16 
Bbc' "Slower (Brower 
I MRS. AUSTIN’S TALKS 
[ 1 / riten expressly for The Flower Grower, ] 
MOTHER WEST’S DOVE. 
[Landscape Gardener.] 
Y NAME IS DONALD WEST and 
I live "somewhere” in Ohio. Our 
immediate family consists of 
mother, two sons and myself. We are 
all nurserymen. The boys perform 
the manual labor and I, being a dove, 
superintend them and mother looks 
after us all. I belong to her and she 
is very proud of me. She says I am of 
the specie spoken of as the Ring Dove. 
I don’t feel quite sure about it because 
the ring is missing on me, but some 
people call me the sacred dove which 
pleases me. Mother and I are very 
dear to each other, having lived to- 
gether ever since I came into this world, 
and it was nearly thirty-five years ago 
that I pipped my shell down in Vander- 
bilt, Pa. I feel somewhat aristocratic 
being raised in a town of that name 
and think it should entitle me to en- 
trance and good standing in the most 
exclusive circles. But I don’t care 
much for society, I am very much a 
home bird and interested in our busi- 
ness, which I enjoy because it is both 
practical and beautiful. 
We do quite a bit of regular farming 
which helps out our " Sammies ” but 
about fifteen years ago we began grow- 
ing standard fruits and fruit plants. 
We did our own propagating; the 
standard fruits by the method of bud- 
ding (which is quite an art and very 
interesting. I’ll tell you all about it 
some day) and the small fruits by cut- 
ting and layerage, and soon grew a 
fine stock. It was not long, however, 
until we realized the great field in 
"Landscaping.” I made the discovery, 
for one day I went for an unusually 
long flight. I circled over the country 
taking bird’s-eye views of many in- 
teresting things. I was gone so long 
that they thought I was lost or a cat 
had eaten me, (every one blames the 
cat when a bird is missing, but I’m 
much more afraid of a hawk) and when 
I arrived home, Mother was in tears. 
I was tired and hungry and puffed up 
with importance and exclaimed: "It’s 
just like a woman to make a fuss! 
Where’s my supper?” And after sup- 
per I winked to the boys to come to the 
office, and I flew upon the desk and 
spread my feet apart and stuck out my 
wings so they looked like a man’s 
elbows when he has his thumbs in the 
armholes of his vest, and addressing 
the older one, I said, " See here, Bill,” 
(Mother calls him Willie, and other 
people say William, but he is such a 
genial, big hearted fellow, and I wanted 
to make it so impressive, I just had to 
say Bill) " that bunch of homes over 
there that you call a city, looks like a 
settlement of cliff dwellers.” William 
looked amazed, and said : " What’s 
the matter with you, Donald? Explain 
yourself.” And then I told him all 
about my trip and how I had taken it 
entirely in the interests of our business. 
And how I had observed that, although 
the buildings were very good, and 
lawns well clipped, there was a lack of 
shrubbery, and vines and no ever- 
greens to speak of. I pointed out the 
necessity of such plantings to relieve 
the bareness and give the places a 
homey look, and he replied, " I believe 
you are right, Donald, and we will be- 
gin right now to make a study of their 
needs.” So here we are, full fledged 
Nurserymen and Landscape Gardeners. 
I have always worked right along with 
the boys, often making valuable sug- 
gestions — which they always heed — so 
I can plan and lay out grounds as well 
as they. 
I took a flight quite recently to have 
a look at things in winter time and 
came home almost discouraged with 
people in general. Mother Nature first 
had the winter landscape beautifully 
dotted with various shades of green, but 
all that had been destroyed and not re- 
planted, and now there is such a same- 
ness white and gray, white and gray 
everywhere. I wonder if people ever 
will wake up to the value of ever- 
greens. This educating the public 
makes our work very heavy. 
There is one thing that I especially 
like to see, and that is a row of shrub- 
bery as the boundary line, side and 
back of the back yard. Of course your 
back yard is well kept but your neigh- 
bor’s barn may be almost on the line and 
he stands his ladders up against it and 
throws his empty cans back of it where 
he cannot see them and forgets that 
they are very conspicuous from your 
place. I know of a case like that and 
I said: "Why don’t you plant lilacs 
and other tall growing shrubs there 
and hide that rubbish?” And while 
they were doing it the neighbor be- 
came interested and soon there were 
two rows of shrubbery dividing those 
back yards. 
There are so many beautiful vines, 
trees, shrubs, plants and bulbs that 
blend so harmoniously. We use Pe- 
onies to good effect and lately have 
found that Gladioli are wonderful 
brighteners for dark corners. The 
work of even small plantings should 
be entrusted to one who has made a 
study of this particular branch and has 
the knowledge and ability to combine 
and blend them so as to get the most 
out of what he has to work with. Re- 
member that I, Donald, am at your 
service. 
Mrs. A. H. Austin. 
War-time Prohibition. 
Editor Florists’ Exchange : 
In two of the trade papers there ap- 
peared, a week or two ago, reference 
to meetings, parties or dinners of flor- 
ists or piantsmen at which wine or 
liquors were strongly in evidence. As 
a woman in favor of war-time prohibi- 
tion, and one deeply interested in the 
February, 1918 
welfare of the horticultural profession, 
it occurs to me to ask this question : 
"Why should these men show anxiety 
concerning present business conditions 
when they do not hesitate in times like 
these to spend freely upon non-essen- 
tials, such as alcoholic drinks?” There 
is an inconsistency here which might 
be explained. 
I should like to suggest, for the con- 
sideration of Mr. Young and those in 
charge of the New York Flower Show 
in March next, the abolition of the 
apartment on the right-hand entrance 
of the Grand Central Palace where, 
during past shows, it was only too evi- 
dent that drinking was going on. Such 
a place has no connection with the 
delightful sights on the upper floors, 
and is nothing short of an abomina- 
tion next to a flower show. Nothing 
could more surely offend the general 
public this year than the presence of a 
feature of this type in a place of the 
kind. I have often thought of these 
things but have only now found cour- 
age to express my opinion. May this 
be taken in good part. 
Mrs. Francis King. 
The Hardy Phloxes. 
The Phloxes are one of the most use- 
ful hardy plants we have, and for late 
summer and autumn blooming they 
are indispensable. Their wide range 
of intensely brilliant colors includes 
almost every shade but yellow, in the 
most varied and striking combinations 
imaginable. 
No flower has been more wonderfully 
improved of late years, and the im- 
mense size and perfect form of some of 
the new varieties will be a revelation 
to those who have heretofore seen only 
the old-fashioned kinds. Phloxes are 
effective either as single specimens, 
small groups or large beds on the lawn. 
They produce a beautiful and har- 
monious contrast when massed against 
a background of shrubbery. 
Phloxes require a rich soil to pro- 
duce the best effect, as they are gross 
feeders. They like plenty of moisture, 
and in dry seasons should be plenti- 
fully supplied with water. Unlike 
most flowers, they will thrive in partial 
shade, where the colors are brighter 
and endure longer than in the open 
sunlight. Their natural season of 
bloom is July, August and the first of 
September, but by pinching out the 
tops of part of the plants before buds 
have formed they will bloom much 
later, and form many branches. 
W. E. Fryer. 
One of our correspondents calls at- 
tention to the fact that Mr. Stalnaker 
in his article in the January issue 
speaks of dropping freshly dug bulbs 
into a bag and tying it up. Mr. Stal- 
naker was not giving directions for 
digging bulbs especially, but speaking 
more of labor saving devices. It is, 
we believe, well enough understood 
that Gladiolus corms should not be 
packed tightly nor stored in large bulk 
until they have had a chance to dry 
out or cure. 
