¢ 
5” of peat litter will likely be nearer 4” in the spring. 
You can get too much on, and “choke” the plants. 
(GROWING PAINS continued from page 12) 
We prefer to keep away from chemical fertilizers as 
much as possible, and use dehydrated cow manure or 
cottonseed meal in the early spring. After applying 
either, we find that it is a good practice to apply 
about two tablespoons of Epsom Salts (for mag- 
nesium) per gallon of water to the square yard of 
surface. It may be applied dry, and watered in, but 
we prefer to use it in solution, simply because we 
believe that some of it is absorbed through the 
foliage. Naturally some wiseacre had to suggest that 
it might be simpler to feed the salts to the cow, and 
thus short circuit an operation. 
Fortunately, most ericaceous plants send out signals 
when they are unhappy. Azalea leaves come up with 
a discoloration called chlorosis, and most of the other 
ericaceous plants present some individualistic hang- 
dog sign if all is not well with them. Chlorosis in 
Azaleas has been called a disease, which it is not. 
It’s strictly an indication that something is wrong 
below. So don’t spray the plants with one of the 
Chelated Irons, which are so widely advertised, and 
figure that you have cured the trouble. You might 
as well take an aspirin when your corns hurt. It’s 
the same kind of logic. 
First, look for these simple things; has the growing 
medium compacted? Is it waterlogged? If neither, 
the probability is that the pH has crawled up. City 
water (hard) can do it. Sprays containing limes, or 
fertilizers, which leave a calcium residue such as 
nitrate of soda; mulches which have used up the 
nitrogen; or too heavy mulch, might be the trouble. 
Tf the pH is too high and all else seems reasonable, 
try about 2 or 3 pounds of aluminum sulphate to 100 
square feet (4 x 25 ft. of bed). That will give them a 
quick soil adjustment, but it won’t last tco long. So 
go back over the same beds with about 1% lbs. cf 
sulphur to 100 sq. feet. Then fcliage spray the 
Chelated Iren to set the plants back cn an even keel. 
Your county agent can give you soil tests if you do 
not have a testing kit. Or, write us describing the 
trouble, and we’ll try to be of help. 
Maybe what we call cur mind is wandering a little 
off the subject at hand, but we can’t resist the 
temptation to mention that if you do set up to grow 
Rhededendrons and Azaleas with these domestic 
peats, you open some new vistas. In these same beds 
you can grow such things as Clethras, Callunas, 
Ericas, Gordonia (Franklinia), species Rhododen- 
drons and Azaleas, Pieris floribunda, and P. japonica, 
Kalmias, Leucothoe, Camellias, and many other 
similar types of plants including’ some varieties of 
Azaleas which are tagged as not being hardy in your 
area. 
Any sick or undernourished plants, ericaceous or 
otherwise, have winter difficulties. Varieties or kinds 
(Continued on page 16) 
14 
