I HOUSE AND GARDEN 
June, 1912 
them out as soon as they are large enough, 
because plants that are crowding' each 
other for light and air will not make good 
specimens. 
Inducing Rapid Growth 
In addition to the cultivation given, 
as suggested above, almost all of the gar¬ 
den crops will be greatly benefited by a 
light dressing of nitrate of soda, when 
they are partly grown. Spread it on very 
thinly — a handful to several hills, or sev¬ 
eral feet of row — and work it into the 
soil. Beets, tomatoes, cabbage, lettuce, 
peppers and eggplants, melons, cucumbers 
and onions ai'e especially helped by this 
treatment, in a very perceptible way. Re¬ 
member that almost all garden crops de¬ 
pend for their quality upon the rapidity 
Avith which they have been grown, and so 
this treatment gives you not only bigger 
and surer crops, but better ones as well. 
In fact, in the case of the onions, and 
other crops taking quite a long time to 
mature, several light dressings can be 
used to advantage. 
The War with Insects 
Another important job in the June gar¬ 
den is to keep potatoes, tomatoes, cab¬ 
bages and eggplants, and particularly mel¬ 
ons and squashes, protected from the rav¬ 
ages of the various insects attacking them. 
As these pests multiply in hot weather 
with great rapidity, the beginner is often 
caught and finds irreparable damage done 
Before he is aware that the enemy has 
opened up an attack. Crops subject to 
the ravages of these dreaded intruders 
should be looked over daily, and at the 
first sign of the enemy the battle should 
he fought out to a finish. The garden in¬ 
sects are of two types — those that make 
their living by eating, and those that live 
by sucking. For the first, one of the in¬ 
ternal poisons, such as Paris green, arse¬ 
nate of lead, or hellebore will prove ef¬ 
fective. For the sucking kinds, use some 
contact poison such as kerosene emulsion 
■or tobacco dust. 
If one will take the precaution to keep 
on hand a supply of these few things, none 
of which is expensive, and act immediately 
when the enemy puts in an appearance, 
there should be no trouble in keeping the 
garden clean. A duster or bellows of 
some kind, and if possible a small com¬ 
pressed air sprayer, should also be kept in 
readiness for applying them efficiently. 
For melons, cucumbers and squashes, 
which are frequently destroyed altogether 
by the striped beetles or squash bugs, the 
easiest and most efficient protection is fur¬ 
nished during the early stages of growth 
by plain bottomless boxes (made of old 
soap or cracker boxes, or of boards half 
an inch thick and eight inches wide) cov¬ 
ered with mosquito wire or netting. The 
box is simply placed over the hill and left 
until the growing of the plants makes its 
removal necessary. Even then, however, 
the vines must be watched carefully. 
Some of the most common pests, and 
the things to use for them, are green plant 
lice (aphis), kerosene emulsion, tobacco 
dust; cabbage worm (green), hellebore, 
hand picking; tomato-worm, hand pick¬ 
ing; striped beetle, covered bo.xes, tobacco 
dust, arsenate of lead; potato bug, Paris 
green, arsenate of lead; squash bug. same 
remedies as for striped beetle, and hand 
picking of old large bugs and eggs. 
Saving a Tree by W atering 
A small tree in the front of my house, 
which was iDadly torn by a horse last 
year, refused to put out its leaves this 
spring and showed every indication of 
rapidly dying. The ground about it was 
A ery hard, so that water soaked in slowly. 
I decided that water applied to the roots 
might produce results, so instead of dig¬ 
ging up the ground I bored perhaps a 
dozen holes about the tree Avithin a radius 
of ten feet by turning the Avater on full 
force and holding the nozzle of the hose 
close to the ground. At first there Avas 
much splashing, but after the top crust 
Avas penetrated the hose Avas easily pushed 
to the depth of a foot, the steady floAv of 
Avater loosening the earth and sending it 
to the top. Into these holes I poured 
Avater daily and Avithin tAvo Aveeks had the 
satisfaction of seeing my tree fully leafed 
out and it has since continued to groAV 
and noAV appears in better condition than 
ever before. After results began to be 
apparent all but tAvo holes Avere filled up 
Avith loam and these Avill be closed later 
Avhen the safety of the tree is assured. 
A Practical Summer Shelter 
As summer approaches and the noon¬ 
day sun becomes at times uncomfortablv 
Avarm, the need of some sort of conve¬ 
nient shelter about the laAvn or in the gar¬ 
den is apparent to every one. One of the 
best devices for this purpose is the gar¬ 
den umbrella, for it may be used under 
circumstances that Avould not justify the 
The hose may be used to Avater deep tree roots 
erection of a permanent summer-house or 
arbor. These umbrellas may be had in a 
variety of forms, a very satisfactory kind 
having a small iron table holding a socket 
into Avhich the umbrella shaft fits. It is 
especially desirable for use on laAvns 
Avhere other shade is scanty, or beside the 
tennis court, for e.xample. 
Among the Shrubs 
There is little to be done at this season 
in either planting or pruning of shrubs, 
except the feAv Avhich have bloomed dur- 
{Continucd on page 60) 
One form of the garden umbrella is supported in a socket attached to a small iron table, which 
makes it especially desirable for lawn use 
