The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1878-11-21

snowdrop, hyac1nth, crocus, tulips, mar
cissus, iris, anemone, jonquil, etc. They
are all very easily cultivated, and few
words Of practical advice may be accept
able. like sandy soil for these bulbs,
and if the soil is naturally stiff or clayey,
an addition of two or three inches OF
sharp sand, we'll mixed in by repeated
spading, will put it in good condition !;
the bed should also be very rich, and q
good coat of fine manure should be
thoroughly worked in before planting.
Having raked off the bed smoothly,
the bulbs are planted in groups or clus-
ters, to suit the taste of the gardener.
The crocuses and snowdrops can be
planted about three inches apart the
tulips, narcissus and jonquils five or six
inches apart the hyacinths about ten
inches. The bulbs should be placed
about two inches under the surface of
the bed. It is good plan to consider
the color the flowers will have, when
planting the bulbs, and group together
colors that harmonize. Thus, purple
and yellow crocuses go we'll together,
and white will bear mixing in consider
able quantities with all the other colors.
There is room for exercising good deal
of taste in the arrangement of colors in
garden beds.
After planting, the bulbs will need no
further care until spring, except that, if
it is desired to have them bloom very
early, it will be desirable to cover the
bed over in November with foot of dry
leaves, or other litter, to prevent frost
from entering deeply, and this covering
will need to be removed about March
20, as the bulbs "come up in the cold,"
as the old song has it. The early flow
ering of these bulbs makes them univer-
sal favorites for small beds in the lawn
or area of the city and suburban dwell
ing. They make the beds gay with
flowers at a season when all else is vet
but giving us the future promise of
flowers. They need little room, little
care, little expense, and repay the little
trouble expended upon them most CRATE
fully. Who would be without bed of
them2
The bed those bulbs occupy can be
used in May or June for planting gera-
niums, verbenas, or any other bedding
plants, for the bulbs can be taken up as
soon as they are done towering and laid
away to dry, to be planted again in au-
tumn. They are so cheaply furnished,
however, by the seedsmen, that few peo.
pie will care to take this trouble with
them. It is worth mentioning that the
crocus, tulip and snowdrop may be left
several years, without lifting the bulbs,
in the same bed, and have seen cro-
cuses thrive in the sod of lawn, flow.
ering among the grass for years in sue
cession. The flowers grown thus, how
ever, are rather inferior. Florist. in
american CultiUator.
A Chapter on stings.
The pain caused by the sting of a
plant or insect is the result of certain
amount of acid poison injected into the
blood. The first thing to be done is to
press the tube of small key firmly on
the wound, moving the key from side to
side to facilitate the expulsion of the
sting and its accompanying poison.
The sting, if left in the wound, should
be carefully extracted, otherwise it will
greatly increase the local irritation.
The poison of stings being acid, common
sense points to the alkalies as the proper
means of cure. Among the most easily
procured remedies may be mentioned
soft soap, liquor of ammonia, spirits of
hartshorn, smelling salts, washing soda,
quick-lime made into paste with water,
ime-water, the juice of an onion, to.
bacco juice, chewed tobacco, bruised
dock leaves, tomato juice, wood ashes,
tobacco ash and carbonate of soda. If
the sting be severe, rest and coolness
should be added to the other remedies,
more especially in the case of nervous
subjects. Nothing is so apt to make the
poison active as heat, and nothing favors
its activity less than cold. Let the body
be kept cool and at rest, and the activity
of the poison will be reduced to a mini
mum. Any active exertion whereby the
is quickened will increase
both pain and swelling. If the swelling
be severe the part may be rubbed with
sweet oil, or drop or two Of laudanum.
Stiugs in the eye, esr, mouth or throat,
sometimes lead to serious consequences;
in such cases medical advice should
always be sought as soon as possible.
Notes for the Orchard and Gnrden.
In many portions of the country there
has been such an excess of rain that ar
titicial watering has not suggested it.
self. The summer of last year, as well
as the one just past, having been un-
usually moist, there is the greater
that the coming one will be
dry. There are few localities that do
not have their years of drouth, and
when the facilities are at hand there
should always be provision for irriga.
tion. 1t may be that watering will be
really needed but once in three or five
years it is this uncertainty that makes
it all the more necessary to be prepared
for drouth when it does come. Every
fruit grower has known
seasons when an abundance of water
would have given him yield of straw
berries, the profits on which would have
paid for much larger outlay than is
ordinarily required to provide means to
irrigate the whole garden and so with
other crops. In our uncertain climate
the control of water in both directions
is necessary to the best success. Ability
TO remove excess by drainage, and to
supply the deficiency by irrigation,
give the enterprising cultivator a great
advantage over the one who takes
things as they come" This is a most
favorable time for all work requiring
the removal of earth and such improve
ments as road-making, grading, etc., are
not only more sure of being made, but
they will be better done now than in the
busy, but often cold and cheerless days
Of spring.
A Mountain Garden.
A garden 81 300 feet above the level