Evening star., 1934-04-01
SUNDAY WASHINGTON D.
The Home Gardener
Practical and Seasonal Hints for the Amateur for
Beautifying Surroundings of the Home.
BY ]. w. WELLINGTON.

~ COIltdllS tHe import ILanI elements
nitrogen, PHOSPHORUS and potash. As
a matter of fact the plant actually
uses dozen or more elements but the
others, with the possible exception of
life, are generally present In sufficient
quantity In local soils. The word COM
plete does not tell the whole story for
the different elements may be present
in different proportions and amounts.
BY law. the percentage of the sew
eral ingredients must be printed
clearly on the original container For
general garden use the formula should
read 4-8-4 or better. meaning that in
each pound of material there is 4 per
cent of actual nitrogen, 8 per cent of
phoSphorous and per cent potash.
Some of the newer high test fertilizers
run much higher and thus it involves
using proportionately less per given
area
OF materials in the vicinity of 4-s-4
or slightly above, two to three pounds
makes reasonable application for
each 100 square feet of garden.
Before passing from the subject, one
cannot refrain from stating that fer
tilizing. though important. is but one
step in developing a good garden.
Proper spacing of plants. cultivation,
weed suppression, pest control all be-
come important factors. Perhaps nine
tenths Of the plants food is manu-
factured in it's leaves through the
agency Of sunlight. Commercial fer
tilizer merely supplies few of the ma
terials that combine to make the
complete story. Nevertheless, with
out this fertilizer all the rest of the
program may easily fail. Grass, trees,
shrubs. perennials and annual flowers
and vegetables all need supplemental
feeding. particularly in the relatively
infertile soils that characterize this
locality.
Garden Notes.
y ARDENERS, who left gladiolus,
" Gamma and dahlia roots in the
soil with the expectation Of sur
vival are pretty certain to be dis
appointed. Even with the snow pro-
lection, frost penetrated deeply this
past Winter and must have destroyed
the buds 1t is desirable that the
Gamma roots held over Winter in the
cellar be moved to a warm location.
thus stimulating growth somewhat be-
fore setting outdoors in early May.
Although much damage was done to
peaches from Winter killing. certain
varieties at Arlington farm across the
Potomac River are reported to retain
80 1iy
buds. Only a small percentage Of a
full bloom is required to set fair crop
Of peaches.
The Garden Clubs.
4 UNIQUE and entertaining pro-
~ gram has been arranged for
the meeting Of the Woodbridge
Garden Club to be held Monday eve
ming. April 2. at the Sherwood Presby-
terian Hall There is planned an in
formal exhibit of house plants, ter
rariums and Winter bouquets and
showing of films depicting the natural
life of Hawaii The films. loaned to
the club through the courtesy Of
Delegate McCandless. include one OF
plants and flowers in natural colors
The officers of the club for 1924 in
clude Mrs. A. L. Foster. president;
Or. Freeman Weiss. vice president;
Mrs. A. H. Engelbrecht. secretary. and
A. H. Engelbrecht. corresponding sec
retary. The Woodbridge narcissus
show is scheduled for the evening of
April is.
Capt. Merle Davis, speaker at the
March IS meeting Of the Takoma
Horticultural Club presented an in
and general culture. The following
list of 10 varieties was suggested as
of highest value for local home gar
deners: Picardy. minuet, marmora.
Mrs. P. w. Sisson, Emile Auburn, Gay
Hussar, Carolus. Clusius. Comdr
Koehl. Fanny Crosby and Mother
Machree None of these Is high priced
Six new members were admitted to
the club and farewell letter to Mrs
Homer C. Skeels was Endorsed by the
club and signed by the members For
more than two decades. the Skeel
home has been a show place in Ia
koma, especially during the iris sea-
son.
From Mrs. W. r. Talbot in charge
OF publicity. it is learned that the
Community Garden Club of Rockville
held its 10th meeting at the home
of Mrs. George Hane of Alta Vista.
The hostess was assisted by Mrs.
Charles Leet and Mrs Agnes MCGEE.
The chrysanthemum was selected
as the flower meriting the greatest
attention by the club members this
season. The speaker of the after
noon, Mrs. Daniel c. Davis, president
Of the Community Garden Club of
Chevy Chase. discussed design and
color in the garden. The next meet
ing is scheduled for April l.: at the
home Of Mrs. Lawson King. who will
be assisted by Mrs. Thomas Troxall.
Mrs. Lewis Reed and Miss Laura Ann
Wadsworth.
The Takoma Horticultural Club
Narcissus Show has been scheduled
as of April 1S and 10. As usual this
show will be held in the Takoma
Branch Of the Public Library. The
abundant purchase of choice new
varieties by club members in the last
year or two forecasts an interesting
and beautiful display.
Local home gardeners should be
interested in a two-day gardening
school to be held at the University
Of Maryland. Included in the list OF
speakers are such we'll known gar
den authorities as B. Y. Morrison and
Edwin c. Powell of the United States
Department of Agriculture, T. H. Ev-
erett of the New York Botanical Gar
den, j. H. Mcfarland Of the American
Rose Society. and J. B. S. Norton, M.
M. Shoemaker and A. S. Thurston of
the Maryland faculty. A novel fea-
ture will be lectures by Japanese la
dies on Oriental gardens. Programs
may be obtained from the University
OF Maryland, College Park.