A common cause of disappointment is found in allowing the Why Khodo- 
f adecl blooms to remain on the bushes, with the result that seed is dendrons do 
formed and the shrub 's energy, instead of being directed toward not Blood 
the perfection of growth and flowering buds, is used up in the 
development and ripening of the seeds. If the old blooms are 
picked off as soon as they have withered, if a mulch or soil cover- 
ing of leaf -mould or decayed manure is placed round the bushes, 
and these are watered in dry weather, they will be kept healthy 
and floriferous. It is wise also to remove the faded blooms from 
Lilac bushes, to get rid of suckers — shoots that grow from the 
stock and push through the soil — and to cut out weak branches 
or shoots that tend to crowd and hinder the development of the 
better ones. Popular Gardening. 
Purely artificial manures are generally applied in spring, but Manures to 
kainit and basic slag, which take a long time to produce the best Apply Now 
results, should be applied at any time from now onwards to 
December. Kainit is a potash-bearing mixture of a somewhat 
crude nature, containing about a quarter of its weight of sul- 
phate of potash. Its other ingredients are poisonous to insects 
hibernating in the soil, and are washed away before cropping time 
in the spring. It is particularly good for light soil and should 
be employed at the rate of 3 to 4 ounces per square yard. 
Basic slag provides phosphates to the soil. It contains much 
lime and acts slowly. It should be applied in a fine powder at 
the rate of half a pound to the square yard, as soon as the soil is 
vacant. This is good for all herbaceous plants as well as for 
vegetables. — Popular Gardening. 
Spray now for San Jose Scale. "Scalecide" is a Complete Spraying 
Dormant Spray and should be used when the temperature is 
above 40° F. Lime and sulphur sprays wash off in heavy rains 
but Scalecide is mixed with oils, is absorbed somewhat by the 
plant tissues and is a penetrating and adhering spray. 
It is most effective when used on sunshiny days in the late 
fall and early winter. It is used at the rate of 1 gallon to 15 
gallons of water. 
R. L. W. 
Wild Flower Preservation 
Christmas Greens Again 
The chairman of this Zone suggests that we ask the Garden t j0Vn t ER 
Club members to refrain from using Evergreens in their winter g 0UTHERN 
mulching. The members in her neighborhood have used their Zone 
influence to stop the picking of Holly, and have had some degree 
of success, as well as a good deal of fun, she reports. 
53 
