©fte  RURAL.  NEW-YORKER 
1539 
The  Home  Acre 
Notes  from  a  Maryland  Garden 
A  Dry  Farr. — November  has  been  giv¬ 
ing  us  the  most  beautiful  of  weather, 
though  rather  too  dry.  Here  the  21st  of 
November  we  are  still  cutting  nice  un¬ 
damaged  head  lettuce,  from  the  open 
ground,  and  the  sashes  have  to  he  kept 
off  the- lettuce  in  the  frames  most  of  the 
time  to  prevent  too  soft  a  growth  I 
have  often  noticed,  however,  that  if  Win¬ 
ter.  real  Winter,  sets  in  with  dry  weather 
all  over  the  country  north  of  us,  the  cold 
runs  further  south,  but  if  we  have  abun¬ 
dant  rains  making  a  hank  of  moist  air 
north  of  us,  the  cold  will  be  checked  and 
taken  up  in  snow  to  the  north,  and  will 
reach  us  in  a  much  modified  form.  Rains 
and  snows  north  seem  to  shelter  us  down 
here,  while  iu  a  Winter  drought  there  is 
nothing  to  stop  the  rush  of  the  north¬ 
west  wind  southward.  Some  years  ago  iu 
Raleigh,  N.  C\,  in  the  latter  part  of  Janu¬ 
ary,  the  weather  observer  put  up  the  cold 
wave  flag.  Meeting  him  on  tile  street  I 
told  him  that  he  would  he  mistaken,  and 
we  would  not  have  a  cold  wave,  “Oh, 
yes,”  said  he,  “it  is  right  on  the  way  and 
wjll  get  here  to-morrow.”  But  it  did  not 
come,  and  the  weather  man  asked  me 
what  I  based  my  opinion  on.  1  told  him 
that  the  papers  had  reported  a  January 
thaw  in  the  North,  and  the  air  was  full 
of  moisture,  and  when  the  norther  struck 
that  bank  of  moist  air  it  deposited  heavy 
snow  north,  as  his  own  reports  showed, 
and  the  cold  was  absorbed  and  did  not 
reach  us.  He  said  he  would  make  a  note 
of  that  for  future  observation.  The 
blizzard  recently  reported  in  the  North¬ 
west  finally  came  down  here  in  a  very 
mild  form,  and  barely  reached  the  freez¬ 
ing  point  iu  early  morning,  tlie  snow  took 
up  most  of  the  cold,  and  the  2(1  below  zero 
in  Wyoming  reached  here  at  32  above, 
and  that  only  for  an  hour  or  so.  The 
more  .snow  there  is  north  the  milder  the 
Winter  winds  reach  US.  Hence  we  are 
now  hoping  for  abundant  rains  north  of 
us  if  we  are  to  have  our  average  Winter 
weather. 
Narcissus  and  Hyacinths. — I  am 
waiting  for  the  ground  to  get  cold  enough 
to  plant  Paper  White  Narcissus  and 
Roman  hyacinths.  These  are  reputed 
tender  because  if  planted  early  they 
grow  at  once,  they  are  certain  to  be  hurt, 
but  planted  after  the  soil  gets  cold  they 
remain  dormant  and  come  on  in  the 
Spring.  In  the  severe  Winter  we  had 
four  years  ago  the  Paper  Whites  sur¬ 
vived,  but  lost  the  flower  germs  and 
failed  to  bloom,  while  last  Winter  even 
the  Dahlias  lived  with  a  mulch  of  ma¬ 
nure.  Not  that  I  usually  leave  these  out, 
but  the  plants  that  lived  were  seedlings 
that  I  did  not  value  and  I  left  them  out 
to  take  the  chances.  It  was  merely  a 
study  of  the  comparative  hardiness  of 
plants.  In  North  Carolina  Caladimu  es- 
culentum  will  winlc.  '’uder  a  manure 
mulch,  while  here  we  have  lc  ’•cep  them 
in  a  warm  place  buried  in  dry  sand 
Cannas  too  will  winter  there  uuder  a 
cover  of  the  dead  tops,  but  here  we  have 
to  take  them  up  and  bury  and  cover 
deeply  with  earth.  But  we  can  sow 
Canna  seed  in  the  Fall  and  have  them 
grow  all  right  in  Spring,  and  better  than 
if  kept  dry  all  Winter. 
Wintering  Gladiolus. — While  we 
often  have  Gladiolus  conns  that  happen 
to  be  left  in  the  ground  to  grow  and 
bloom  the  next  seasou,  I  found  by  actual 
experiment  that  leaving  a  whole  row  un¬ 
dug  in  the  Fall,  most  of  them  were  de¬ 
stroyed.  And  yet  the  little  cormlcts  that 
grow  ari.und  the  base  of  the  large  ones 
can  be  sown  in  the  late  Fall  and  will 
grow  better  in  Spring  than  if  kept  dry  all 
Winter.  In  fact,  where  the  Gladiolus 
conns  have  been  lifted  many  of  these 
little  cormlets  get  scattered,  and  in 
Spring  come  up  like  wheat.  They  evi¬ 
dently  stand  more  cold  than  the  large 
ones. 
Guernsey  Lilies.- — Then  the  curious 
Nerines  or  Guernsey  lilies,  will  refuse  to 
grow  at  all  in  warm  weather,  and  the 
first  sign  of  their  existence  is  when  the 
naked  flower  stems  appear  in  the  Fall. 
Then,  as  the  nights  get  cool  the  leaves  ap¬ 
pear  and  keep  green  all  Winter,  only  to 
die  out  when  the  weather  gets  warm. 
Then  they  tuck  away  for  a  sleep  all 
Summer.  Cold  that  kills  some  things 
only  seems  to  excite  these  into  growth. 
Watsonias  and  Carlas. — Some  plants 
reputed  tender  seem  to  be  perfectly  hardy 
here.  In  an  old  garden  which  I  pass 
daily  there  appears  every  Spring  a  clump 
of  Watsonias  with  leaves  and  flower 
spikes  like  miniature  Gladioli,  hut  bloom¬ 
ing  long  before  any  Gladiolus  shows  a 
stalk.  This  plant  is  very  close  kin  to 
the  Gladiolus.  Then  tlie  spotted-leaf 
oalla  blooms  finely  in  Summer  and  dies 
back  in  late  Summer,  and  the  tubers  are 
perfectly  hardy.  It  makes*  seed  freely, 
and  I  have  a  lot  now  coming  from  seed 
sown  in  the  greenhouse  this  Fall.  While 
the  flowers  are  not  so  large  as  the  green¬ 
house  Winter-blooming  oalla,  they  are 
pretty  and  add  something  to  the  Summer 
border.  w.  F.  massey. 
Bulbs  in  Grass  Land 
I  have  a  field  of  about  throe  acres  ad¬ 
joining  my  lawn,  which  I  desire  to  incor¬ 
porate  into  the  lawn,  but  do  not  wish  to 
keep  it  clipped  as  I  intend  to  naturalize 
a  largo  number  of  bulbs  and  plants  in  the 
grass.  Can  you  give  me  any  information 
as  to  wbat  kind  of  grass  one  could  sow 
to  produce  a  good  un trimmed  lawn?  Of 
course  I  would  expect  to  keep  the  weeds, 
etc.,  cut,  but  not  to  shave  the  grass  with 
a  lawn  mower.  There  is  a  wild  grass  on 
part  of  my  place  locally  called  “Spring 
grass”  or  “wood  grass,”  which  produces 
long  blades  lying  flat  on  the  ground  and 
forming  a  delightful  cushion.  This  grass 
seeds  sparingly,  the  seed  stalks  looking 
somewhat  like  Blue  grass.  If  I  could  get 
some  such  grass  as  that  it  would  answer 
my  purpose  admirably.  e.  c.  i. 
Pittsburg,  Pa. 
Kentucky  Blue  grass  would  no  doubt 
prove  the  most  practical  for  the  pur¬ 
pose.  particularly  if  the  soil  is  “a  clay 
loam.  Thorough  preparation  of  the  soil 
for  the  seed  should  be  made  by  plowing 
six  to  eight  inches  deep,  and  before  level¬ 
ing  bone  meal  at  tlie  rate  of  not  less  than 
one-half  ton  to  the  acre  should  be  ap¬ 
plied  and  worked  into  the  soil  with  a  disk 
or  cutaway  harrow,  after  which  it  should 
be  gone  over  with  a  smoothing  harrow  as 
often  as  necessary  to  make  the  surface 
smooth  and  fine.  Use  only  re-cleaned 
seed,  and  sow  at  the  rate  of  100  lbs.  to 
the  acre.  Rake  lightly  and  roll  with  a 
moderate-sized  hand  roller.  The  grass 
will  probably  need  going  over  with  -  a 
horse  machine  occasionally  after  the 
foliage  of  the  bulbs  has  died  down,  but 
need  not  be  kept  cut  regularly  like  a 
lawn. 
The  following  bulbs  will  he  most  likely 
to  succeed  though  other  sorts  should  be 
tried  in  a  limited  way  at  least,  as  there 
may  he  some  found  among  them  that  will 
succeed  equally  as  well  as  those  in  the 
following  list:  Grape  hyacinths,  Seilla 
Sibinea,  Chiouodoxa  Lucilbe,  Narcissus 
poeticus.  single  yellow  trumpet  Narcis¬ 
sus,  Crocus  in  several  colors,  snowdrops, 
single  and  double,  Ornithogalum  (Star  of 
Bethlehem),  jonquils,  early  single  tulips 
:n  mixture  The  following  might  be  util¬ 
ized  to  good  advantage  by  planting  them 
in  large  groups,  at  intervals  along  the 
borders  and  elsewhere  that  they  may  sug¬ 
gest  themselves.  Funkias  in  variety,  Ilem- 
eroeallis  in  variety,  Pardanthns,  and  in 
naturally  moist  places,  the  Japanese  and 
German  Iris  can  be  used  to  good  advan¬ 
tage.  K. 
Transplanted  Hedge 
I  bought  an  eight-year-ohl  hedge,  3 
feet  iu  height,  from  somebody  in  town 
and  it  was  planted  right  away.  I  wanted 
it  only  two  feet  high  Can  I  cut  it  back 
now.  or  have  I  to  wait  till  Spring?  Shall 
I  lose  mtuiy  plants  on  account  of  being 
eight  years  old?  Will  it  freeze  in  Win¬ 
ter?  I  have  covered  all  plants  with  good 
manure.  MRS.  A.  K. 
Emerson,  N.  .1. 
If  this  hedge  is  California  privet,  and 
the  work  of  digging  and  transplanting 
was  properly  done,  every  plant  should 
live.  Millions  of  privets  are  planted 
throughout  the  country  every  year,  and 
where  the  work  is  properly  done  the 
plantings  are  uniformly  successful  re¬ 
gardless  of  age  or  size.  The  plants  may 
be  cut  to  any  desired  height  and  at  any 
time  (except  when  frozen)  without  en¬ 
dangering  their  life.  K. 
It  is  not  generally  known  by  the  pub¬ 
lic  that  many  different  grades  of  flour 
are  made  in  the  same  mill,  at  the  same 
time,  and  from  the  same  wheat. 
The  quality  of  each  manufacturer’s 
best-finished  flour  depends  very  largely 
upon  how  skillfully  and  carefully  he 
separates  it  from  the  undesirable  lower 
grades.  The  greater  the  proportion  of 
the  lower  grades  he  puts  in,  the  less  it 
costs  him  to  manufacture. 
The  making  of  the  best  quality  flour 
can  be  likened  to  the  skimming  of  milk; 
some  skimmers  are  careful  to  take  off 
only  pure  cream;  others  carelessly  or 
purposely  include  a  percentage  of  milk. 
Therefore,  grinding  the  best  wheat 
does  not  alone  insure  the  highest  qual¬ 
ity  flour  because  the  quality  and  rich¬ 
ness  of  the  flour  are  determined  largely 
by  the  care,  pride  and  equipment  of 
the  man  who  makes  the  separation. 
The  purity  of  both  flour  and  cream 
depends  upon  how  closely  they  are 
skimmed,  and  this  is  entirely  up  to  the 
skimmer  (the  miller). 
Pillsbury’s  Best  is  absolutely  pure. 
It  contains  none  of  the  cheaper  grades; 
so  we  say, 
The  Flour  Question  Settled 
“Because 
Pillsbury’s  Best” 
