r KIJRUARV, I9I4 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
147 
The SWISS CHALET, by its individuality, beauty, 
coziness and comfort has won the heart of the refined 
American public. 
We design and execute country houses, residences, hunt¬ 
ing lodges, boat and sporting houses in this charming style. 
Ast for Folder R. 
The Swiss Chalet Specialists 
^Vrc tiitccts 
200 Fifth Avenue NEW YORK CITY 
Hardware 
A KNOCKER is a 
prominent door 
feature. It focuses the at¬ 
tention of everyone who 
approaches. Sargent 
Door Knockers include 
designs appropriate for 
every type of door on 
which a knocker can be 
suitably used. 
Sargent Hardware 
combines beauty and 
artistic quality with the 
utmost in practical ser¬ 
vice. Its use throughout 
a building is a guarantee 
of quality that adds to 
the selling value and an 
insurance against repair 
cost. 
Write for the illustrated 
Sargent Book of Designs. 
Our Colonial Book, 
illustrating patterns of 
this period, also sent on 
request. 
SARGENT & COMPANY 
142 Leonard St., New York 
■ 
simple one. It takes 11s to the first step in 
the season’s garden operations. The soil 
should be plowed or forked up thoroughly ; 
every square inch turned as deep as pos¬ 
sible; that is, down to sub-soil. After be¬ 
ing turned, it should be pulverized thor¬ 
oughly, not only on the surface, but for 
several inches deep, using a harrow or a 
prong-hoe and rake, according to the size 
of the garden. 
Keeping the soil sweet is also a com¬ 
paratively simple matter. The first cor¬ 
rective for an acid or sour soil, as I have 
already said, is to apply lime. And, in 
addition to its chemical effect upon the 
soil, lime has a beneficial physical effect 
also, as it tends, paradoxically enough, to 
bind together and make firmer light, sandy 
soil, and to break up and disintegrate 
heavy clay soil. The soil also should be kept 
sufficiently supplied with “humus” (de¬ 
cayed vegetable matter), which, because 
it enables both water and air to get r at the 
plant-foods in the soil, hastens chemical 
action. 
The problem of supplying the proper 
amount and kinds of plant-food in the 
form of manure or the various natural and 
chemical fertilizers, is a much more com¬ 
plicated and difficult one. You know that 
the soil contains at least part of the plant- 
foods necessary to grow a full crop. You 
can also tell, from looking up its analysis, 
what any crop will remove from the soil 
The problem is to supply the difference, 
or, in other words, to increase the “limit¬ 
ing factor,” which we have already dis¬ 
cussed, until it is sufficient to make pos¬ 
sible a full crop. 
Now, fortunately, there has been discov¬ 
ered a fact which, as far as the home gar¬ 
den is concerned, makes our problem very 
much simpler. That fact is that if we 
put in more potash or phosphoric than is 
n'eeded, it will not be wasted, but will be 
retained in the soil until the following sea¬ 
son. Furthermore, the plant-food, which 
might be wasted if too much was applied 
at one time—nitrogen—is most effective 
when applied in several doses, instead of 
being put on all at once. So, by putting 
on part of it along with the other fertiliz¬ 
ers in the spring, and applying the rest in 
one or more “top-dressings” during the 
season, we get the most returns from it 
and avoid the danger of wasting it. With 
a little experience we can come to tell quite 
accurately when a crop is beginning to 
suffer for want of nitrogen; if the soil is 
sweet and well supplied with phosphoric 
acid and potash it will be a pretty sure 
sign that the supply of nitrogen is begin¬ 
ning to run short if the foliage of the 
plants begin to turn a light green, instead 
of being the healthy dark green, which it 
ordinarily would be, and if there seems to 
be a check in the growth of the crop. 
So. in practice all we have to do is to 
set a bountiful table, saving part of the 
nitrogen by way of dessert, and rest 
secure in the knowledge that no sorts of 
plants — vegetables or flowers — will make 
themselves sick by eating too much or by 
The remarkable penetrating 
qualities of 
Glidden’s 
Endurance 
Wood Stains 
make them virtually a part of the 
wood to which they are applied — 
mars or scratches must be very 
deep to show at all. 
Sixteen Standard Colors—and the infinite possibilities 
afforded by combining colors. 
These are the most durable fade-proof stains made. 
The same dependable quality is in these other Glidden 
products, which you should know about: 
Glidden’s M. P. Durable Floor Varnish 
Glidden’s M. P. Durable Interior Varnish 
Glidden’s M. P. Durable Exterior Varnish 
Glidden’s Velvet White Enamel (Egg-shell Finish) 
Glidden’s Superior White Enamel (Gloss Finish) 
Our color card shows all colors applied to miniature natural 
wood panels—write for it. 
THE GLIDDEN VARNISH COMPANY 
Department HG Cleveland, Ohio 
BRANCHES; 
\v York—Chicago—London 
Our Spring Gardenbook of 120 Pages 
profusely illustrated, describing all 
that is desirable in flowers, vege¬ 
tables, bulbs, roots, vines. Iris, 
Paeonias, rare shrubs, and ONE 
PACKET each of 
5 CHOICEST TESTED NOVEL¬ 
TIES FOR 1914 
Shizanthus, butterfly flower, 
dazzling new coiors. 
Poppy Hansa, white and crimson fringed petals. 
Celery Cabbage, a triumph of succulency. 
Masterpiece, acknowledged the finest, most prolific 
Pole Bean. 
Japan Turnip, “Shogoin,” delicious flavor. 
WILL be sent for TEN cents. 
TRY IT, RESULTS will please. 
The book alone is free for the asking . ASK TO-DAY. 
Address H. H. Berger & Co., 70 w N a e r ^Kft** 
In writing to advertisers please mention House & Garden. 
