Evening star., 1934-09-15
roofing and increases the percentages
Lawns From Cuttings.

roofing and increases the percentages
of success.
Lawns From Cuttings.
CEEDING is not the sole way of
- starting a lawn. They may be de-
veloped all at once by the placing of
sod brought in from some pasture or
field, and in many cases this is the
best procedure, especially on slopes.
Still another way of making lawn
is to obtain root cuttings of certain
bent grasses which form no seeds, but
which spread rapidly by underground
stems. In this way is grown the sod
for some of the marvellous golf green's.
Each bent grass plot is identical with
its neighbor so that there results an
extremely uniform lawn or green. The
bent grasses endure very close clip
ping, which is another advantage.
However, they require also lot of
care to keep out weeds and other
grasses and as a rule are not consid-
cred a satisfactory substitute for blue
grass for general purpose paintings.
Blister Beetles.
4 STERS, phlox and other garden
flowers are subject at times to the
attack of long, black beetles which
eat the petals and generally destroy
the flowers. These beetles are very
numerous on native flowers and when
they invade the garden their number
is often so great that strenuous meas
ures are required to bring them under
control. Sometimes their ravages may
be temporarily checked by shaking
the flower heads over pan of kero-
sene oil. Pyrethrum sprays are eff
fective in repelling these invaders and
certain of the f1uoSilicate dusts COM
pounded under proprietary names will
kill the blister beetles. 1t is no Won
der that the patient home gardener
once in while becomes disguised
with the ever-increasing number of
pests waiting for his crops. There are
really very few plants that require
no spraying or at least would not be
benefited thereby. 1t is little wonder
that DR.. L. o. Howard, the eminent
entomologist, warned that the great
est battle that mankind may have to
fight may be against insects. The home
gardener would willingly attest that
the fight is already on.
Hard Labor.
STRANGE as it may appear, many
old-time gardeners who derived
their professional knowledge directly
from Europe, did not believe roses
could be grown properly without first
digging out two or more feet of soil
and replacing 1t with broken stone
base covered with sods and enriched
soil. Admitting that these prepara-
tions resulted in beautiful flowers, one
would not admit also that the results
were sufficiently worth while to war;
rant the very strenuous toll necessi-
tated. By applying fertilizers or
manures to the soil between the plants
and mulching the beds with rotted
manure or even peat moss, just as
hne roses may be grown as with the
tedious old-time methods.
Another toilsome feature of the old
garden was the double spading known
as trenching. In this system the first
Spadeful of soil was removed and the
undersoil again spaded and fertilized
After this the top soil was restored.
Many of these practices simply de-
veloped from rule of thumb and were
never subjected to experimental test
such as modern horticultural practice
receives. 1t surely must have required
a lot of backbone and courage to have
been an old-time home gardener.
Garden Notes.
SCARLET SAGE, or saliva, is very
fine this year, the plants being
veritable shrubs of flaming color in
many gardens. 1t is strange why
many people dislike this brilliant
Autumn flower. Against back
ground of green shrubbery, the saliva
is very striking to say the least. Color
is none too plentiful at this particular
season and the saliva certainly sup
plies it.
The marigold, flower that is CEN
turies old, still holds an important
place in the home flower garden.
There are two distinct types of mari
Colds, the African and the French,
which, however, are not of the differ
ent geographical origin that the
names would imply. The African
marigold has been greatly improved
in recent years with the introduction
of new varieties such as Guinea Gold.
The French marigolds are almost
dwarf but exceedingly prolific when
planted in full sunlight. In partial
shade, however, this marigold is very
disappointing.
Clematis paniculata, now in full
bloom, is not at all comparable in
showiness to other varieties such as
Jackmani and Nine. Edouard Andre,
but its masses of small white, fra
grant flowers are very attractive |
whether on arbor or fence. This |