April, 1918 
Perennial Phlox. 
When planting have the crown of 
the plant one inch below the surface 
when planted. I believe many failures 
in planting them can be traced to too 
deep planting. 
Phlox come the nearest to being “all 
good ones” of any flower I grow ; yet 
some are far superior to others. They 
are the same as other flowers, and 
some varieties which have extra fine 
flowers have a weak constitution, and 
cannot be grown successfully. 
A short list of desirable varieties is 
as follows : 
Amelia, Athis, B. Comte, Eclaireur , 
Eiffel Tower, Esclamonde, Jas. Garland, 
Lolhair, Mrs. Mellinger, Plulon, Pan- 
theon, Pres. Taft, Purity, Richard Wal- 
lace, R. P. Struthers and Von Hochberg. 
Jules Cambon, Manzelbrunner and 
Widar are the best phloxes with a 
white eye that I have tested. 
Willis E. Fryer. 
That Ground Hog Fable. 
[ Iff itten expressly for The Flower Grower . ] 
The Indiana ground hog has utterly 
destroyed what reputation he had this 
year, and it is only right that those 
who have in the past tied their faith to 
his value as a weather prognosticator 
should have their attention called to 
his delinquency. 
It may be claimed that the Indiana 
member of the family is only a Hoosier 
and not to be depended upon, but we 
have strong proof that the idiosyncra- 
sies of the little beast extend to the 
branches of his family located in other 
sections of the country. Also, there 
are those (no small number either) 
who were wont to pin absolute faith to 
the far-sightedness of the Hoosier 
ground hog. 
On February 2, 1918, it is safe to 
conclude that the ground hog was out 
of his hole, because it has always been 
a part of his business to be out of his 
hole on that particular date, and we 
feel sure that he didn’t fail this year. 
He has been coming out on that date 
for so long a time that it must have 
become a matter of habit with him, 
also the infallible practice of his sires 
for so many generations back that it 
must be instinct by this time. 
Presuming that he did come out, 
therefore, and the day being fair, he 
must have seen his shadow, unless he 
was temporarily blinded. And if he 
had lost his sight, he must have felt 
the heat of the sun and known that it 
was his business to crawl back in his 
hole and remain there during the sev- 
eral weeks of bad weather sure to fol- 
low. 
But Mr. Ground Hog certainly slipped 
a cog this year. Maybe he got his 
dates mixed, perhaps his alarm clock 
failed to wake him from his long slum- 
ber, or some energetic dog may have 
stood in front of his hole preventing 
his exit. Whatever may be the case, 
something is all wrong with the calcu- 
lations. March came in mild as a lamb, 
with many sunny days, the frost all 
Slower (Brower 
came out of the soil, and it was in fine 
condition to work by the middle of the 
month. 
Destroyed confidence is one of the 
saddest things in this world of tears. 
It is heart-breaking to admit that the 
prophet who has been honored for 
ages has fallen down, but we are driven 
to the conclusion that the “ hunch ” of 
the man who farms or gardens is just 
about as dependable as the actions of 
the ground hog for the few weeks fol- 
lowing February 2. 
One of the worst features of the case 
is that the ground hog doesn’t seem to 
care a whoop for the disappointment 
he has caused, or the feelings of his 
followers, who have shaped their 
courses by him for so many years. He 
is frisking around in his usual habitats 
and enjoying the fine days just as much 
as the kids who are playing marbles 
and flying their kites. He’s a faker, 
pure and simple, and we mistrust that 
he always has been. 
Harmon W. Marsh, (Indiana.) 
Note by the Editor— 
The ground hog fable is so well known 
the country over that we cannot refrain 
from calling attention to Mr. Marsh’s article. 
Perhaps the bear takes the place of the 
ground hog with some communities, as it 
does in Northern New York for instance, 
but we guess that the ground hog is better 
known of the two. 
The enormous waste of time in talking 
about such foolish old-fashioned ideas and 
fables is worth calling attention to. Of 
course, people must talk about something, 
and in the early days when such foolish 
things originated, they did not have so much 
reading matter as we do now, and naturally 
they were thrown back on visiting and gos- 
sip to a greater extent. Nowadays there is 
no excuse for any man to waste time talking 
about the ground hog fable except as Mr. 
Marsh has done to call attention to the 
fallacy and foolishness of the idea. 
Transplanting Wild Flowers. 
Never attempt to transplant a spring 
blooming flower, either wild or tame, in the 
spring. The rule is to transplant spring 
bloomers in the fall, and fall or late summer 
bloomers in the spring, but this is no iron 
rule. Some plants will not bear transplant- 
ing when dormant, while others will not 
bear transplanting when growing. The Rose, 
wild or tame, should never be transplanted 
dormant, but after the leaves have started 
and when the buds are not yet formed. For 
the Rose blooming in June, as most wild 
Roses do, the transplanting should be done 
carefully about the middle of May, the old- 
fashioned rule being to transplant at corn 
planting time, which in the Northern States 
is from the middle to the 20th of May. Few 
things are prettier than a mass or low 
hedge of wild Roses. 
Wild cherries, wild plums and the wild 
yellow currant may be transplanted in the 
fall, after the wood is well ripened. Even 
if the fruits of these trees are not wanted, 
the shrubs and trees themselves are orna- 
mental, with their great profusion of blossoms 
coming long before the apple and pear trees 
clothe the country with beauty. 
Hepaticas may be taken up in the fall, but 
care should be taken not to injure the roots. 
These blossom best in shady places, and the 
nature lover who seeks them in their native 
haunts often finds them half covered with 
dead leaves. This may be a hint as to their 
needs — a mulch of leaves for winter. 
47 
The bulbs of the Adder’s Tongue may be 
taken up in the fall. The scarlet Columbine 
may be transplanted in the spring, or it may 
be grown from seeds. The wild Morning- 
glory may be grown from seeds, and needs 
little care. 
To force some of these things for winter 
bloom, say the wild cherry and plum, wild 
crabapple, arbutus and almost any early 
blooming and woody textured plant, gather 
the shoots in late fall ; those on trees or 
shrubs may be gathered any time, even in 
the winter, but the low growing ones which 
will be snow covered should be gathered be- 
fore hidden. Place in jars of water in a 
room not too warm. It is a delight to the 
nature lover to watch the shoot bud and 
burst into bloom. The flowers will be more 
delicate than those grown out of doors, but 
they will be beautiful, and bring a breath of 
spring in the coldest weather. 
Apples, pears, flowering almond, and all 
shrubby growing, early blooming plants may 
be made to give toll to the winter window 
bloomers by taking shoots as directed and 
forcing them in water in the house.— Rose S. 
Miller in Ohio Farmer. 
American Gladiolus Society. 
The full page announcement by A. E. 
Kunderd in our advertising pages this 
month is worthy of the special consid- 
eration of all Gladiolus growers. Mr. 
Kunderd practically offers to send 
without charge 50 of his Ideal Mixed 
first size corms to the first one hundred 
persons who send him their applica- 
tions for membership in the American 
Gladiolus Society together with $2.00 
which pays the regular annual dues. 
The regular initiation fee of $1.00 has 
been waived by the Executive Com- 
mittee until June 1st so that those join- 
ing now need not pay the initiation fee. 
Mr. Kunderd is president of the so- 
ciety and we commend his enterprise 
and public-spiritedness in thus making 
this liberal offer to induce new mem- 
bership in the society. We also com- 
mend the Ideal Mixture which Mr. 
Kunderd offers as we have had personal 
experience with it in our own garden. 
Gladiolus Studies I. 
( Continued from page 41 . ) 
Society, 1858, expressed the wish that 
" seedlings would be raised ! ” The 
closing paragraph shows how success- 
fully we have raised them : 
" American growers do not depend 
on the novelties sent out by foreign 
firms, for they have produced varieties 
better suited to this soil and climate. 
* * * * The Gladiolus growers are 
making a new and distinctly American 
type of plant and flower. Through the 
breaking of old world fetters and limi- 
tations the way is open to further 
achievement, for which the future 
holds bright prospects for American 
Gladiolus breeders.” 
JOHN ZEESTRATEN 
GROWER OF CHOICE 
GLADIOLI 
Mansfield - Mass. 
