SUNNYSIDE GARDENS, NATICK, MASS. 
If your garden is in a low place, build up the beds 
six or eight inches, and be sure that the drainage 
is adequate to allow water to go down through the 
soil freely. 
Do not plant too deep, but so that the rhizome 
is just below the surface. Spread out the roots 
and water the hole. Then draw the earth around 
the rhizome and firm well, and do not water again 
unless there is a CQjitinued dry spell. 
If the soil is heavy and drainage is poor, white 
(coal) ashes will lighten it, and the clinkers may 
be placed in the bottom of the bed, about 18 inches 
down for drainage. Do not use the red ashes if 
white are obtainable. There is a lime element in 
the white ashes that is absent in the red, and this 
seems to be just the right chemical compound that 
is beneficial to many plants, Irises in particular. 
Use freely. Well-rotted manure may be safely 
used, if it does not come in contact with th,e 
rhizomes. 
There is no fixed rule as to how often Irises 
should be divided. Varieties that increase rapidly 
should be divided and reset every third year, some 
perhaps every second year, but Irises that increase 
slowly will sometimes do well for five years with¬ 
out being disturbed. 
BORERS AND ROOT ROT 
Borers and root rot seem to be the important 
things that one has to contend with. I find that 
eternal vigilance will keep them both in check. 
Watch the foliage, beginning the first of July, or 
earlier in some sections, and where you see a leaf 
that looks slimy or the edges notched, look out for 
borers, and get an old glove and squeeze the leaf 
up and down between thumb and finger. 
I have found the preparation Cupro-Jabonite the 
most effective remedy for checking root rot. It 
is manufactured by the Geo. C. Gordon Chemical 
Company, 1408 West 9th, Kansas City, Mo. Send 
them $1.00 and they will send you one pound post 
paid. 
If you raise seeds of Iris, you will know that 
the flowers have to be bagged soon after pollinat¬ 
ing, to prevent the verbena fly from stinging their 
eggs into the new-forming seed pod, where they 
hatch out little larvae (Maggots), that eat up all 
of the young seeds. The scars on the pods where 
they have been stung are plainly discernible, when 
fully developed, and if scraped with a sharp pen 
knife and a little Calogreen rubbed into the wound, 
that will be the finish of Mr. Maggot. It is said 
that Calogreen is also effective for preventing rot, 
but for treating seed pods I believe ordinary cal¬ 
omel would be just as effective. This treatment 
does away with bagging. 
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