100 
House & Garden 
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from Qeneration 
Jo Qeneration 
THE “SUB-DEB" 
of PLayer Pianos—the 
Story and Clark 
MINIATURE— 
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This beautiful little instrument only 
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Can be operated by everyone without 
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Instruments of finest quality since IQ 57 
The Story & Clark 
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317-311 South hJahcish ‘Avenue 
Chicago, Illinois g 
cy2S 
sue. 
SHMIHSi 
A. An n ^ W mmw 
The Cutting Garden 
( Continued, from page 68) 
portant garden. Or it might be a 
part of the vegetable garden. I have 
seen a number of charming gardens 
where the homely necessities of the 
table grew side by side and were in¬ 
closed with rows of delightful flowers. 
Simplicity and orderliness are the 
main requisites for design in a cutting 
garden, coupled with accessibility in 
order that one can easily reach all 
things. Straight rows of the taller 
and more bushy things, and long nar¬ 
row beds for the low and more spraw- 
ly varieties is the best plan. One 
need not be over concerned with the 
color scheme for we can arrange the 
blooms to suit our purpose after they 
are cut. But it may be a labor sav¬ 
ing device to group them according to 
the color arrangements we generally 
use and so make it easier to compose 
our bouquets. Again we might put 
all the blues together, all the yellows, 
and so on down the list, or we might 
arrange them according to heights, to 
seasons of bloom, or their habit of 
growth, but which ever way we use, it 
is a question of personal preference, 
and we should be happy to remember 
that we do not have to lie awake nights 
and worry about color combinations. 
PLANTING THE GARDEN 
The question of planting is as simple 
as planning. The most abundant and 
diversified flowers for cutting are sup¬ 
plied by the host of annuals. We may 
plant the seeds for these in the places 
where they are to flourish in the lat¬ 
ter part of April. The ground should 
be well worked to at least the depth 
of a foot, manured or fertilized, and 
well raked, then allowed to settle. Or 
we may transplant seedlings from the 
cold frames and hot house in early or 
mid May. This applies to bought plants. 
While annuals may give the bulk 
of our cutting bloom there are many 
delightful perennials that must be in¬ 
cluded if we expect our main garden 
to escape unscathed. While annuals 
are usually raised from seed, and so 
have the advantage of being cheap, 
perennials usually entail a much larger 
expenditure, and there may be many 
who do not feel that they care to en¬ 
dow two gardens with expensive ma¬ 
terial. The solution of this problem is 
easy when you stop to consider that 
each year there is a certain amount of 
thinning, and dividing to be done in 
a successful perennial garden when 
things have grown so fast that they are 
crowding out their neighbors. Why not 
re-plant such things in the cutting gar¬ 
den? Then you have them to cut 
from, and if some favorite dies in 
the border you can select one of its 
relatives in the cutting garden to fill 
its place. Again why not start a few 
perennials from seed ? Many will bloom 
the first year, and in the second year 
will have an abundance of bloom. In 
fact in this manner you can try out 
all manner of things before taking a 
hazard by incorporating them into the 
main garden. Catalogues are apt to 
differ on description, and experience is 
always the better teacher. 
AFTER SPRING BULBS 
One always dislikes to despoil the 
spring array of tulips and narcissus, 
even a few taken here and there are 
missed, but they are so jolly in broad¬ 
mouthed pots and vases indoors! As 
a solution, why not plant a few sur¬ 
plus bulbs in the cutting garden and 
pick them as you desire to use them? 
Why not replant this year’s bulbs there 
after they have bloomed? The second 
year is always a gamble and one does 
not like to take a chance on their not 
doing well, and yet one does dislike to 
dig them up and throw them away. 
In selecting flowers to grow in a 
cutting garden there are several factors, 
which go to make a flower valuable for 
cutting, which should be considered. 
First the stem. It must be stiff enough 
to bear the flower upright and in a 
position to its advantage, except in the 
case of flowers with trailing, drooping 
habits, and it must be long enough 
to cut well and form pleasing arrange¬ 
ments in vases. The color should be 
one which will harmonize with other 
things, or which will compose well 
with the existing interior decoration of 
our rooms, and there should be a wide 
choice in order that we may escape 
monotony and be able to secure variety 
in our bouquets. The flower should 
have an appealing form, shape, and ha¬ 
bit. Coarse flowers are difficult to 
handle in bouquets or interior work, 
they are best suited to the bold masses 
of the garden and shrubbery border. 
There are exceptions of course, such as 
the miniature sunflowers, the mallows, 
and hollyhocks which have special 
niches to fill in our schemes. The larger 
majority of flowers should have fra¬ 
grance for it is a large portion of the 
charm of a bouquet and seems to bring 
the sweet freshness of nature indoors 
The cultivation of such a garden is 
comparatively easy. If most of the 
things are in rows the hoe and the 
weeding rake will keep them in order, 
loosening the ground and destroying the 
weeds. There will be little danger of 
the plants going to seed too early if we 
pick enough of them, and when a plant 
does pass on its way after doing its 
bit we need not concern ourselves about 
the gap it has left unfilled for our 
pictorial effect is safe in another place. 
To secure a profusion of large blooms 
we should from time to time apply 
liberally bonemeal, sheep manure, liq¬ 
uid manure, or any of the tried and 
trusted chemical fertilizers on the mar¬ 
ket. The best time to do this is just 
as the flower is in bud, it increases 
the size and number of blooms and the 
length of stem considerably. It is never 
a good policy to begin that which you 
do not intend to finish, especially if it 
is not convenient, so do not begin to 
water the flowers in the cutting garden 
after they are established, otherwise 
they will soon form the habit and not 
send down sufficient roots to take care 
of themselves. If the soil is kept suffi¬ 
ciently loosened there will be ample 
moisture in the ground to support the 
flowers, except of course in extreme 
cases of drought or in localities where 
there is little and infrequent rain fall. 
HOW 7 TO CUT FLOWERS 
A word about cutting flowers. A pair 
of sharp shears or scissors is the best - 
implement. A few plants break off 
easily, but the majority are liable to be 
damaged severely by hand picking. A 
clean sharp cut is much more readily 
healed by nature. Spare the small 
shoots and branches, for they will be 
the source of supply a little later. Top¬ 
cutting will increase the number of side 
or lateral shoots, make the plant more 
bushy, and consequently more abun¬ 
dant in bloom. It is always well to 
cut an average amount of foliage with 
your flower, the plant will not miss it, 
and it acts as an admirable foil for 
the bloom, it is always much better taste 
to use a good foliage with its own 
flowers than ferns, vines, and other 
foliage. Cut as long a stem as possible; 
short stems being hard to handle in 
making a bouquet, and the short stubs 
left on the plant are of no use and in 
time make it unkempt in appearance. 
(Continued on page 102) 
