693 
My  Neglected  Garden 
III. 
Usually  there  is.  around  every  home, 
one  just-right  place  for  a  flower  garden. 
No  matter  how  many  hundred  acres  you 
own  there  are  not  so  many  spots  from 
which  the  flowers  will  show  prettily, 
where  the  drainage  will  be  all  right  and 
the  soil  sufficiently  fertile  and  not  in¬ 
clined  to  dry  out  in  August.  Yet  noth¬ 
ing  is  better  for  perennials  than  an  oc¬ 
casional  complete  change.  To  be  sure  the 
old  red  peony  will  seem  to  bate  removals, 
and  will  hold  its  own  for  years  in  oue 
spot.  Perennial  poppies  will  live  for  at 
least  two  decades  without  fresh  soil,  aud 
will  thank  you  to  have  a  care  how  you 
add  fertilizers.  But  newer  ones  from 
seed  will  produce  more  flowers  and  larger 
ones,  A  clump  of  perennial  pea  will 
seem  to  be  content  forever  because  able 
to  secure  its  own  nitrogen,  though  here 
I  warn  yon  to  start  a  new  stand  some¬ 
where  lest  the  whole  big  mass  fail  to  put 
up  a  single  green  shoot  some  Spring,  as 
my  venerable  pea  did. 
Rut  what  joy  to  move  away  from 
quack-grass  and  chiekweed  and  to  leave 
thousands  of  weed  seeds  to  try  their  fate 
against  solid  turf  and  a  lawn  mower! 
By  nil  means  move  the  flower  garden  now 
and  then  even  though  it  must  he  to  a  less 
pleasing  place.  You  will  have  this  enjoy¬ 
ment  of  planning,  and  of  seeing  how  each 
plant  will  respond  to  your  theories  as  to 
its  needs.  To  he  sure  if  you  never  let  a 
weed  make  seed  or  a  grass  root  find  en¬ 
trance.  and  if  you  can  provide  every 
Spring  or  Fall  a  top-dressing  of  fine  cow- 
yard  manure — why  then  you  are  an  ex¬ 
ceptionally  lucky  farm-lady  and  may  keep 
your  perennials  in  the  one  best  place 
indefinitely.  But  my  neglected  garden 
really  must  try  a  fresh  site.  The  land 
was  plowed  last  Fall,  for  it  was  turf,  and 
I  have  hopes  of  the  sods  rotting  some 
during  Winter.  More  likely  the  grass  was 
merely  turning  about  and  getting  ready 
to  prick  up  boldly  when  Spring  opened. 
But  it  can  he  harrowed,  disked,  1  think, 
because  it  ought  to  be  chopped  rather 
than  turned  over. 
On  sheets  of  paper  I  have  it  all  plot¬ 
ted  out  and  in  my  mind’s  eye  it  flaunts 
in  Summer  sun  and  wind  a  wealth  of 
blossoms  and  luxurious  green.  It  is  to  he 
kept  all  in  orderly  rows,  so  that  a  mere 
man  can  be  trusted  to  hoe  it  if  I  should 
he  away.  The  Chrysanthemums  go  on 
the  north  side,  c-lose  up  to  the  garage, 
where  they  will  longest  escape  frosts  in 
the  Fall  (maybe  there  can  he  hooks 
screened  into  the  clapboards  where  pro¬ 
tecting  blankets  can  he  hung  at  night). 
The  hardy  pinks  must  be  set  next  this 
path  and  Tris.  peonies  and  lilies  can  fill  the 
space  back  to  the  Chrysanthemums.  If 
the  Dahlias  are  planted  over  along  the 
outer  side  there  may  he  a  chance  of  get¬ 
ting  a  few  furrows  plowed  there  each 
Spring.  For  the  best  Dahlias  I  know  in 
farm  surroundings  are  planted,  grown 
and  wintered  exactly  as  the  potatoes  are. 
For  the  roses  I  have  mapped  out  a  bor¬ 
der  to  themselves  to  he  heavily  top- 
dressed  in  Fall  and  sprayed  in  May  or 
early  June.  Sweet  peas  would  go  well 
next  the  Dahlias,  for  deeply  plowed  land 
would  he  to  their  liking,  No  great  space 
is  to  be  given  up  to  walks,  for  I  hate 
having  unproductive  land  to  keep  clean, 
aud  my  garden  is  first  for  flowers.  The 
Dorothy  Perkins  rose  arbor  is  over  the 
south  gate,  the  pansy  border  along  the 
east  side  of  the  house,  the  "Ramblers 
trained  over  the  woodshed  (the  only  place 
where  I  can  make  them  grow)  aud  I  look 
to  these  and  the  flowering  shrubs  for 
artistic  effects.  When  was  ever  a  rose- 
border  pretty  to  see  except  in  .Tune? 
Chrysanthemums  are  no  better  than  beaus 
till  September  and  October.  Pennies.  Iris 
and  all  the  dear  old  permanent  things 
must  go  rusty  and  untidy  while  matur¬ 
ing  their  foliage.  "'A  garden  is  a  win¬ 
some  thing”  to  he  sure,  but  as  with  other 
things  in  life,  there  are  details  one  can’t 
escape.  augusta  rose. 
Sweet  Peppers. 
It  has  been  only  a  few  years  since 
the  piquant  pepper  has  become  the  pop¬ 
ular  pepper  in  the  homes  of  American 
housewives,  but  to-day  it  is  found  in 
country  gardens  and  city  markets,  bigger, 
sweeter,  and  more  inviting  than  ever,  and 
behind  the  times  is  the  cook  who  does  not 
know  at  least  a  dozen  uses  of  this  pala¬ 
table  vegetable,  aside  from  simply  using 
it  for  seasoning  or  as  a  relish. 
Of  course,  the  most  common  way  of 
cooking  peppers  is  to  stuff  and  hake 
them,  aud  for  those  who  like  them  pre¬ 
pared  in  this  fashion  there  is  practically 
no  end  of  recipes.  There  is  almost  no 
end  to  the  combination  of  fillings  with 
which  they  will  combine  well  to  make  a 
dainty  dish,  whether  it  be  made  of  fish 
and  eggs,  chopped  beef,  ham,  or  mutton 
or  a  mixture  of  chicken  and  cheese,  or 
rice  and  tomato  or  sweet  eoru,  egg  nnd 
tomato  or  nuts,  bread  crumbs  and  eggs. 
Any  or  all  of  these  fillings  w  ill  furnish  a 
palatable  and  nutritions  dish.  (Perhaps 
yon  do  not  know  that  most  men  are  very 
fond  of  st  uffed  peppers.) 
To  prepare  the  peppers  for  stuffing  cut 
off  the  stem  end  aud  remove  every  seed 
and  bit  of  core,  wash  and  cook  in  boil¬ 
ing  salted  water  until  tender.  Drain  and 
let  stand  in  cold  water  until  crisp,  then 
fill,  stand  in  a  baking  dish  in  water  and 
bake.  Be  sure  to  use  a  rich  cream  sauce 
with  the  filling.  Baste  frequently  with 
a  mixture  of  water  and  butter. 
If  y<  11  wish  your  pepper  dish  served  as 
soup  make  a  West.  Indian  pepper-pot.  To 
some  rich  stock  add  a  few  diced  pot  a- 
cliopped  onion  and  a  liberal 
amount  of  chopped  green  pepper,  cook 
well  done  and  season  to  taste. 
A  tasty  way  of  using  the  sweet  fresh 
peppers  is  to  make  a  puree.  Remove 
stems,  seeds  and  cores,  wash  and  chop. 
Cook  in  small  quantity  of  salted  water  or 
stock,  when  tender  run  through  sieve,  re¬ 
turn  to  stove  and  add  seasoning,  butter 
nnd  cream  enough  to  make  it  the  right 
consistency.  Serve  vary  hot  with  roast 
meats- 
Appetizing  pepper  canapes  may  be 
made  by  spreading  slices  of  toasted  brown 
bread  with  butter  and  peanut  butter,  and 
placing  small  strips  <ff  cooked  red  and 
green  sweet  peppers  on  top.  Serve  with 
mayonnaise  dressing. 
A  novel  addition  to  an  outing  lunch  is 
pepper  sandwiches.  Remove  stems,  seeds 
and  cores  from  four  sweet  peppers,  chop 
fine  with  a  few  olives  and  a  tiny  onion. 
Season  with  a  scant  half  teaspoon  salt, 
juice  of  one  lemon,  two  tablespoons  olive 
oil.  and  let  stand  one  hour.  Drain  off 
liquid  and  put  between  tiiin  slices  of  but¬ 
tered  bread. 
.Sweet  peppers  may  also  bo  served  as 
a  salad,  and  will  he  sure  to  please  even 
the  most  dainty  pal  ate.  To  three  cups 
of  diced,  cold,  boiled  potatoes  add  one 
cup  each  of  chopped  sweet  peppers  and 
celery  and  one-half  cup  each  of  chopped 
olives  and  onion.  Mix  with  a  rich  may¬ 
onnaise  dressing  and  serve  on  lettuce 
leaves  in  tomato  cups,  or  else  garnished 
with  hits  of  red  and  green  sweet  peppers. 
Not  only  the  appearance  but  also  the 
taste  of  many  dishes  may  be  improved 
by  the  use  of  hits  of  red  and  green  pep¬ 
pers.  such  as  cabbage,  cold  slaw,  cooked 
tomatoes,  sweet  corn,  mashed  potatoes 
or  egg  omelet.  Try  some  of  these  prep¬ 
arations  and  see  if  there  is  not  a  call 
from  the  family  for  more.  e.  m.  s. 
Fried  Rice  With  Cheese. — Cut  slices 
of  cold  boiled  rice,  boiled  soft  and  pressed 
in  a  mold,  and  fry  brown  in  butter. 
Sprinkle  the  hot  slices  with  grated  cheese, 
which  may  he  a  combination  of  dairy  and 
Parmesan.  Fried  tomatoes  go  well  with 
the  rice,  and  the  two  make  a  substantial 
meal.  Slice  the  tomatoes  in  rather  thick 
slices,  sprinkle  with  bread  crumbs,  and 
fry  carefully,  so  as  not  to  break  the 
slices.  After  lifting  them  out  of  the 
spider  pour  in  a  little  cream,  stir  for  a 
moment,  and  pour  the  gravy  over  the  to¬ 
matoes. 
HOW  OFTEN  DOES 
YOUR  LAMP  NEED 
CLEANING?  Your  lamps,  oil 
cookstove  or  oil 
heater  will  not  need  cleaning  half  so  of¬ 
ten  if  you  fill  them  with  clean  reliable 
oil— Socony(So-CO-ny)KeroseneOil. 
Very  often  the  lamp  is  blamed  for 
smoking,  smelling  and  form¬ 
ing  wick  crust,  when  it  is 
really  due  to  the  use  of  in¬ 
ferior  oil. 
Kerosene  is  not  all  alike  by 
any  means — any  more  than 
all  butter  is  alike.  Or  all 
flour,  or  all  sugar. 
Socony  Kerosene  Oil  is  the 
name  of  the  Standard  Oil  Company  of  New  York’s  best 
kerosene.  It  is  manufactured  by  improved  refining 
methods,  and  every  gallon  conforms  to  certain  fixed  stan¬ 
dards  of  quality. 
Say  “Socony”  to  the  grocer’s  boy  when  he  comes  to  take 
your  oil  can.  Look  for  the  Socony  sign  on  your  grocer’s 
window.  It  is  a  quality  sign  and  one  of  the  easiest  wavs 
to  recognize  a  reliable  dealer. 
We  recommend  the  following  oil  burning  devices  as  the 
best  of  their  kind:  New  Perfection  Oil  Cookstoves  and 
Water  Heaters,  Perfection  Smokeless  Oil  Heaters,  Rayo 
Lamps  and  Lanterns. 
Standard  Oil  Company  of  New  York 
NEW  YORK-BUFFALO  Principal  Offices  ALBANY— BOSTON 
Sfce  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
toes,  n 
