Zihe  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
1153 
The  Home  Acre 
Notes  from  a  Maryland  Garden 
Tub  r.  N.-Y.  notes  editorially  that 
plants  valued  in  one  section  often  are 
weeds  in  the  way  in  another  part  of  the 
country.  In  the  sandy  soils  of  the  At¬ 
lantic  Coast  hero  and  southward  Yucca 
filainentosa  spreads  in  patches  like  the 
Canada  thistle  does  in  the  North,  where 
the  nurserymen  quote  the  plants  at 
25  cents  each.  Known  in  different  sec¬ 
tions  as  devil’s  shoestring  and  hear  grass. 
I  am  often  asked  how  to  get  rid  of  it,  for 
any  pieces  of  the  root  left  in  the  ground 
will  soon  make  new  plants.  Crowing 
oh  a  lawn  with  the  roots  undisturbed, 
this  Yucca  makes  a  pretty  clump  and 
splepdid  spikes  of  lily-like  flowers,  for  it 
belongs  to  the  lily  family.  Ornithogalura 
u.nbellatum,  known  as  Star  of  Bethlehem, 
I  have  seen  infest  the  land  till  it  choked 
out  wheat,  and  when  the  land  is  plowed 
the  white  bulbs  looked  like  gravel  all 
through  the  soil.  I  have  seen  lawns  here 
completely  taken  possession  of  by  this 
pretty  white  flower,  and  in  waste  places 
here  every  Bpring  the  blue-bell  hyacinth, 
Museari  botryoides,  covers  acres,  and  yet 
we  find  these  bulbs  catalogued,  and  they 
doubtless  are  pretty  if  watched  and  not 
allowed  to  spread  where  they  are  not 
wanted. 
Amarautus  tricolor  and  its  varieties 
make  pretty  beds,  but  make  innumerable 
seeds,  and  may  become  as  troublesome  ns 
the  common  pigweed.  There  is  need 
therefore  for  lovers  of  gardens  to  watch 
many  things  that  are  in  themselves 
pretty,  but  may  become  a  nuisance  if  not 
watched,  when  allowed  to  seed.  Cannas 
volunteer  freely  iu  my  garden  when  al¬ 
lowed  to  ripen  seed.  This  year  they  came 
up  among  my  China  asters,  and  in  a  bed 
of  Vernon  Begonias,  though  I  usually  cut 
out  the  heads  as  soon  as  the  flowers  fail, 
and  this  year  I  even  have  volunteer 
plants  of  Dahlias  growing,  while  volun¬ 
teer  China  asters  are  common,  and  the 
little  cormlets  of  Gladioli  shaken  off  iu 
digging,  come  up  like  wheat  in  the 
Spring.  Last  Fall  Dahlia  seedlings  that 
I  did  not  care  to  save,  were  left  to  then- 
fate,  but  last  Spring  they  came  up  smiling 
and  crowded  themselves  among  other 
plants,  and  the  men  digging  the  borders 
did  not  care  to  destroy  what  they 
thought  I  valued,  and  the  result  was  big 
masses  of  Dahlias  where  not  wanted. 
This  year  the  stem-rot  disease  seems  to 
be  especially  prevalent  among  the  China 
asters,  and  my  beds  look  very  patchy,  for 
I  pull  out  these  affected  plants  as  soon  as 
seen. 
Here,  and  southward  the  Nerine  or 
Guernsey  lily,  called  by  some  spider  lily, 
makes  pretty  umbels  of  flowers  in  the 
Fall,  and  then  the  green  leaves  appear 
and  remain  till  the  following  Summer, 
when  they  disappear  entirely  and  one  has 
to  keep  the  bed  weeded  and  bare.  Nov 
1  propose  to  remedy  this  by  plautiug  tub¬ 
ers  of  the  hardy  Kvausiaun  Begonia, 
which  I  have  again  procured,  between  the 
Net i nes.  Then  when  the  Nerines  fail  the 
Begonias  will  appear  and  make  the  bed 
pretty  while  the  Neriues  rest.  This  Be¬ 
gonia  makes  line  foliage  and  a  mass  of 
pale  pink  bloom,  and  is  hardy  anywhere, 
for  I  have  had  it  stand  where  the  s^il 
froze  deeply  every  Winter  and  zero 
weather  was  common.  I  have  tried  the 
greenhouse  tuberous  Begonias  outside  and 
iu  screened  frames,  but  they  are  of  no  use 
in  our  climate  outside  a  shaded  green¬ 
house,  while  the  old  hardy  sort  is  a 
splendid  bodder. 
Down  here  the  ordinary  gerauiums 
which  bed  so  finely  northward,  are  per¬ 
fectly  useless  as  bedding  plants,  but  the 
varieties  of  the  everblooming  Begonias 
bed  splendidly.  I  have  a  bed  this  Sum¬ 
mer  of  Vernon  bordered  with  white  ones 
which  has  been  a  mass  of  scarlet  and 
white  flowers  all  Summer.  The  red  ones 
turn  their  foliage  to  a  rich  reddish  bronze 
outside,  while  the  white  ones  keep  the 
foliage  green,  and  all  bloom  persistently. 
While  these  are  easily  grown  from  cut¬ 
tings  I  grow  them  from  seed.  The  dust¬ 
like  seeds  are  sown  on  the  surface  of  line 
soil  iu  flats  in  Spring  and  grow  very 
rapidly  and  make  line  plants  for  bedding 
out  of  2^4-iuch  pots,  and  usually  show 
signs  euough  of  bloom  to  distinguish  the 
varieties,  though  I  often  get  some  crossed, 
and  get  pink  flowers  instead  of  red.  But 
this  does  not  matter  much  in  the  beds, 
for  I  always  have  enough  of  the  pure 
white  ones  for  the  border. 
One  of  the  prettiest  plants  to  stick  out 
in  Summer  in  the  mixed  borders  is  the 
Chinese  Hibiscus.  I  have  five  varieties 
of  these  with  flowers  from  scarlet  to  yel¬ 
low  and  salmon.  The  plants  bloom  finely 
in  late  Summer  and  Fall,  and  are  taken 
up  and  cut  back  and  potted  for  Winter. 
Cuttings  of  the  half-ripe  wood  root  well 
iu  Summer  under  the  shaded  glass  and 
make  good  plants  for  setting  the  next 
Spring,  so  that  one  has  to  take  up  only 
the  stock  plants  for  the  house  where 
some  few  blooms  can  be  had  in  Winter, 
and  when  these  get  overgrown,  some  of 
the  younger  can  be  potted. 
Of  the  hardy  Hibiscus  family  the  gay¬ 
est.  is  the  comparatively  new  hybrid 
form  known  as  Marvel  mallows.  I  have 
a  row  of  these  along  a  garden  fence 
where  for  a*  long  time  in  Summer  they 
flaunt  their  immense  flowers  from  white 
to  crimson,  and  make  a  gay  show.  They 
are  cut  to  the  ground  in  the  Fall,  and 
always  start  more  strongly  in  the  Spring. 
As  the  mass  gets  too  thick  they  are  taken 
up  and  divided  and  replanted  in  the  Fall. 
My  plants  grow  about  seven  feet  tall,  and 
with  a  mass  of  the  King  Humbert  Oanna 
in  front  of  them  the  show  is  worth  look¬ 
ing  at,  while  along  the  front  of  the  bor¬ 
der  a  row  of  scarlet  dwarf  Zinnias  adds 
to  the  display.  All  these  being  flowers 
that  the  house  folks  never  cut,  the  dis¬ 
play  is  well  kept  up.  w.  f.  massf.y. 
Sweet  Clover  for  Cover  Crop 
I  have  a  field  of  light  gravelly  soil 
rather  steep ;  have  plowed  under  one  crop 
of  rye  and  a  crop  of  oats  (very  light 
crops)  ;  have  just  cut  another  crop  of  rye 
which  is  pretty  good.  Would  you  advise 
harrowing  ground  thoroughly  and  sowing 
to  rye  again  and  seeding  down  to  Sweet 
clover?  There  has  never  been  any 
Sweet  clover  grown  here  so  I  cannot  get 
any  local  information.  Would  the  nnsear- 
ifiefi  seed  he  better  for  Fall  seeding?  I 
sowed  some  veteh  with  the  rye  last  Fall, 
but  it  did  not  make  much  growth.  Is  it 
possible  to  buy  Hop  clover  seed?  It  has 
made  a  good  growth  with  us,  and  our 
horses  relish  it  and  do  well  on  it  with 
less  grain  than  un^Timothy  hay,  and  I 
thought  it  might  prepare  the  ground  for 
Bed  clover  or  Alfalfa  later.  J.  R.  C. 
Vermont. 
We  adiise  against  seeding  Sweet 
clover  in  the  rye.  It  is  doubtful  if  you 
would  see  much  of  it  in  Spring.  The 
Sweet  clover  must  go  in  early  enough  to 
make  considerable  growth  before  Winter 
comes  on,  or  it  will  surely  be  killed  out. 
It  is  not  designed  for  cover  cropping — 
like  Crimson.  Alsike  or  Bed  clovers.  We 
should  use  four  pounds  of  Alsike  clover 
seed  per  acre  with  the  rye.  This  hardy 
clover  grows  well  on  rather  sour  and 
damp  land  and  gives  a  good  crop.  We  be¬ 
lieve  it  will  suit  you  better  than  vetch, 
Red  clover  or  Sweet  clover — seeded  with 
that  rye.  Some  of  the  seedsmen  could 
supply  small  quantities  of  Hop  clover 
seed,  but  we  believe  it  will  prove  inferior 
to  Alsike. 
Fall  Gardens. — At  the  North  we  are 
now  looking  forward  to  the  end  of  out¬ 
door  gardening.  Iu  the  warmer  climate 
of  the  South  they  are  now  planning  for  a 
new  lease  of  garden  life.  A  bulletin 
from  the  Missouri  Agricultural  College 
makes  the  following  suggestion  for  Au¬ 
gust  :  ‘‘Among  the  vegetables  that  need 
to  lie  planted  immediately  we  recoin  mend 
Irish  potatoes,  cabbage — seed  planted 
where  they  are  to  grow,  collurds  cauli¬ 
flower,  onions,  either  seed  or  set',  early 
maturing  field  corn  for  roasting  ears,  bar¬ 
ter  beans,  cucumbers,  squash,  and  Ken¬ 
tucky  Wonder  beans.  A  month  of  ripe 
tomatoes  can  usually  be  secured  if  strong, 
healthy  plants  are  started  the  first  of  Au¬ 
gust.  A  quicker  method  is  to  bend  down 
tlie  old  vines  where  they  have  new 
leaves  on  the  tips,  and  cover  them  with 
earth  just  back  of  these  leaves.  If  the 
covered  parts  are  bruised  or  twisted  roots 
quickly  form,  and  the  vine  can  then  be 
cut  away  from  the  old  stalk  leaving  a 
healthy  plant  which  will  bear  quickly. 
The  first  planting  of  turnips  or  mustard 
can  also  be  made  at  this  time.  Two  or 
three  weeks  later  cooler  weather  plants 
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sion  every  two  or  three  weeks,  as  can  tur¬ 
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