VOL. LV,
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., MARCH 31,1900
NO. 13
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Give a list of Plants aad   Flowers that
You art Preparing to Grow en
tbe Lswe this Summer.
lat Premium.—The ideal flower bed should
be large and rich and loamy,  and   in  the
country  lawn should have a  chicken-proof
fence around it.   (I bave wire netting around
mine.)    A pretty table always has a spray of
flowers, or a pot of fern.   If the flower bed
hae a background of evergreens, the flowers
will show to a better advantage, and if on the
north or west side lt will save the plants from
the rough play of the wind.   Mine is on the
east side of our house and on the north side of
evergreens.   About the lat of May spade it up
and rake it and make it in good order.   For
the border I plant sweet alyssun.; plants very
dwarf, only three or four  1»________ high, and
each plant spreads so as to completely cover a
large space. They soon become one mass of
white, remaining ln full bloom from spring
to fall, and are covered with beautiful miniature spikes of sweet scented flowers. Next ls
coleus, a beautiful class of well known and
popular ornamental foliage plants. Then geraniums. The double geranium has been wonderfully improved the past few years. We
now have them of as many and as beautiful
colors aa the single. Por bedding, tbey are
about as good every way as the single, and for
cutting, much better. For the center of bed,
caladlum Is one of the handsomest of the ornamental plants. There ls nothing so good
as this (caladlum esculentum) for a grand bed
of foliage. I have a bed on the west side of
the house for my cannas, which make a brilliant show all summer. There is no plant excelling the canna. It even surpasses the geranium ln its gorgeous display of brilliant colors,
blooming continuously from the time of
planting until cut down by frost. This is all I
have room for ln the lawn. The rest of my
flowers I plant in the garden next to the road,
I will tell you all I plant there. First the gladiolus. Everyone knows and admires the
beautiful gladiolus. It will grow and bloom
abundantly with but very little attention, yet
if one gives it extra care, the reward will be
two-fold. They may be planted from April to
July, and either in rows or in masses. I prefer them ln rows and cut when just coming
into bloom, they may be kept in the house
for days, if given fresh water, and will mature
as well as if left on the parent plant in the
garden. Very few annuals will make such a
gorgous display during the summer months
or furnish more flowere for cutting than verbenas. Mine were perfectly beautiful last
fall and remained beautiful ln flower and foliage after several severe freezes. Then comes
the dahlias, a great favorite everywhere for
many reasons. They are very showy and
commence blooming in August and continue
until cut down by frost. Next ls the eweet
pea. Theae are among the most beautiful of
all our hardy annuals. Then the cosmos, a
strong grower, having elegant foliage, and for
fall blooming has no superior. I have also
asters, numerous varieties, all of which are
handsome and well worthy of cultivation.
Moreover for summer and fall decoration, or
for decorative designs, they are much used
by florists. I will give a list of seeds I buy
from professional seedsman: sweet peas-
marigolds, verbenas, carnations, zinnias, ae.
ters, cosmos, larkspur, balBama, coxcombs, nasturtiums. Theee are all easy of cultivation
and they afford bloom until frost. The castor
oil bean (riclnua) has very ornamental foliage
and showy fruit and is fine for back ground
or center of bed. It gives a semi-tropical effect, and when planted thick makes a fine
hedge. Peonies are desired on account of
their large size, flne colors and profuse
blooming.   They are  extremely hardy  and
succeed well on any ground. I also have a
rose bed. The rose has ever been, and we suspect lt ever will be, the queen of flowers. It
is popular everywhere and justly so. I love
flowers, and am so glad and thankful tbat
God has given such beautiful things to
brighten our lives. M. J. F.
Marlon Oounty.
2d. Premium.—The size, location and surroundings of the lawn determine what plants
and how many should be grown. Our lawn
ls already supplied with shade trees, and a
few choice shrubs. Clematis paniculate shades
one side of the veranda, while sweet-scented
honey-suckle grows on the other. We grow
our favorite flowers, be they old or new varieties, because they give us most pleasure, though
we like each year to try something new. Since
only a comparatively small number of plants
can be successfully grown by one housekeeper
each must decide for herself what are best
adapted to her lawn, and what flowers she will
moet enjoy.
It is not desirable to cut up the yard ln
numerous flower beds, but by careful planning
and taeteful arrangement an abundance of
flowers may be grown, and yet leave broad
spaces of velvety sward on the lawn. We will
have a bed of tea roses, bordered with carnation pinks, in the three cornered space on the
sunny elde of the ve.-anda, aud on the other
side a bed of begonias, both vernon and tuberous rooted, while the border will be sweet
alyssum. In a half shady space against the
house panties will be grown There will be but
one flower bed out in the lawn. This will
contain a large caladlum as a center, then
two rows of Madame Crozy cannas, and the
border will b3 of dwarf nasturtiums. All the
other beds will be next the fence on either
side of the yard. In arranging the flowers ln
these beds, the plants making tall growth, or
having strong colors will be placed ln the
back-ground, the dwarfer varieties being set
in front. In selecting seed give some thought
to the time of blooming, and kind of situation beet adapted to the flowers. Thus asters
and cosmos are both late bloomers; nasturtiums and salvias need strong sun and not a
rich soil, while pansles and heliotrope do beet
in partial shade and a very rich soil. A little
wise forethought will secure bloom all the
season.
We are preparing for bedding that old
stand-by, the geranium. Last autumn when
the plants were lifted we took a number of
cuttings; these have been kept growing during
the winter and are now sturdy young plants.
The old geraniums were stored in the cellar
and are now set near the window to start
growth, as are also our half dozen tea roses. We
expect to purchase of our florist a few new
rosea.
Of bulbs we are starting ln the hot-bed,
dahlias, gladiolus, tube-roses, cannas, begonias, auratum (goldband) lilies, and our
caladlum. Many annuals may be brought
Into bloom much earlier by starting them in
the hot-bed or Indoors; we are starting pansy
seed, verbenas, nasturtiums, scarlet sage, cos-
mot, Marguerite carnations, sweet allyssum,
and asters. As soon as the toll it in proper
condition to work, we will tow, where they
are to stand, sweet peas and popples. Japanese morning glories will be planted along
the woven wire fence separating the front
yard from the back yard. Theae thrifty vinea
will soon form a good screen.
OOUSTBY COUSIH.
3d. Premium.—In the first place we do not
raise our flowers on the lawn, except, of
course, the hardy ones, tuch as peonies, rotes,
etc. We raise a great many chickena, and
while they are not bad about staying ln the
yard, still it seems Impossible to keep them
out entirely, and one old hen can In an hour
undo a whole season's work ln a flower bed.
So we have a little flower garden. It ls ln
the southwest corner of the yard. The woodshed shelters the north tide, and the other
sides have a fence of wire netting. The space
is 20X30 teet. All around the e_lge are sweet
peas. They are my husband's favorlta flower
and last y_ar he had 21 varieties. They were
trained on the wire netting and formed a
lovely green wall, with a profusion of bloom
till hard frosts came. In the center of the
space an old tub ls sunk ln the ground, which
contains a beautiful dwarf water Illy. Around
the edge of the tub are Cupid sweet peat,
They do not bloom ro well as the tall varieties
but they hide the edge of the tab and make It
quite attractive. The rest of the space ls divided Into six beds. In the first are the
nasturtiums, which just grow and bloom with
little or no attention. Opposite It a bed of
popples, and then a bed of v.rbenes' with a
border of purple and white candytuft. Opposite this ls a bed of the lovely Marguerite
carnations, with a border of mignonette,
The fifth bed ls for asters. I have the white
branching Comet, the pink Victory, and
some of mixed colors. Thlt year I will have
the new aster Freedom. The last bed ls filled
with dianthus pinks and centaureas. This
year I will add heliotrope. The past two
summers our little tlower gaiden has been the
admiration of everyohe who" came, and the
pleasure we derived from it was fuli compensation for the labor, Having the flowers all
together they were easy to care for, and being
only 30 feet from the back porch even a few
spare minutes could ba uaed there. I think
every farm should have flowers, and I know
lt ls practicable, for ours have been snch a
success, and I do all my own work and raise
lots of poultry too. Of course I have an advantage over some ln that my husband ls so
fond of flowers He does the heavy work.
Tippecanoe County. - J. 0. B.
BSV1SW.
Our favorite flower by all odds Is the sweet
pea, more particularly because it is very easy
of cultivation and makes a magniflcent bouquet for the house. We plant them as early as
possible, ln March usually, ln moderately
rich soil. With a little attention, which mostly consists of giving them plenty of water, lt
is no trouble to keep the house constantly supplied. Laat fall j ast about frost time, a stray
sweet pea seed fell to the ground and sprouted,
and the little waif looked so disappointed and
forlorn that we took lt up and gave lt a home
ln an old tomato can and have kept lt ln the
window all winter. About Christmas lt
looked as If It wanted to grow a little, so we
made lt a trellis a foot or two high. March
Ut we had to put a second story on the trellis
March 15th a third story was erected and last
week saw the rise of the fourth. It Is now
growing about six Inches a day and bids fair
to reach the ceiling and up to date there isn't
a sign of a bloom.
Some of our correspondents recommend
the tobacco plant for the center of a flower
bed, because of Its profuse bloom and large,
showy foliage. We recall that a number of
years ago a lady in this city planted three or
four grains of corn ln the center of a bed of
flowers and all aummer long lt waa a source
of amusement to tee pedestrians and even
those In vehicles stop and speculate as to
what sort of foreign plant that was. Sometimes our commonest plants when placed ln
unusual surroundings develop some striking
qualities that make them worthy of a place in
the flower garden.
Following Is a list of the most desirable
plants for ornamental purposes:
Hardy shrubs and bushes: Flowering
almond, asperla, althea or rote of Sharon,
barberry, bridal wreath, sweet scented shrub
(calycanthus), hydrangea, lilac, japonlca
(flowering quince or burning bush), mountain
clove or flowering currant, splrea, snowball,
syrlnga, yucca or rock Illy, Hardy vines:
Coral and Belgian honeysuckles, clematis,
trumpet vine or Virginia creeper, wisteria,
Har.y plants: Columbine, bleeding heart,
celandine, garden heliotrope, lrit, Illy of the
valley, day Illy, lemon Illy, hollyhocks, clove
pinks.
Afer all lt said the rcsa lt still the queen of
the flowers.   Nothing ls finer than a tea rose.
No. 213, April 7th.-0are of beet ln the
spring.
No. 214, April 14.—How and where can a
jointer be used ln breaking land? How do
you manage cornstalks and heavy, trashy
stubble?
No. 21S, April 21st.—How can one beat de
ttroy biennial and perennial weeds, dock, Eng,
plantain or buckthorn, white top, Oanada
thistle, wild garlic, red sorrel etc.?
No. 216, April 28th.—What household remedies do you keep on hand? Qlve emergency
treatment for croup, Indigestion, earache,
toothache, sprains, cuts etc ?
Qmvq and _vnswev.
D. W., Randolph Oo : The Oneida grape has not
been grown in this vicinity that wa know of, but it
ia described as productive, handsome and fairly
strong grower. The clusters are small, bnt berries
rather large, round, light wine colored, pulp sweet.
'•y.     	
Can yon give me an idea what the ccst of duty
and carriage on eggs wonld be to Canada, at IS oer
doien? D.U.
Rebecca, Middlesex Co., Ontario.
Sorry to say we do not know what the duty and
freight rates t _> Canada are; we supposed that free
trade prevailed in yonr country.
Win spring rye grow on muck ground well tiled?
Can I sow rye and some kind of grass seed to make
a permanent pasture? What kind of grass seed
will be best to sow on the muck gronnd?
KoSCiuSkO OO. A BlBBCBIBKB.
We would risk it en such ground, and would sow
blue grass with it for pasture, bat we would be glad
to hear the experience of any reader who haa made
the experiment.      	
1. Where can I procure Farmers1 Interest corn
for sard'.'
2 What do you consider best variety yellow corn
and where c»n I get seed? Si'bhcbibkb.
We understand that Mr. Clore who originated
the Farmers1 Interest corn sold his crop to seedsmen, bnt we do not know who bought It,
The Walkers (iolden Dent, Advertised by Huntington A Page, this city, is a very superior variety
of yellow corn.        	
B F. c. Fountain Co.: There is no big dealer ln
pop corn here that we know of. There are several
in Eastern cities, but we have not the address of
any at presont. The oorn, dried aud in giod condition retails here at 5 cents per ponnd and no doubt
brings »}£ to 8 cents at wholesale. Wa think you
will have no trouble in selling it at a good, paying
price We will try and publish something more
definite ab^ut the market for pop corn in a future
number. 	
Will you favor me with response to following:
Do Bkunksor polecats ki I or eat any or all of quail,
quad eggs, chickens, bees, what else? Abont what
is the breeding season of akun* or polecat in tha
latitude of southern and middle Ohio?       I. M. F.
Athens, Ohfb.
We have never seen tha charge of eating quail
laid against thin malodorous animal, but have no
doubt but that he might be proven guilty, as he ia
known to eat yonng chickens occasionally, and his
food is entirely carnivorous He diets largely on
worms, bogs and grasshoppers, also mice and
snakes It breeds quite early, often in Ma-ch,.as
far north as Canada and the young are pretty wall
grown in June. One naturalist contends that tha
skunk deserves to be befriended by tha farmer and
propagated on account of tha great numbers of
noxious insects, mice, snakes, etc , he destroys.
He does not send forth h's noxious odor unless attacked or suddenly disturbed.
POSTAL CARD CORRESPONDENCE.
Oi_i_i.sk Co, March _».—Wheat, olover and
grass ia the woral ahow ever known; m . st of mead.,
owa and clover fielde will be plowed up; late aown
wheat will be a failure; no peachea, bnt on seedling trees or on high land can't tell what other fruit
will be. h. B
Lavobtj. Oo , March 28 - Spring it now jnst commencing; sugar making itarting up nicely; bnt
had mug winter nntil yesterday, with zero morning of the 16th: wheat looks bad; moat of the
peach buds alive: Elberta fruit buda more than
one-half killed; other kinds nearly »u alive.
Mks. B. a. Davis.