Evening star., 1942-10-31

o.
number Of horticultural journals.
devoted space to garden problems. .
the benefit of their members.
Much OF this information to be
useful must be given some sort OF
Interpretation or evaluation. Most
writings, to have wide application
must be written in rather general
terms. If written for specific grow
ing conditions their field Of distribu.
ton Is severely limited.
Our gardens have definite soil and
climatic conditions, and the infor-
nation to be OF use to us must
recognize these conditions. A splen-
did book on gardening under shady
conditions was based on New Eng
land climate, hence must be inter-
preted If 1t is to be applied to this
area. Shade Is a relative term
Plants in this area will tolerate more
shade than they will in New Eng
land. Lilies seem to thrive and have
much less difnculty a hundred miles
north Of here. Thus, a book of lilies
may be authoritatively written by q
lily specialist and still be of only
moderate value in helping us tc
grow these tempermental garden
gems.
Information May
Be Too General.
Some TO the garden journals are
attempting to meet this problem by
devoting q section to garden prob
lens in each area. Still they are
written in general terms.
General information is Of consid-
erable help to the amateur when
It Is written in simple and direct
form. 1t should be non-technical
In style, If not in Technology. since
the majority of home gardeners
have had little, If any, contact with
garden work.
Local gardeners will find that the
United States Department of Agri-
culture has number of very excel
lent bulletins farmers' bulletins and
Leaflets on gardening subjects that
are helpful. Most of them may be
obtained by addressing a card to
the department.
The University of Maryland, the
Virginia Polytechnic Institute, like
wise have publications Of interest to
the home gardeners. These are apt
to prove of considerable value, since
they deal with plant culture under
local conditions.
OF the hundreds Of books that
have been written on gardens and
garden problems, 1t is possible to
mention only few to illustrate the
various fields Of coverage.
The writing In this field varies
from garden encyclopedias, such as
the popular priced one edited by
e. L. D. Seymour and host OF in
teresting experience stories to the
bible of American horticulturists,
Bailey's "The Standard Cyclopedia
Of Horticulture" three-volume
work that is rather technical. Then
there are the less general books,
such as THE Book of Animals" by
Alfred c. Hotties; "The Book OF
by the same author; Rock
Gardens and What to Grow in
by James H. Bissland, and
"The Plant Doctor" by Cynthia
Still more confined limits
Of discussion may be had in such
books as Hardy Chrysanthemums,"
by Alex Cumming, jr.; Cactus Cul-
ture," by Ellen D. Schulz; Day
lilies" by DR.. A. B. Stout; "Our
Ferns" by Willard N. Clute, and
Herbs: Their Culture and Uses" by
Rosetta E. Clarkson. Or they may
refer to specific problems, such as
Hedges, Screens and Windbreaks," J"
by Donald Wyman; Gardening in
the Greenhouse by Anne Dor
rance: Plants in the Home"
by Frank K. Balthis; Book OF
Landscape Gardening" by Frank A.
Waugh, or Gardening in the
Shade" by H. K. Morse.
Other Books
Helpful.
Several books deal with seasonal
problems in the garden, such as
"Around the Year In the Garden"
by F. F. Rockwell; Your Garden
This Week." by Ben Blackburn, and
"The Gardeners Almanac" by E. I.
harrington.
Then there are those that give
general overall discussion for
the home gardener, such AS THE
Small Garden" by Katherine and
Arthur Storm, and THE Wild Gar
den" by Margaret McKenny.
For those who want science in
their garden there are "Soilless Cul-
ture Simplifed," by Alex Laurie;
Pruning and Repairing" by Vic
tor H. Ries; PLANT Propagation
g99 Questions Answered." by Alfred
C. Hotties: Science in the Garden,
by H. B. Logan, j. M. Putnam and
L. Cosper, and Gardening With
the Experts by IL noted authori-
ties.
The horticultural journals are
rather limited in number. How
ever, there ,are several that are
strictly for the home gardener, such
as The Flower Grower, Horticul-
ture, Gardeners Chronicle and
The Garden Digest, etc. Their
there are those that are not SC
restricted in scope, such as Better
Homes and Gardens, House ano
Garden, American Home, etc. In
addition there are those spon-
sored by our national societies such
as The National Horticultural Mag.
azine, The Cactus and Succulent
Journal, The American Rose Quar-
terly, The Bulletin of the American
Iris Society, etc.
Journals ALSO
General.
The horticultural journals, like
garden books are written for the
general reader and do not deal with
local problems. However, they are
current and keep abreast with the
latest research and plant breeding
Most of them are ably manned with
capable stats although they often
times carry articles written pri-
marily for sales promotion purposes
For the most part newspapers and
garden club publications should pro-
vide the amateur with the most
definite and reliable of information