The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-06-13
Progressive Farmer.)

tIy, but actually as adding money
valve to the farm; for II one ls coni-
PEELED to sell a farm, one ulAl mas a
beautiful lawn, handsome trees ana
and where some attention
hac been given to flowers ana clllno-
ing vines, will sell for dollars more an
acre than land Of same quaIlty aions,
side where there is a house unpaihleu
and bare, and no lawn nor trees nor
Towers The o"rnamentatlon OF the
home, then, ad0S value IL eSo' Wv
Of the farm. -.
Now. as I am not farming in my OLD
age but merely gardening, l try 70
practice wrnat | preach, and am every
season trying to increase the beauty OF
nv home with flowers and climbing
plants. When I bought my present
residence it was simply a house bullt
on the corner of two streets and With
in a few feet Of the front street so
that / can have but little grass IN
front. But fortunately the street is a
rev one and still unfinished, ana mas
no curb nor pavement, as l am d "noie
book off the paved avenues. We lald
off a space on each side Of the whole
street, my place included, ten feet vide
outside the paved sidewalk. Ih1s ts
levelled and SoWed to bluegrass and a
row of trees planted IN the center
with Towering s~hrubbery between or
my part of tie space, and l have l0o
lt6I JIOlL OH III ~ -
called. This grass space extends on
The side street as well, and there L
have etwee the trees a row Of Nee
hams malloWs that make great masses
OF big flowers like cotton blooms, but
larger, and all colors from white TO
crimson.
Inside the sidewalk have a hedge
of the Amoor River privet that is
more evergreen than the California
pIivet so much used. Around the
porch on both front and side there is
a border in which are planted twenty
eight varieties of Towering shrubbery.
On the edge of this border | plant in
The fail a row of Dutch h~yacinths, and
a little back on each side of a walk
where the delivery wagons reach the
rear of the house, / have two beds Of
cannas. Then a circular bed inside
of these is planted in tulips in the fall.
These are now about to be taker- up,
and the bed viii be set with scarlet
sage around the edge and red-leaved
castor oil plants in the center.
My garden is surrounded by a fence
Of woven wire to keep out the neigh
bors' chickens. Along the front 1
have a row Of nasturtiums to climb on
the fence. Inside of these is a row
of white lilies now shooting up to
bloom. These are a commercial mat
ter with me for / grow them by thou
sands for the florists North. On
another part Of the fence / have sweet
peas growing. These were planted in
January, for we must have them
early to get good flowers. In my back
yard, in the rear Of the coal and wood
house, the space is filled by a plot Of
eel prepared soil in which I have
now planted an edging of hardy carna-
tions grown from seed. Inside OF
these are a number Of varieties OF
chrysanthemums and scarlet sage and
Cnro ~ orI 10 hid Nh rnor Of
the w~ood-house, l have planted climb
ing Chinese beans.
Part of the garden fence is devoted
TO grape vines. and still another part
to late peas and butter beans. Along
lie front of the porch l have boxes
made of cedar set outside the porch
rail and filled with plants of various
sorts, and in the border below / have
lnoonflower vines to climb on the
porch in Their in my garden
/ do not devote the whole space to
vegetables, but part Of it to flowers.
! grow dahlias from seed every spring
IN a cold frame and set the little seed
llngs out in rows. 1t is great fun to
watch them coming into bloom and 20
see h sort Of Flowers they make.
Some will be single and some double,
but the single ones are fine for cut
ting. These seeding dahlias are bet
ter here than the old roots, as they
bloom later, while the old roots are
apt to try to bloom in the hottest
weather, and the flowers do not
amount to much. Hence, I keep none
over but a few specially fine ones.
These I place upside down in a heap
In the fall and cover them with straw
and earth pretty much like we keep
sweet potatoes. They keep better in
this way than put in the cellar where
they are apt to dry rot. The Gamma
bees are covered thickly with rubbish
from the garden and uncovered in
the spring. Then l plant, as / have
said. thousands of the old-fashi ,ned
n hite lilies, Lilium candidum. These
are dug and shipped in July, and my
late vegetable crops come in on the
same land. Gladioli are planted large
", too, for they thrive and increase
wonderfully in our sandy soil. Then l
grow a variety Of summer bulbs such
as amarNlliS of various kinds AID