"The best method of increase is that of grafting. A graft or scion, which is a shoot with two or more buds on it of last year's growth, is inserted on the stem of another plant called the stock.

"By means of this process of grafting, trees bearing poor fruit are made to bear good fruit. Wild fruit trees are brought under cultivation, and a given tree may bear several varieties of its given fruit. For example, I have in mind a tree, the marvel of my childhood, which bore big sour apples, beautiful Gravensteins, and a good quality of Baldwins. This sort of experimenting with trees is not only as good as a puzzle, but is of great value. To make a wild apple tree with its gnarly, little sour apples into a really truly, well-behaved tree bearing good fruit is worth while, is it not? Grafting is not only a method of improvement but of taming stock, which is after all improvement.

"There are certain necessary precautions to take in this operation of grafting; for this, like budding, is a surgical operation.

"In all woody branches the outer layer is the bark; next comes the green layer. Between this layer and the real wood is a mass of fibres which go by the name of 'cambium'. The cambium layer of the stock and the scion must be one against the other in grafting in order that the sap may flow freely as before. This layer of cambium might be likened to our blood system. The two cambium layers must be pressed closely together so that the operation may be successful. And finally no cut surface should be left exposed to the air. It is air, you know, that plays havoc with flesh wounds. More and more we see that tree doctors have a work something like our own physicians.

"Grafting is usually done in the spring—in March or April—about the time sap begins to flow. The grafts or scions may be cut before this. Choose the tree from which you wish to take a scion. You choose it because of its fine-flavoured, sound fruit. Perhaps the fruit is especially large, too. Size of fruit, however, does not denote fine fruit. I once had an apple that weighed a pound. It was a beauty, fair to look upon. But what a tasteless, pithy piece of fruit it was. Appearances in fruit are often deceitful. The scions were to be of the last year's growth with two or more buds. The shoots should be clean, healthy and vigorous. You must transmit no disease along with the scions. These may be cut off in January or February, and stuck into the soil for about four to six inches. Keep away from direct sunlight. The buds of scions cut at this time are dormant as they should be.

"Grafting is named according to the manner in which the scion is put into the stock. There is whip grafting, and cleft grafting. Whip grafting is sometimes spoken of as tongue grafting.

"This latter method is accomplished in this way: Suppose you have a scion in your hand. Cut across the end of it diagonally. Use a sharp knife for this, and make a clean cut, as I now cut across this twig. About two-thirds of the distance back from the narrow or more pointed end of the cut make a vertical cut of about an inch right up into the scion. Cut the stock in a similar way. Then insert the tongue of the stock into the slit of the scion. Press these together carefully. Bind with raffia. Whenever this work is done outdoors, as it would be in the case of any of you who try this experiment, the union must be sealed over. As official documents are sealed with wax, so this union is legally sealed in wax. One can buy a regular grafting wax. Sometimes people mix clay and grease together. That is simple, but pretty sticky sounding.

"Realgrafting wax is made this way: To two parts of beeswax, add four of resin. Melt these together with one pound of tallow or linseed oil. When all are melted together, pour into cold water. Pull like molasses candy until it is light coloured. One's fingers should be greased to apply this wax properly.

"Cleft grafting is almost described by its name. A cleft or cut is made in the stock after the stem has been neatly cut across. The cleft is a vertical cut of about an inch in length. This is made through the centre of the stock. The scion is made to fit down into this, so naturally it is cut like a wedge. But there should be cuts made on both sides of the scion diagonally to form this wedge. So two cut surfaces of cambium are laid bare to fit against two similar surfaces of the stock. If the stock is several times thicker than the graft or scion, there should be two of these latter inserted. Place one at either end of the cleft. Bind and wax.

"If the stock is the same thickness as the graft then these two fit perfectly one into the other.

"This is only a little bit about grafting; but I trust this is enough to get you all interested in this work.

"'Is grafting really necessary?' I heard Albert whisper a while ago. It does seem like a great deal of work. The trouble with starting fruit from seed and expecting to get good results lies in this point: Fruit trees seems to lose in their development from seed the ability to produce fruit as fine as the parent stock; and so grafting becomes a necessity. Strange that this should be so, but it is.

"Start with a peach stone or seed. It came from a fine tree; the fruit was luscious. And yet the little seedling which comes from that very stone as a rule must be grafted to bear fruit of equally fine flavour as that of the original peach. Fruit trees have a tendency to revert to old wild poor forms. And so we must save them and help them.

"If any of you should start a little orchard he would wish to know how far apart the trees should be. Apple trees should be set thirty to forty feet apart each way; pear trees twenty to thirty feet each way; plums and peaches sixteen to twenty feet each way. Trees need room in which to spread out and develop; hence the distance given them. I am glad that Myron has made a start on small fruits. His strawberries were a success. I'd like to think that next season each of you was to have in his garden, vegetables, flowers, one small fruit and one of the larger ones, such as a seedling apple or peach."



VI

GARDEN OPERATIONS

"I suppose the talk to-day will seem to you all merely a repetition of things you already know. Beginnings, however, are most important. Results often take care of themselves, but beginnings never do. Gardens started wrong always go wrong; that is, unless one tears up one's work and begins over again.

"The first thing in garden making is the selection of a spot. Some of us are saved that trouble, since we have no choice; or like Josephine, have nothing at all in the way of space. Without a choice, it means simply doing the best one can with conditions. With space limited it resolves itself into no garden, or a box garden. Surely a box garden is better than nothing at all. At least, Josephine felt this to be true, and proved that parsley grows (with care) as well in a box as in the garden. I claim that everyone may have something of a garden if he be willing to take what comes to hand.

"But we will now suppose that it is possible to really choose just the right site for the garden. What shall be chosen? The greatest determining factor is the sun. No one would have a north corner, unless it were absolutely forced upon him; because, while north corners do for ferns, certain wild flowers, and begonias, they are of little use as spots for a general garden.

"If possible, choose the ideal spot—a southern exposure. Here the sun lies warm all day long. When the garden is thus located the rows of vegetables and flowers should run north and south. Thus placed, the plants receive the sun's rays all the morning on the eastern side, and all the afternoon on the western side. One ought not to have any lopsided plants with such an arrangement.

"Suppose the garden faces southeast. In this case the western sun is out of the problem. In order to get the best distribution of sunlight run the rows northwest and southeast.

"The idea is to get the most sunlight as evenly distributed as possible for the longest period of time. From the lopsided growth of window plants it is easy enough to see the effect on plants of poorly distributed light. So if you use a little diagram remembering that you wish the sun to shine part of the day on one side of the plants and part on the other, you can juggle out any situation. The southern exposure gives the ideal case because the sun gives half time nearly to each side. A northern exposure may mean an almost entire cut-off from sunlight; while northeastern and southwestern places always get uneven distribution of sun's rays, no matter how carefully this is planned.

"The garden, if possible, should be planned out on paper. The plan is a great help when the real planting time comes. It saves time and unnecessary buying of seed. Last winter we drew some plans to a scale. Peter, Philip, and Myron did this work in fine shape. They offer to take groups of you girls and show you how to do it; so whenever you are ready for this, the boys are ready, too. Sometimes we do change our plans some, anyway a change is easily made when a plan has been drawn as a basis.

"New garden spots are likely to be found in two conditions: they are covered either with turf or with rubbish. In large garden areas the ground is ploughed and the sod turned under; but in small gardens remove the sod. How to take off the sod in the best manner is the next question. Stake and line off the garden spot. The line gives an accurate and straight course to follow. Cut the edges with the spade all along the line. If the area is a small one, say four feet by eighteen or twenty, this is an easy matter. Such a narrow strip may be marked off like a checkerboard, the sod cut through with the spade, and easily removed. This could be done in two long strips cut lengthwise of the strip. When the turf is cut through, roll it right up like a roll of carpet.

"But suppose the garden plot is large. Then divide this up into strips a foot wide and take off the sod as before. What shall be done with the sod? Do not throw it away for it is full of richness, although not quite in available form. So pack the sod grass side down one square on another. Leave it to rot and to weather. When rotted it makes a fine fertilizer. Such a pile of rotting vegetable matter is called a compost pile. All through the summer add any old green vegetable matter to this. In the fall put the autumn leaves on. A fine lot of goodness is being fixed for another season.

"The girls, I suppose, think this is a wretched heap to have in the corner of a garden. So it is. But it is possible to screen it. Plant before the space allotted to this, castor beans, tall cannas or sunflowers. Perhaps the castor beans would be the best of all. Sunflowers get brown and straggly looking before the season is past its prime.

"Even when the garden is large enough to plough, I would pick out the largest pieces of sod rather than have them turned under. Go over the ploughed space, pick out the pieces of sod, shake them well and pack them up in a compost heap.

"What is to be done with the rubbish often found on new garden sites? If this be only weeds and other vegetable matter it may be very easily burned on the garden spot. But suppose it is a grand collection of tin cans, bottles and such things as cannot be burned? What can we do with them? Cities have public dumps where lots are to be filled in. All such trash may go to these. Oftentimes it is possible to find suitable places in the country for dumping. But do not dump where the rubbish is to be unsightly for others as it has been for yourself; far better have a dump heap on your own land and screen this as the compost heap was to be shielded from view. We take the wrong point of view if we dump rubbish anywhere, for the sake of getting rid of it. You remember your plan is to help make a more beautiful village.

"How must the small garden be spaded? A method called trenching, is good because it is so thorough. Here is a diagram George has made. Just get your heads around this, and I'll explain it.



"This rectangle is supposed to be the plot which needs digging. Line it off into strips one foot wide. Have your wheelbarrow right beside AA'. Dig one foot of top soil out of strip A' along all its length. Put this into the barrow and dump it into the strip marked EE' outside of the garden proper. Do the same thing to strip BB', only throw the soil into trench AA'. The top soil from CC' goes into BB'; that of DD' into CC'. Now the soil that was dumped outside the garden upon the strip EE' of course is already to go right into trench DD'.

"The value of this work is to get the soil of the bed entirely worked over. Most people dig but poorly. Digging is hard work; so a boy digs a little here, and a little there, throughout the seed bed and thinks the work is all done. It is really done when the above method is used. And after all we have said about the necessity for airing soil, and the need of stirring things up so that the good bacteria may do their work, I know you will all see the point immediately.

"Mere spading of the ground is not sufficient. The soil is still left in lumps. Always as one spades one should break up the big lumps. But even so the ground is in no shape for planting. Ground must be very fine indeed to plant in, because seeds can get very close indeed to fine particles of soil. But the large lumps leave large spaces which no tiny root hair can penetrate. A seed is left stranded in a perfect waste when planted in chunks of soil. A baby surrounded with great pieces of beefsteak would starve. A seed among large lumps of soil is in a similar situation. The spade never can do this work of pulverizing soil. But the rake can. That's the value of the rake. It is a great lump breaker, but will not do for large lumps. If the soil still has large lumps in it take the hoe.

"Many people handle the hoe awkwardly. Get up, Jay, and show us just how to hold it! Walk along as you hoe, drawing the hoe toward you. The chief work of this implement is to rid the soil of weeds and stir up the top surface. It is used in summer to form that mulch of dust so valuable in retaining moisture in the soil. I often see boys hoe as if they were going to chop into atoms everything around. Hoeing should never be such vigorous exercise as that. Spading is vigorous, hard work, but not hoeing and raking.

"After lumps are broken use the rake to make the bed fine and smooth. Now the great piece of work is done. To be sure I have said nothing of fertilizing. The kind and amount of fertilizer depends on the kind of soil. Well-rotted manure being the best all-around fertilizer, we will say that we have spaded that into the seed bed after the trenching operation is over.

"Now the plan made on paper comes into practical use, and garden stakes, cord and a means of measuring are the things necessary to have on hand. Jay and Albert have made their garden stakes one foot in length. They will serve as a good rule in furrow making. On their hoe handles Jack and Elizabeth have marked two feet off into inches. This is another scheme for measuring. George has a pole four feet long which he uses. This has inches marked on one foot of its length. Katharine has a seventy-five foot tape measure. And Leston and Helena have made this tool I have here in my hand. It looks like a wooden toothed rake with its teeth eight inches apart. This dragged over the surface of a nice, fine garden bed marks off furrows. It makes the most regular furrows you ever saw because it cannot help itself. Miriam used a board last summer. She laid this across her seed bed, kneeling on it, then she drew a dibber along the board's straight edge, pressing firmly into the soil with the dibber. This also made a good straight furrow.

"Peter and Philip always use a line and two stout garden stakes. Their hoes do the rest.

"We usually think of furrows, or drills, as they really should be called when little soil is removed, as being about a half inch or even less in width. Sometimes certain seed, beans and peas, for example, are placed in double rows in a wide drill.

"I think you all understand hill making. Then you remember how we planted certain seeds broadcast, as grass and poppy seeds. Remember that seeds thus sown need only a dusting of soil over them.

"But in general, drill sowing for both vegetables and flower seeds is the most satisfactory method.

"Most boys and girls sow seeds too thickly. The seedlings as they come up are too crowded for proper amounts of sunlight, air and food. You have seen lettuce seedlings crowded together growing small and weak. Why? Lack of light and air, lack of moisture and food are the reasons for this. Thin out pretty severely. Wait, of course, until the seedlings are an inch or more high. Then look over the little plants and gently take out the weakest and smallest specimens. Press the soil firmly about those which remain. If the first planting has been very thick have two times of thinning. It is a bit easier on those seedlings remaining if too many comrades do not go at once.



"Of course, some of these seedlings may be transplanted. They should be about two inches above ground for this purpose. Lettuce, cabbage and peppers transplant beautifully; so do asters. I would not try to transplant beets, radish or turnips. The reason is that these plants have long tap roots. Usually a portion of the root is left in the ground and the transplanted seedling has an injured root. So you either lose it, or it does poorly.

"Beets may be allowed to grow thickly for a time. Then when the thinning is done, the tender beet tops may be used for greens.

"Transplanting is a delicate operation. A trowel or a thin garden marker, a can of water and dibber are the necessary tools for the business. A cloudy day is a good thing to have on hand, also. If this is impossible, place the sun behind a cloud. The little seedling should be taken up with great care from its old home. A little soil should come with the roots. This gives the little plant a home feeling in its new quarters. The thin stick is often better to use than the trowel. If the soil is watered a bit about the small plant, one is far more likely to get the soil up with the roots.

"Now make the hole in the ground with the dibber just where you wish. A motion, like that of a revolving top, is the one to use in working the dibber. Water the hole. Drop a little soil in the bottom of the hole. You see the dibber leaves an awkward little peak there at the bottom of the hole. Water lodges there and stays. The tiny rootlets do not quite reach into the bottom of the hole, and perhaps dangle in the water and begin to decay. A little soil dropped in prevents all this. Now a little plant goes in. Do not place it too low, nor too high in the hole. Have the roots uncramped. Drop soil in gently and finally firm it all with both hands.

"The sun must not shine too hotly for the first few days on these little plants in their new home. They are not yet used to their surroundings and must be coddled a bit if they are to do well.

"The remaining garden operations are weeding and constant cultivation. A part of the work in the flower garden is close picking, if constant bloom is wished.

"I have said nothing about how to plant different seeds because each of you had tables to cover all of that.

"The object of this talk is to impress upon you the necessity for careful preparation. Well-prepared soil, carefully handled tools and plants are ways to success.

"Good tools, good seed, good hard work make for results such as will satisfy your highest hopes. But it is not the result only that is worth the struggle; the knowledge and the power are the greater glories."



VII

COMMON WEEDS

What a delight it would be if we could garden without weeds. But that is well-nigh impossible. For these rascals, the weeds, are such persistent fellows, so clever in their devices for getting over the surface of the earth, so able to live where nothing else in the plant world can live, that it is a discouraging matter to attempt to exterminate them. They always seem to me like pushing sort of people trying to live among those who do not want them. Then, too, they crowd the better class of inhabitants out.

"There are a certain number of plants which we always looked upon as weeds, such as burdock and wild carrot, for example. But if a beautiful garden plant should persist in living and spreading itself over our vegetable garden, then that, too, would become a weed. Over across the sea in England the poppy grows wild in the fields. It looks very beautiful to the traveler, because it makes lovely red splashes of colour through the field. But I doubt very much if it looks really attractive to the farmer. These things depend largely, do they not, upon one's point of view?

"Even a question like weeds we have no right to look at from one point of view only. The good points of weeds do not balance up the bad points; but it is well to give even weeds their due. Rid the world of weeds and unless these despoiled spots were cultivated, think of the great waste places there would be over the earth's surface. The weeds shade the ground thus preventing too great surface evaporation. Then the weeds are a signal to farmers and all gardeners to get busy. We people of the world are lazy, just naturally so, and perhaps if there were no weeds we might cultivate the soil too little. Years ago certain weeds were much used in medicine. This is more or less true, to-day. The dandelion with its bitter secretion was good, it was believed, for the liver, a sort of spring tonic. The Department of Agriculture has printed a pamphlet on 'Weeds Used in Medicine' (Farmers' Bulletin, No. 188). Jack and Jay each sent for a copy last spring. You all might start a garden library with these pamphlets for a basis. They are sent to you free and are invaluable in your work. Get together all the helps you can on the subject you are studying. Boys and girls receive free so much in the present day that it seems a shame not to make use of these things. The boys have written to the Department of Agriculture and each month it sends to the club a list of the publications sent out or reprinted during the previous month. You girls might follow this good example set you by the boys.

"Well, we have wandered a bit from the subject in hand. Weeds are again discouraging because they have such facilities for travel. Talk about flying machines—weeds are centuries ahead of men along these lines. Look at a milkweed seed; it is a complete flying apparatus. With its perfect ballast it flies beautifully along over field and river ready to alight in proper seed style, end down.

"There is a piece of mechanism in the end of each burdock seed that seems to make travel possible, and dissemination sure. Never was fish hook more cleverly made than this hook of the bur seed. It catches on to your clothing and travels until you feel its pull. Then you pick it off and cast it aside. So it goes. It sticks to the furry and hairy coats of animals and again is carried along.

"Did you ever observe the seed of wild carrot? It, too, is arranged with clinging points all around and about its seed. If you should give just a little attention to the subject of the means of distribution of wild seeds you would have a greater respect for the ways and means of Nature.

"Here is another discouraging side to the weed question. Weeds produce so many, many seeds! Look at a single stalk of plantain. This stalk does not stand for one seed capsule, but all up and down the stalk are the seeds; again, not one seed here and one there, but each capsule or seed case holding many seeds. When these become ripe, then the top of the capsule comes off just like the cover of a box, or the top of a salt cellar, and the seeds are sent out. It would not be a useless thing to count sometimes the number of seeds on one plantain stalk, and thus gain an idea of the tremendous possibilities of increase which the weeds have.

"A lad I once knew counted the number of seeds in a milkweed pod which he had, and found very nearly two hundred. I do not remember the exact number. It was between one hundred and ninety-five and two hundred. Think of one pod scattering that number of seeds! Think again of the number of pods on one milkweed plant! It is staggering, is it not? To be sure we can remember the parable of the sower and have some hope, for some seed may fall on soil in which they will never come to maturity.

"Weeds, like the wild morning glory, form new plants not from their seed only, but from their travelling, trailing branches.

"If, then, the chances are so good for renewal of weeds, what is the plan of campaign which we should follow? Once a German gentleman who loved and cultivated roses was asked how to get rid of rose bugs. 'Kill them,' he said. 'Pick them off by hand and kill them by foot is the sure method!' he continued.

"So, to get rid of weeds, just destroy them. Persistently and constantly weed them out and cultivate the soil. Clean cultivation is the only sort for good crops and freedom from weeds.

"Weeds, as flowers, drop in the three classes of annuals, biennials and perennials. Any annual is easy enough to hold down. Just pull such weeds up. Some merely cut the weed off at the surface of the ground, but it is a better way to be rid of the thing entirely. And should you not be quite sure of the kind of weed, then pulling up is the only really safe plan. For if the weed happened to be a perennial, leaving the root in the ground would be the worst possible thing to do.

"The greatest business of all annuals is to form seed. Now I know you wish to say that this is the business of all plants. It is. But with annuals there is only one chance to produce seed. That chance is the one short year of their lives, and this is doubtless the reason why these chaps work so hard at seed forming, and produce so many seed. Therefore, the thing evidently to be done is to make it impossible for annuals to form seed.

"The biennials and perennials must have further treatment than just that of preventing seed formation. The underground part of such weeds must be destroyed. For these live in the ground ready to come up again. Biennials may be killed out by deep hoeing. Get rid of all the young plants, keep at the older ones with the hoe and prevent seed formation, too. Biennials are found most abundantly in waste places along woodsides and where the soil for a long time has been left undisturbed.

"Perennials need about the same treatment as biennials. But even greater persistency should be exercised in destroying the underground portion. For these underground plants produce new plants as surely as seeds do. The bindweed has a creeping root, wild garlic has a bulb, and such forms are always producing new forms underground while the seed above the ground is able to do the same thing.

"Ploughing helps destroy perennials, as the roots are exposed to direct sunlight and so destroyed. Another method of treatment is that of cutting off the top down to the root and putting salt on the freshly cut root tap. Then again these roots may be starved out by never allowing the top or leafy part to form. You will remember that it is the leaf which makes the food. And if there is no food then there will be none to store away in the root for new root formation. Some farmers smother roots. This is done by planting such crops as hemp, clover or cowpeas. These crops choke out the weeds. They cover the ground very completely, and so the weeds have less of a chance.

"I give the following table of a few very common weeds in order that you may know just how to handle them.

"I must speak especially about snapdragon or butter and eggs. It came to our country as a garden flower. It has spread and spread, partly by its seeds and partly by its root stalks, which are creeping ones, and now it is a perennial weed. For since it has become a nuisance it must be classed as a weed. As it spreads along it tends to force out other plants.

"This weed, like the wild carrot, is really very lovely. Could such weeds be properly held down in small garden areas they would be very ornamental. I saw a little flower garden once, quite beautiful, with two small clumps, one of wild mustard and one of field daisy, among the other flowers.

————————————————————————————————- COMMON NAME CLASS SEED TIME COLOUR OF FLOWER ————————————————————————————————- Burdock Biennial Aug.-Oct. Purple

Bur-marigold or Annual July-Nov. Yellow beggar ticks

Canada thistle Perennial " " "

Chickweed Annual Mar.-July White

Cocklebur " July-Oct. Green

Dandelion Perennial May-Oct. Yellow

English bindweed or " Aug.-Oct. White morning glory

Moth Mullein Biennial July-Nov. Yellow

Narrow-leaved Annual July-Oct. Blue stickseed or beggar tick

Ox-eye daisy or Perennial Aug.-Oct. White white daisy

Pigweed Annual Aug.-Nov. Green

Prickly lettuce, " July-Nov. Yellow milkweed

Purslane, pursley " June-Dec. "

Rib-grass, plantain Biennial July-Nov. White

Ragweed, Roman wormwood Annual Aug.-Nov. Yellow

Russian thistle " " " Purplish

Smartweed Perennial Aug.-Sept. Pink

Sorrel Perennial June-Nov. Red

Wild carrot, Biennial July-Nov. White Queen Anne's lace

Wild garlic, onion Perennial July-Oct. "

Wild mustard Annual June-Oct. Yellow

Wild parsnip Biennial July-Oct. "

Yellow daisy, " July-Sept. " ox-eye daisy, brown-eyed Susan

Yellow dock Perennial Aug.-Oct. Green ————————————————————————————————-

"The seeds of the wild mustard, like those of the plantain and other weeds, get in with the grain seed and so cause constant trouble. Farmers feel that such weeds must be thoroughly gotten out of the fields.

"It is not our own native weeds which are so troublesome but the foreign ones. Most of our worst weeds are foreigners. They have come to this country as stowaways from across the seas. They have fought for centuries and can keep the fight up over here.

"I am not going to give you a description of each weed we have. This table, a copy of which is for each of you, will be, I think, of true help. The study of weeds is something quite by itself. It is for you to help prevent the seeding of weeds everywhere. Do not carelessly scatter seeds. Keep your own garden plots free from these pests by clean and careful cultivation. Remember, too, the value of cover crops.

"There is another pest to fight. This pest is of the animal kingdom and not of the plant kingdom. Next Friday our talk is on animal pests, and how to destroy them."



VIII

GARDEN PESTS

If we could garden without any interference from the pests which attack plants, then indeed gardening would be a simple matter. But all the time we must watch out for these little foes—little in size, but tremendous in the havoc they make.

"As human illness may often be prevented by healthful conditions, so pests may be kept away by strict garden cleanliness. Heaps of waste are lodging places for the breeding of insects. I do not think a compost pile will do the harm, but unkempt, uncared-for spots seem to invite trouble.

"There are certain helps to keeping pests down. The constant stirring up of the soil by earthworms is an aid in keeping the soil open to air and water. Many of our common birds feed upon insects. The sparrows, robins, chickadees, meadow larks and orioles are all examples of birds who help in this way. Some insects feed on other and harmful insects. Some kinds of ladybugs do this good deed. The ichneumon-fly helps too. And toads are wonders in the number of insects they can consume at one meal. The toad deserves very kind treatment from all of us.

"Each girl and boy gardener should try to make her or his garden into a place attractive to birds and toads. A good birdhouse, grain sprinkled about in early spring, a water-place, are invitations for birds to stay a while in your garden. If you wish toads, fix things up for them too. During a hot summer day a toad likes to rest in the shade. By night he is ready to go forth to eat but not to kill, since toads prefer live food. How can one "fix up" for toads? Well, one thing to do is to prepare a retreat, quiet, dark and damp. A few stones of some size underneath the shade of a shrub with perhaps a carpeting of damp leaves, would appear very fine to a toad.

"Suppose a certain crop in your garden has had an insect pest. Do not plant this same crop next year, for it would doubtless have the same pest. Don't let the soil get full of insect troubles; therefore, keep the soil open and aired and study it well.

"There are two general classes of insects known by the way they do their work. One kind gnaws at the plant really taking pieces of it into its system. This kind of insect has a mouth fitted to do this work. Grasshoppers and caterpillars are of this sort. The other kind sucks the juices from a plant. This, in some ways, is the worst sort. Plant lice belong here, as do mosquitoes, which prey on us. All the scale insects fasten themselves on plants, and suck out the life of the plants.

"Now can we fight these chaps? The gnawing fellows may be caught with poison sprayed upon plants, which they take into their bodies with the plant. The Bordeaux mixture which Peter used is a poison sprayed upon plants for this purpose. So, too, is Paris green.

"In the other case the only thing is to attack the insect direct. So certain insecticides, as they are called, are sprayed on the plant to fall upon the insect. They do a deadly work of attacking, in one way or another, the body of the insect. The kerosene emulsion made by the girls for their infested house plants worked this same way. Tobacco water and tobacco dust sprinkled on act in similar manner.

"Lime, soot, and sand are other means of blocking and choking off insects.

"Sometimes we are much troubled with underground insects at work. You have seen a garden covered with ant hills. Here is a remedy, but one of which you must be careful.

"Carbon bisulphid comes in little tin cans. It is a liquid of a vile smell, something like onions and rotten eggs mixed. The girls' noses are going up sky-high now. But it does the work of ant killing. You must be careful in handling this. It has a horrid explosive habit. Pour about a teaspoonful down an ant hole. Do not use a good silver spoon from the dining room. Get an old spoon, or buy a tin one. For you will never use it again except it be for carbon-bisulphid work. After this liquid has been poured down the hole, place a bit of a chip over it, for there may be a slight volcanic action underground. It is well to do this on a damp, cloudy day when all the ants are at home.

"Remember this stuff is not to be fooled with, as it is poisonous and also takes fire readily. Never open the can inside by a fire, in too great a heat, or near a lighted match. Invite your fathers to help in this. By no means do anything silly. Keep the can closed except when pouring out a teaspoonful.

"This question is constantly being asked, 'How can I tell what insect is doing the destructive work?' Well, you can tell partly by the work done, and partly by seeing the insect itself. This latter thing is not always so easy to accomplish. I had cutworms one season and never saw one. I saw only the work done. If stalks of tender plants are cut clean off be pretty sure the cutworm is abroad. What does he look like? Well, that is a hard question because his family is a large one. Should you see sometime a grayish striped caterpillar, you may know it is a cutworm. But because of its habit of resting in the ground during the day and working by night, it is difficult to catch sight of one. The cutworm is around early in the season ready to cut the flower stalks of the hyacinths. When the peas come on a bit later, he is ready for them. A very good way to block him off is to put paper collars, or tin ones, about the plants. These collars should be about an inch away from the plant.

"Of course, plant lice are more common. Those we see are often green in colour. But they may be red, yellow or brown. Kerosene emulsion is the medicine for plant lice. Lice are easy enough to find since they are always clinging to their host. As sucking insects they have to cling close to a plant for food, and one is pretty sure to find them. But the biting insects do their work, and then go hide. That makes them much more difficult to deal with.

"Rose slugs do great damage to the rose bushes. They eat out the body of the leaves, so that just the veining is left. They are soft-bodied, green above and yellow below. Since they are eating insects Paris green will kill them. But the kerosene emulsion penetrates their soft bodies; so this also may be used.

"A beetle, the striped beetle, attacks young melons and squash leaves. It eats the leaf by riddling out holes in it. This beetle, as its name implies, is striped. The back is black with yellow stripes running lengthwise. White hellebore powder kills these pests. Ask the druggist for five cents' worth and you will have a great plenty for any of your gardens. It, too, is a poison. This poison is also good to use for the caterpillars that eat many of our garden plants. Make a circle four inches from the stalk of an infested plant and sprinkle the powder in this. Evening time is good for this, because the dew moistens the powder just enough to make it a nuisance to the insect.

"Then there are the slugs, which are garden pests. The slug will devour almost any garden plant, whether it be a flower or a vegetable. They lay lots of eggs in old rubbish heaps. Do you see the good of cleaning up rubbish? The slugs do more harm in the garden than almost any other single insect pest. You can discover them in the following way. There is a trick for bringing them to the surface of the ground in the day time. You see they rest during the day below ground. So just water the soil in which the slugs are supposed to be. How are you to know where they are? They are quite likely to hide near the plants they are feeding on. So water the ground with some nice clean lime water. This will disturb them, and up they'll poke to see what the matter is.

"Beside these most common of pests already mentioned, pests which attack many kinds of plants, there are special pests for special plants. Discouraging, is it not? Beans have pests of their own; so have potatoes and cabbages, as George well knows. In fact, the vegetable garden has many inhabitants. In the flower garden lice are very bothersome, the cutworm and the slug have a good time there, too, and ants often get very numerous as the season advances. But for real discouraging insect troubles the vegetable garden takes the prize. If we were going into fruit to any extent, perhaps the vegetable garden would have to resign in favour of the fruit garden.

"A common pest in the vegetable garden is the tomato worm. This is a large yellowish or greenish striped worm. Its work is to eat into the young fruit.

"A great, light green caterpillar is found on celery. This caterpillar may be told by the black bands, one on each ring or segment of its body.

"The squash bug may be told by its brown body, which is long and slender, and by the disagreeable odour from it when killed. The potato bug is another fellow to look out for. It is a beetle with yellow and black stripes down its crusty back. The little green cabbage worm is a perfect nuisance. It is a small caterpillar and smaller than the tomato worm. These are perhaps the most common of garden pests by name. It might be well to take up the common vegetables and flowers mentioning the pests which prey on each one.

"Let us take the vegetables first. None of us have grown asparagus yet; but it will be well to know about this vegetable. There is a beetle which may trouble asparagus plants. It is red with markings of black. The grub of this beetle is dark green. Look out for the asparagus beetle during April and May, for these are the months when it appears. The eggs are laid on young shoots of the plant. Such shoots should be cut right off. After the cutting season is over the plants should be sprayed. This may be done in August. Very dilute Bordeaux mixture or Paris green may be used for a spray.

"Next in the alphabet come beans. The most common trouble that beans have is one called anthracnose. That staggering word means that the leaves become covered with spots which are round with purple borders. Again, a spray of Bordeaux mixture should be used. The plants should be sprayed until the pods form. Look for this trouble in July.

"Beets are prone to leaf spots. As soon as such spots appear, the plants should be sprayed with the Bordeaux mixture. Every two weeks give the plants about three sprayings.

"The cabbage worm I have spoken of. This worm works all summer. Cabbages, if neglected, become literally alive with the little caterpillars. They eat and eat the foliage, riddling it completely. They eat into the heads so that the cabbage plant is completely spoiled. George treated his with pyrethrum powder. This he mixed with five times its bulk of dust. It was then dusted or shaken over the cabbage plant. A very good thing to do before trouble begins is to dust the soil and tender plants with lime. After the plants have begun to head use hellebore powder.

"Lice appear on cauliflower. The kerosene emulsion which we use on our indoor plants is all right for this work, too. The lice appear on the foliage in great white masses. They suck the life and goodness from the plant. They come all through the summer at any time. Whale oil soap is another good spray to use. Peter has typewritten receipts for these sprays which you may have at the close of this talk. Sometimes the root of the cauliflower is attacked. Little white maggots mine or burrow through the root. They are quite likely to begin their bad work in June or July. That rather dangerous carbon bisulphid is the medicine for this trouble. Make a hole in the soil as you did when treating the ant. Do not make this too near the plant. I should say six inches away would be about right. Pour a teaspoonful of the poison into the hole and it will take care of itself. Cover the hole over as you would in the case of the ant. When cauliflower plants begin to look sickly pull one up. If it is full of maggots that is easy to determine. But it may be that you will find great lumps or knots on the root. Since these knots appear during the same months as the maggots, you can only be sure of the real cause by pulling up a plant. If these knots are on the root, then you have a very serious trouble to contend with. So serious is the club root condition that the only safe thing to do is to pull up and completely destroy the diseased plants. Dig the soil up after this. Then lime it. Put a lot of lime on, not just a dusting over the surface of the soil. This represents soil that is in trouble, so do not plant cauliflower here again, or its coarser cousin, the cabbage.

"Sometimes a little red or orange and black bug appears. This is called the harlequin bug from its fantastic appearance. This bug may come all summer long at any time. The whale oil soap spray is the one to use. Celery may be troubled with the light green caterpillar with the black bands before spoken of. This caterpillar arrives in August. It is not difficult at all to see, so many may be picked off just by hand. One may use Paris green as a spray.

"None of you had any trouble with corn being infested. But sometimes a worm, called the earworm, which is like the tomato worm, will appear during June and eat the tips of the young ears. A little Paris green sprinkled on the leaves, at their base will kill them.

"Cucumbers and melons, as I have before said, are prone to be preys of the cutworms, squash bugs, striped beetles, and lice or aphis. You know treatment for cutworms and lice. The squash bug may be destroyed by hand. Sometimes when bits of sticks are placed on the ground the bugs will crawl under them. Next morning a small harvest of bugs can be killed. The squash bug lays its eggs on the under surface of the plant's leaves. These leaves should be removed and burned. The striped beetle is kept off by the Bordeaux mixture spray. This beetle appears in June. A spraying during this month often prevents a blight of the leaves in July. This blight appears first as a spotting on the leaves, after which the leaves soon wither up.

"Onions, as well as radishes, are affected by maggots which will mine through the onion bulb as well as the stems of the young, tender plants. A solution made from carbolic soap and water is excellent with which to water the soil about the plants.

"Peas have green lice as melons and cucumbers do. The lice appear early in May and June, and are killed and kept down by the regulation treatment. Many times during the latter part of summer peas may become mildewed. You can tell this by a growth of white down on stem and leaves. Put some soap in the Bordeaux mixture and spray.

"From May to October potato bugs flourish. Paris green is the spray to use. In the start they may be hand picked. But do not let them get ahead of your hand. A very serious potato disease is that of scab. Scales appear on the potatoes themselves. To prevent this, uncut seed potatoes are soaked in poison. But this is not a work for you to do alone by any means.

"The squash bug naturally seeks out the squash vine. He should be treated as we said when we talked of the same bug and melons.

"Tomatoes have numerous troubles. The cutworm, the tomato worm, the horn worm, potato beetle and various blights may come to tomatoes. The horn worm is a large green worm named from the horn at one end of its body. It appears in midsummer. Such large worms usually may be hand picked. If you should see a tomato plant wilting for no reason at all, pull it up and burn it; it probably has an infectious trouble which is carried from one plant to another by insects. It is really an infectious disease.

"These are the most common vegetable garden pests and their remedies.

"As the girls know, the flower garden is not without pests, too. Plant lice are plenty enough. These may appear at one time or another during the entire year.

"Some plants become covered with a little red spider. It attacks the foliage and does great damage. This may be due to lack of moisture with house plants. I do not mean lack of watering, but a dry condition of the air of the room. Often just a spray of clear water is sufficient to rid the plant of the mites.

"Roses have more troubles than any one other flower. The rose bush may have lice or it may have a little green bug that jumps very quickly and so gets its name of leaf-hopper. Kerosene emulsion is good to use. Often slugs will feed upon the surface of the leaves. A dusting of lime over the leaves keeps these feeders away. There is a brown beetle called the rose chafer, which eats the flower itself. Hand picking is about the best weapon to employ against this enemy. A scale sometimes comes on the stems. This scale looks like a white crust. It is wise to spray such rose bushes with kerosene emulsion. And better still, if possible, cut off and burn such scale-encrusted parts.

"Cutworms bother the early bulbs and the violets, too. A great many of the larger pests may be hand picked. The lice should be sprayed.

"And for the remedies. The following will be the ones you will need the most:

KEROSENE EMULSION

Soap (Ivory) 1/4 pound

Boiling water 2 quarts

Kerosene 4 quarts

"The soap should be shaved up and dissolved in the water. To this add the kerosene (of course not when the soap and water is on the stove) a little at a time. Beat it with an egg beater to be kept for that purpose; or shake it vigorously.

"For use against plant lice add to one cup of this emulsion 8 cups of water. For scale insects dilute with four cups of water.

BORDEAUX MIXTURE

I. Copper sulphate (blue vitriol) 1 lb. Water 1 gal. Dissolve the sulphate in the water.

II. Slaked lime 1 lb. Water 1 gal. Dissolve the lime in the water.

To one bucket (2-1/2 gallons) of fresh water add four pints of the first solution. To another bucket of fresh water add six pints of the second solution.

Stir these together. Keep the rest of the solutions I. and II. for later mixing when it is needed.

WHALE OIL SOAP HOT WATER SOLUTION

Whale oil soap 1 pound Hot water 6 quarts

This is the right dilution for plant lice but for scale insects it is too weak; for them use about two quarts of water to one pound of soap.

"The best way to apply liquid sprays in small gardens is to use a whisk broom. Just dip the little broom into the mixture needed and shake the brush over the plant. Then the hands need never come in contact with the poison. Careful children can use sprays without any trouble. Josephine has used kerosene emulsion in this fashion: she pours a little into a saucer, takes a bit of cheese cloth and dipping it into the emulsion wipes the lice off an infested part. Usually one application is enough. This sounds like a much more disagreeable task than it really is. A plant syringe may be used. But personally I like the hand method. Of course if there are lots of lice on many plants this would not be practical at all.

"It stands to reason that sick plants need medicines of some kind. Sometimes to be sure they need better living conditions. Often the soil is sour, water-logged, unaired and totally unfit for a self-respecting plant to live in. The whole thing resolves itself into a study of conditions, and a desire to help the plant have as comfortable a time as possible in life."



IX

VEGETABLE CULTURE

"As a rule, boys and girls choose to grow bush beans rather than pole beans. I cannot make up my mind whether or not this is from sheer laziness. In a city backyard the tall varieties might perhaps be a problem since it would be difficult to get poles. But these running beans can be trained along old fences and with little urging will run up the stalks of the tallest sunflowers. So that settles the pole question. There is an ornamental side to the bean question. Suppose you plant these tall beans at the extreme rear end of each vegetable row. Make arches with supple tree limbs, binding them over to form the arch. Train the beans over these. When one stands facing the garden, what a beautiful terminus these bean arches make.

"Beans like rich, warm, sandy soil. In order to assist the soil be sure to dig deeply, and work it over thoroughly for bean culture. It never does to plant beans before the world has warmed up from its spring chills. There is another advantage in early digging of soil. It brings to the surface eggs and larvae of insects. The birds eager for food will even follow the plough to pick from the soil these choice morsels. A little lime worked in with the soil is helpful in the cultivation of beans.

"Bush beans are planted in drills about eighteen inches apart, while the pole-bean rows should be three feet apart. The drills for the bush limas should be further apart than those for the other dwarf beans—say three feet. This amount of space gives opportunity for cultivation with the hoe. If the running beans climb too high just pinch off the growing extreme end, and this will hold back the upward growth.

"Among bush beans are the dwarf, snap or string beans, the wax beans, the bush limas, one variety of which is known as brittle beans. Among the pole beans are the pole limas, wax and scarlet runner. The scarlet runner is a beauty for decorative effects. The flowers are scarlet and are fine against an old fence. These are quite lovely in the flower garden. Where one wishes a vine, this is good to plant for one gets both a vegetable, bright flowers and a screen from the one plant. When planting beans put the bean in the soil edgewise with the eye down.

"Beets like rich, sandy loam, also. Fresh manure worked into the soil is fatal for beets, as it is for many another crop. But we will suppose that nothing is available but fresh manure. Some gardeners say to work this into the soil with great care and thoroughness. But even so, there is danger of a particle of it getting next to a tender beet root. The following can be done; Dig a trench about a foot deep, spread a thin layer of manure in this, cover it with soil, and plant above this. By the time the main root strikes down to the manure layer, there will be little harm done. Beets should not be transplanted. If the rows are one foot apart there is ample space for cultivation. Whenever the weather is really settled, then these seeds may be planted. Young beet tops make fine greens. Greater care should be taken in handling beets than usually is shown. When beets are to be boiled, if the tip of the root and the tops are cut off, the beet bleeds. This means a loss of good material. Pinching off such parts with the fingers and doing this not too closely to the beet itself is the proper method of handling. I throw this in for the benefit of our future cooks, the girls.

"There are big coarse members of the beet and cabbage families called the mangel wurzel and ruta baga. About here these are raised to feed to the cattle. They are a great addition to a cow's dinner.

"The cabbage family is a large one. There is the cabbage proper, then cauliflower, broccoli or a more hardy cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts and kohlrabi, a cabbage-turnip combination. George has worked out cabbage culture successfully. I refer to him for full particulars.

"Cauliflower is a kind of refined, high-toned cabbage relative. It needs a little richer soil than cabbage and cannot stand the frost. A frequent watering with manure water gives it the extra richness and water it really needs. The outer leaves must be bent over, as in the case of the young cabbage, in order to get the white head. The dwarf varieties are rather the best to plant.

"Kale is not quite so particular a cousin. It can stand frost. Rich soil is necessary, and early spring planting, because of slow maturing. It may be planted in September for early spring work.

"Brussels sprouts are a very popular member of this family. On account of their size many people who do not like to serve poor, common old cabbage will serve these. Brussels sprouts are interesting in their growth. The plant stalk runs skyward. At the top, umbrella like, is a close head of leaves, but this is not what we eat. Shaded by the umbrella and packed all along the stalk are delicious little cabbages or sprouts. Like the rest of the family a rich soil is needed and plenty of water during the growing period. The seed should be planted in May, and the little plants transplanted into rich soil in late July. The rows should be eighteen inches apart, and the plants one foot apart in the rows.

"Kohlrabi is a go-between in the families of cabbage and turnip. It is sometimes called the turnip-root cabbage. Just above the ground the stem of this plant swells into a turnip-like vegetable. In the true turnip the swelling is underground, but like the cabbage, kohlrabi forms its edible part above ground. It is easy to grow. Only it should develop rapidly, otherwise the swelling gets woody, and so loses its good quality. Sow out as early as possible; or sow inside in March and transplant to the open. Plant in drills about two feet apart. Set the plants about one foot apart, or thin out to this distance. To plant one hundred feet of drill buy half an ounce of seed. Seed goes a long way, you see. Kohlrabi is served and prepared like turnip. It is a very satisfactory early crop.

"Before leaving the cabbage family I should like to say that the cabbage called Savoy is an excellent variety to try. It should always have an early planting under cover, say in February, and then be transplanted into open beds in March or April. If the land is poor where you are to grow cabbage, then by all means choose Savoy.

"Carrots are of two general kinds: those with long roots, and those with short roots. If long-rooted varieties are chosen, then the soil must be worked down to a depth of eighteen inches, surely. The shorter ones will do well in eight inches of well-worked sandy soil. Do not put carrot seed into freshly manured land. Another point in carrot culture is one concerning the thinning process. As the little seedlings come up you will doubtless find that they are much, much too close together. Wait a bit, thin a little at a time, so that young, tiny carrots may be used on the home table. These are the points to jot down about the culture of carrots. I am saying very little about depths and distances because these were all worked out by the boys last winter and tables may be had for the asking.

"Peter covered the ground of celery raising. One or two points only I will speak of. A very rich, workable soil is a celery soil. In the process of getting such a bed ready it ought to have a thorough wetting down a day before planting. Celery seed is small, and, as is the case with other small seed, it is quite likely to be planted in clumps or bunches. To avoid this the seed should be mixed with sand and then sprinkled in drills. These drills should be six inches apart, and very shallow. Sow the seed, cover, and water. This bed should be screened from direct sunlight. A careful, gentle, daily watering is necessary. Thin the little plants to four inches apart. Peter can tell the rest of the story. The only other thing I need add is this, that in transplanting the work should be done quickly. One should not take up celery plants and perhaps leave them a long time before placing in new quarters. Plant immediately. It takes little to upset a celery plant and check its growth. So never take up a whole lot of celery plants at one time. Take up a few, keep them moist, plant them, and then start again.



"I am not going to say a word about corn. You all remember the boys' work of last year. Your teacher has planned next Friday afternoon for the boys to discuss this at school. So we shall not have our meeting, but I shall come to the school to hear their report. I hope our girls will take notes on this. For I know that Eloise has decided to raise corn next year; Helena is going to; and Leston will not be out of the corn contest this season.

"The cucumber is the next vegetable in the line. This is a plant from foreign lands. Some think that the cucumber is really a native of India. It is believed that it was brought here by the Negro, and that a species of cucumber from Africa became finally at home in this country. A light, sandy and rich soil is needed—I mean rich in the sense of richness in organic matter. When cucumbers are grown outdoors, as we are likely to grow them, they are planted in hills. Nowadays, they are grown in hothouses; they hang from the roof, and are a wonderful sight. In the greenhouse a hive of bees is kept so that cross-fertilization may go on.

"But if you intend to raise cucumbers follow these directions: Sow the seed inside, cover with one inch of rich soil. In a little space of six inches diameter, plant six seeds. Place like a bean seed with the germinating end in the soil. When all danger of frost is over, each set of six little plants, soil and all, should be planted in the open. Later, when danger of insect pests is over, thin out to three plants in a hill. The hills should be about four feet apart on all sides.

"Egg plant is another vegetable we have not tried. It is another of those which has been improved by crossing, usually with peppers and tomatoes. But as we are not Burbanks yet, I shall not talk of that side of egg plant culture. Some varieties of egg plant grow to a large size but the smaller fruits, on the whole, have the better flavour. A good, well-worked, rich garden loam is the soil for this vegetable. The seed may be planted out in the open in little drills six inches apart. The seed should be scattered along as lettuce seed is. When the plants are about six inches high, transplant them to their permanent place. They should then stand about two feet apart on all sides. More often the seeds are started inside in March. When the little plants are about two inches high they should be transplanted into boxes or pots. Screen from too hot sunshine. About the time of corn planting the plants should go into the open. A rich soil is now quite necessary. Again I would suggest as a good method the placing of a little well-rotted manure under each place where an egg plant is to go. There is a rather interesting parasite which sometimes fastens itself upon the egg plant. A parasite is a form which clings to another and takes its nourishment from this latter or host. The parasite is a lazy shirk. So in this case the parasite grows on the egg plant and absorbs the food which the egg plant needs for itself. This is not an uncommon thing in nature. When such a thing happens first pull up and destroy the poor egg plant, for the parasite is clinging too closely and persistently to be removed.

"Nearly everyone in our country clings to lettuce as the only plant for a salad. Over across the sea in old England this is not so. Other plants are used in this way and called salad plants. Endive is one of these. Some of the endives are curly-leaved, and when blanched are attractive to look upon; and surely there is no reason why we should not consider the side of beauty in vegetables.

"Endive is a very hardy plant. One-half an ounce of the seed will sow one hundred feet of drill. Sow it as you would lettuce seed in soil which should be moist and rich. The plants finally should be about eight inches apart in the drill. The outer leaves should be tied over the top in order to blanch the inner ones for table use. In the fall the plants from summer sowings may be taken up with balls of earth on the roots and placed in the coldframes ready for use through the winter. The coldframe is a blessing. It is a place of storage all the fall and early winter. It is a place for early work in the late winter and first part of spring.

"Lettuce with children has always been a prime favourite for cultivation. Before the time of Christ, lettuce was grown and served. There is a wild lettuce from which the cultivated probably came. There are a number of cultivated vegetables which have wild ancestors, carrots, turnips and lettuce being the most common among them. Lettuce may be tucked into the garden almost anywhere. It is surely one of the most decorative of vegetables. The compact head, the green of the leaves, the beauty of symmetry—all these are charming characteristics of lettuces.

"Not all form heads. There is a mistaken idea abroad among children that by transplanting, any lettuce can be made to head. Only such varieties as are called heading lettuces will head. And these must be transplanted in order to have really good heads. There are two general types of lettuce—the Cos and the cabbage. The cabbage grows more like a cabbage with great tendency toward heading. The Cos grows longer, narrower, and has spoon-shaped leaves, which have a big, coarse midrib. The inner leaves cling more closely together after a heading fashion; the outer leaves spread apart. We grow in our American gardens more of the cabbage type than of the Cos. Should we go to see our French cousins next summer, the Cos lettuce would be served to us with plenty of oil as a dressing.

"As the summer advances and as the early sowings of lettuce get old they tend to go to seed. Don't let them. Pull them up. None of us are likely to go into the seed-producing side of lettuce. What we are interested in is the raising of tender lettuce all the season. To have such lettuce in mid and late summer is possible only by frequent plantings of seed. If seed is planted every ten days or two weeks all summer, you can have tender lettuce all the season. When lettuce gets old it becomes bitter and tough.

"Melons are most interesting to experiment with. We suppose that melons originally came from Asia, and parts of Africa. Watermelons grow wild in Africa. The Negroes and wild animals feed upon them. Perhaps that is the reason why the coloured people so love them. Anyway, melons belong to these countries. Melons are a summer fruit. Over in England we find the muskmelons often grown under glass in hothouses. The vines are trained upward rather than allowed to lie prone. As the melons grow large in the hot, dry atmosphere, just the sort which is right for their growth, they become too heavy for the vine to hold up. So they are held by little bags of netting, just like a tennis net in size of mesh. The bags are supported on nails or pegs. It is a very pretty sight I can assure you. Over here usually we raise our melons outdoors. They are planted in hills. Eight seeds are placed two inches apart and an inch deep. The hills should have a four foot sweep on all sides; the watermelon hills ought to have an allowance of eight to ten feet. Make the soil for these hills very rich. As the little plants get sizeable—say about four inches in height—reduce the number of plants to two in a hill. Always in such work choose the very sturdiest plants to keep. Cut the others down close to or a little below the surface of the ground. Pulling up plants is a shocking way to get rid of them. I say shocking because the pull is likely to disturb the roots of the two remaining plants. When the melon plant has reached a length of a foot, pinch off the end of it. This pinch means this to the plant: just stop growing long, take time now to grow branches. Sand or lime sprinkled about the hills tends to keep bugs away.

"Onions are about as popular a vegetable as we have. Some people are quite scornful of onions because of their truly disagreeable odour. But I do not know what we should do without the onion for flavourings. Peter is to plant onions where he last had celery. That is very wise, because onions do especially well coming after a crop for which the land was heavily fertilized. Onions like moisture of soil, too. If the soil is not rich enough, nitrate of soda may be added. The most discouraging thing about chemical fertilizers is the fact that advertisements say to have a certain quantity for an acre of land. Few boys and girls are planting entire acres, to just one thing. Now, suppose you write down this: Add 1/4 pound of nitrate of soda to 100 square feet of land then use the proper fractional amount. To buy 1/40 of a pound for example sounds absurd. Buy your quarter pound and put the approximate amount on. Sprinkle chemical fertilizer over the surface of the soil and rake it in just under the surface.

"There are two methods for the planting of onions. One way is to use seed; the other, sets. Sets mean little onion bulbs. These are placed in drills about six inches apart and so that the little bulb may be just beneath the surface of the soil. Do not set too low. These bulbs are ready before seed onions. Seeds are rather slow in development. If you make sowings pretty thick the tender tops may be used, and so the thinning process is done to advantage.

"I believe that all your gardens should have some parsley in them. It can be planted as a border, since it grows low and has a fringy, decorative effect. If you were Italian girls and boys you would have parsley if you had nothing else; for the Italians always use it in their soups. There is a European variety, not as pretty as the common variety, which grows taller and ranker. It has a stronger smell. An Italian boy who was living in America had a garden in which he grew both kinds of parsley. He was asked which he liked the better. Straightening up, he pointed to the European saying, 'Smells stronger.'

''I believe none of us have raised parsnips. It takes 1/4 of an ounce of seed to plant 100 feet of drill. Any deep, rich, moist garden soil will do. Just as early as the ground is workable, the seed should be sown. Sow in drills of 1/2 inch depth and 6 inches apart. The plants should finally stand about eight inches apart. They may be dug before or after frost. Some people think that the early frosts improve the flavour of parsnips.

"I suppose there is no vegetable so well liked as peas. Who would wish a Fourth of July dinner without peas? The early varieties of peas go into the ground just as early as possible. I like best to dig trenches six inches deep and about eighteen inches apart. As the peas are dropped into the trench, cover over with about two inches of soil. As the plants grow, fill soil into the trench. Of course, peas have to be brushed. So as soon as the little runners form put brush behind the plant and start the twiners about the brush stalks. A variety of pea called Gradus is very excellent in flavour.

"As for potatoes—well, now, just see Peter grin! He has covered that subject. Of course, I can add nothing to an expert's advice.

"Peppers are worth trying. If you do not care for them in your home gardens, add them to the school garden. They work in with the courses in cooking. Just as egg plants are started inside, so ought peppers to be. Whenever the soil is warm and the weather settled, the pepper plants may go out. The best soil for them is a rich, sandy one. The little plants should have about one and a half foot of space on all sides. At first they look pretty lonesome so far apart but soon they will grow to large, bushy plants. A little hen manure mixed with soil and put on top of the ground about the little peppers gives them a good start in their new quarters. There are many interesting kinds of peppers to grow. If a pepper with a little sting is wished try such varieties as Bird's Eye, Red Cluster, and Tobasco. Suppose the peppers are to be used for stuffing. Then large, rather more mild-flavoured kinds are needed. Ruby King pepper is a bouncing beauty. The Red Etna, Improved Bull Nose and Golden King are other good ones.

"The word pumpkin stands for good, old-fashioned pies, for Thanksgiving, for grandmother's house. It really brings more to mind than the word squash. I suppose the squash is a bit more useful, when we think of the fine Hubbard, and the nice little crooked-necked summer squashes; but after all, I like to have more pumpkins. And as for Jack-o'-lanterns—why they positively demand pumpkins. In planting these, the same general directions hold good which were given for melons. And use these same for squash-planting, too. But do not plant the two cousins together, for they have a tendency to run together. Plant the pumpkins in between the hills of corn and let the squashes go in some other part of the garden.

"We have very nearly worn out the subject of radish. About the only cultural point I would add is this: Make radish develop quickly. If growth is slow, the radish is likely to be poor. Sometimes all the growth goes to top. Fine, green leaves result, but no good radishes. Then doctor the soil in order that fruit development may be quickened. Radishes are the quickest in maturing of all vegetables. That is why your teacher had radish beds for the lower grades in the school. The children got a result and got it quickly. Josephine might have raised radishes as well as parsley in the box garden she had. People in cities could raise these two vegetables on their roofs just as well as not. They are worth the effort it takes in trying.

"There is one point I wish to speak of in tomato culture. The great trouble in cultivating comes in the overgrowth of vines. Each plant becomes a large, overgrown, unwieldy sort of affair unless looked out for. Use a stake for each vine. Tie the main stalk of the plant to this. Let the development of fruit come from the top of the plant. So pinch back the lateral branches and remove these. In this way the tomato garden is a neat and pretty one. This treatment is similar to that given grapes.

"There is a tomato called the dwarf champion. This is a dwarf variety and so gives less trouble than the other kinds. It does not get troublesome and often does not need staking. If you were little boys and girls, I should say plant this kind of tomato every time.

"I have little more to say about turnips. They are an old vegetable, for over two thousand years ago, the Greeks dined on turnips. I usually plant mine right out in the open. The soil may be a sandy one.



X

FLOWER CULTURE

In planting the flower garden there are a few things always to be considered. These are matters of colour, of time and of persistency. "The subject of colour is not so trying, after all, as many gardeners seem to think. If you people wish to plant a few of a good many gay-blooming plants, then I guess colour is a problem. The chief thought in a flower garden should be, how I can make a beautiful picture of this garden of mine. You see right off how tiring and dazzling the garden of too many little dots of colour could be. Look about in nature—see the beautiful range of the butterfly weed, the pinky purple of Joe Pye, the scarlet of cardinal flowers, the blue of certain asters, the pink of bouncing Bet, the yellow of tansy and goldenrod. Nature is constantly presenting perfect splashes of brilliant colour here and there. And yet it is not inharmonious. Why? One reason is that much of the colour is in great masses, and what is not has been softened by stretches of soft green.

"Let us take a hint from this for our small gardens. Plant colours in masses, and have breaks of green in between. Not a bad idea! I seem to hear you say.

"Then a garden should have a strong time element about it. By this I mean that one should plan a garden for a round of bloom. Why have all the blooms in August? If you look at this bulb time-table I shall have ready for you, you will find that it is possible to start with bulbs. Snowdrops and crocuses will gladly usher in a continuous round of bloom for you. I do not mean that these two will bloom continuously. Not at all! But I mean they are the starters. There are conditions, where spring bloom and fall bloom alone is desired. This is the case with all school gardens where summer care is impossible. Another table called a garden of continuous bloom will help you plan this.

"Another point to think of is persistency. Why not plant some seed which will produce plants that come up year after year? Why not have some hardy perennials and some self-sowing annuals? Poppy and cornflower sow themselves. These are annuals. Think of the perennials, which come year after year to welcome us. I think you should have hardy matter in your gardens. Peonies come up year after year, iris takes care of itself, helianthus or perennial sunflower bobs up each year.

"George asked me one day, what I meant when I spoke of herbaceous plants. A herbaceous plant is one with a non-woody stem, as geraniums. Mock orange is not herbaceous, because it has a woody stem. When I speak of hardy plants, I mean those which can stand living outdoors through their existence, from start to finish. A half-hardy plant is one that requires fostering before being planted outdoors. We consider asters half-hardy, because they need the extra heat for start which the nasturtium does not need. You would not think of starting nasturtiums indoors. But asters and stock really need this sort of a start in life.

"The tall flowers must go toward the back of the garden, for if they were placed in the foreground they would screen the others. The plants of medium height make up the main part of the garden; while the low plants are in the foreground as borders.

"Perhaps it would be wiser to put some tall perennials or self-sowing annuals in the background, and among the shrubbery. Then save bed spaces for the annuals. This will cause less disturbance in the garden than the sowing of annuals in with the perennials.

"I cannot take up all the garden flowers with you, because it is an impossibility. But a certain number of the more common ones I will talk of.

"There are certain plants rather easier to grow than others, and very satisfactory in results. One of these all-around plants is the pansy. It likes best of all cool, moist places but it will do well, under rather reverse conditions. Pansies are the easiest of plants to grow from seed, and they offer a ready response to experiments with cross-fertilization. The very best time to sow plants is after midsummer. Anyway, the work must be done before October the first. Let us claim then that the middle of August is a good time. Make little drills a quarter of an inch deep for the seed; or better, sprinkle it on a fine seed bed. Over the seed sift a little soil. Pansy seed is fine and small, so great care must be taken in the early waterings; better far to cover the bed with old sacking, and water the sacking. In this way, the seed is not washed away. The little sturdy plants should be covered over with leaves or straw for the wintertime. When early spring comes, you will be delighted with plants which are well along.

"Pansy flowers should always be kept well picked. Do not let the seed pods form if you desire continuous bloom. It is well to hold this in mind—that if plants are hurried along too fast, the flowers suffer in size. Small, inferior flowers result from such treatment. Pansies have a habit of running out—that is, the flowers grow smaller each year. It is merely a warning to keep making new sowings in order that one may always have large, vigorous blooms.

"Choice seed of this flower is very expensive. It is a plant that some florists have put all their time upon. It has seemed to certain men that one of the greatest things in the world, is to find out ways of improving the plants of the earth. So certain fruits are crossed to make new and better ones; and certain flowers are being constantly worked over to get superior strains. Sweet peas, pansies, stock, and dahlias are plants which have been much improved by man's skill.

"Larkspur is one of those plants which children so rarely try. I have wondered often why. It is not hard to raise, and so I am hoping that some of you will try it another season. The larkspur is a hardy plant, and there are both annuals and perennials in this family. Some varieties are dwarfed, and grow only a foot and a half high, while others grow five feet in height. This latter growth is very charming in the background of the garden. The flower spikes are showy and the foliage pretty. The larkspur likes a pretty rich sort of soil. The seed is very slow in germinating, and that is reason enough for fall planting. The stay over winter gives these fussy seeds time to make up their minds to germinate. This sowing should be done after the middle of October.

"Really charming blue flowers are a bit difficult to find because we have fewer blue flowers than those of the reds and yellows. Do not get the impression that larkspurs are only blue in colour. There are yellow, pink, red, and white varieties. But the blue is very fine. So when you are thinking of high flowers for backgrounds, keep the larkspur in mind.

"Hollyhock is another good background plant, because of its height and sentinel-like effect. It sows itself, so will take care of itself. Perennial phlox is well to put into the garden. Helianthus, I have mentioned, as suitable for backgrounds. It has a rather bad habit of too free spreading.

"Peonies are very satisfactory. I am sure you will all want some of them. They look their best planted in clumps. A certain pink and white peony is called the rose peony. It is sweet scented, and when in blossom it scents the portion of the yard where it is placed. These look well planted in wide borders. The roots, or bulbs, should go about three inches below ground in nice, rich, garden soil. Do not plant where they get the full blaze of early sun.

"I'd put some iris in the border, too. It requires no care. You need not bed it over, even, in the fall. It likes a certain amount of moisture, but grows readily under almost all conditions. The German iris is an easy grower; the French fleur-de-lis is lovely with its more delicate blossom. Certain irises, to be sure, are particular about their quarters, but the two kinds mentioned are not. They like a certain amount of open space. Do not hide them in the shrubbery, although they may be planted near it.

"You might put in some hardy chrysanthemums. These need good rich garden soil. They should also be placed near the back of the garden for good effect. You may choose almost any colour in these. Some of the little button chrysanthemums are good for backgrounds. The yellow ones make good splashes of colour, while the dull reds are most beautiful. These bloom after frost. When the frost has made havoc with the foliage, cut the plant down to about one inch of the ground. It is well to cut the flowers before frost.

"You have now a few good background plants which are hardy.

"The biennials can be so planted as to behave like perennials. These plants, you remember, are doing their best blossoming work the second summer. So by yearly sowings you may always have good effects. I have mentioned some already for your garden:—Canterbury bell, cornflower and foxglove are biennials. Cornflower tends to self sow, but needs help in this work from you. Sweet William is an old favourite. Of course, it is pretty gaudy. But I like old sweet William in spite of his gay tendency. They are rather stiff, but so easy to raise, being not very particular about anything.

"When it comes to annuals there is a multitude of these to plant each season. There are candytuft and alyssum for borders. Then mignonette is absolutely necessary to keep the garden sweet. Coreopsis is easy to raise, and so is godetia. If a great big bold mass of colour is desired, put in Shirley poppies. These grow well even on sandy soil. It is well to remember, that these do not lend themselves kindly to transplanting.

"Suppose there is a bit of sandy ground which needs a low-growing plant. Put in this spot portulaca. The bright little blossoms, constantly blooming, add a bit of cheer to that old sandy place.

"There are the old stand-bys which are good bloomers—nasturtiums, zinnias, marigolds and petunias. In the case of zinnia, it is better to buy these seeds by the ounce. Children's penny packages and the regular five-cent packages are filled usually with seeds which produce variously coloured blossoms. One can plan for no good effects in this way. If you get a seed catalogue, and look through the zinnia list, you can choose just what you like.

"Certain plants are spoken of as plants for bedding. These plants are placed in a formal bed after the spring flowers have finished their blooming. You sometimes see in the park fine beds of tulips and hyacinths early in the season. After these have finished their blooming, plants which are all started are put in their bed. If seeds were planted they would take so long to develop that the bed would look bad for a long time. So bedding plants are put in. Geraniums are the most popular of all. Begonias, fuchsias, heliotrope and coleus are often used. Geraniums will stand almost any kind of soil, and therefore have great advantages over most plants. Begonias will flourish in the shade; while the strong point about coleus is that of beauty of foliage.

"To those of you who have started outdoor bulb beds, the bedding list will be of some service. Marguerites look well in such a bed. Often one sees a border of ageratum about such a one. There is always a sort of stiff effect about such borders, however. A canna bed is after the same order, yet is effective. Salvia, or scarlet sage, looks well in wide borders, or near the underpinning of the house. Both these may act as bedding plants.

"There are three other kinds of gardens I should like to bring to your minds—the rock garden, the herb garden and the wild-flower garden. This last we shall have to leave for another time, however.

"Whenever a rockery is mentioned to some people they shrug their shoulders, and murmur something about a mere heap of rocks. Now, a rock garden may be very pretty, or very ugly. Such a garden should never be stuck out in the front yard to hit one in the face. But if you have a place in your yard, which is near the woods or in the vicinity of trees, or by a rocky ledge—in short, if you have any place with a bit of wildness surrounding it, use this for a rockery. If your yard is just a plain, tame, civilized yard, you'd better leave the rock garden out. I know of a lady living in a city, whose backyard is a rocky ledge. That ledge itself told her what her garden ought to be. It just cried out to her, 'Build a rock garden on me.' And she did it. Any other kind of a garden would have been out of place and taste there. Wherever a rocky ledge is found, there is a possibility for a rock garden.

"To have a good garden of this sort, one must have earth as well as rocks. Earth must be put into all the crevices of rock, so that there is some depth to it, and at such an angle that it won't be washed out by hard rains. A rock garden should have an earth foundation. I mean that there must be much of earth about it. I saw a charming one, which had only climbing nasturtiums planted over it. It was a great rock jutting out, and extending back into the yard—a big, flat, irregular affair—and all over it were these running vines. It was very simple and very effective. Go to the woods and seek out ferns which are growing in rocky places. Take what little earth they have about them, and try to give them a similar position in your own rockery. Bring back some leaf mould from the woods, and mix the garden soil for the rockery. Candytuft, dwarf phlox, stonecrop, morning glory, saxifrage, bleeding heart, rock cress, myrtle, thrift, columbine, bell flower, and moss pink. Get some moss, too, for chinks between rocks.

"If we could go back to old colonial days, and visit a dame's garden, I am sure we should find a little herb garden there. Our mothers might call these herbs pot herbs. Here all the flavourings for the soups were raised. Here sweet lavender might be found, its flowers used to make fragrant the bed linen. Horehound, anise and others were used in medicines; while little caraway seeds made delicious the cakes and cookies. I can see bunches of dried sage hung in the attic.

"Even with us there might be good use made of this garden both at home and at school. We do, of course, grow parsley, which is an herb, but the others seem to have dropped out of our gardens. We might at least grow next summer the sage and savoury for the turkey stuffing.

"Herbs need a sandy, well-worked soil. Seed should be sown in drills about twelve inches apart. The seed should be sown in early spring, as soon as the ground is warm. Sprinkle the seed just below the surface, and cover lightly with soil.

"A list of common herbs includes the following: Anise, balm, basil, borage, caraway, catnip, coriander, dill, fennel, horehound, hop, hyssop, lavender, pot marigold, sweet and pot marjoram, parsley, pennyroyal, rosemary, rue, sage, savoury, tansy, sorrel, thyme, and wormwood. It would be of little use to plant all of these, even to see what the plants were like. I would suggest your trying lavender, sage, savoury, and dill.

"Lavender seed is very slow to germinate, so sow the seed plentifully in early spring. The soil should have a dusting of lime over it as lavender plants enjoy lime. The flower is the part you wish. Pick these flower stalks before the flowers get old. Dry, and then sprinkle the dried flowers in the linen chest. Lavender is very sweet, and is often spoken of as sweet lavender. To this day one will hear women singing in the streets of London, 'Sweet lavender, buy my sweet lavender.'

"Sage likes a good, well-drained soil. It, too, likes lime. The little seedlings should be thinned out to stand about ten inches apart. When you see flowers forming cut the sage plant and quickly dry. It makes a pretty border plant in the garden. Savoury is also a border plant. But this is a hardy annual, while lavender and sage are perennials. It likes a light but rich soil. Both the leaves and flowers are used in soup flavouring. "Dill is also sown in early spring. It is the seed of the dill plant, and not the leaves and flowers, which is the useful part. The seeds are used in the making of pickles.

"I shall hope to see something in the herb line, in your gardens next year—a hardy garden started, and a good bit of taste displayed by all of you. You girls might raise mint to put in lemonade.

"Next time we shall have our talk on wild flowers. Some of you know and love many of these wild flowers."

———————————————————————————————————— ANNUALS FOR SANDY SOILS ———————————————————————————————————— NAME COLOUR TIME HEIGHT SPECIAL POINTS ———————————————————————————————————— Clarkia Rose June 1-1/2 ft. Good to use for a border White Oct. plant. Purple Use single varieties.

Poppy White July 1-1/2 ft. Do not transplant. Fine for Red Aug. mass effects.

Nasturtium Yellow June Most satisfactory, especially to Maroon Oct. 1-5 ft. for cut flowers. Blooms freely.

Portulaca White June 1/2 ft. Blooms freely — grows close Red to the ground. Yellow

Zinnia Red June 1-1/2 ft. Grows without great care. Magenta Frost Blooms freely. Looks best when massed. ————————————————————————————————————

———————————————————————————————————— ANNUALS FOR HEAVY SOILS ———————————————————————————————————— NAME COLOUR TIME HEIGHT SPECIAL POINTS ———————————————————————————————————— Godetia Red July 1-2 ft. Easy to grow. An English White Oct. favourite: blooms freely.

Sweet Pea Variety July 4-6 ft. Plant early in the spring in Oct. a sunny spot. Keep flowers well clipped for constant bloom.

Petunia Magenta May 1-2 ft. Mass or use in borders. Give plenty of sun. Good for the outdoor window box.

Sweet White July 1/2 ft. Sow thickly in the borders. Alyssum Sept. Blooms freely. Grows in every soil.

Pot Orange June 1-1/2 ft. Blooms freely. Looks well Marigold Yellow Frost in masses. Stiff effect as a cut flower. ————————————————————————————————————

———————————————————————————————————— SEVEN FAVOURITE ANNUALS FOR CUT FLOWERS ———————————————————————————————————— NAME COLOUR TIME HEIGHT SPECIAL POINTS ———————————————————————————————————— Sweet White July 1/2 ft. Use in low bowls for table Alyssum Red Sept. decorations.

China Aster White July 1 ft. Lasts long after cutting. Blue to Oct. Purple

Baby's White June 2-3 ft. Use in bouquets with other Breath Rose Oct. flowers.

Coreopsis Yellow June 1-2 ft. Place by themselves in tall Brown Nov. vases.

Nasturtium Scarlet June 1-5 ft. Cut freely for constant Yellow Oct. bloom. Use in great masses in low vases.

Pansy Purple May 1/2-1 ft. Cut closely. Place in low Blue June dishes. Yellow White

Pink White May 1 ft. Lasts well after cutting. Maroon Aug. Rose ————————————————————————————————————

———————————————————————————————————— ANNUALS THAT BLOOM AFTER FROST ———————————————————————————————————— NAME COLOUR TIME HEIGHT SPECIAL POINTS ———————————————————————————————————— Sweet Alyssum White July 1/2 ft. Withstands early frosts. Sept. Good border plant.

Candytuft Red June to 1/2 ft. Sow at intervals through White Sept. the summer. Good cut flower.

Cornflower Rose June 2-3 ft. Good for cut flowers. Blue Blooms freely. White

Marigold Yellow June 1/2 - 2 Better for garden effects Browns Aug. ft. than for cut flowers.

Annual Phlox Yellow May 1/2 - 1 Self sows. Good all round Reds Aug. ft. plant. White

Ten-weeks White June 1 1/2 A second sowing made in stock Purple July ft. May flowers the same Pink season. ————————————————————————————————————

———————————————————————————————————— FRAGRANT ANNUALS ———————————————————————————————————— NAME COLOUR TIME HEIGHT SPECIAL POINTS ———————————————————————————————————— Mignonette Green May 1 ft. Beautifully fragrant. Do Oct. not transplant. Good to use as a break for clashing colours.

Sweet Peas White July 4-6 ft. Free bloomer. Try variety Scarlet Oct. Lathyrus odorata. Blue Yellow

Ten- weeks Pink June 1 ft. Good for cut flowers. stock Purple July Fragrant at night. White

Sweet Sultan White June 2 ft. Centaurea moschata good Yellow Aug. for cut flowers. Purple

Sweet Alyssum White July 1/2 ft. Alyssum maritimun. Low Sept. growing, border plant. ————————————————————————————————————

———————————————————————————————————— ANNUALS THAT RE-SOW THEMSELVES ———————————————————————————————————— NAME COLOUR TIME HEIGHT SPECIAL POINTS ———————————————————————————————————— Morning glory Reds July 15-30 ft. Grows rapidly. Makes a Blues Oct good screen. Whites

Poppy Pink June 1/2-2 ft. Papaver Rhocas and P. Scarlet Sept. somniferum. White

Phlox Yellow May l/2-1 ft. Phlox Drummondii. Reds Aug. Need much water. White

Pot Marigold Orange June 1-2 ft. Calendula officinalis Yellow Oct. Likes a warm soil. ————————————————————————————————————

———————————————————————————————————— ANNUALS THAT CLIMB ———————————————————————————————————— NAME COLOUR TIME HEIGHT SPECIAL POINTS ———————————————————————————————————— Balloon Vine White Aug. 10 ft. Grows rapidly. Good screen.

Japanese Hop Incon- July 8-20 ft. Rapid grower. Looks well spicuous Oct. growing along old fences.

Moon-flower White July 15-30 ft. Night bloomer. Grows Sept. rapidly.

Morning Glory Purple June 20 ft. Rapid grower. Good White Aug. screen. ————————————————————————————————————

———————————————————————————————————— ANNUALS FOR SHADY PLACES ———————————————————————————————————— NAME COLOUR TIME HEIGHT SPECIAL POINTS ———————————————————————————————————— Godetia White July 1-2 ft. The flowers are showy. Red to Oct.

Musk Yellow June 1/2-1 ft. Need moisture and coolness. to Aug

Nemophila Blue June 1-3 ft. Moisture, partial shade and White to Oct. coolness.

Pansy White May 1/2-1 ft. Sow under same conditions Yellow to Oct. as musk in early spring. Purple Blooms freely in the fall. ————————————————————————————————————

———————————————————————————————————— ANNUALS FOR SUNNY PLACES ———————————————————————————————————— NAME COLOUR TIME HEIGHT SPECIAL POINTS ———————————————————————————————————— Balsam Red June to 1-2 ft. Plant in rich sandy loam Yellow Oct. under direct rays of sun. White