Evening star., 1934-09-01
The Home Gardener
Practical and Seasonal Hints for the Amateur for
Beautifying Surroundings of the Home.
BY ]. w. WELLINGTON.

TINE exhibition of the Potomac
Rose Society to be held Octo-
Der 5 and 6 in the New Ma
Il tional Museum is only q few
weeks distant, yet there are,
according to David Lunlsden of that
society, several steps that may now
be taken toward improving the quail
ity of roses that may be available for
the show. Black spot, the spores of
which are ever lurking in the rose
beds, must be controlled. Prof. Lums-
den suggests bordeaux mixture or any
of the several proprietary fungicides
that may have been found successful.
Roses without leaves or with dis
eased leaves cannot be expected to
win awards. The soil in the beds
should be kept cultivated and liquid
fertilizer supplied once a week to the
date of the show. To make such ma
terial Prof. Lumsden suggests phos-
phate of ammonia 1 ounce, nitrate of
soda ~ ounces, nitrate of potash
1A ounces, sulphate of ammonia 1A
ounces; all dissolved in so gallons
of water.
Pruning out the obviously inactive
wood from the plants and heading
back of tall, irregular growths is
advised to stimulate strong new
shoots capable of producing prize
roses. When the flower buds appear
on the terminals of the new shoots
of the hybrid tea and hybrid per-
petual varieties, further side buds
should be pinched out to throw all
the energy of the plant into the main
blossoms. This disbudding should
be performed as soon as the side buds
can be removed without injuring the
selected central bud. 1t is possible,
according to Prof. Llmsden, to re-
tard the development of buds that ap-
pear to be maturing too rapidly by
shading them during midday.
Protecting Grapes.
A BOUT this time of year, when the
"A home gardener looks at his grapes
and finds them decaying badly and
more or less laden with worms, he
has a feeling of remorse for failing
to have sprayed at the proper season.
Perhaps no other fruit plant responds
more readily to a minimum of care.
Two or possibly three sprayings with
bordeaux mixture, supplemented in
the first spray with lead arsenate,
would have put the crop over in good
shape, and left the plants in much
better condition for next year.
However, sprays do not prevent in
juries from birds and certain insects
which attack the ripening berries.
Years ago gardeners learned that they
could inclose individual clusters in
paper sacks and thereby insure them
reaching prime condition without
damage. There is, in fact. no better
way of producing choice clusters for
the table or for display at horticul-
tural exhibitions. The grape is not
like the peach or apple, since it colors
just as well in the shade as in full
sunlight and so, upon opening the
paper sacks, one finds beautifully
colored and perfect grapes. However,
spraying and bagging of clusters go
hand in hand. The half-grown grapes
that GO into the sacks must be obvi-
ously free of worms and disease or
the work will be mostly in vain.
Gladi0lus Again.
ZACH year the American Gladiolus
IL Society conducts written voting
contest concerning the favorite va
rieties of its members. The Summer
issue of the Gladiolus Review, the
official journal of the society, presents
the results of the 1888 vote. The
first 10 varieties were Picardy, Minuet,
Marmora, Betty Nuthall, Mr.. w. H.
Phipps, Commander Koehl, Mother
Machree, Pfitzer's Triumph, DR.. F. E.
Bennett and Mrs. Leon Douglas. None
of these are strikingly new varieties,
which leads one to believe that the
gardeners learn to appreciate their
gladiolus varieties and are reluctant
to give them up until they are fully
convinced that the novelties are really
better. 1t takes time for a variety
to establish itself as a garden ia
vorite and apparently it also takes
time before the home gardener is
willing to place his favorites in the
discard.
The Summer number Of the Review
was largely devoted to the national
oAAOW AAC40 mug 0ob io-HT db L41C SC1A@
tury of Progress Exposition.
One valuable suggestion by the Sec
retary of the society is that the
basal ends of gladiolus stalks be cut
off once q day when the water Is
changed, as the old ends become
clogged and uptake of water is in
terfered with.
Hollyhock Rust.