June, 1918 
do not put them on or against a hot steam 
pipe for they will bake. After they become 
throughly dry you can cool them off for 
one or two days; plant them and you will 
find that these dry bulbs will give you many 
more blooms than bulbs not so treated. 
I will now give you the names of the 
best varieties I have tried for indoor plant- 
ing: Pink Beauty, the earliest; Halley, salmon 
pink, extra fine, early; Lily Lehmann, the 
best all around white; Glory of Holland, a fine 
white, better than Augusta ; Electro, early 
and most beautiful light red; Pink Perfection, 
almost a true pink; Peace is no good inside 
and not much outside, a rank grower but 
not white; War, a fine red; Velvet King, a 
better red ; Europa, a beauty and the whitest 
of them all, but no good inside and a weak 
grower outside— if it had the growth of 
Schwaben you would have a fortune ; Schwa- 
ben is very good inside but much better out- 
side — it is a most beautiful light yellow with 
blotches ; Niagara, fine, does very well in- 
side and the best one of its color (not ex- 
cepting Schwaben), a deep creamy buff, 
sometimes tinted pink ; Klondike, the best 
yellow for inside, very free, long spike and 
many flowers open at one time, but a little 
under size ; Panama, extra fine pink, better 
color and larger than America. 
Here is a list of the standard varieties I 
would plant outside, which of course includes 
varieties I have just mentioned : Pink Beauty, 
Halley, Lily Lehmann, Klondyke, Electro, 
Willy Wigman, Intensity, Mrs. Francis King, 
Velvet King, Panama, America, Glory of Hol- 
land, Augusta, Niagara and Schwaben. There 
are many more varieties but these are the 
best commercial varieties, I believe. If I 
were asked to name the ten best commercial 
varieties in different colors, I would name 
the following: Lily Lehmann, white; Pana- 
ma, light pink; Pink Perfection, dark pink; 
Halley, salmon pink ; Electro, light red; Mrs. 
Francis King, brick red ; Velvet King, velvet 
red ; Niagara, deep cream ; Schwaben, light 
yellow, and Klondyke, yellow. 
Music and Flowers of Other Days. 
(Continued from page 62. ) 
There was another porch, long, open 
and sunny, which was a veritable 
garden. There bloomed geraniums, 
monthly roses, ice plants, fuchias, 
petunias, pickle vine, dew plant, the 
calceolaria, which we called the old 
maid’s pocketbook and has recently 
leaped into prominence as the knitting 
bag plant. Creeping Charlie and the 
Wandering Jew, well grown made 
wonderful hanging baskets, while 
maple ivy covered the walls. These 
supplemented by honeysuckles grown 
in the ground and trained up the posts 
made a Paradise for humming birds 
and butterflies. 
As I look back I think I was living 
very close to nature in those days. 
It was somewhere along that time 
that I first saw Gladioli in bloom, 
dazzling scarlet flowers which I sup- 
pose were of the Brenchleyensis variety, 
known even now as the most brilliant 
scarlet. Mrs. A. H. Austin. 
It may be a little late to advise with 
reference to planting cormels, but the 
suggestion will be just as good for an- 
other year. In advising that Gladiolus 
corms should be planted five or six 
inches deep it must be borne in mind 
that this is for first size corms. Cor- 
mels, which we wish to speak of espe- 
cially, should not be more than three 
inches deep in a sandy soil. 
Tlower (Brower 
How to Prevent 
Cutworm Losses. 
The U. S. Department of Agriculture, 
through its Weekly News Letter sends 
out some valuable information from 
time to time and we note recently an 
article on the above subject with illus- 
trations from which we are pleased to 
extract information which is much 
more complete than has heretofore ap- 
peared on this subject ; 
Land to be planted to corn the following 
spring, especially such land as has laid in 
grass for a considerable time and is likely to 
contain cutworms, should be plowed in mid- 
summer or early fall about the time the 
eggs are laid or, better, before the eggs are 
laid, for then vegetation which is suitable 
for the moths to lay their eggs upon is re- 
moved. The earlier the preceding year 
grass-lands to be planted to corn are plowed, 
the less will be the probability that cutworm 
moths will have laid their eggs thereon, and 
the less, consequently, will be the danger of 
injury by cutworms the following year. 
Late fall and winter plowing of grasslands, 
although not as effective as early plowing, 
will destroy many of the hibernating cut- 
worms, as well as such other important corn 
pests, and should be practiced when earlier 
plowing is impracticable. 
Pasturing hogs upon land supposed to 
harbor cutworms is a beneficial practice, as 
these animals root up and devour insects of 
many kinds, including cutworms, in large 
numbers. Farm poultry, if trained to fol- 
low the plow, will prove of inestimable value. 
When cut worms are abundant on corn- 
land, the use of poisoned bait is recom- 
mended. This may be prepared as follows: 
Mix 50 pounds of wheat bran, 2 pounds of 
Paris green or crude arsenic, such as the 
by-product from copper smelters, and six 
finely chopped oranges or lemons. Mix 
to consistency of stiff dough by adding low- 
grade molasses, adding water also when 
necessary. Middlings or alfalfa meal may 
be successfully substituted for bran. Dis- 
tribute this bait over the infested field in 
small lumps; sprinkle it sparingly around 
each hill. In fields that are infested, dis- 
tribute the bait as soon as the corn begins 
to appear above ground. Promptly re- 
plant the injured hills. During the warmer 
spring months cutworms feed mostly at 
night and burrow into the soil during the 
day, so that the bait usually will be more 
effective if applied during the late afternoon 
or early evening. 
Cutworms often migrate to cultivated 
fields from adjoining grasslands. In such 
cases protect the crops by running a narrow 
band of the poisoned bait around the edge 
of the field or along the side nearest the 
source of infestation. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Cutworms are the young of a number of 
species of brown furry moths. About mid- 
summer the full-grown cutworms burrow 
into the ground to change to pupae, which 
soon transform to moths. 
The moths lay their eggs on lower leaves 
of grass. The young worms feed on the 
grass during fall and in winter burrow into 
the ground for protection. In the spring the 
worms come out of the ground and attack 
almost any young plants they find at the 
surface. They feed at night, cutting off the 
stems close above the roots, and hide away 
in loose earth or under rubbish during the 
day. Later in the season they climb the 
stalks at night and feed on the leaves. 
CONTROL. 
The best remedy for cutworms is Poisoned 
Bran Bait made as follows: Thoroughly 
69 
mix 50 lbs. of bran, 2 lbs. of Paris green and 
6 finely chopped lemons. Stir to a stiff 
dough with low grade molasses diluted with 
enough water to mix well with the bran. 
Scatter sparingly in small lumps around 
bases of plants and over entire field. 
Grassland is most liable to infestation by 
cutworms and if intended for corn or other 
crops should be plowed the preceding sum- 
mer to destroy the grass as a breeding place 
for the moths. 
Beware of poisoning poultry. 
The worms perfer the bran bait to the 
plants. Since they usually hide before they 
die the dead ones will seldom be seen. 
Flower Garden Hints. 
Do not make the mistake of planting 
annuals too near together. Asters, Ver- 
benas, Poppies, Calendulas and Zinnias 
do much better if planted a foot apart, 
where the soil may be kept loose and 
friable. 
Primroses that have been blooming 
in the winter window garden should be 
separated and placed in a cool northern 
location. The buds should be carefully 
pinched off and not allowed to mature. 
This method will promote leaf growth, 
and strong, stocky plants for winter. 
I prefer these plants to seedlings for 
abundant bloom. 
I am especially fond of the sweet 
double English Violets; but at times 
have had difficulty in growing them 
well. A friend knowing my love for 
them gave me a generous clump last 
spring. We planted them in a shel- 
tered northern nook. Gave them a 
mulching of rotted manure in the fall 
and this spring were repaid by a wealth 
of bloom. 
So many people have said to me, 
“ My Daffodils fail to bloom, just grow 
up to slender leaves in a year or two 
after setting.” I am going to repeat 
what I have said more than once in 
these columns. “Do not cut off the 
foliage of any of the spring blooming 
bulbs until they mature and turn yel- 
low and die down.” If cut off by the 
lawn mower or scythe before this, the 
bulbs are not matured and consequently 
fail to bloom year after year. 
Although admiring tuberous-rooted 
Begonias I have never attempted grow- 
ing them until this year. The bulbs 
were secured from a reliable florist. 
Placed in soil composed of one-third 
rotted manure, the remainder good 
loam with a slight mixture of sand. 
They are already (about nine days after 
planting) showing pink leaf buds. I 
am keeping them in a warm, moist dark 
location until roots form. 
Seedling Pansies are excellent plants 
to place in the tulip beds between the 
bulbs. They come into bloom almost 
as quickly as the tulips fade and soon 
cover the beds.— Mrs. Ella F. Flan- 
ders in Rural Life. 
How late may Gladiolus corms be 
planted with success? Well, it de- 
pends on where you are located, but in 
New York State plantings may be 
made as late as July 1st with success 
under average weather conditions. 
This will give bloom from the last 
half of September through October, 
depending on varieties. 
