February, 1915 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
hi 
enough already on hand, should be made. 
The first sowings of cabbage, cauliflower, 
beets, lettuce and brocoli may be made 
from the first to the middle of the month. 
If you intend to grow any onions from 
transplanted seedlings, they should be 
planted early this month. As these are not 
transplanted again, when the other veg¬ 
etables are, they are planted in a some¬ 
what different way. When they are put 
in the flats or directly in the hotbed, 2 
inches or so of rich compost should be 
put into the bottom, followed by an inch 
of fine sifted soil, and on top of this half 
an inch or so of clean sand, in which the 
seeds are sown. The seeds should be 
sown a quarter to half an inch deep in 
rows 4 inches to 6 inches apart, putting 
12 to 15 seeds to the inch, thinning them 
out if necessary, when they are up, to 8 or 
10. During their growth the tops of the 
plants should be cut back two or three 
times to make them extra stocky. Among 
the flowers which may be started now are 
a number of the annuals and perennials 
which, if left until later, would not flower 
until the year after sowing. Among 
these are African daisy, antirrhinum, as¬ 
ters, balsam canna, chrysanthemums, cos¬ 
mos, dahlia, heliotrope, hollyhock, kochia, 
pansies, ricinus, salpiglossis, salvia, ver¬ 
bena, Vinca rosea. 
Practically all the seeds to be planted 
will grow sooner and stronger if given 
“bottom heat." A convenient way of do¬ 
ing this to to place the flats on the hot 
water return. Where these are under the 
benches, however, great care must be 
taken to remove the flats as soon as the 
seeds sprout. If left for only a short 
time in partial shade they are sure to be 
injured seriously; the little grow up tall 
and bend towards the light in an almost 
incredibly short time. Although the seed 
boxes may be kept dark until the seeds 
break the surface, from that time on they 
should be given full light, and the nearer 
they can be kept to the glass, the better. 
A mistake the beginner is likely to make 
is to ‘‘monkey around” too much with the 
watering pot during the early stages of 
growth. The less the seed boxes are 
watered the better, provided they are kept 
from drying out. By far the best way of 
watering them is to get a galvanized iron 
pan made at the tinsmith’s about 15 x 24" 
in size and 4" or 5" deep; the flat can be 
placed in this and the water poured in 
around them, which they can soak up 
from the bottom. In this way the fo¬ 
liage and the surface of the soil are kept 
dry, which is an important factor in ward¬ 
ing off that dreaded trouble known as 
damping off,” and the soil can be easily 
saturated. 
An Illustrated Garden Record 
F course, you keep a garden record ? 
Then, if you own a camera, why 
not illustrate it? If you had in your gar¬ 
den last year too much of this or too little 
of that; if you by mischance struck the 
wrong seed or seedsman; if you discov¬ 
ered something new by your practice that 
is worth remembering; if you found 
flower or vegetable varieties that you wish 
to repeat or avoid this year, you will 
realize the value of a garden record. 
The volume itself can be an ordinary, 
twenty-five-cent record book, with pages 
seven and a half by nine inches, and with 
a space an inch and a half wide ruled off 
at the left. This gives ample room for 
Plants raised in the house from young cuttings have 
a tendency to dry out. One way to prevent this is to 
cover the thumb pot with the cover of a jelly glass, 
slit to allow the plant to come through. The loam in 
the pot will remain moist for a long period and will 
be of great benefit to the plant 
notes as detailed and extensive as one has 
time or fancy for making; the book is 
thick and cheap, and there is no need of 
saving space. 
At the top of the ruled-off space at the 
left of the page the year is entered. In 
that column, set off by its surrounding 
white space, is the date preceding each 
item as it is entered. In the same space, 
in red ink, to make it stand out clearer, 
are subject headings to make it handier 
for reference. 
The illustrations can be made unique. 
Taken with an ordinary hand camera, 
using the portrait attachment, they are 
fastened in with library paste, and the 
record is written around them. Thus, 
combined with the written record, they 
constitute a tangible and striking perma¬ 
nent register of garden results. Unfor¬ 
tunately, camera-makers have not yet 
shown cunning enough to fix it so that 
colors can be recorded—not to speak of 
fragrance—and much of the garden’s 
glory is necessarily omitted. But, even 
without the colors, these pictures add 
tremendously to the interest of this 
record of the business and fun of garden¬ 
ing. 
The portrait attachment, which every 
camera owner should have, anyway, does 
not alter the working of the lens other¬ 
wise than in its focusing. It cuts sharply 
the object on which it is focused, leaving 
other objects undefined. As the hand 
camera lacks facilities for visual focusing, 
it is necessary to adhere strictly to the 
rules governing its use. For instance, 
with the scale on the camera adjusted at 
six feet, the shortest distance of which it 
is capable, the lens should be—in this 
case—exactly two feet and eight inches 
from the object. 
Much is added to the clearness of the 
pictures if a proper background is pro¬ 
vided. This should be secured by the use 
of a screen of some material without 
gloss, with a slate-gray or other neutral 
color, placed a few inches or more be¬ 
hind the object. Fair results can be se¬ 
cured without any background whatever, 
as the landscape or objects behind the 
subject will be out of focus, anyway; but 
the blooms stand out more strongly if a 
background is provided. A practical 
background can be made by taking a 
square of cloth from an old brown can¬ 
vas tent and stretching it upon a frame 
such as is used to contain a piece of tapes¬ 
try for a fireplace screen. On one side, 
to afford a still sharper contrast for 
lighter blossoms, one can fasten a piece of 
dead, black material. 
With this equipment you can photo¬ 
graph single blossoms, bouquets and fo¬ 
liage. and also take your grounds in whole 
and in part, and as they look at various 
seasons. 
Watering Cuttings 
I FIAVE raised many plants in the 
house from cuttings, but it was not 
until I happened across the following 
scheme that 1 was very successful. I al¬ 
ways found that, no matter what I did, 
the cuttings, when first put into thumb 
pots, would dry out, in the house. 
This frequent drying had an effect on the 
plants that was shown by the slowness of 
growth and the dropping of leaves and de¬ 
generating into such a poor condition that 
they had to be thrown out. This occurred 
very often to me, but is not to be won¬ 
dered at when one realizes the small 
amount of loam that a thumb-pot holds. 
T tried one day fitting tin covers over 
the pots, and the problem was solved. I 
bought two dozen jelly tumbler covers 
and slit them and fitted them on the pot. 
The results are wonderful. Try it and 
see. 
