Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1902-05-03

Outdoor Sowing.
One of the best ways to beautify
town and attract desirable residents Is
to plant flowers in public places. There
is usually plenty of space around the
town hall or other public buildings in
which to make flower beds, and they
add 100 per cent to the beauty of the
town. Much money is wasted however
owing to the ineXperience of those who
do the work and select the plants.
The nasturtium is the most accommo. !!
dating of plants, making the best OF
any situation in which it finds itself,
says the Philadelphia Ledger In box
on a fencepost or window ledge it will
droop and show it's rich cOlors in gar
lands; backed by a range of chicken
wire it will weave itself in and out as
screen; given brush heap, a pile Of
rubbish or the level ground, and it will
make of it a mass of green and gOr.
geous coloring. Its one purpose in liv
ing is to perfect it's beautifully sculp
tured Seeds and with this ambition
kept in check by cutting the blooms as
they open, the plants will continue to
grow and to blossom from early sum.
mer until frost No plant is easier to
grow, none is so patient under neglect
and so responsive to good care.
When sweet peas are to be sown
out of doors in the spring, the soil
must be prepared as early as it can be
worked. Dig a trench about foot
wide and a foot deep and burn in it
,pl 60, 81 f,,a1 r -
ashes. If this cannot be done, add
about an inch of hardwood ashes. On
this put three or four inches of well
rotted manure and cover with two or
three inches of soil. Pack this close,
either by stamping or pounding. Cover
with an eighth of an inch of bone dust,
then add two inches of soil, and on this
SOW the seeds thickly. Dust the seeds
well with ground mustard to protect
them from wireworms and mice and
cover with an inch of soil. Water
well and then add another inch of soil,
packing the whole together by cover
ing with board and stepping on it.
BY having the plants about two
inches apart and the food supply be-
low they will root deeply, and by keep.
ing the surface soil loose to serve as a
mulch the ordinary rainfall will give
moisture enough to carry the plants
through even a period of drought un-
aided if the flowers are kept cut as
| they come to perfection. Surface root
ing caused by watering, surface feed
ing or letting flowers go to seed will
all serve to shorten the blooming season.
The outdoor sowing should not be
until the weather is settled. If seed
is sown in boxes indoors now, there
will be plants of good size to get out
when the weather is warm enough for
working among them. The seeds ger
inmate quickly, and the first leaves. be-
ing of true form and good size, are at
once Il delight. Nasturtium seeds may
be put in an inch apart, with two
inches between the rows, and not
transplanted until moved to the garden
or may be sOWn very thickly in rows
and transferred to more roomy boxes
as soon as the seed leaves are I'M
folded.
For the ordinary garden an ounce
of "choice mixture" will give variety
of the best kinds. To these should be
added package of some of the new
varieties. a package contains about
a sixth of an ounce, or about thirty
seeds. Bought of a reliable scotsman,
each package will probably average
twenty plants.
1t is sometimes desirable to have q
large plant to fill a corner or q row OF
them to hide line fence or to break
view that is not pleasing or on q
lawn to have q tropical effect without
risking valuable palm. For each OF
these purposes the ritinus, or castor
oil plant. serves admirably. 1t grows
rapidly and, if the blossoms are re-
moved as they develop, will attain q
very considerable height and remain
slightly until the very severe frosts
And the family has even more than al
this , recommend it. Flies, mosqui
toes, gnats and many other insects, il
is said, do not like the plant and viii
not remain near it. "Windows will
ricinus growing before them do moi
need fly screens" says one housewife
Moles and mice will not burrow neal
its roots, and even rabbits avoid its
vicinity.
The plant is semitropical and seeds
should not be put in the ground out
side until the weather is to be depend
ed upon. The seeds germinate readily
and may be started indoors and the
transplanting be without risk. Las
year seeds were started indoors il
April, and others were sown outside il
May, when the plants of the first lo
were being put out. In August boil
lots were in flower and with no ap
parent difference in size or develop
= ment.
CobGa scaudens is one of the mos
satisfactory of the annual climbers. L
starts easily, has foliage that makes {
good showing for both form and color
has tendrils that will cling and hole
fast to whatever offers and in lat