June, 1920 
CALADIUM ESCULENTUM. 
This plant is generally known as a foliage 
plant and is so used, and the beauty of its 
flower is not generally understood. It has a 
flower similiar in shape to a Calla Lily, but 
more then twice the size and of a light yellow 
color. Caladium Esculentum will bloom freely 
if planted in a situation suitable for a swamp 
plant. It should have plenty of water after 
the second leaf is started and should have all 
day sun. It should not be planted on an 
elevation, but in a depression if possible so as 
to have its roots in water. 
J. H. SCHLACHTER. 
HEMEROCALLIS. 
Hemerocallis fulva, double flowered vari- 
egata, is one of our richest flowering plants, 
unlike the single variety it does not have the 
bad habit of going beyond bounds. It is long 
in bloom when flowers are not so plentiful as 
when the yellow Day Lily is in bloom, and 
with its long graceful foliage, it makes a 
superb specimen plant on any well kept lawn 
the entire season. It is liable to revert back 
to its original plain leaves. Each one of these 
should be pulled out as soon as they appear, 
when we have the most beautiful of all the 
hardy variegated foliage plants. 
S. A. P. 
CORN BORER QUARANTINE. 
Our town with three other townships border- 
ing on the city of Buffalo have been quaran- 
tined. We cannot ship any flowers into the 
market, also sweet corn on account of the 
Corn Borer which has made its appearance 
in our town. Could you tell me how to detect 
it if it is found working in my Glads? The 
government does not give us any remedy. 
They tell us we can grow them but not to 
send them out of the town without a special 
permit tied on each shipment which is im- 
possible. Kindly print this in The Flower 
Grower as it might interest some of your 
readers. 
L. L. Gressman. 
Value of Wood Ashes. 
The value of wood ashes in gardens, both 
for fruit and vegetable growing, cannot be 
overestimated, particularly where the soil is 
inclined to be heavy. They then not only act 
as a fertilizer, but also as valuable agents in 
raising the temperature of such soils, besides 
operating in a beneficial manner in keeping 
them open, and so rendering them more easily 
worked. On lighter soils wood ashes are also 
serviceable, only in a less degree, because the 
lighter the character of the staple the less 
need is there for their application generally, 
the exceptions being in cases where wireworm 
and maggot are troublesome and where the 
soil has become nothing but a mass of humus 
from repeated and heavy dressings of manure. 
This latter is often found to be the case where 
the soil is anything but light, and, although 
the presence of so much humus is not then 
quite so detrimental, both in this and the for- 
mer instance the soil would be greatly ben- 
efited by the application of a good dressing 
of wood ashes for a season or two instead of 
manure. These wood ashes, containing as 
they do a considerable amount of carbonate 
of potash— the quantity varying according to 
the materials used at the time of burning— 
sweeten humus-laden soils, so to speak, and 
counteract the evils arising from a too free 
use of organic manures. Again, the more 
charcoal the ashes contain, the more is their 
value enhanced, as this takes up and retains 
moisture, which is thus stored ready, as it were, 
for absorption by the roots of both plants and 
trees, as the case may be, when they come 
into contact with it. 
On wireworm and maggot-infested soils 
Slower (Brower 
wood ashes are of special value, as they greatly 
assist in getting rid of the troublesome pests 
if their application is steadily persisted in. 
They should then be applied as a surface- 
dressing at the time the seeds are sown, in 
addition to giving the plot a good dressing 
when digging, taking care to incorporate them 
well with the staple. For sowing in Potato 
drills after the planting is finished and before 
closing in the drills, they are of the utmost 
service, and act as a first-rate fertilizer. For 
getting rid of fly on the seed-beds of all the 
Brassica tribe, nothing can equal wood ashes, 
only they must be applied in a dry state, while 
they can also be used on Turnips with similar 
effects. 
The use of wood ashes in connection with 
fruit-growing is also well known. Here they 
are valuable in many ways, but principally 
for incorporating with other constituents when 
forming new fruit-tree borders. They are 
also used for mixing with new compost in 
transplanting of fruit trees when it is neces- 
sary to place some new soil over and round 
about the roots. As a surface-dressing for 
fruit-tree borders wood ashes play an impor- 
tant part, as, in addition to their rendering 
valuable manurial aid, they also heighten the 
colour of the fruit. Again, they may be used 
with excellent effect in the pot culture of 
orchard house trees when mixed with other 
ingredients, also for Pines and Tomatoes. 
Wood ashes are also useful in the eradication 
of Moss on lawns . — Gardening Illustrated. 
(English) 
1 I 
The Glad Philosopher’s 
Musings. f 
jj iiiiiiimii „„„ „i 
Shall we grow flowers and give them 
away? This question might well be 
considered as undebatable, as it is one 
that each individual has the right to 
answer for himself. While I agree that 
the brazen-faced flower beggar should 
be squelched, and squelched good and 
hard at that, I prefer to err, if err I 
must, on the side of generosity rather 
than of parsimony. 
Josh Billings once facetiously re- 
marked, “I have decided henceforth to 
neither borrow nor lend — especially 
lend.” Consistency demands that the 
person who refrains from bestowing 
favors should not accept favors from 
others. Why not let us each, individu- 
ally, answer this question for himself 
after having first measured it up care- 
fully with the Golden Rule of the Naz- 
arene ? 
The gospel of happiness is based on 
giving. “It is more blessed to give 
than to receive,” expresses the basic 
truth upon which genuine happiness is 
founded. In our English language, 
miserly and misery are words that have 
a common derivative. Do you grow 
flowers merely for your own selfish 
gratification ? If so, you are defective 
in the social graces and your selfishness 
stands in the way of the happiness that 
comes as a sure reward to those who 
give, and give ungrudgingly. 
There is a happiness that comes with 
getting, and a happiness that comes 
from giving, but the quality of the 
miser’s happiness is vastly inferior to 
the happiness of the philanthropist. 
I have nothing but pity for the poor 
91 
deluded being who would rather be rich 
than happy. I mean the person who 
sacrifices his chances for happiness be- 
cause of an overwhelming and inordi- 
nate greed for money-getting. I have 
known men who spent practically all 
their time within the dingy confines of 
a stuffy bucket-shop watching the ticker 
quotations chalked up on the black- 
board and then finally died poor. And 
their poverty in money was nothing 
as compared to their poverty of soul. 
“Complaint,” said Dean Swift, “is 
the largest tribute Heaven receives and 
the sincerest part of our devotions.” 
How easy and how natural it is to com- 
plain. The weather is too hot, or too 
cold, or too dry, or too wet - something 
is always wrong for the chronic com- 
plainer. 
Did you ever observe that it’s the 
little things that cause the greatest 
troubles ? Of bacterial origin are most 
of the serious diseases of both plant 
and animal life. It is easy to dig the 
docks and plaintains from our gardens, 
but the insignificant little chick-weed 
fairly defies our efforts to eradicate it. 
Likewise, it’s the little men, the ones 
that are small in principle— soul- 
stunted— that give the world the most 
trouble. 
“Flowers have an expression of counte- 
nance as much as men or animals. Some 
seem to smile ; some have a sad expression ; 
some are pensive and diffident ; others again 
are plain, honest and upright like the broad- 
faced Sunflower and the Hollyhock.”— Henry 
Ward Beecher. 
There’s something noble in the bear- 
ing of the Sunflower. It is a true opti- 
mist, always looking up at the sun 
with a smile on its big, broad face, as 
if saying appreciatively, “I thank you,” 
and like a big manly man, it is always 
trying to reflect sunshine. It is signifi- 
cant, too, that the Sunflower is a dis- 
peller of malaria if planted in miasmic 
locations. 
The Glad Philosopher. 
Reduced Subscription Rate to 
be Withdrawn July 1st. 
About March 1st we sent a circular 
letter to ah subscribers offering a 
greatly reduced rate to those who 
would send in new subscriptions in 
clubs of three or more. This rate is 
still in effect and will not be withdrawn 
until July 1st. It is not likely that 
this special rate will be repeated. Sub- 
scribers coming in since this special 
offer was made can have one of these 
circular letters on request. 
Don’t forget also that we need the 
names of all flower lovers for the pur- 
pose of writing them about The 
Flower Grower. Our subscription 
list has been greatly increased during 
the past few months through the ef- 
forts of our friends, but costs of pub- 
lishing keep mounting and many 
additional subscribers are still needed. 
Take advantage of the present special 
low rate while it is still in force. It 
cannot be repeated. 
