Chapter 3
SOIL FOR VARIEGATED SHRUBS. Do not manure the ground for golden or variegated leaved shrubs. The color is not as clear where fertilizers are used. Very rich ground means a quick, lush growth. Green is the normal color of leaf vegetation. Any departure from this rule is an abnormal one. Whatever imparts vigor to a plant tends to make it throw off its acquired markings and revert to its original stage. Abundant plant food supplies more chlorophyll or green coloring matter to the sap also.
ABOUT BROAD-LEAVED EVERGREENS IN WINTER. A lady asks, "Is it the summer sun that is harmful to Rhododendrons, Andromedas and Mahonias, or is it the winter sun they should be protected from?" It is the winter sun. The reason broad-leaved evergreens are such a hard class to bring through the winter in good condition is because the sun shines upon their foliage while it is frozen, blistering, and searing it. It is not the winter's cold but the winter's sun that does the mischief. Plant all such evergreens on a north slope, or at the north side of a building where they are protected from a glare of sunshine on their frozen wood and leaves.
SNAILS AND SLUGS. Where they are numerous enough to do injury, get after them. I believe a hand to hand killing is the best remedy for all such pests. They are sluggish and cannot run away from one. They usually take a siesta during the heat of the day under Pansies or similar low matted plants. Some trap them by placing slices of cabbage or raw potato about. Others kill all the slugs in a bed, then make a ring of salt all about it to keep them out. Lime dust powdered over the plants helps to keep them away.
WORMS BORING INTO PLANTS. A couple of cases are reported of worms boring into the stalks of Asters, Dianthus and Carnations. Of course the tops die, and the damage is great. There is no insecticide that can be used against these canny worms which snugly hide themselves in the plant stalks where not a drop of liquor can reach them. The only remedy is to keep a sharp outlook for affected plants, cutting away each worm-infested top and burning it. This kills the worm and cuts off future crops of worms. It seems a hard method of ridding the plants of their enemies. However, the plants branch out again and develop a later crop of flowers.
HOW ANNUALS RUN OUT. "Last year I purchased the very best grade of seeds, and my flowers were lovely. I saved from these flowers, expecting a similar treat this year. But my Pansies, Carnations and Petunias are nothing near as large or as finely marked as they were last year, and the last two flowers are all single, not a double one in the lot. What is the cause of this?"
Deterioration in the quality of bloom is what our mothers used to call the "running out" of plants. There is no mystery about it. It is confined to those favorite flowers that have been highly bred and hybridized. Everyone knows highly bred stock, be it animal or vegetable, will not stand roughing it. If the flower grower would use the nerve of the seed-grower and pull up every inferior plant or poor flowered one; if she would keep the ground as clean as a market garden; if she would allow only the finest flowers to go to seed, cutting the others off as they fade, she would have good seed for next year's flowers. Petunias are artificially hybridized to get a double strain of seed, and this the amateur cannot well do. It pays most of us better to buy Pansy, Petunia, Carnation and Ten Weeks Stocks seed than to try to save it ourselves.
FAILURE OF PEONIES TO BLOOM. Everyone says the Peony will endure anything, heat, cold, rain or dry weather or any kind of soil. It is true the plant is tenacious of life. It is just as true that it knows when it is not well treated. It evens up matters many times by refusing to bloom. Any one of the following reasons may cause it to be barren of bloom. (1) Poor, hard ground. (2) Deep shade, as when grown under evergreens or behind thick shrubbery. (3) Spring planting in hot climates, or (4) clumps allowed to get too dry in droughty summers.
BRUGMANSIA. I admire this plant when in bloom. Its magnificent ivory trumpets are a grand sight. It is a fine thing for piazza decoration during summer, and may be grown in a greenhouse or warm plant room in winter. It is not, however, suitable for ordinary window culture. It needs good care and freedom from dust, and moreover chills easily. If placed in the cellar in November it will winter there safely. Bring up as early as possible in the spring, water with moderation until new shoots start from the root, then give abundance of water.
EUCHARIS. This is a beautiful flower worth taking a little pains to grow. It is more often seen in greenhouse than in a window, as it is easier in the former to secure a warm, moist, even temperature. Shortly after New Year Eucharis grow very fast. Keep them warm and moist until through flowering when they can be kept ten to fifteen degrees cooler and watered less freely. This gives them the needed semi-rest to enable them to get ready for bloom again. In summer they need plenty of water again. When fall comes keep them pretty dry for the next three months, supplying only enough water to keep them from losing their leaves. Pot them in loam and sand, with a small quantity of old crumbled manure and leaf loam.
A PLAGUE OF ANTS. A correspondent has suffered for years from annual raids of ants that literally swarm over everything and everywhere. "Last year," says this lady, "they killed ever so many plants, from Pansies to trees. All of our outdoor flowers were almost ruined by them. I have tried molasses and Paris green, but they only increase in numbers. They are everywhere, but I cannot find their holes or nest."
There is no use trying to depend on killing all these ants after they have taken possession. A bushel of pyrethrum powder would not pepper them all or a hogshead of kerosene emulsion last long enough to get them all. They must be killed at the fountain head, in their nesting places. A few years ago a certain set of our pear trees had their blossoms ruined year after year by hordes of ants. We could not kill them off, for there were always new ones to take their places. One day we found their nest, a very large one, but entirely underground. A speedy and therefore merciful death was decreed for them. Big pot, little pot, kettle and boiler were filled with water which was brought to the boiling point. We used it, _every day_, on that ant nest. That was 15 years ago, and there has been no recurrence of the trouble.
HOLY THISTLE. Some one asks about a curious plant of which no one knows the name. It blooms quickly from seed, making a plant several feet tall. It has long and wide leaves, waved along the margins, and very spiny. Along each vein is a wide milk-white band or mottling. The flowers are like a purple thistle. Strange how the wheels of time go round. This new (?) plant is so very old that hundreds of years ago it was a common garden ornament. It is Carduus Maritima, a near relative of the common thistle. Everyone notices it because of its odd milky splashes, and it every now and then enjoys a brief popularity again. Our superstitious forefathers believed that a drop of the Virgin Mary's milk fell on its leaves, which ever after bore milk-white markings because of it. The old names for it were Milk Thistle and Holy Thistle. The peasantry used to eat its tops as greens, and cook the roots in stews. Like all thistles this will become a weed if not kept down with a firm hand.
AN IMPOSSIBILITY. A lady asks us to give a list of the six best Roses. "I acknowledged to stand at the head of the Rose kind." It can't be done as long as the old adage holds true of
"Many men of many kinds, Many men of many minds."
A correspondent wants a companion Rose to a Crimson Rambler, which she enthusiastically declares is the grandest Rose in the world. Side by side with her letter is one from an artist. "I don't like Ramblers," writes he. "An artistic Rose to my mind is like a jewel in a right setting. Too many jewels denote vulgarity." Every class of Rose has its enthusiastic devotees. The best Hybrid Teas come nearer combining all merits of a Rose, and nearer pleasing all standards of taste than any other; yet any florist will tell you that they are by no means the Roses most freely purchased. In other words, no one Rose suits all.
_Lora S. La Mance, Mo._
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CORRESPONDENCE
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
This department is open to any of our subscribers who may have anything to say that will be of general interest and usefulness. Questions may be asked or answered
ARKANSAS
_Editor Mayflower:_
I must tell you of an experience I had in transplanting a Dahlia, which was in bloom, the last day of July. Driving out one warm morning I saw a family moving out of a house. Seeing a clump of beautiful Dahlias I asked for one. The lady said she did not think I could do anything with it, but I knew I could try. She took it up with an old tuber attached and two young ones. I put it in a well protected place where it was cool and kept it well watered. It grew and continued to bloom. When taken up in the fall there were three tubers. That was two years ago. I still have some of it now.--_Mrs. Philetus Wakefield._
CAROLINA, NORTH AND SOUTH
_Editor Mayflower:_
When the world looks as if it were at the mercy of the wind and cold in winter. Sad indeed would be these hopeless days only we know that always, and always, it will be spring again. While the flowers are asleep under their blanket of snow we have a period for rest and reflection, and by thinking over the mistakes in the past we may improve. Of all times of the year spring is the season when everything seems to require attention at the same time. House-cleaning, sewing and gardening crowd upon us, when the bright days come, and one of the three is sure to be neglected by the busy women if plans are not made for each work beforehand. Let me beg all our flower-loving women not to deny themselves the comfort, rest and happiness that flowers alone will bring them throughout the long summer days because they feel the time cannot be spared to attend to the planting in early spring. What if the house _is_ left a little disordered while one works in the garden? It can be put to rights after the precious roots and seeds have been placed under ground to begin their work of beauty. We must all sew I suppose, but let us wear the last year shirt waists awhile, and take the time to plant flowers in the garden or window boxes, to cheer us when we are compelled to run the machine. By leaving off some of the trimmings, or doing
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"HE THAT WORKS EASILY, WORKS SUCCESSFULLY." CLEAN HOUSE WITH
SAPOLIO
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THE WARBLER
JOHN LEWIS CHILDS, EDITOR
With 1905 =The Warbler= begins a new series which will contain many superb Colored Plates of rare eggs such as Kirtland and Olive Warbler, Carolina Paroquot, Clark's Crow, Ipswich and Rufous Crowned Sparrow, Yellow and Black Rail, Calaveras Warbler, etc. Also splendid illustrations of Birds and Nests, and leading articles by well known authorities.
Published Quarterly, 32 Pages & Cover
SUBSCRIPTION PRICE $1.00 PER YEAR. SINGLE COPIES 30c
Eggs of Kirtland Warbler will be figured in first issue (Jan. or Feb.) of the new series.
ADDRESS THE WARBLER FLORAL PARK, N. Y.
without some things altogether, the money will be forthcoming to purchase the plants we long for. Are they not worth the sacrifice?--_Prudence Plain, So. Car._
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CONNECTICUT
_Editor Mayflower:_
A friend of mine has a Winter Gem Rose, received as a premium with THE MAYFLOWER three or four years ago. This is put in the garden in summer, where it grows and blooms all summer. It is potted, cut back and taken in the house through the winter. It soon grows new branches and blooms nicely here. It is a favorite with the whole family. This same friend has the Bouquet Petunias, also a premium with THE MAYFLOWER. She has kept the old plant summer and winter, until this last summer it did not seem to do as well so she took slips. I planted mine in a flower-bed. They come up each year, some are mixed with some other kinds, but last summer there were some the same as the original.--_L. N. F._
CALIFORNIA
_Editor Mayflower:_
The Blue Palm is one of the very pretty varieties planted upon the choicest lawns. Its correct name is Erythea Armata, and it is a native of Lower California, that part of the country so little known. In the young plants, the blue "bloom" is very striking, and if the Palm is grown in the sun in sandy soil the "bloom" will always remain, but a shaded position and heavy soil destroys that beautiful color. It grows to about forty feet in its wild state, but does nothing like that in Southern California. It makes however a beautiful growth and adds to the beauty of a lawn, whether alone or arranged with other varieties.--_Georgina S. Townsend, So. Cal._
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A Reliable Heart Cure.
Alice A. Wetmore, Box 67, Norwich, Conn., says if any sufferer from Heart Disease will write her she will without charge direct them to the perfect home cure she used.
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A Household Necessity
The Kitchen Cabinet advertised on page 19 of this paper should be called the Woman's Friend. It is only 46 inches in length, 27 inches in width and 61 inches in height, but in this compact space may be stored 50 lbs. of flour, 50 lbs. of meal, 50 lbs. of sugar, with drawers and shelves for spices, knives, forks, spoons, pans, etc., etc., in fact a woman may do all her baking and scarcely move out of her tracks.
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This Boy won a $25.00 Prize selling _THE SATURDAY EVENING POST_ YOU can do the same
This is the "Champion Boy" of the State of Washington. His name is Harry Ireland. The smile on his face is due to the fact that he had in his pocket a check for $25 from THE SATURDAY EVENING POST.
This $25 is in addition to the regular commission he receives week after week for selling THE POST.
Harry is a hustler. The long strip of paper he holds in his hand is covered with closely written signatures of people who have instructed him to deliver THE POST for four consecutive weeks.
He persuaded several prominent business men to sign at the top of the sheet and their names influenced others to sign until the list became longer than he is tall.
This is one of the many ways we have suggested to help boys to sell THE POST. It makes the work so easy that thousands of boys have taken it up. Some are making $10 to $15 a week after school hours.
You can start in this business, at once, without capital. Send us your name and we will forward 10 free copies, which you can sell at five cents each. This will supply capital for the next week's order.
=$300 IN CASH TO BOYS Who Do Good Work EACH MONTH=
The Curtis Publishing Company, 215 Arch Street, Philadelphia
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DAKOTA, NORTH AND SOUTH
_Editor Mayflower:_
I believe the main trouble in growing Verbenas is in not getting them started early enough. They grow very slowly at first and if they are not good strong plants when set out are almost sure to die. If you get them started late do not think to hurry them by putting them out with the others that grow faster. Wait patiently until they are at least an inch and a half high and their quick growth will surprise you. And I will say to comfort some one who can not have flowers because the pigs sometimes get out, that I have never seen a pig touch a Verbena though I have lost Pinks and other flowers growing beside them. There is another flower that grows wild here that covered a quarter of our pasture last fail yet was not touched. The leaves resemble a Verbena some but are wider and not so thick; the main stalk is about two feet high when full grown and the branches run like a Verbena. The flowers are red and yellow mixed and about the size and shape of Rose Moss. They last one day and a hollow sphere-shaped seedpod takes their place. Can anyone tell me what the name is?--_Mrs. Nellie Fitzgerald, So. Dak._
FLORIDA
_Editor Mayflower:_
I thought that I would write an account of the curious freaks of Weigelia Eva Rathke received from Floral Park and transplanted to my grounds two years ago this winter. On the near approach of spring it began to grow rapidly, and soon bore its first crop of flowers. And such flowers as they were it was a rare treat to behold. Their five-petaled corollas, faultless in form, and each perhaps an inch and a half in diameter, were of the darkest and most intense red; a color that is almost unrivaled by any other, and which it retains till the last, is one of its attractions. About a month later it bloomed again, and kept up a continuous growth, which did not end till frozen down to the ground in the following December, after it had attained a height of over two feet. So I came to the conclusion that being a Northern shrub, and full of sap, it was undoubtedly killed out, root and branch. The next spring, when the ground had become well warmed up, I beheld two delicate, tiny looking sprouts from the root, which I immediately took charge of, giving them shade and an occasional watering. After awhile their growth became more vigorous; and after having attained a height of about eighteen inches they formed their terminal buds in early autumn, and ceased growing. At present both of them are alive along their entire length and all their buds are plump and dormant. I shall make a strong effort to push this shrub when warm weather comes again, as it looks as though under favorable circumstances it ought to thrive in the South. I also believe that Weigelia Rosea would likewise be at home here, as it is a thrifty large growing shrub in the North, and has every appearance of being an iron-clad.--_Joshua Morris._
GEORGIA
_Editor Mayflower:_
A well-grown Carnation cannot, in my opinion, be surpassed in elegance, beauty, or odor, by any other flower, yet we scarcely ever see it in perfection. Our summers here are too dry and hot for the full development of its beauties, but the young plants sent me from THE MAYFLOWER headquarters early this spring have so successfully overcome all difficulties that I cannot refrain from telling your readers that I think my success was due, first, to healthy young plants, and secondly, to ordering them _early_ in the season. Many years, for the want of this knowledge, I waited until the time for setting out tender plants in May before putting out Carnations, and thus deprived them of a season of six weeks well adapted to their growth. As Carnation plants are almost hardy, they may, with safety, be put out in the open ground in any section of the country as soon as lettuce, cabbage, etc., are planted. Of the dozen plants I received from THE MAYFLOWER only one has succumbed to our hot Southern summer, and the greater number are at this writing (Aug. 7,) growing beautifully. They are planted around the edge of a bed of Tea Roses, and have received no special attention except an occasional pinching out of the terminal shoots to produce a stocky growth. When the roses were mulched with grass clippings at the beginning of summer a layer was placed around the Carnations, and when the Roses are sprinkled with the hose every evening the Carnations come in for their share of the moisture. A single blossom of Gen. Maceo would amply repay me for all the trouble I have taken, as one flower of this variety remained fresh and bright for over a week.--_A. M. Stuart._
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Deafness Can Be Cured
I Have Made the Most Marvelous Discovery for the Positive Cure of Deafness and Head Noises and I Give the Secret Free.
With This Wonderful, Mysterious Power I Have Made People Deaf for Years Hear the Tick of a Watch in a Few Minutes.
Send Me No Money--Simply Write Me About Your Case and I Send You the Secret by Return Mail Absolutely Free.
After years of research along the lines of the deeper scientific mysteries of the occult and invisible of Nature-forces I have found the cause and cure of deafness and head noises, and I have been enabled by this same mysterious knowledge and power to give to many unfortunate and suffering persons perfect hearing again; and I say to those who have thrown away their money on cheap apparatus, salves, air-pumps, washes, douches and the list of innumerable trash that is offered the public through flaming advertisements, I can and will cure you to stay cured. I ask no money. My treatment method is one that is so simple it can be used in your own home. You can investigate fully, absolutely free and you pay for it only after you are thoroughly convinced that it will cure you, as it has others. It seems to make no difference with this marvelous new method how long you have been deaf nor what caused your deafness, this new treatment will restore your hearing quickly and permanently. No matter how many remedies have failed you--no matter how many doctors have pronounced your case hopeless, this new magic method of treatment will cure you. I prove this to your entire satisfaction before you pay a cent for it. Write to-day and I will send you full information absolutely free by return mail. Address Dr. Guy Clifford Powell, 1592 Auditorium Building, Peoria, Ill. Remember, send no money--simply your name and address. You will receive an immediate answer and full information by return mail.
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IOWA
_Editor Mayflower:_
My Cineraria did no good except to keep alive until I removed the top soil and put in a mixture of garden soil, one-fourth well rotted manure, and one-fourth sand. It is now doing extremely well. I put my Tuberose in water and it remained there for six or eight hours, then I planted it in earth mixed like that for the Cineraria. I planted my Cyclamen in the same kind of soil. Both are doing nicely. I lost a number of Begonia slips by keeping the earth too wet. I now keep the earth moist and I have the plants in a cool place, which seems to be better for them. It takes a long time for a new growth to appeal. My neighbor asked me to care for five of her large Begonias. The flies and the dust had almost destroyed them. She told me not to give them a shower bath as that would 'cook' the leaves. I did it, however, and the Begonias were doing nicely when she took them home again. I was invited to visit an old fashioned flower garden a few days ago. I did so and found it old, old fashioned indeed. The flower beds were arranged here and there in the vegetable garden. Phlox seemingly four feet high, Hibiscus that would certainly measure ten feet around the largest part of the bush, and a few other plants of the same order. All the bloom was very scattering and very small and quite inferior to what up-to-date flower beds should be.--_Ursula._
ILLINOIS
_Editor Mayflower:_