Eg shavings and twine with your radish, 
/ nips, beets, snap beans, ete. 
_. plants. 





Dahlia Don'ts 
Don’t plant before ground warms up. Gladi- 
olus_ bulbs may be planted very early, but 
Dahlias are much more tender. 
Don’t plant _ the whole clump that you dug 
up last fall. Divide it so as to leave an eye or 
two on each tuber. 
Don’t plant tuber in upright position. 
f q Lay 
it flat instead. Cover about 4 inches. 
Don’t set tubers closer than 18 inches in 
‘row and rows closer than 2 feet. 
Don’t get the wrong idea about the size and 
value of a dahlia tuber. Different varieties 
_ make different size tubers. Pompom dahlia 
_ tubers usually quite small. * 
Don’t forget your dahlias after planted. 
| May need a little watering to bring them up. 
| Begin hoeing soon as plants are up. 
Don’t cut dahlia blossoms during’ the heat 
of the day, if you can avoid it. Very early in 
morning or late in evening much better. 
Don’t think that dahlias will mix, planted 
close together. They will come true from 
divided clumps, but not from seed. 
Would You Chew Wood? 
You’d have a fit if the Missus would serve 
tur- 
Yet many times 
these are served old and tough, and full of 
woody fibre and stringy entanglements. To 
have them tender when wanted, plant often. 
Don’t plant radish, beets, beans only once. 
Plant every few weeks and have them crisp, 
~ Juicy and tender. 
Why is A Weed? 
If weeds didn’t grow as they do the most of 
us would just naturally neglect cultivating our 
[ We might say we wouldn’t, but I’ll 
just bet we would. Our gardens need frequent 
stirring of the soil, both between the rows and 
among the plants, and it is in getting after the 
weeds, or trying to get the drop on them, that 
Wwe give our plants this much needed cultiva- 
| tion, letting air in to the roots, putting the 
food elements the soil contains into shape that 
| the plants can utilize them. 
Some Pansy Pointers 
Sown in boxes indoors in late February or 
early March, then transplanted. Easier yet, 
just sow the seed in the open garden in early 
spring. They will begin blooming in July from 
Seed thus sown in the garden. The plants will 
bloom until hard frosts. With a light protec- 
tion will bloom again the next spring. 
For husky, early spring Pansy plants sow 
the seed outdoors late in August, cover with 
‘thin layer of excelsior, remove soon as 
Pansy plants come through the ground. Just 
before ground freezes, give light covering of 
_excelsior, straw or brush. NOT MUCH, lest 
smother plants. Remove very early in spring. 
Hints on Germinating Seeds 
- For tiny flower seeds outdoors, take great 
care in preparing the bed, making it very fine 
and level. Then after sowing the seed cover 
very lightly, not over one-fourth inch for 
most small seeds and less for some, such 
as Petunias which should barely be covered 
by sifting fine soil, or sand over the seed. 
Press the soil firmly with piece of board. 
| Then spread some light covering over the 
bed until plants begin to show up. This is 
to prevent washing the seed away or dry- 
ing out of soil, which is cause of many fail- 
ures. Use coarse cloth, straw or hay. I find 
excelsior the best for this purpose and use it 
altogether in germinating Pansy seed. 
‘Don’t ever let the weeds get big. 
\ 
More About Elmohr 
Under date May 15, 1944, one of the largest 
and best known Iris growers in the United 
States wrote me the following amazing report 
regarding Elmohr. 
Elmohr came into bloom yesterday. About 
4:00 p. m. a heavy storm came up. Heavy rain 
and strong wind. Kept that up all last night. 
The poor Irises were torn off the stems in 
many cases. Some were blown out by the roots 
—no kidding. 
Tonight I went out to view the wreck—and 
there stood ELAMOHR, not one standard folded 
over. All erect and beautiful. The very same 
bloom as of yesterday. 
If ever a miracle took place in my garden, 
that was it. And to top it all off, I think El- 
mohr is the biggest Iris in my garden. 
Weed ’em and Reap 
Funny, 
isn’t it, how we think we’re doing something 
great when slaughtering big weeds, but don’t 
feel half that glow of satisfaction if we 
kill ’em off when small and when it is so much 
easier done. But the time to get the weeds is 
before they take their toll from the soil’s fer- 
tility. Frequent raking, hoeing and cultivating 
is the way to get the weeds just as sprouting. 
‘irritating the Garden’”’ 
One summer evening a caller at a Boulder 
home asked the little girl who came to the 
door: ‘Is your father home?” “Yes,” replied 
the little miss, ‘‘he’s in the back yard irritat- 
ing the garden.” 
Many do just that—squirt water on gar- 
den a few minutes only, which does little 
more than “irritate” the garden. 
Tiny plants do need just a little light sprin- 
kling at a time and often. But when plants are 
larger they want a good thorough soaking once 
in a while, then should be left alone a few 
days, maybe a week. Is far better to give a 
good watering, then cultivate as soon as 
the ground is dry enough, than to keep “irri- 
tating” the garden with daily light sprinkling, 
which brings the feeding roots to the surface 
instead of keeping them at work lower down. 
Use the Hoe more, Hose Less 
Weeds are great bluffers. Get after them 
from the very beginning in a manner that 
will give them to understand that they might 
just as well give up the battle first as last. 
However, weeds are useful, for they keep us 
digging and scratching around the plants and 
thus give the top soil just the treatment it 
needs. Thus, without weeds many would forget 
to keep the soil so thoroughly worked. 
Remember that plants need air as well as 
moisture. Keep the soil loose. 
Furthermore, frequent stirring of the soil 
conserves the moisture and if you will “Use 
the hoe more” you. will need to ‘Use the 
hose less.” Most people water their plants 
too much and do not cultivate them enough, 
and for that reason I have adopted the slo- 
gan, “Use the hoe more and the hose less.” 
That’s where you have a hose, of course. 
The same applies to irrigating from a ditch. 
Dry farmers get good results by using the 
hoe often. When I say hoe I mean anything 
froma. hairpin. to a tractor that will . stir 
the soil. I use a garden rake a great deal in 
place of a hoe when the plants are small. With 
some plants you can rake right over the rows 
without injuring the plants. Rows of gladioli 
from bulblets can be raked until plants are 
six inches high. 

Another Iris you should grow, is brilliant reddish CHEERIO. 
e 33 
