HOUSE AND GARDEN 
September, 1911 
Plants of Merit 
A plant which, ■ although 'popular, is 
not in such universal favor as it should 
be, is the peony. It is a robust grower, 
and free from practically all the diseases 
and insects attacking many other orna¬ 
mental plants, but it needs a deep rich 
soil to do its best. If you have plants old 
enough to divide, attend to it by the 20th 
of this month. One good strong bud is 
enough to put in a place. Most sorts will 
do best when put three to four feet apart. 
If you are going to set out new plants, 
perhaps it will be safest to wait until next 
spring, but get the bed ready now ? Make 
it rich, with manure if you can get it, and 
plow or spade it up deep and rough on the 
surface. The old peony bed should be 
mulched with manure, and if the soil is 
very dry, kept watered. Remember that 
the peonies, like many other hardy plants 
which make a very quick growth in the 
spring, store up energy and food in the 
Geraniums such as these may be had all 
winter if started from cuttings now 
crown of roots a year ahead. You will get 
returns for any care given now in next 
spring’s beautiful foliage and enormous 
blooms. 
Another flower that is an old popular 
favorite, but by no means universally seen, 
is the larkspur. The colors are wonderful. 
Set plants or sow seed now, or divide your 
own roots later in the fall when all growth 
has stopped. 
It is also time to sow petunias, phlox, 
Drummondi and other small growing an¬ 
nuals for winter blooming indoors. The 
secret of starting small seeds at this time 
of the year is to have the soil thoroughly 
moistened the day before sowing, and to 
choose some place that can be sheltered 
from too much direct hot sun, and heavy 
rains. A coldframe with finely pulver¬ 
ized and prepared dirt, that can be cov¬ 
ered with a sash of protecting cloth, will 
be as good a place as may be had. The 
best plants will be had by transplanting 
once just as soon as possible, before put¬ 
ting into the boxes and pots for winter 
blooming. 
While speaking of sowing seed, do not 
overlook the possibility of having earlier 
and better sweet peas than your neigh¬ 
bor's. How? By planting them this fall. 
Prepare your trench, unless it is on ground 
that you know is thoroughly drained by 
a sandy subsoil, by digging out to a depth 
of twelve to eighteen inches, and put in 
the bottom coarse coal ashes or gravel. 
Cover this to within four or five inches of 
the top with soil that may be made as rich 
as one-half manure. Do not use fresh 
manure, which might heat and cause the 
seed to sprout. The idea is to keep the 
seed dormant until spring. For this rea¬ 
son the planting should not be done too 
early, thus allowing the seeds to start and 
be frozen back. Wait until cold weather 
is at hand, two or three weeks before you 
may expect freezing. 
The House Plants 
A job which should not be put off, is 
the preparing of your winter plants for 
blooming and decoration indoors. The 
ideal way of getting a flowering plant, 
such as a geranium, ready for winter 
work is to start it from cuttings or 
seed, in early summer. Keep them grow¬ 
ing on in pots plunged up to the rim 
in soil, and turned every week or so to 
keep them from rooting through. They 
should be re-potted when necessary, and 
all buds kept pinched off before bloom¬ 
ing, so that their full strength may be 
saved for blooming indoors. Where these 
preparations have not been made, however, 
one can still have a supply by getting to 
work at once. Select a few of the best 
formed plants, preferably of small size, 
and if the soil is dry, water thoroughly 
for several days. Cut them back severely 
—two-thirds to three-fourths of the new, 
rapidly made growth. After the cuts have 
healed over, pot them in good rich porous 
soil (mix with it swamp or sphagnum 
moss, leaf-mold or chip-dirt, to one-half 
its bulk if necessary). Pot them firmly, 
water thoroughly, and keep in partial 
shade for a week. From the new growth 
which will rapidly develop you will get 
good results. From plants too large and 
old to bring in, take cuttings. This is the 
most favorable season of the year for 
rooting cuttings, and with clean, coarse 
sand, and carefully selected ripe wood, 
you ought to get very satisfactory results. 
In the Vegetable Garden 
Lettuce and radish may still be sown, 
and spinach, onions and borecole for win¬ 
tering over. Try also parsnip, carrot, 
peas, to be planted now, just too late to 
germinate this season. The seed costs 
but a few cents, and it’s well worth taking 
the chance, which is by no means too big 
a one, that they will come through all 
right, as far north as New York. The 
advantage of fall sowing is that seeds can 
begin to grow before the soil is dried out 
181 
A typical geranium cutting should be care¬ 
fully selected for good ripe wood 
enough to work in spring; besides which, 
of course, it relieves the spring rush. 
All the onions should be ready for har¬ 
vesting this month. In very dry seasons, 
sometimes before September 1. As soon 
as the tops die down and wither pull them 
even if small. Later rains, instead of 
making them larger, will ruin them entire¬ 
ly. Pull and pile up in windrows, three 
to five rows in each, according to the 
weight of the crop. They should not be 
piled up much. Turn with a wooden rake 
two or three times that they may dry off 
evenly, and then spread out as thinly as 
possible under cover, but in an airy place, 
as they must dry out a good deal more be¬ 
fore being stored for winter. This must 
be done previous to severe freezing. 
Keep an eye on the weather to prevent 
losing your squashes. A few days before 
frosts are to be expected, cut them with a 
few inches of vine to each (never break 
off the stems), and turn over to expose 
the under side to a few days sunlight, 
then carry in and pile, being exceedingly 
careful not to bruise, where they can be 
covered with bags or mats from the first 
light frosts; store in a safe dry place as 
soon as possible, as it takes but little frost 
to spoil them. 
This is the most favorable season of the year 
for rooting cuttings. Take them from this 
portion of the branch and trim off the 
lower leaves 
