
























































_ | Customer's 
— | Question Box 
In this column, we try to give you the 
answers to representative questions from 
our daily mail, in the hopes that they 
will be of interest to you. As you know, 
part of Gurney’s service to planters the 
country over is to answer their questions 
on planting and growing and if you have 
- any questions on which you need help, 
We will be more than glad to try and 
answer them. ioe 
Q—How short should I mow my lawn? 
ae A—Lawn grass should never be mowed 
shorter than one and one-half inches. 
It is a little known fact that when the 
top of a plant is trimmed the plant au- 
tomatically abandons -a proportionate 
amount of its roots. This is done in or 
. f der that the underground feeding sys- 
ap tem may always be in proper propor- 
. _ tion to the top to be fed. Applied to grass, 
when a lawn is cut too short the grass 
at the same time loses a large propor- 
tion of its root system, particularly the 
deep feeding roots, and will burn up 
much faster in the dry, hot summer. 
Q—How often should I spray my Roses 
and with what? ~~ BX. . 
A—Roses should be sprayed every week 
or ten days throughout the season with 
_ Bordeaux mixture, or some other fungi- 
cide to prevent Black Spot. If leaf eat- 
‘in insects are noticed, add arsenate of 
lead to the Bordeaux. If plant lice or 
leaf hoppers are observed, add Black 
Leaf “40” to either, or both of the above. 
Q—Bees seem very scarce here. Could 
this be the reason that my fruit trees 
have borne so little fruit? ‘ 
_ A—Very likely. You may be located in a — 
* tegion where there are few bees, in 
_ which case you should either start a 
hive or two of your own, or arrange 
with a bee keeper to put a hive in 
your orchard during fruit flowering 
time. Of course there is always the pos- 
_ sibility that there might have béen a 
' great deal of rain at the time your trees 
oe were flowering which.kept the bees 
_ ~————sfrom:=polilenizing them properly. | 
4 oe Q—What perennials are better planted in 
the fall than in the spring? . 
_ A—While all perennials may be planted 
i in the spring, Iris, Peonies, Oriental 
ce _. Poppies.and Bleeding Hearts do bet- 
_~—~———s ter the following year if planted early 
Pon ea nthe falls: <\-%: ye as 
ae 

Likes Planting Magazine, 
Seeds, Shrubs and 
Chickens 
“Dear Gurney’s: Here is a pic- 
e of our two children and their 
faithful dog. We enjoy your ma- 
gazine very much and also like 
your seeds and shrubs. We also 
have had your chickens.” — Mrs. 
Elmer B. Johnson, R. 1, Rush City, 
Minnesota, 
Wish We Had Some Too 
“Dear Sirs: On Saturday I re- 
ceived the first copy of your Plant- 
ing Magazine and Say, did I en- 
Joy it! I read it all from front to 
back, It is grand, Hope I will get 
more copies, Had lots of wonder- 
ful garden stuff from your seeds. 
_ Will order from you again next 
fall. The picture shows my niece 
and grandchild having a big time 
licking the dasher of the ice cream 
freezer.”—Mrs. Henry H, Schmidt, 
R. 3, Box 98, Sauk Centre, ‘Minne- 
sota, 
“Dear Mr. Gurney and Company: 
There will be no order for garden 
seed this year as I fell on the ice 
and broke: my right wrist last 
February. I was on my way to the 
Post Office. ‘The ice was covered 
with snow, so did not know it was 
there. Am enclosing one of my 
snapshots, Sorry to be knocked out 
of my hobby of gardening, but it 
cannot be helped.”—Mrs, Louise E. 
Nichols, Box 435, Loup City, Ne- 
braska, 
All of us here at Gurney’s hope 
your wrist is well again, Mrs. Nich- 
ols, and that you will be back in 
the garden this fall, 
Never Too Old or Young to 
ot, Be a Gurney Customer 
“Dressed for Victory” a | “Dear Mr. Gurney: Here is a 
“Dear Gurney’s: Received your _ 455 of my little grandson pre- 
Gurney’s Seed Makes 
“Best Garden” 
“Dear Gurney’s: Just a few 
lines to tell.you that I sure have 
the best garden I have ever had 
since using Gurney seed. I never 
want any other seeds any more. 
Enclosed find $4 for another order. 
Also enclosed is a picture of some 
of my vegetables raised in my gar- 
den from your seed.’—Mrs, John 
Grenz, R. 1, Box 92, Mound City, 
South Dakota, 
 ‘Q—Do I need to protect my Brownell | 
 . Roses as I would ordinary Tea Roses? 
. #&—Our experience with Brownell Roses 
ee eee has convinced us definitely that they 
are hardier than the ordinary Tea 
__ Roses, but as winter conditions are en-, * 
tirely unpredictable, it is best to give 
_ them the usual mounding and covering 
as a safety precaution. There will be 
. little question then of their coming 
: through an unusually severe winter 
which might kill ordinary Tea Roses 
even though protected. — : ieee 
_ Q—My hardy Pinks and many other per- | 
- ennials rot off at the roots. What can I 
do? My garden isn’t wet. 
.. &A—Your trouble may be 4 fungus which 
thrives in acid soil and attacks the 
roots and crowns of many perennial 
_ Work in.lime around the plants you~ 
Planting Magazine and like it very _ ting the ground for some of your 
much, Here is a snapshot. Thee .~| flower ae ., We have had very 
boys, Emil and Mahylen, are “W)) — 00d resyits with your stock.”— 
dressed up for Victory and they Mrs, Arthur Rapp, Holdrege, Ne- 
‘buy lots of war stamps and then braska, 
trade them in for bonds, They We want everybody to have good 
help in the garden too, where Gur- luck with our stock, both nursery 
ney’s seeds are used. We always and seed. And don’t forget our 
have good luck with them.”—Mrs. _ chickens, field seed, and Gurney’s 
Emil Niles, Wilmot, South Dakota. _ Golden Hybrid. 

Extra Growth From 
Fall Planting 
Tris Should Be Planted 
This Fall 
The fall months of August, September 
Care of Evergreens 
For winter beauty, there is nothing 
more beautiful than evergreens in the 
. are having trouble with, 
-Q—The bottom of my hedge is open. Can 
_ blooming or Fall Iris, Aug. and Sept. 

I fill it 
A—You probably can by cutting the top : 
back very hard and trimming the sides 
in so, that the top is narrower than the 
“bottom. — ele ae 
Q—I like Iris, but they only bloom for a 
week or two in the spring. 
A—You are way wrong. By planting sey- 
eral varieties right out of our catalog 
you can have Irish blooming from early 
spring until fall as follows: Baby Iria, 
late April and May; Tall Bearded and 
Siberian, May and early June; Hyb. Iris 
Dorothea K. Williamson, late June; 
Vesper Iris, July and August; Ever- 
% ee 
If you find peonies, when through 
blooming, up too much room in the 
border, thinning out the leaves by 
using them in arrangements of other 
flowers. However, do not take too many 
leaves. Some should be left to make food 
for the plant. © hy eee 
) The most important fact 
to remember about plant- 
' jing fall bulbsis that FALL 
ios THe ONLY. TIME: . 
THEY CAN BE PLANT- 
ED. In the spring, people — 
) gee them blooming and of- — 
ten wish to set them out 
that Fall, (RIGHT NOW). 
is the time to do it. They 
- spend the winter making © 
roots and then come up ~ 
early in the spring. = 
_ The actual planting is 
very opie s mply set 
pack t 
NY) 

Te 
lizer. — 
of bloom. = Oe 

‘How To Plant Tulips, Daffodils & Other Fall Bulbs 
Pore LELELoLu 
ie 1) eet TL 

PANN CANIN Fed 
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ratte 
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| Nabe | prefer 


0 
= ae —— 
(eile 
t the distance apart and depth shown in the chart. Take 
_the earth down tight and be sure there is no air space under the 
, folks like to put a little fertilizer, then some sand and then the bulb 
and drain the bulb. This is a good idea, if you don’t let the bulb touch 
Seca | is adv ae to mulch with lawn rakings or straw or rotted manure though 
aes econsary. After your bulbs have bloomed next spring, let the tops 
die down and then either dig and store or leave where they are for another season 
and October are excellent for transplant- 
ing Iris, or for the establishment of new 
beds or borders of new varieties. 
The Iris should be planted quite shal- 
low. The rhizome or the fleshy portion 
of the roots should be planted horizont- 
ally with just a Jight covering of soil, 
not more than an inch and possibly less 
in depth. é By Uae 
Heavy clay soils should be broken up 
to obtain a successful- growth of Iris. 
An addition of well rotted stable manure 
{fs excellent for this purpose, Do not use 
fresh manure, but well rotted manure 
' makes an excellent mulch and is bene- 
_ ficial to the Iris when well dug into the 
soil. : 
Do not allow Iris to become crowded 
by other plants. They need at least a half 
day’s sun and do best if the drainage is 
good. . wt 
Under normal conditions, Iris do not 
require digging and separating more oft- . 
en than every three to five years, de- 
pending upon the growth they have made. 













- ¥ 



Folks are asking just what the advant- 
ages are in fall planting and here they 
are: 
First of all, you get more growth the 
first summer than if you wait and plant 
in the spring. The reason for this is that 
roots of plants grow continously unless 
the ground is frozen absolutely solid 
around them. This means this fall they 
start growth, new roots start out and 
then the very first thing in the spring 
when the frost comes out of the ground, 
these. roots start to grow again, They 
are growing when we are just getting 
spring stuff ready to ship. So you can 
see you've gained several months extra 
growth in this way. 
There is another good practical reason 
for fall planting and that is you get 
Some of your work done in the fall so 
you are not so rushed in the spring. 
All of us are rushed in the spring with 
our vegetable garden and farm crops to 
get in and if you get a lot of fall planting 
out of the way you'll get that extra 
8rowth as well as save time in the 
spring. 
Bulbs for Christmas 
Presents 
There’s nothing makes a more accept- 
able gift for Christmas time than a 
beautiful blooming flower. There is no 
flower better for this purpose than the 
indoor Narcissus. Hither the white or 
the new yellow Soleil” De Or—I can’t 
think of a finer gift to make to a friend 
han a beautiful, fragrant, blooming Nar- 
cissus in a lovely pot. 
To help you in getting these ready for 
Christmas, buy your bulbs now and we 
will ship them right away. Put them in 
a dry cool place and about the first of 
November, pot them up and they should 
be ready for Christmas, Put them in pots 
filled with pebbles, keep out of the light 
in the cellar until the roots develop. This 
takes about two to three weeks. Then 
put in a sunny window and bring them 
into bloom. Use about three bulbs to the 
pot. You will find these beautiful War- 
cissus listed on page 5 of the fall Plant- 
ing Magazine. 
yard. You should plant some this fall. 
They do splendidly set out in the fall 
and make a marvelous growth the first 
year. 
Our evergreens are shipped packed 
in special moss and are very easy to 
plant—just about like planting a shrub. 
Dig a good generoug hole, plant the tree 
just a little deeper than it stood in 
the nursery row, take good black soil 
and firm well around the rvots and wa- 
ter well. If any dry spells occur through 
the winter, the trees should be watered 
again. If you plant any trees in a very 
hot location such as the south side of 
the house, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to 
drive a stake on each side of the tree 
and put some burlap across on this stake 
- about the height of the tree, to shade 
the trees from the hot sun, for the first 
month or two. After this they will go right 
ahead and grow just like any shrubbery. 
Be sure to have some winter neauty 
in your yard with our hardy evergreens, 
World’s Easiest 
To Grow Flower 
I believe that without a doubt the eas- 
iest flower in the world to grow is the 
hardy Tulip. Set them in the fall, about 
5 to 6 inches deep and then just forget 
about them. The first thing you know in 
the spring their beautiful blooms are 
brightening up your garden and if you 
wish you may just forget them and leave 
them there. They will die down and again 
next spring will show up, one of the 
earliest flowers of all. 
After several years it is a good idea te 
dig up tulips, divide them and put the 
large bulbs back in your flower bed and 
set the small bulbs the size of the end of 
your finger in your garden row for a 
year, then transplant them in the garden 
and they will be ready to bloom. 
Really, where can you go to find any- 
thing that you just plant and forget about 
and have blooms year after year, that 
will compare with tulips? 
\ 
