THE LEAVES NEED 
fMiys to Improve Your Soil 
Air—“wind”, city air”. 
Carbon is absorbed from air. 
Ordinarily the gardener has 
no worries about the leaves 
getting air. Some plants, like 
Tsuga, burn in strong winds. 
Bad city air is harmful to 
some trees. 
Light—“sun”, “shade”. 
Light makes the chlorophyl 
factory turn it wheels. All 
plants need some. Those that 
get along best on little light 
are marked “shade” in this 
Guide. Those that need a 
great deal are marked “sun”. 
— Normal plants are not 
marked—they live in sun or 
part shade. 
Heat—“Zone I” to “Zone VI”. 
There is a northern limit for 
every plant, beyond which it 
cannot live. For practical use 
the map at the right divides 
the country into Zones. Each 
plant description in this 
Guide has a related Zone 
limit (e.g., Abies Balsamea, 
page 20, it is Zone II). Look 
up your garden on the map 
and you can select hardy 
material. 
THE ROOTS NEED:— 
Air—“loose”, “heavy”, “drain”. 
Roots get oxygen from air that filters 
into the earth. Some plants need more 
than others. These must have loose soil 
in which the air is purer and will suffo¬ 
cate in heavy damp clays. Magnolias like 
heavy soil, but it must be drained from 
beneath or by the slope of the land. 
Water—“damp”, “dry”. 
Roots can only use chemicals that are 
dissolved in water. Also, water is the 
means of transportation up the stem. 
Spme plants need more than others and 
die in .severe droughts. In the descrip¬ 
tions plants are marked “damp”. A 
loose soil quickly dries, a heavy soil 
keeps damp. Thus water and air for the 
roots are both present in a mixed soil. 
Normal plants that thrive in this “or¬ 
dinary garden soil” need no notation. 
Rainfall and drainage are combined in 
water and air supply. 
Food “humus”, “rich”, “barren”. 
a. Potassium—most soils have plenty. 
b. Phosphorus—needs to be added in 
most soils with fertilizer. 
c. Nitrogen—cannot be used until turned 
to nitrate. Fertilizer supplies it, but 
water quickly leaches it out, so the 
plant depends on bacteria in the soil. 
These bacteria depend on:— 
1. Acidity of soil (lime, etc.) 
2 . Drainage of soil (air). 
3. Humus in the soil (food). 
d. Iron, Lime, etc. in small quantities 
usually present anywhere. 
SOIL TESTING OUTFITS: 
The Sudbury 
Home Gardener’s 
Kit (new model) 
tests for nitrogen, 
phosphorus, pot¬ 
ash and acidity. 
It will make at 
least three sepa¬ 
rate tests for each 
element. No tech¬ 
nical skill required. 
Results are appar¬ 
ent immediately. 
Postpaid $2.00 
(Complete with 
instructions) 
Testing Fruid for 
Refill: — (Specify whether for nitrogen, pho- 
phorus, potash or acidity). 2 oz. $.75; 6 oz. $1.50 
HUMUS:—In some form is useful to all 
plants. 
1. Lightens heavy soil. 
2. Provides water storage in light 
soils. 
3. Is nature’s own food. 
Warning:—Must be renewed every two 
years. 
Peat Moss:—The best all around hu¬ 
mus. Safe and clean. 
Leafmold, woods clearings, dead leaves, 
etc. Also good, tho apt to be un¬ 
sightly. 
LIME:— 
1. “Sweetens” the soil—that is reduces 
acidity. (For Lilacs, etc.). 
2. Promotes decay, so provides quick 
food from humus in soil. 
3. Flocculates clay soils:—Thus mak¬ 
ing clay into loam and counteract¬ 
ing other harmful chemicals in 
clay. 
ACID:—To acidify soils the safest thing 
is Aluminum Sulphate. Spread Vz cup 
on 1 sq. yd. This over 2 months slowly 
dissolves in water. 
H.,SO, (sulphuric acid) 
A1.,S0^+H,0= ■ : ■ - 
* ~ A1,0— (sand-like, inert) 
The Book of Shrubs (Hottes)—Complete 
and interesting. 448 pages. Covers it? 
subject better than any other book we 
know. (Revised.) $3.00. 
The Book of Trees (Hottes)—A com¬ 
panion to the above. Just as good, ex¬ 
cept on coniferous evergreens. $3.50. 
The Cultivated Conifers (Bailey) — The 
best for the evergreens—descriptions, 
culture, diseases, photos. New. $7.50. 
Rhododendrons and Azaleas (Bowers)— 
First American monograph to include 
the modern advances. Indispensable. 
Trustworthy. Non-technical. $10.00. 
Manual of Cultivated Trees and Shrubs 
(Rehder)—Unique. In a mere 930 
pages is all most of need out of the 
Index Kewensis. Our hardiness chart 
adapted from this author. New low 
price. $5.00. 
FERTILIZER:—All plants in gardens 
benefit by having plenty of food. 
1. Strong growth — hence increased 
hardiness. 
2. More flowers. Better color. 
3. Healthy plants—hence freer of dis¬ 
ease and insect troubles. There are 
3 main foods needed: — Potassium 
(Potash), Phosphorus (Phosphates), 
Nitrogen (Nitrates, e.g., ammonia): 
These in various proportions are 
provided in commercial “Farm Fer¬ 
tilizers”—(any hardware store or 
we will quote on reque.st). 
Bone meal:—(High in Phosphorus). 
Lasts about 2 years in ground. 
Dry Blood meal:—High in Nitrogen). 
Leaches out in about six weeks— 
never apply in Fall. 
Hardwood Ashes:—(Potash) (lessens 
acid). Leaches out in one summer. 
Apply in Spring. 
Patented Plant Foods:—Loma, Vigoro, 
Planttabs, etc. More expensive, but 
simpler to use. Prices on request. 
(See Kelsey 4-12-4, next page). 
Nut Growing (Morris)—Hardy grafted 
nut trees for the North—how to grow, 
graft, transplant, protect from disease, 
and generally speaking, the whole 
subject in non-technical terms. Many 
illustrations. 236 pages. $2.50. 
Tree Crops (J. Russel Smith)—A new 
idea, and done by an expert in the 
subject of fruits, nuts, etc., and their 
relationship to farming. Really thrill¬ 
ing reading. $1.49. 
Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture 
(Bailey)—Again, in our opinion, the 
best non-technical complete reference 
book. New low price. $15.00. 
Garden Dictionary (Taylor) — (Gold 
Medal of Mass. Hort. Soc.) 1,200,000 
words. 896 large pages, 500 illustra¬ 
tions. Sold last year (new) at $17. 
and now reduced to $7.50. Very com¬ 
plete and satisfactory. 
Books Used in Preparing This Short Guide 
We sell these books. Prices are postpaid. 
41 
