until frost. If bunches are wrapped separately in tissue 
paper, and laid on a shelf in a cool, frost-proof room, to be used as 
needed, they may easily be kept until Christmas. 
Vines should be pruned when dormant, before the sap rises in the 
spring, but it is better done late than neglected entirely. Once, having 
been away from home, the vines, untouched for two years, were in a 
hopeless tangle and the sap in full flow. 1 did mv best by them whilst 
their tears streamed copiously; and followed the initial pruning by cut- 
ting back the new rampant growths to within two buds of the bunches 
of fruit. 1 never saw finer fruit; many branches had three or four 
clusters. These were thinned to two clusters, except the very best 
where a third was left. 
! Knowing the fruit grows only from the last year’s wood, when grow- 
ing on a building we train Grapes horizontally two feet apart each way, 
cutting out all others and using leather straps nailed to the wall to hold 
them in place. It is then easy to see and remove straggling vines. 
The ideal way is to train a new vine midway between these each year for 
the next crop, annually removing all the old wood that can be spared. 
When properly pruned, the novice will think his vines ruined; instead 
he will have the finest fruit and the best crop ever. In most cases you 
will still have more new growth than you know what to do with; yet it 
is not absolutely necessary to give further attention, except to bag the 
fruit in case you live where it is liable to rot from bad weather, or be 
destroyed bv birds and bees. I have never seen one bunch that wa: 
timely bagged that did not come out perfect with its “bloom” un- 
tarnished, even when not a single unbagged bunch escaped black rot 
Use a one pound grocer’s bag; open out flat; crush in each upper edge 
about three fourths of an inch, leaving the two sides narrower; slip this 
over the bunch when very small, pulling up over the vine so closely' 
that no little spider can enter. Thrust a pin through all, enclosing the 
stem of the grapes. It is best to have the bag hang upright so in case 
of a long rain, water will run off. This is all more rapidly done than 
told and is a guarantee against birds, insects, and meddlesome children. 
In gathering, simply cut the bag and stem from the vine. They can 
now be handled or left until ready to use, when every bunch comes out 
untarnished, a real feast to behold. — Sarah A. Plees, Whittier, Cal. 
— We refer interested readers to Mr. Seymour’s simple and com- 
prehensive account of pruning methods and the general treatment of 
Grapes and other fruits which may be found on pages 264 and 266 of the I 
June issue under the heading of “Garden Problems That Puzzle.” — Ed. I fl 
The Joys of Garden Building 
To the Editor of- The Garden Magazine: 
\ A /E BUILT and moved to our home five years ago. Nothing but 
' ' weeds. Now we have a paradise with more than a hundred 
varieties of flowers, a young orchard, and a sixty foot grapery. Twenty- 
four Grape vines, Concords and Niagaras, were set out and allowed 
to go to vine the first year for shade. Only four bore fruit; we had 
about two pecks of grapes. The next year about two bushels from 
eight vines and last year about ten bushels from sixteen vines. A 
seedling Peach tree set out five years ago lived through that severe 
winter which killed a number of other things. In the last three seasons 
it has matured till it is now twelve feet high, and in the fall of 1920 gave 
us a half bushel of fine fruit. Three years from the ground up is not so j 
bad! The coal ashes may have helped it some. 
Had some Ponderosa tomatoes which weighed two and a quarter 
pounds and many more from one to two pounds in weight; also cu- 
cumbers two inches thick and fifteen or sixteen inches long that were \\ 
crisp and brittle. 
People who come to see our place wonder how it was done, and in so p ( 
short a time. The secret is only that we have to love plants to make 
them grow; we love everything we have but the Dandelions. The f 
first season (three years ago) we housed one pair of purple martins; 
the next year three pairs; and the last year seven pairs came to our 
bird-house. This year we hope to have double that many. I can shoot 
the sparrows right under the martins and they never move. We talk v 
to them like friends and they seem to understand. 
We like The Garden Magazine better than any we take. — Dr. and 
Mrs. H. C. Bennett, Buckeye Home, Lima, Ohio. 
' 0 
Referring to the remarks made recently in regard to the Tulip y 
Collections grown this year in the New York Botanical Garden, we 
are reminded by Mr. Frank H. Presby that an even larger variety ® 
might have been seen at the C. H. Hunt Co.’s trial grounds 434 vari- 
eties in fact. 
WHAT. AUGUST PROMISES THE READER 
P OOLS! The mere word creates a momentary illusion of welcome coolness on these midsummer days, and even the tiniest pool set down on the lawn 
offers refreshing suggestion. Why not make one now while the need of it is still keenly in mindr Just the time to set out Iris, Evergreens, etc., so 
that when spring comes again the pool will be fringed with well established growth. Much practical suggestion for planting will be found in Mr. 
Robert Wheelwright’s article on “Small Naturalesque Pools” which also includes some working plans of actual construction. 
Mr. John T. Nichols, Associate Curator of Ichthyology at the American Museum of Natural History, will tell why — apart from the note of 
gleaming beauty and life so introduced — the goldfish and certain of his kindred are valuable inhabitants of the garden pool. 
J. L. Collins of the Department of Genetics, California Agricultural Experiment Station, touches on the latest romance in the making of new plants 
to order in the first of a series of three articles. We are beginning to learn the answer to a few questions and they are as curious and interesting as a 
fairy tale. 
Much planting may be done in August; why not Evergreens in this period of comparative leisurer Foliage effects can now be accurately deter- 
mined and there need be no guesswork as to placing. “ Evergreens for Ornamental Effects by Henry W ild offers the would-be planter a wide choice 
of tested materials. .... 
Dwellers in the city, whose gardens— very limited in area and subject to concentrated heat and other untoward conditions— need special consid- 
eration, will find many of their problems answered by “In The City Garden,” a comprehensive treatment which includes a list of shrubs, flowers, etc., 
particularly fitted for such use. 
“Green Symbols” is an interpretation, by a man who lives in intimate communion with nature in her magnificent Pacific Coast mood, of the 
spiritual meaning of growing things, most especially of trees. Formerly landscape architect in charge of the United States National Parks, Mr. Mark 
Daniels thoroughly appreciates “the individuality of trees” and their significance. Increased understanding of the inner spirit and message of plant 
forms lessens the likelihood of their misuse and makes of gardening an inspired art. 
PMIlllHHi 
ill 
