The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1896-08-14
ideas for qMo1neia.


~
The amateur flower grower is inclined
~ consider ahe MINER work among the
sauars aa,aa,f nnasfed in AUGUST. The
n,sr,ts tha4 have been patiently cared for
,,,rT;, +sav were vel established in their
@s,,,noar ness ana are in the prime of
49, h,oo,n,,,g haaa,rv are ss,,r,ased to
aa,a g ,tala cars If themselves now
s,,e ,bAre il nlegtv Of August work that
rs..st receive a+tentjon if ne would enjoy
nrof,as;on. of bJaorn ,,ntil frost.
o,,l+,,ra Is fbe n,,,lcbsng Of the plants
5bat are orleklx harmed by d~ro1ghts.
rAav shoai9d really have attention cartier
in the summer. but if it was neglected it
is Of special Importance in August. IN
that delighted book, my Summer In a
Garden. Mr.. Charles Dudley Warner
groans over the labor Of wedding. ne
evidently did not understand the practice
Of muiching, or ne would not haVe Iouru
the we1uang 50 hksome. "hai oie
wants for 1lab WORK, ne sass'
cast-1roh oaeh WIN q ahahse : Ia
orea gentleman WieA ~ :
oyer one ; hea1 "ouNA as
aN- .
1"e tol = - asg.asa4ar
o - aa-aanor
sr~~m !. ~ ria for
maLr ], tnaan,as s,,fsosan+ as follows.
.Tf :, osnna+ F,,craass the atvfdend de-
crsa Is the dtv,sor. the ress,lt is the same
Paasensne IN ! similar fashion regarding
INV garden work. I resolved If l could not
increase NV Facilities for keeping out the
49, -. - II ooI11u-
about the plants. I would decrease the
work.
I found that much could be done IN
his line by the judfcious use OF a sharp
hoe; but the greatest foe OF weeds ana
friend OF comfort that / have oiscoVerea
is mulching, Most flower growers musch
more or less; amateur gardners usuaiy
mulch less, 7 find. NV rule rs now 70
mulch everything, This, say is me
rule. OF course there are exceptions
and these exceptions are usually IN me
show beds on the front lawn that would
not look so well mu'chec. To the anna
teur flower gardener who must do his
gardening and enjoy his lowers IN me
odd moments b a can he anatched from
q busy life, this practice OF muachfne
is Indispensable. It no only removes
one of the most irksome jobs IN garden
ing. but gives him time for other work
that is more productive of results.
But there is mulctdng and m1Tlchtng-
I have tried various things and methods.
and have settled down to the use OF
marure for milehdng; and it VIII soon
be time to prepare now for next years
mulching. even If there is nothing con-
venient with which to give his work
attention for this season Every 1ail
I have a load of COW ana horse stable
litter dumped at the back OF the gar
den. where it thaws and freezes an VIM
ter. and 1t is ready for use the foAowang
season This treatment no doubt, loses
some of the fertfizing element. but II
makes the material fit for mulch. while
fresher and stronger manure would be
dangerous. l am satisfied that these
things make the best mufches. and they
also enrich the soil TO some degree.
The philosophy Of mulching Is that 1t
not only keeps down the weeds which
exhaust the fertility of the son If al
lowed to grow, but lit keeps the soil soft
and moist and promotes healthy root ac-
tfon and keeps the surface from becom-
hard ard baked during the hot. dry
ether. It il particularly useful on all
soils thst have a tendency to bake,
snd on light soils that dry out quickly
some plants annot be grown success
fully without liberal m-uiching-such as
carysanthernurns, swee't peas. 'tuberous
begonsas, etc It also produces really re-
~naarkable results with nearly all shrubs,
hardy herbeceous plants and annuaa bed
ding plants. especially geraniums. coleus
and ma
A rose he'd viii astordsh any enc who
VIII mulch it heavily in hummer, after
vigorous growth has begun; and viii Of
ten cause the June bloorners-the hardy
perpetual reses-to give a profuse second
blooming in August and September. A
few low growing plants mat together so
closely as to make their own mulch. and
some of the ANIMALS cannot be treated
in this way: but these-lfke phIox Drum
naouda-asually run so thickly together
after the early summer growth as to
crowd out tre weeds. Even these are
benefited By a light mulch Of very fine
manure after they are a few inches high.
afte~ ths4 and MIR rewa-a onA far tho
s~o,,,ss - -a,~,,+ e~nsrsN 49, ~-as+ o.