Evening star., 1934-08-26
The Home Gardener
Practical and Seasonal Hints for the Amateur for
Beautifying Surroundings of the Home.
BY ]. w. WELLINGTON.

large bulbs are either notched across
| the base in star-ike fashion or the
base of the bulb is scooped out with
a knife so that each layer Of scales
is cut. Then the cut bulbs are placed
in warm storage. In a few weeks
| there will have formed many little
| bulblets on the wounded surface. Each
notched bulb may form as many as
30 and each scooped bulb as high as
| 100 little bulblets. These are painted
in prepared beds in the Fall and
| given careful culture. According to
Hotties Practical Plant Propagation
the bulblets from the notched bulbs
require three or four years to reach
Towering age and those from the
scooped parents four or five years.
However, the process greatly speeds
up natural reproduction.
Hyacinths are favorites in many a
home garden, particularly for bed
ding and, although the gardener may
not care to resort to this rather
technical method of propagation, he
will at least be interested in the
procedure.
Glazed Flower Pots.
COME of the older home gardeners
may recollect how nicely ge-
raniums and begonias grew in tin
cans or other crude containers in
a sunny window of some country
home of long ago. Now one of our
experiment stations, Massachusetts,,
reports the results of experiments
which showed glazed pots better than
porous pots in relatively dry atmos-
pheres. Apparently the excessive loss
Of water through the porous sides
Of the usual plant pot is harmful
unless the air is kept very moist as
is the case in the greenhouse. All
that seems necessary to make tin
can useful is to punch a few holes
through the bottom and, for ap-
pearance's sake, TO paint the exterior
with green.
Variation In the Tomato.
& AGRICULTURAL historians state
that for the first two centuries
after the discovery of North America
the tomato was not use as food by
the white settlers, but was planted as
an ornamental in the garden. Such
a situation appears almost impossible
in view of the present tremendous
use of this vegetable. However, the
use of the tomato as an ornamental
does not seem SO strange to any one
who has seen the many variations in
color and shape. The So-called cherry
tomato, for example, with its clusters
of small globular red or yellow fruits
might very well be accepted as an
ornament in the garden, especially if
trained on trellis. The smaller
currant tomato would make an even
more acceptable ornamental. In ad-
dition, there are red and yellow pear
shapes, red and yellow plums and
several other variations. The to-
mato is truly a variable genus, much
less stable and more interesting than
any one might think who had never
seen any tomatoes except the large
fruited kinds on the ordinary market.
Gardeners Handbook.
DR. L. H. BAILEY, dean of Amer
ican horticulturists and one of
tie first to write primarily for the
home gardener, now presents another
helpful text, Gardeners Handbook. 4"
Designed to provide brief suggestions
for the growing of common flowers,
vegetables and fruits in the garden
and about the home, the new book is
certain to be very useful. The ma
terial is arranged alphabetically, max
Ing an index unnecessary, and the
wording is so simple and non-tech-
nical as to be easily understandable
by the everyday gardener.
Garden Notes.
THE percentage of actual nitrogen
in the So-called nitrogen ferti-
lizers varies tremendously as indicated
in the following figures taken from
the August number of the Minnesota
Horticulturist: Cow manure, A per
cent; shredded sheep manure, 2.25
per cent; tobacco stems, is per cent;
raw bone meal, 4-5ths per cent;
steamed bone meal, Y per cent; hen
manure, 1.6 per cent; tankage, 6-9ths
per cent; potassium nitrate, II per
cent; sodium nitrate, 15-l6ths per
cent; sulphate of ammonia, 20-21ths
per cent; urea. 46 per cent. Hence,
when one speaks of nitrogen ferti-
lizer, it is very important to specify
the name of the material Sodium
nitrate, better known as nitrate of
soda, is one of the best known nitro
gen fertilizers for home garden use.
Nitrate of soda and sulphate of am
monia are handled by most all local
garden supply stores.
The round-headed catalpa or UNI
brella tree is developed in the nursery
by budding or grating the dwarf
form on the ordinary field catalpa.
AS rule, the umbrella tree has little
value on the small suburban property,
but is of use in large, formal plant
ings. The trees endure severe prun-
ing in early Spring and there Is no
need OF permitting them to grow out
OF bounds. Frequently at this season,
these catalpas become infested with
large black and gold caterpillars. One
busting with powdered arSenate of
lead, one part to nine of hydrated
lime, will readily destroy the cater
pillars.
The National Horticultural Maya
zine, published in this city, provides
wealth of authoritative information
on newly introduced ornamental
plants. This magazine is the official
journal of the American Horticultural
Society.
A writer in the National Nurseryman
for June suggests the replacement of
California privet hedges with roses.
particularly the pink and red Grooten-
dorst varieties, which are said to need
no support and are capable of with
standing repeated prunings.
Last Winter, when the usual ferns
Of garden forSythia were badly in
jured at the Arnold Arboretum, locat-
ed near Boston, three less known
species proved thoroughly hardy. OF
the three, the Korean form, Forsythia
ovata, is considered of the greatest
garden value. The flowers, described
as smaller than those of our common
varieties. are said to be graceful and
attractive.
OF a collection of 210 varieties of
climbing roses near Harrisburg, Pa.
IA per cent were killed and another
Al per cent badly hurt during the past
Winter.