202 
HOUSE AND GARDE 
N 
March 
, I( M 5 
gurpee's^eeds Qrow 
See full-page advertisement on fourth cover of this issue. 
W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., Burpee Buildings, Philadelphia 
The Helpful Book 
for Garden lovers 
the Meehan handbook is different! It’s advantagi 
to the garden lover is not alone in the fact that i 
has over 100 pages, profusely illustrated. 
It is complete, compact and handy. Easy to fine 
any hardy tree, plant or shrub of merit in this book 
Many new, rare and unusual plants are described anc 
illustrated. 
Collections for various purposes are so arrangee 
that proper choice is easy. Any property of one acr< 
or less can be planted complete from the street fron 
to the small fruit-patch in the rear by combining thesi 
collections. It simplifies ordering. 
This HandbooK Write today for this practical handbook 
It is FREE. If you have a new unplantec 
property, indicate the size and conditions 
and we shall have one of our practica 
plantsmen familiar with the soil condi 
tions in your locality forward his recom 
mendations. 
THOMAS MEEHAN & SONS 
Pioneer Nurserymen of America 
BOX 40 GERMANTOWN, PHILA 
contains many unique 
introductions, such as 
Meehans’ Globe-head 
Mulberry, New Climbing 
Red Ros'fc Edgar Andreu, 
the Senecio Clivorum for 
shaded borders, and Phlox 
argillacea for dry sunny 
places. 
Have you tried Mee¬ 
hans’ Mallow Marvels in 
your garden? If not, 
you will be interested in 
this — the most popular 
hardy flower in cultiva¬ 
tion. Three colors, one 
each, for SI.75. 
No. I 
“BOMBAYREED” JARUINERES 
POP THE HOME 
Woven by hand from the celebrated East India reeds. Practically 
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taining 24 pages of practical artistic suggestions in Wicker Ware 
“BOMBAYREED” MFC. CO., Sole Makers. ATLANTA, GA. 
In answering mention House & Garden 
No. 7 
Radium Makes Things Grow 
Its effect upon vegetation is very marked, producing more 
rapid growth and luxuriant appearance, as well as improving 
quality and production. Radium Brand Fertilizer (R. A. F.) 
is a scientific and thoroughly tested combination of Radium 
Element with fertilizer. Try a can and see what gratifying 
results follow its use. One pound will fertilize 50 sq. ft. of 
surface. pro. « a q m 
/^RJIAA 
Before being offered to the public, it has been successfully tested on 130 acre 
farm under direction of famous Botanists and Horticulturists ; also by Phipps' 
Conservatories, Pittsburgh, Pa., and many others in various parts of the country-. 
These results told in our interesting free booklet, “Radium Makes Things Grow,” 
illustrated with photographs of plant life grown with and without Radium Brand 
Fertilizer (R. A. F.). Write today for this booklet, and also order a sample can 
Sample Can, Prepaid, 25c 
Radium Brand Fertilizer is a 
complete and highly efheient 
plant food,put up in convenient 
and attractive pack¬ 
ages and priced to 
meet a demand from 
you who love to 
grow things, in 
your home, gar¬ 
den, lawn or 
green-house. 
Radium Brand Fertilizer (R. A. F.) is sold by florists, 
grocers, druggists and seed and hardware dealers. If 
your dealer cannot supply you send us his name and 25c 
for can (12 oz. net R. A. F.), prepaid. Also sold as fol¬ 
lows, prepaid, where dealers cannot supply you. 
2 lb. can, .50 5 lb. can, $1.00 
10 lb. can, $1.75 25 lb. can, $3.75 
In writing always be sure to give us your dealer’s 
name so we can arrange for your future supply. 
Radium Fertilizer Company 
203 Vanadium Bldg. 
Chrysanthemum plants, 
grown from same cutting in 
same soil, in Phipps’ Conserva¬ 
tory, Pittsburgh, Pa., the one 
at left with Radium Brand 
Fertilizer (R. A. F.), at right 
with ordinary commercial fer¬ 
tilizer. The comparison of 
the flowers in their natural 
state is far more striking even 
than shown by the camera. 
What Radium Brand Fertilizer 
(R. A. F.) has done for the 
Chrysanthemum it will do for 
your flowers, vegetables, etc. 
growth? One after another, five of the 
fruit trees died — one Baldwin, both Fall 
Pippins, both cherries; they put up a 
noble fight for life, sending out two sets 
of leaves with what sap they possessed, 
but, when I sadly dug them up—phew! 
the sour stench that arose from that black, 
muddy mess of rotten roots! The same 
occurred with the raspberries—magnifi¬ 
cent two-year Cuthbert roots—now sour 
and black, not even attempting to grow a 
fibre of new roots, killed with “wet feet” 
in sour soil! But the overflow berries and 
grapes, planted any old place about the 
house, were thriving mightily; so was all 
the privet and shrubbery in the dry soil at 
the front of the place. I took hope and 
consulted a soil expert, for I knew it was 
not a sunlight problem, but soil and drain¬ 
age, that I had to deal with. 
Said the expert: “That soil of yours, 
when you get it tamed, will be the most 
wonderful grower you ever knew. What 
it needs is lowering the water table about 
six inches, or else, what is the same thing, 
raising the soil about six inches. But, 
above all, it needs plant bacteria. What 
the roots live and grow on is bacterial 
life coming from the humus or loam in the 
soil. Your soil is sour and the adds ac¬ 
cumulating in your forest soil for ages 
kill your vegetable bacterial growth as fast 
as it starts. What you need is a season of 
sunlight on that garden, two hundred 
pounds each of lime or land plaster to 
sweeten the soil; two hundred pounds of 
bone meal and at least four wagon loads 
of manure. Spread these on your garden 
in the fall, plow it in, and next spring I’ll 
warrant you’ll grow the prize vegetables 
of your section!” 
Fie spoke just in time, for I had about 
made up my mind to turn the garden into 
a tennis court. Acting on his advice, 
during the rest of July and part of August 
I let it grow up to weeds. Seven of the 
trees which I had planted well up on filled 
ashes and field soil were thriving, and the 
garden level was beginning to rise by that 
steady process of accumulation which is 
always going on in a growing proposition 
(for four-fifths of the bulk of plant and 
weed life is taken out of the air). lust 
before the weeds went to seed I started 
work by scything them down all over the 
garden. The first load of manure arrived 
and also ioo new strawberry plants, and 
about the end of August I plowed under 
half of the east garden to make a new 
berry bed. This part of the garden was 
always high and did not need fill. I used 
half of the manure pile in mellowing it, 
and the other half was planted with the 
young strawberries, a shovelful to each 
plant. Next Tune they were wonder ber¬ 
ries of that neighborhood! There’s noth¬ 
ing like good old manure to make the gar¬ 
den grow! My, but that was a busy fall! 
First came fifteen wagon loads of field 
soil, which were spread evenly over the 
whole garden, raising it about six inches. 
Then on went the land plaster, 200 pounds 
of it, and then 200 pounds of bone meal 
