358 
Saier’s 
GARDEN MAGAZINE 
DIMONDALE, MICHIGAN. 
VOL, 32 NO. 6, 4@1)) “JANUAR 955. 
The seed list or catalog is being printed 
and will be mailed out as promptly as poss- 
jible. It is being revised and will list some 
7,000 different seeds.. We are sorry that the 
last printing was not large enough to last 
till the fall months but there was a much 
greater demand than we had planned on and) 
as it is necessary for us to do this printing 
and to revise the seeds, it has been impossible 
to get it out sooner. Our help situation is 
always short; wages in nearby factories runs 
to $2.00 per hour, The cheapest sort of hel» 
costs better than $1.00 per hour and this is 
usually the most costly! We mention this, 
not to be complaining, but as an explaination 
to delays and lack of service in some cases. 
Is this condition ever going to change? 
We keep working from one year to the next, 
always expecting a change to the better will 
materalize but it always gets worse! 
THE NATIONAL WEALTH! 
The 1940 census placed the total worth of 
the nation at 140 billion dollars; I have seen 
many other estimates but they all are around 
this figure. Notra Dame University has 
come up with a 400 billion price but evid- 
ently they are using present dollors which 
would easily make 150 billion ‘look’ like 
400 billion- 
DO YOU HAVE A SAMPLE COPY? 
We are mailing out nearly a thousand 
sample copies this month; most of them are 
to those requesting the Seed Catalog and 
requests by readers for samples to be sent to 
various addresses. We are pleased to do 
this but if you should wish each issue, it is 
necessary that you subscribe; the cost is very 
low — $2.00 for 12 issues. 
NOTE: It the figure 11 appears on your ad- 
dress, your subscription expires with this 
issue. It will be appreciated if you wil 
renew promptly. 
WHY A ROCKY SOIL 
Where a rocky soil is indicated for some 
plant, it is usually due to the rocks absorb- 
ing moisture and then releasing it gradually 
for the plant roots. 
One can mix in milled sphagnum moss 
with the soil which gives a similiar effect. 
The treatment is especially indicated in the 
growing of alpine plants. 
OKRA. 
It is of interest that this popular southern 
vegetable is an impioved form of Hibiscusi 
esculentus, a comimon native of Africa, where, 
it grows wild in the Sudan and northern 
Uganda, and called ‘baudakai’, by the nat- 
ives. i 
Another species of Hibiscus, viz., H. sab- 
dariffa, is grown for making ‘Rosella jelly’. 
It would be of interest if some of our read- 
ers in Africa could send a few seeds, with, 
instructions on its growth and the making 
of the jelly. 
The Hibiscus is closely related to cotton 
and the pests of the latter also attack Hib- 
iscus such as the cotton stainer, which sucks 
the juices from young cotton seed and infects 
the bolls with disease. It is said that in 
Rhodesia, it is necessary to destroy Hibiscus 
if cotton is to be profitably grown. his 
might be a good suggestion to our cotton 
growers. 
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LENDING LIBRARY 
OUR LENDING LIBRARY: It is with a 
desire to help those wishing to read up on 
various subjects pertaining to gardening 
and who find it inconvenient to purchase 
all the books being written. We have ond 
doubt, however, as to the practicability of 
this service — a 25¢ charge for the loan of 
a book for two weeks will not amount to 
much IF a letter or even a post card must 
be written about the loan; therefore, if 
the service is to be continued, we hope 
that those using the service will be prompt 
in either returning the book on time or to 
advise, as per the rules following. 
We will be pleased to have remarks on 
the subject matter of any of these books, 
but it should be written on a seperate 
sheet of paper and mailed in; we will then 
type the material and include it in the 
book along with the writer’s name, IF it 1s 
of value. } 
Many more books will be listed in future 
issues aS we can get time to prepare tha 
information. If you wish to purchase any 
book borrowed, a purchase price will be 
THE GARDEN BOOK of CALIFORNIA. 
30¢—2 weeks. 
Angier. 1906. 128 pgs. This book was 
written especially for California growing 
conditions; it covers a wide list of plants 
and is full of cultural information. 
ROCKERIES. 30¢—2 weeks. 
Thomas; 137 pg If you have a rock gard- 
en or intend to build one, there is a great 
deal of information on both the building of 
the roeckery and the selection and culture 
of the most satisfactory flowers. 
THE IRIS. 30¢—2 weeks. 
Wister; 119 pgs; 1927; N. Y. A general 
treatment of the Iris. 
THE BOOK OF THE IRIS. 35¢—2 weeks. 
Lynch; 1903; London; 210 pgs. Although 
this was written many years ago, it con- 
tains much information on Iris species, as 
well as culture information. 
THE DIANTHUS. 30¢—2 weeks. 
Ingwersen; 125 pgs; 1949. It covers the 
genus rather fully and will be interesting 
to those wishing facts on Dianthus. 
THE A. B. C. of the GREENHOUSE. 
30¢—2 weeks. 
Sherwell-Cooper; 320 pgs; 1950; London. 
Altho it deals with the subject from the 
English view point, it contains a wealth of 
information on the culture of plants suit- 
able for the greenhouse. 
COMMERCIAL PLANT PROPAGATION. 
30¢—2 weeks. 
Hottes; 1918; 181 pgs; N. Y. This volumn 
contains a wealth of practical propagation 
information. Both as to methods and spec- 
ial information as to kinds of plants. 
COMMON VELD FLOWERS. 25¢—2 weeks. 
124 pgs; 1940; S. Rhodesia. This is a sort 
of elementry book on the common wild 
flowers found growing in South Rhodesia. 
It describes bctanically 86 main species, 
with further remarks on many similiar 
species. Of value to those interested in 
Rhodesian flowers. 
OLD TIME HERBS for NORTHERN GARD-- 
ENS. 30¢—2 weeks. 
Kamm; 270 pgs; 1938 A full coverage of 
QUICK GERMINATING ALPINES. 
Alpine plants that germinate quickly are 
the Cistaceae, the Compositae, the Crucifers 
and the Leguminosae. 
Next come the Crassulaceae, the Saxifrages 
Campanulas, Potentillas, etc. 
The longest to germinate are the Gent- 
ians, the Primulaceae, some Ranunculas, 
Peonies, some Anemones, Aconite, Umbell- 
ifers, Fraxinallas, some Berberidacae some 
of the Liliaceae and the Irises, 
inserted and a new copy furnished. 
HOW TO BORROW BOOKS: Send the a- 
mount of money as listed for each book, 
which pays for two weeks loan; YOU ARE 
ALSO TO PAY THE POSTAGE BOTH 
WAYS; the amount of postage can be fig- 
ured from the stamps on your book when 
received and this amount should be put 
under the cover page, in postage stamps. 
You can hold a book one week longer than 
the two week period, without writing us, 
BUT there will be a charge of 2¢ per day 
which amount should be placed inside the 
cover with the postage money. If you in- 
tend holding a book longer, be sure to 
drop us a postal card, advising when you 
will make the return. This is necessary for 
two reasons, viz.,other requests may be re- 
ceived for the book and, also, when the 
book should be in and it has not been re- 
ceived, it will be necessary for us to write 
about it; we CANNOT undertake to go 
to this bother for we are already pressed 
for time. 
all the popular herbs; descriptions, 
cultural information, etc. 
SECRETS of SUCCESSFUL PROPAGAT- 
ION. 30¢—2 weeks. 
Longmire; 142 pgs. Practical points on 
propagating many difficult plants. This 
is a very interesting and helpful book and 
contains many drawings. 
THE BOOK of CLIMBING PLANTS. 
Arnott; 1903; 124 pgs. General discussion 
of many kinds of ornamental climbers, and 
suitable for indoor growing. 25¢—2 weeks. 
PRACTICAL HERB GROWING. 25¢—2 wks 
An English book of practical Herb grow- 
ing; treated from the practical point of 
view. 
THE CULTIVATION of SUCCULENTS. 
Jacobsen; 1948; 106 pgs. Mainly eultural 
information on succulents. 30¢—2 weeks. 
GARDEN HERBS. 25¢—2 weeks. 
Whitehead; 82 pgs; 1944; London. Not 
one of the “Ye Olde Herbe” books; tho a 
small volumn it is full of practical cultural 
information on a long list of Herbs. 
uses, 
ANNUALS and BIENNIALS. 30¢—2 weeks. 
Jekyll; 1916: 168 pgs; London. Many nice 
pictures; discusses use and cultural needs. 
Contains much information of value. 
THE WILD GARDEN. 35¢—2 weeks. 
Robinson; 238 pgs; 1870. An interesting 
book written in England. It covers, espec- 
ially, those flowers that can be naturalized. 
Many of these old books are beautifully 
written and the writers seem to have a 
practical point of view that comes from 
actually working with their subject. 
HOW to KNOW the WILD FLOWERS. 
Dana; 365 pgs; 1895; N. Y. Half of this 
book consists of full page drawings of the 
flowers found east of Chicago. The Gdes- 
criptions are complete and designed so you 
can identify the flowers. 25¢—2z2 weeks. 
THE AMATEUR’S GREENHOUSE. 
Macself; 293 pgs; 1952; London. An Eng- 
lish book and contains a great deal of 
valuable cultural information on all sorts 
of plants suitable for greenhouse growing 
as well as greenhouse management. 
GRAFTING. 
Plants of one family usually can be grafted 
upon each other. Hottes states in Commer- 
cial Plant Propagation, that it is possible to 
have Mountain Ash, the European Quince, 
the Japanese Quince, the June Berry, the 
Crab Apple, the Pear, the Medlar and the 
Cotoneaster all in bloom on a Thorn-Apple, 
or Crataegus, tree; all belong to the Rose 
Family. 
SUBSCRIPTION PRICE $2.00 12 ISSUES 
