354 
Combsie’s Iris Gardens of Whittier, Calif- 
ornia issues a little bulletin in which the 
following is copied. 
Basically, the troubles which arise in gard- 
ening may be divided into four groups, about 
as follows: 
(1) Not enough light (too shady); not enough 
or too much water; temperatures. 
(2) Attacts by fungui, bacterial blights and 
animal pests. 
(3) Attacks by insects of all types. 
(4) Deficiencies in chemicals and minerals 
necessary for plant growth. 
Most gardeners have had extensive ad- 
vice in the control of the first three items, 
but the really tough one — Number 4 — 
is seldom made clear to the plain-dirt gard- 
ener. Let’s see what troubles you may have. 
NITROGEN DEFICIENCY: 
Uniform yellowing of the leaves; also sev- 
ere dwarfing of plant. 
If plants seem to need nitrogen ONLY, 
use one ounce of ammonium sulphate to 
two gallons of water. Water a plant with 
this solution once a week until all has been 
used. Extra bonemeal applied around base 
of plant is also helpful. 
PHOSPHORUS DEFICIENCY: 
Margins of the leaves will turn yellow; 
leaves drop. 
For phorphorus only, a cupful of bone- 
meal can be mixed into the soil, or a table- 
spoon of superphosphate in a quart of water 
may be poured on the soil close to the base 
of the plant. 
POTASSIUM DEFICIENCY: 
Leaves become mottled, the edges turn 
brown — often turns purple. 
Potash is purchased:in the form of pot- 
assium sulphate or as potassium chloride. A 
tablespoonful scattered on top of the soil 
and watered in well, will be most helpful. 
IRON DEFICIENCY: 
Leaves turn yellow between the veins while 
the leaf veins themselves remain green. In 
Diagnosing Plant Troubles 
severe cases, entire leaf turns yellow. 
Iron sulphate or iron citrate will help. A 
tablespoonful to a rose bush, but only a 
quarter-spoonful for a potted plant. Des- 
solve it in water and sprinkle on the ground. 
If a commercial product is used, be sure to 
follow THEIR directions. 
MAGNESIUM DEFICIENCY: 
Similiar to iron shortage, except that the 
lower leaves of the plant are first to turn 
yellow. Often, dead spots appear between 
the veins. 
Epsom Salts are your best bet here. Half 
‘ a dozen crystals may be dissolved in water 
and sufficient for a rose bush. 
CALCIUM DEFICIENCY: 
Nearly all small feeding roots die within a 
two to four-week period. 
This will be followed by the dying of the 
terminal bud. Calcium is supplied by cal- 
cium carbonate, calcium sulphate or dol- 
omite. Dissolve a half-cupful in water for 
each shrub or rose bush. 
SULPHUR DEFICIENCY: 
The leaf veins are lighter in color than the 
rest of the leaf. This is exactly opposite 
from the symptoms caused by the lack of 
iron, magnesium and maganese. 
Any sulphur dust used for control of mil- 
dew or red spider mites can be dusted on the 
surface of the soil and scratched in. We 
suggest this method because sulphur is diff- 
icult to wet down. 
BORON DEFICIENCY: 
Leaves at top of plant becomes thick and 
brittle and the terminal (top) bud dies. 
Boron comes from borax or boracic acid 
Just a speck on a knife blade is sufficent 
to add to a watering can of water. 
Use this a few times when watering the 
plants. 
NOTE: It is our intention to supply the 
above chemicals and they will be found listed 
in the “Garden Suppy Advertising’ page. 
1 
CC re nnn sc 
MISSPELLED WORDS. 
_. In spite of every effort, words turn up 
misspelled; Zinnias as an example, under 
a picture, in a recent issue. How this could 
have gotten by, cannot be explained. All 
of us know how it is spelied and during the 
printing, corrections are looked for — when 
you come across a simple word misspelled 
do not think we just are dumb! 
However, there is a practice of hyphenat- 
ing such words as rosy-white, pinkish-lavend- 
er, etc. 1 cannot understand why this is 
done, especially in some very important 
horticultural books. It could be a rose-red 
but never a rosy-red —rosey red. Another 
word we must get set on is the word ‘mold’ 
or should we say, mould? Also gray or 
grey? 
PASSIFLORA SPECIES WANTED. 
One of our Australian readers is especially 
interested in getting seed of the folowing 
kinds. We would like to hear from any 
reader growing one or more of them. 
PASSIFLORA: 
—pfordtii (syn. alato-caerulea); alata; phoen- 
icea; antioquiensis (syn. van-volxemii), mal- 
iformis, militaris, racemosa, oviformis, bras- 
iliana, latifolia, mauritiana, mascarensis, vit- 
afolia; maculifolia; manicata; mixta; cinn- 
abarina; quitensis. 
THE AFRICAN ST. JOHN’S WORT. 
We have several species of Hypericum in 
the U. S. A., all rather tender in tthe North 
altho some can be grown here in Michigan 
in sheltered stuations. 
There are, also, several species found in. 
Southern Rhodesia, where they are distribut- 
ed according to the altitude. H. leucopty- 
chodes is found at higher levels, while H. 
Roeperianum, grows in the valleys. 
It would be interesting to hybridize these 
species with those grown here. Our best 
Hypericum, H. moserianum, is a_ hybrid; 
they all grow readily from seed. 
INCREASING HARDINESS. 
It is possible to increase the hardiness of 
a tree by grafting and thus adapt it to the 
adverse climate of the grower. 
This is especially true in the fruit trees. 
It causes an earlier maturity of the cion 
or the stock may actually impede the flow 
of sap and thus cause earlier maturity. 
It would be of interest to know of ex- 
amples in ornamental trees; especially so, 
for many of the most beautiful flowering 
trees are not hardy in Michigan climate 
and grafting them on some other stock 
might make it possible to grow them in the 
North. ; 
SUBSCRIPTION PRICE $2.00 12 ISSUES 
Grevillea Robusta 
Silk Oak. An Australian ornamental tree 
that can be grown in the far South for both, 
ornament or as a street tree; in the North 
it is a popular greenhouse subject and us- 
ually grown in 6 or 8 inch pots. 
Its flowers are orange-yellow and curiously 
shaped; fast growing and easy from seed. 
Fresh seed arrives in July or August and the 
seed should be sown at once for best germin- 
ation. The price is $1.50 per ounce or 
$20.00 per pound; packets 50¢ each. 
For regular greenhouse growing seed is 
sown a half inch deep, during February or 
March and held at 65-70 degrees F.; seeds 
should be placed in the soil point down- 
wards or side ways but not flat; repot in 
March or April; water freely in summer but 
moderately in winter.. 
The foliage is fern-like, evergreen and 
making it an attractive pot plant. 
A light compost is best, 3 parts sandy 
leam and one part leaf mold, with a sprink- 
ling of course sand. Good drainage; soil 
should be firm. Grow plant as a single 
stem and do not pinch; water carefully as 
dryness at base will cause loss of lower 
leaves. A winter temperature of 45-50 ig 
best making it a good subject for a cool 
house. 
THE BULB SOCIETY. 
The Bulb Society is made up mostly of a 
California group of growers but I presume 
its membership is pretty well scattered over 
the country. 
I wish to especially mention them this 
month because they seem so interested in 
spreading information about the flowers they 
are most interested in. There are some or- 
ganizations that are just the opposite; who 
seem to feel that their particular flower is: 
their private reserve, one even requiring a 
prospective member to be properly intro- 
Cuced and recommended before he can re 
voted io membership! We think this is a 
little uncalled for. 
The Bulb Society issues a four page buil- 
etin each month and devoted to bulb grow- 
ing rather than being filled up with talk 
about unimportant matters. 
If you are interested, write them at 26 
E. Camino Real, Arcadia, Calif. 
BEGONIA CUTTINGS. 
If the leaf to be used for a cutting is 
taken near the flowering region, it will bloom 
more quickly than a cutting taken otherwise. 
KNEE SAVERS 
JUDSEN 
MOLDED RUBBER 
dee A 
FOR EVERY 
DOWN-ON-THE-KNEES"' 
JOB! 
No matter what the “down-on-the-knees” 
job is, Judsen Knee Pads let you do it faster, 
easier and with comfort. They’ve been 
standard knee protection for over 30 years. 
PRICE per PAIR — $2.50, postpaid. 
Order NOW of 
HARRY E. SAIER Dimondale, Mich. 
