50 
HOUSE & 
GARDEN 
When onion tops have made good prog¬ 
ress, knock them down to send growth 
into the bulbs 
N otwithstanding the tremendous 
amount of injury done to our gardens by 
insects, by blight and fungus, and by weeds, 
it is doubtful if all of these things put together 
cause as much of a decrease in crops as is caused 
by dry weather. The difference is that the 
damage done by a single bug to a single plant 
is a concrete, visible thing, and may stir the 
gardener to a hasty determination to do some¬ 
thing at once to stop the injury or at least to 
prevent its repetition; whereas gradual falling 
off in the rate of growth over the whole garden 
may pass unnoticed, or at the most excite the 
comment that “a good rain wouldn’t hurt things 
a bit.” Nine out of ten, even of experienced 
gardeners, fail to realize that even in an average 
or normal season, deficient moisture in the soil 
cuts down their yields from twenty-five to fifty 
per cent, below what they would be if they 
had all the moisture they could utilize. 
Well, what can be done? If that is Nature’s 
method, is there anything more to be done about 
it, except, as every good gardener does, keep up 
frequent surface cultivation to maintain the soil 
moisture? Watering with a hose is wasteful, 
inconvenient and, though it helps the plants in 
giving them more moisture, injures them in 
other ways. Is there, then, any ideal way of 
applying water to growing gardens and flower¬ 
beds and lawns, at once effective and economical 
enough to come within the range of the average 
gardener’s pocketbook and opportunity. 
Watering that Waters 
The answer to this problem of artificial water¬ 
ing has been found in the last few years, in 
modern overhead irrigation. There are a num¬ 
ber of good systems now available by which 
water may be applied up to the limit of what 
the plants can use, in the form of artificial rain, 
which has the advantage over the real thing 
in that you can have it when you want it, in 
just the quantity you want, and just where you 
want it. All of the best of these systems are 
practically automatic in operation, costing noth¬ 
ing beyond the cost of the water to operate. 
The main differences lie in the devices for 
actually distributing the water. There are 
three distinct types: the “nozzle-line” type, by 
which the water is forced through very small 
nozzles inserted in a small pipe supported above 
the ground, the pipe itself being so arranged 
that it turns from side to side, each line thus 
covering a strip of ground 40' to 50' long; the 
“sprinkler” type, in which the pipes are run 
under ground, with uprights at intervals of 30' 
to 40', each supporting a rotating sprinkler sim¬ 
ilar to but of much greater capacity than a 
common lawn sprinkler; and the spray nozzle 
type, like the last, except that a nozzle throwing 
a circular spray takes the place of the sprinkler, 
making it possible for lawn use, flower gardens, 
etc., to have the nozzles on a level with the 
turf, out of sight, and low enough so that a 
YOUR ALL-YEAR 
GARDEN 
F. F. ROCKWELL 
The Editor will he glad to answer subscribers’ questions 
pertaining to individual problems connected with the gar¬ 
dens and the grounds. Please enclose a self-addressed 
and stamped envelope, and address your inquiries to The 
Editor, House & Garden, 440 Fourth Avenue, New York. 
lawn mower may be conveniently run over them. 
These three principles of applying the water 
are used in many different systems. No one 
kind is the best for all conditions: on most 
places it will undoubtedly be possible to use 
more than one to advantage. But any of the 
several systems is decidedly better than none, 
and if you are not convinced of the tremendous 
benefits to be derived from regular systematic 
watering try at least part of your garden or 
lawn under some modern system. 
As to the cost, if you already have water 
under twenty-five pounds or more pressure, the 
expense is surprisingly little. The most expen¬ 
sive part of the outfit is the pipe required; 
and when you consider that pipe costs but from 
one-fourth to one-half as much as hose, and 
lasts indefinitely while the hose will begin to 
“go” after two or three seasons’ use, you can 
easily understand that the cost is not prohibitive. 
For ten to twenty-five dollars you can get a 
portable outfit that will take care of a small 
place, or put in a permanent system that will do 
the work over a fair-sized home garden. 
The Summer Mulch and Pruning 
There are a number of moisture loving plants 
for which a summer mulch is most effective. 
Even with irrigation, it is best to use the mulch, 
as it saves the moisture and helps to keep the 
roots cool. After the first blooming period of 
the roses is over, a good summer mulch will 
help materially in getting new growth for later 
blooming; Gooseberries are particularly grateful 
for a summer mulch; and the newly set straw¬ 
berry bed, if free from weeds, may be mulched 
between the rows. Cauliflowers and celery, 
both of which like all the moisture they are 
likely to get, will also appreciate it; as will 
any moisture-loving flowers or perennials you 
may happen to have in the flower-beds or bor¬ 
ders. Lawn clippings, where they are sufficiently 
abundant, are excellent for this purpose. The 
winter mulchings from the hardy perennial bor¬ 
ders or from the bulb beds, are also good. For 
a mulch around individual plants, such as spring 
set trees or shrubs, sods 2" or so thick, cut 
with straight edges and inverted and packed close, 
are effective and often the easiest thing to pro- 
Insecticides should he on tap at all times, 
for when they are needed they are needed 
badly and at once 
Tomatoes should be pruned and tied to 
supports when about V high; thus they 
produce better 
cure. In any case, it is best where feasible to 
apply whatever water may be required beneath 
the mulch rather than on top of it. 
Another important part of summer work which 
is frequently neglected is the summer pruning. 
The commonly accepted idea that pruning 
should be done only while the wood is dormant 
does not hold for many ornamentals, nor for 
the “pinching” or “heading back” of fruit trees, 
particularly dwarfs and those which may be 
trained on supports. You should prune during 
this part of the season the following: Early 
flowering shrubs, such as bloomed in the spring, 
or are just going by now (remove oldest wood, 
and any unsymmetrical branches). Roses: the 
hardy climbers or ramblers should be pruned as 
soon as through flowering, cutting out the old¬ 
est canes clear to the ground, and training the 
new growth which will flower next season. 
Hedges: the new growth should be clipped over 
before it gets too long to stimulate the side 
growths and keep a smooth green surface; semi- 
formal hedges, or specimen plants or groups, 
should be gone over lightly, to maintain shape¬ 
liness. Fruit trees: espaliers should be trained 
to their supports as the new growth forms, both 
by training and by judicious pruning to buds 
or branches that will grow in the desired direc¬ 
tions. The “dwarf” fruits, to be kept to real 
dwarf form, require occasional heading back, 
and the encouragement of lateral growth; they 
require much more attention in the matter of 
pruning than do the standard trees. Grapes : 
young vines should be held to two uprights; 
watch older vines to see that no undesired 
growths start below the fork or head from which 
the main laterals run. 
The New Strawberry Bed 
Properly handled, you may get a full crop 
of berries next June from the plants you set 
out next month; but if you manage them in 
the usual way it will be a year from then before 
a full and satisfactory crop is procured. 
To turn the trick for next year, you must 
begin at once. The essentials are two: extra 
strong pot plants and the hill system of culture. 
If you have irrigation, or your strawberry bed 
is where you can water it, you will have no 
trouble about getting the strong plants. Use 
pots at least 3" in diameter; 3)4" are better. 
Select tip plants from the strongest runners of 
the most prolific hills or plants, and under these 
sink the pots to the rim, filling them level with 
fine loose soil, and holding the runner in place 
with a small stone or a clothes-pin; the latter 
has the advantage of being found more readily 
when you are ready to take the plants up. The 
runner should be nipped off as soon as it starts 
beyond the first plant formed, to prevent the 
formation of others. A very small amount of 
bone dust mixed with the soil in each pot when 
placing the runners will stimulate a vigorous 
growth. Of course, keep the weeds down. 
