The Garden 
THE GARDEN 
SUGGESTIONS, QUERIES AND ANSWERS 
JOHN W. HALL 
A POOR garden is an expensive luxury. By this 
T time it can be definitely determined with what 
success efforts among some ot the flowers and plants 
will be met. But with many phases of the garden 
work there is much time yet remaining which can he 
profitably employed in shaping up rough corners and 
looking after fall blooming plants. 
It costs more to repair damage than to ward off 
danger. Therefore all shrubs, flowering plants, 
fruit trees, and vines, should be sprayed whether or 
not they have been attacked by insects. In the State 
of California the spraying of trees and vines is com¬ 
pulsory. 
Hard soap rubbed into the wounds made on trees 
by borers or otherwise is said to be an effectual 
remedy. 
Nitrate of soda, superphosphate of lime, and sul¬ 
phate of potash makes an excellent and clean fertilizer 
for house plants. Do not mix the ingredients but use 
as desired. A teaspoonful of each to a half gallon of 
water will to a considerable extent serve as a pro¬ 
tection against insects, at the same time serving as 
plant food when used around the roots of plants. 
If the leaves of the plants are very green, reduce 
the quantity of nitrate of soda by one-half. If the 
stems and shoots are slow in growth, slightly in¬ 
crease the quantity of sulphate of potash. When 
seeds and flowers are forming, the proportion of the 
superphosphate may be slightly increased to ad¬ 
vantage. 
The fig is a pretty plant for lawns, while the fruit 
is luscious. It can be grown in the open air, remaining 
in the ground all the year as far North as Norfolk, 
Virginia. It can be grown in rich earth in a tub, 
removing to a sheltered, sunny location in winter in 
almost all sections of the country. 
Success with roses means attention to the soil. 
For fine roses the soil must be rich, well drained and 
heavy. Roses should be planted early in the fall or in 
the spring after the frost is out of the ground. When 
grafted, the point of graft should he set two inches 
below the surface and pruned to within six inches of 
the soil. 
This is the growing season for the chrysanthemum 
and the plants must be fed. Soluble manure is re¬ 
quired in the case of plants cultivated in pots. Phos¬ 
phoric acid is of the greatest importance to chrysan¬ 
themums; necessary to procure good color in the 
foliage. Without potash the stems will be long and 
weak, the leaves broad, thick and flabby, and will 
fall off without any seeming apparent cause. With¬ 
out nitrogen plants are feeble and pale in color, the 
leaves small and thick, flowers hut few, small of size, 
and hollow in the center. 
A good compost of two-thirds sandy loam mixed 
with leaf mold is the ideal compost. Nitrogenous 
manures should he used only in small proportions. 
Plants grown with an excess of nitrogen manure are 
very subject to rust. Potash is best applied in the 
form of sulphate. Bone phosphate yields the neces¬ 
sary phosphoric acid. 
In many gardens at this season of the year a lack 
of moisture may become apparent when it is not 
practicable to use the hose. About the best thing 
to be done in such a case is to stir the soil about the 
plants. The production and retention of moisture 
can be greatly aided by constantly tilling the soil. 
Keep the “crust” of the ground well broken, or 
rather never allow a “crust” to form. Deep cultiva¬ 
tion is not necessary, but frequent stirring of the earth 
about the roots of plants will help them wonderfully 
in a dry spell such as will most probably occur at this 
time of the year. 
It may be necessary to thin out the cosmos. If 
so do not throw away the plants. They can he safely 
transplanted as late as the first of August. In trans¬ 
planting select a cloudy day and disturb the roots as 
little as possible. It will be a good plan to fill va¬ 
cant places in the borders with clumps of these plants, 
planting deep and giving at least a square foot of 
space to each plant. 
Bear in mind that cosmos grows very tall, usually 
from five to seven feet. It blooms continually until 
a decided frost cuts it down. T he early light cold 
snaps do not usually do it any harm. Ordinarily 
it survives two or three frosts and blooms into the 
Indian summer. 
The narrow leaves give the foliage a peculiarly 
graceful, feathery appearance, and the pink or white 
daisy-like blossoms are held on slender, nodding 
stems. This character makes cosmos a beautiful 
cut flower for interior decoration, great branches of 
it displaying nature’s own arrangements of flower and 
leaf, a result human art cannot hope to attain. 
One of the greatest virtues of cosmos is its long life 
after it has been cut. Trimming the stems under 
fresh water will make the branches continue to open 
new buds. A withered bunch can be revived by the 
same treatment. 
A planting of mignonette seed should now he made 
to furnish flowers during the cool fall months. 
PROPER SOIL FOR ROSE BUSHES 
Last year I made a rose bed by removing sod from 
clay soil. I then mixed in a quantity of stable man¬ 
ure and planted my roses. They grew fairly well, but 
this spring the soil is very heavy and hard to work— 
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