September Is Fall-planting Time as we welcome cooler weather and Autumn rains we should take advantage of both to do our Fall planting. First of all come the Spring flowering bulbs. Narcissus, scillas, crocus, grape hyacinths and other small bulbs need to be put in early in order to give them time enough to develop a strong root system before the advent of cold weather. Tulips, because they bloom later in the Spring, can be planted next month or even later. If you have been in the habit of buying the showy varieties, try for a change some of the dainty species.

Move Shrubs and Trees Now

If you have a few shrubs that you want to move to another part of the garden, do it now. Generally, the Fall is the best time to transplant trees and shrubs, as they will be ready to bloom when Spring rolls around. This is especially true of lilacs and other kinds that flower early in the season. Remember only that thin-barked ones, like magnolia, dogwood, birch, redbud, beech, silverbell and yellow-wood must wait for the Spring.

Color from Annuals

Who is there who does not like flowering plants in the house during the Fall and Winter months? What is simple about it is that it is possible to lift small, bushy annuals from the garden and plant them in pots singly or in groups of three or more. Placed indoors in a cool, sunny window they will give you gay color when your gardens have once again gone to sleep. To get the best results, lift the plants with a ball of earth as soon as possible, and after potting, place on the porch or terrace or some spot in the garden so they will become established before moving indoors. Calendulas, marigolds, sweet alyssum, ageratum, snapdragon and verbena are a few that you might try.

Make a Coldframe

As coldframes are useful in many ways, make sure you have one in some corner of your garden. They are indispensable for wintering over tender perennials or seedling perennials that you want to bloom next year. They are needed for cuttings of trees and shrubs you started during the Summer. If you do not have a coldframe, you can make one easily- yourself. There are books in your library that give simple directions which even the novice can follow.

Some Never-ending Chores

Chores in the garden are endless, though especially in the Spring and Fall when gardens are at transition periods. It does not take long for a perennial border to become overgrown, and if that is the case with you, lift and divide your plants the first chance you get. In so doing, mix well-rotted manure or other organic material into the soil along with bonemeal. The general rule to keep in mind is to avoid moving the more tender kinds and those that flower in the late Summer or in the Fall. For these, Spring division is best. If time does not permit this undertaking now, get around to your peonies at least, as the Fall is by far the best time to do it. Set the eyes no more than two inches below the surface of the soil. Deeper setting will result in no bloom.

A Glance at the Eating Garden

Vegetable plants that have come to their end should be pulled and dumped on the compost heap. Those that carry over diseases or the eggs of insect pests should not be risked – burning them is the only safeguard. Squashes and pumpkins are better permitted to ripen on the vines, but if frosts intervene, store in a warm place so they can continue with the ripening processes. Grapes also need this treatment. It is necessary to let them stay on the vines as long as possible. This is a good time as well to plant strawberries. To do the job now will not only relieve pressure in the Spring, but the experts say that Fall-set plants produce 40 per cent more fruit than Spring-planted ones. Be sure to mulch them for the Winter.

61891

Ever try to cut off a limb of a tree with a carpenter’s saw? If the limb was small or dead, you probably didn’t encounter many serious difficulties, but if it, was reasonably good-sized and green you had a tussle on your hands. Better use a pruning saw next time – the job will seem much easier and give you much more satisfaction! The cured lumber with which the carpenter works is considerably different from the green, wood of a tree or shrub.

By choosing the pruning tool for the job, one can get the best results in the easiest manner. These results should be a good, clean cut with a minimum of damage to the plant tissues on the part of the plant to remain. The bark around the cut should not be crushed or torn loose, and the wood itself should not be split, or the healing of the wound will be impeded. For efficient operation the tool should be designed for ease in handling. One with good balance, and one which does not require specially-developed skills to guide it, is always to be preferred.

Knife with a Curved Blade

For pruning out small branches of shrubs or young trees a knife is often handy. A pocket knife carried in one’s gardening clothes is always at hand for the little, unexpected cutting tasks. If care is used, good clean cuts can be made; but in less careful hands a slip of the knife may result in the loss of a desired branch. A curved blade is preferred, as it will cut into the wood easier with a pull stroke. Such a knife can be used to advantage to smooth up the edge of saw cuts to promote more rapid healing. For removing berry-canes, a hook-blade with a handle about two feet long is advantageous in cutting out old canes.

There is a wide variety in the pruning shears available. For all-around use a pair with curved, shear-type blades is most satisfactory. Those which have the cutting blade and one handle forged from one piece of steel usually give less trouble from being sprung than do those in which the blade is made separately then riveted onto the handle piece. Some of the newer style shears are designed so they do not close at the handle end; an improvement which eliminates the danger of a badly pinched hand. A catch on the shears which will not close accidentally while the shears are in use is a great convenience; often a short loop of leather riveted to one handle serves this purpose well. Always try a shear in the hand before buying – look for one that seems to fit your hand and won’t tire you unnecessarily. The blades should be narrow so they can be used in a narrow crotch; the cutting blade should be thin so it will slice through the wood easily. A leather shear case which can be worn on a belt is a great convenience in keeping the shears at hand.

For the quick removal of wood too large for the hand-pruning shears use a pair of lopping shears. The blades are quite similar to hand shears, except heavier and with a more curved hook-blade. Those with wood hand grips on long, steel handles will usually stand harder use than those having the long wooden handles. Again, those with reasonably narrow blades will be better far making close cuts in tight places.

Where a small branch is to be removed above the reach of the worker, the problem often can be solved by the use of a pole pruner. Tine hook and shear blade both must be heavy enough to withstand the rough use which is inevitable in a tool used on a ten, twelve, fourteen, or even a sixteen-foot pole. For general-purpose use a pole pruner with rope pull to operate the blade is preferred over one using a small rod with a lever near the bottom of the pole. The lever to which the rope is attached interferes occasionally; however, this is not a serious disadvantage. Some pole pruners use a pulley to increase the mechanical advantage for the operator.

Indispensable hedge Shears

For general hedge trimming, especially where the growth is allowed to harden up, a good pair of hedge shears is about indispensable. It will cut one-year-old wood, or by using tine notch usually found at the base of one blade even larger steins can be eat. For the short hedge, or the longer one which is cut only once a year, the hedge shear is most practical. Useful, too, for shearing evergreens to keep them from growing too large, the hedge shear rises to its greatest triumphs in the hands of the topiary artist.

For trimming the longer hedge an electric hedge clipper will shorten the tusk, especially if the stems are cut before the wood gets really hard. Where electricity is not available, some of the hand power hedge clippers will speed up the job of cutting soft, lush shoot growth; but if the trimming is not done often enough, it will be hard to cut with hand devices except hedge shears.

For removing limbs up to approximately four inches in diameter, a small, curved-blade pruning saw with short teeth pointing toward the handle, so that the saw cuts mostly on the pull stroke, is most satisfactory. These saws, with a blade approximately fourteen inches long, not over two inches wide near the handle and tapering to less than an inch at the tip, can he easily maneuvered for cutting in a narrow crotch or to remove one stem from a cluster of several in a thickly-grown shrub. The similar saw having long, needle-point teeth is almost us good, hut the points of the teeth seem to dull faster.

The straight-bladed saw with fine teeth on one edge and coarse ones on the other edge, usually sold as a double-duty pruning saw, is unsatisfactory in close quarters where it is so often necessary to make a cut to prune properly. While the teeth in one edge are used to make the cut, those in the other edge usually rip through the bark of the branch which is to remain, causing an unnecessary wound.

Special Kinds of Saws

The pruning saws which have a removable swivel blade in a frame somewhat similar to a hack-saw frame are good when carefully used. For one who has more than a few hours of pruning to do each year, the necessity of twisting the blade to set it for the cuts may be aggravating; otherwise these saws will cut surprisingly well even in close quarters. With these saws, the blades are replaced rather than sharpened.

For large cuts the larger saws with a twenty-four inch blade, similar to a one-man cross-cut saw, and usually having four cutting points to two raker points are generally satisfactory. For faster work a saw about the same size with a curved blade and with cutting and raker teeth pointing back toward the handle, so they cut mostly on the pull stroke, is widely used. These latter saws may not make as smooth a cut, but in most cases this difference is not a serious consideration.

Using a Pole Saw

To saw off limbs when it is impossible to get up close, a pole saw is a great help. The saw blade most widely used is about fourteen inches long, curved, with long needle-pointed teeth. Unlike hand pruning saws, the long needle-pointed teeth are best for this use. A pole about twelve feet long is most satisfactory; longer, they are too heavy to use at arm’s length and shorter, they will not reach far enough. These saws should always he used with care because it is often harder to make a cut at the correct angle at such a distance.

The professional tree pruner regards his rope as one of his most important tools. It not only enables him to get around in a tree easier, but it acts as a life saver if he should slip. The one hundred twenty feet of half-inch, best-quality manila rope is well worth its cost and careful care to these men.

Select the pruning tools most suited to your work. Care for them by keeping them sharp, rust-free and clean. The tools can’t do the job alone, but the proper tools will make it easier and more pleasurable for the one using them to accomplish it efficiently.

by R Williams – 61434

This charming corner of a city garden in San Francisco, located behind a Victorian house, is evidence enough of what thoughtful planning can achieve. At this time of year when leisure is sometimes made imperative by the weather, the importance and full meaning of a garden comes sharply into focus. Your garden and mine can and should be considered an important room of the home. Not just another room – a spare room – a place to be prettied up for a few months of the year. Rather our gardens should have appeal and interest with the changing seasons. But how do we accomplish all this?

One way, and a pleasant one at that, is to look at pictures of well-designed gardens and then let your imagination run loose as you glance around your own place. If there is any truth in the old Chinese proverb that one picture is worth ten thousand words, then Thomas Church’s hook “Gardens Are For People” is the equivalent of a whole stack of books. This volume with over six hundred illustrations, including seventeen in color, is a veritable source book of inspiration for home gardeners who want to develop their grounds to the utmost.

The idea of integrating the house and garden for indoor-outdoor living is not a new idea as Mr. Church states:

“The Egyptians planned their houses and gardens together . . The Romans knew all about it, The Greeks had a word for it; and the Renaissance Italians developed it to a line art. They had outside living rooms, dining rooms, corridors, and entrance hails. They borrowed line and materials from the house; and they borrowed foliage, shade, fruit, flowers, and the play of water from nature. It was a subtle compromise. The struggle of forces – the light touch of nature and the heavy hand of man – left no trace of incongruity. The garden was a transitional stage saving them from the embarrassment of stepping from their house to nature in the raw.

“The Chinese style laid its delicate hand on all the arts in the 18th century. It influenced the English school of landscape gardening and sent them all scurrying back to Nature for inspiration. The waving line was proclaimed a true line of beauty, forgetting that a straight line is the best foil for the graceful curves in flower and plant.

“Nature was out-natured. Faked dead trees and crumbling ruins were added to heighten the effect of natural decay. Lancelot (“Capability”) Brown constructed a river across an estate which he considered so beautiful that he cried, “Alas! The Thames will never forgive me!” Terraces were plowed under, the incomparable Elizabethan flower gardens were discovered to be unnatural. Trim Tudor gardens with their borders of “sweet smelling herbes” were out of style, and many of them were destroyed before the wave had spent its strength.

“Humphrey Repton followed a few years later, gathered up the pieces, and, putting them together in logical order, made nature a full partner in the humanized landscape. But the generations of smaller home owners in the next century, who attempted to recreate these natural scenes on their own small plots of ground, were misled. Nature is not easily transplanted to one’s back yard.

“This 18th century rediscovery of nature in the garden and the 19th century vulgar adaptation of its principles became our immediate heritage. Naturalness, as a state of mind, is highly desirable, but to follow blindly the frank conventions of “informal” gardening is no guarantee that you’ll get it.

We’re all different; and our gardens and what we expect our land to do for us will vary as much as our demands and our personalities. No one can design intelligently for you unless he knows what you need, what you want, and what you are like. If you won’t tell, he will have to guess.”

63835

On the West Coast there is increased interest in adventitious gardening. If you take to casual gardening for reasons of economy, scarcity of help or even from preference, you will find it’s an intriguing game to grow an assortment of plants which can pretty much take care of themselvesÑplants you like and ones that enjoy your climate and exposure.

In every West Coast climate there are many plants which grow readily and with little care. Why not try mixing them to create a naturalistic plantingÑwith an occasional nudge from you? Start by sowing seeds of. say. 15 varieties to a plot 20 feet square. An irregular shape is nicer.

By the second year your ground will be well filled with plants-on-the-loose, especially if there are happy-go-lucky annuals among them. The weed problem need not he a burden for the selfsows will be the weeds. By this time you will have some idea of what you want the patch to look like and what you want of it. You will be stepping about in it, pulling out a volunteer here and planting in its place some other upstart. turning a spade full of earth there and sowing a few experimental seeds, encouraging this inhabitant, squelching that one.

It is obvious that this haphazard garden will look right only in an unconventional setting and that no hired help can be turned loose in the miscellany. How would anyone know what you want removed and what left?

I use a good many small bulbs in my contented gallimaufryÑall from seed sown in situ. Freesias are especially valuable and sow themselves like mad. Snowflakes (leticojum) increase too fast. Linaria maroccana is a splendid annual. Gazanias and aretotis are satisfactory perennials.

Southern California

Time to remind Southland gardeners that this is the month for sowing sweet peas and garden peas. Both can stand manure deep in the trench and bonemeal on top. worked in and thoroughly watered. Put in autumn crocuses. Keep azaleas watered for much of their early spring beauty depends on the care you give them now. Don’t let chrysanthemums dry out and keep the foliage healthy by hosing it off. Give a mulch of compost. bean straw or manure to roses and pet shrubs. Train new canes on climbing roses.

California Fog Belt

Are you making full use of those adaptable shrubs that can be used as pot plants, garden bushes, espaliers and often as groundcovers? Among them are Ribes viburnifolium, Correa speciosa (C. pulchella) and some of the fuchsias. An unusual way of using those species fuchsias with long narrow flowers coming from tall branches is to train them to a trellis on the north side of the house. Boliviana is a good fuchsia to use in this way. Its foliage is nice the year round, its long stems reach to the second story and there is bloom for much of the year. I know one five-year-old specimen, trained to three main stems, that graces almost the entire side of a small white cottage. It is especially lovely at Christmas and has never been affected by cold.

Sacramento and San Jacquin Valleys

Some Big Valley nurseries are carrying new varieties of phlox and new colors suited to the strong Valley sun are badly needed. One of these is Augusta, with large panicles of flowers best described as American beauty rose. Charles Curtis is better knownÑa stunning red. Coreopsis are fool-proof in the Big Valley. Do you know New Pom Pon which looks something like a yellow pompon dahlia? It has long stems and is excellent for cutting.

Give the camellias a light application of acid fertilizer this month, scratching up the surface as little as possible, then follow with a thorough watering. Take cuttings of pelargoniums and carnations. The pelargonium slips should be left in a sunny place to callous before planting but cover the leafy tops so that they do not become dry and crisp:

If tomato mite is getting ahead of you and browning the foliage. dust with sulphur. Some prefer a spray with nicotine in it. Keep your eyes peeled for ripe seeds of pet plants. This is a chore that must he done at the right time or else all is lost.

Pacific Northwest

The first shipments of oriental poppies are sent out this month. Cheerio is one of the outstanding varieties carried by ^erthwest nurseries. It is shell pink with cherry red blotches at the base of the petals. Watermelon is well named and one of the new color departures. The central blotches are black. Most oriental poppies are planted in full sun but when in part shade of green background they are particularly striking.

See that the gentians do not lack for water this month Ñ watering prolongs bloom. Do not limit yourself to the familiar Gentiana acaulis with dark blue trumpets but next year grow also G.a. gigantea. It has still larger blooms. Gen-liana sino¥ornata, a stoloniferous plant with long stems and bright blue funnels, is one of the best and G. maeauleyi, a hybrid between G. sino-ornata and G. farreri, is a lovely one with large turquoise blue flowers.

One of nature’s beneficences is the resurgent growth of grass in late summer and autumn when nights become cool and the soil gathers more moisture. This is the most opportune time for making or renovating the lawn. Weeds are less active, too.

Perhaps two of the greatest obstacles to a successful lawn are weeds and compaction of the soil. Walked upon continually, often rolled when wet and subjected to the packing effect of heavy mowers, the lawn surface tends to consolidate; air is shut off and the roots starve “in the midst of plenty.” For no matter what fertilizer is applied, if air is lacking at the roots the food cannot be used. In this sense, a compact soil is a poor soil. That grass grows abundantly in a well aerated soil is good proof that it needs air. And, ironically, the very conditions that are unfavorable to grass seem to stimulate weeds.

There’s a reason for this. Grass roots are annualÑthat is, each year grass makes a new set of roots near the surface. Lawn weeds have perennial roots. But more than this, they have a faculty grass does not possess: they can extract the very nutrients they need from even a poor soil and from the decaying roots of the grass itself. No wonder they are so hard to eradicate! A piece of root left in the soil when the weed is pulled out starts a new crop.

The present condition of your lawn will determine the program to follow. An old thin sod, especially if it is weedy, , is better dug up and a new lawn begun. In many cases, however, a top-dressing of some sort will suffice. This would suit a lawn made last spring which has not become well established before summer. The lawn with 60 per cent good grass can be renovated hy top renewal.

But the first step in any lawn program must be elimination of weeds. Chemicals are the best means here. The weed leaves absorb the applied chemical, which upon entering the sap stream is carried to all parts of the plant. If a strong application is made, only the weed tops may be killed since the chemical may destroy the vessels that could carry it to the roots. Of course, if the soil is also saturated, the roots will -absorb enough directly to kill them. However, it is best to study and follow the manufacturer’s directions. Best results are obtained during active growth. When weeds reach the seed-forming stage the results are less certain.

Crabgrass will start forming seeds towards late August. One of the chemicals used to control this weed should be applied now.

If the lawn is in pretty good shape, a little patching of weed spots with seed and topsoil, plus an application of a fertilizer like 10-8-6 (20 pounds per 1.000 square feet) will suffice. Often times a more extended operation is needed. Top-dressing is not made on the average lawn as a general practice, but many a good Iuwn has thus been built.

If weeds have been removed there will be many holes and a much-pitted surface. Grade these spots as evenly as possible with a rake. Then apply a top-dresslil’.1. The ideal top-dressing is made by mixing together two parts of loam topsoil. one part coarse (not fine) sand, one part peatmoss and humus, half and half. To get a weed-free mixture, add 13 pounds of cyanamid to each cubic yard of soil.

Before the top-dressing is applied, the area should be perforated with a digging fork or with a tool devised for aerating , the soil. The top-dressing is then worked in with the back of a rake.

When it complete fawn must be made. the area is dug over to a 12-inch depth, if possible, or worked with a rotary tiller. If the soil is heavy, work in a 4-inch covering of coarse sand or screened coal ashes to improve the porosity. For organic matter, use decomposed compost or a mixture of peatmoss and commercial humus. A 1-inch depth of either conditioner will improve the poorest of soils. To secure a weed-free soil, apply cyanamid to the surface at the rate of 50 pounds per 1,000 square feet and work into the top 3 inches. The surface is then roiled and allowed to remain unplanted for four to five weeks.

Use a seed mixture which is suited to your soil and your region. The better seed houses have mixtures for all kinds of soil and sitesÑsand, clay and looms, and for sunny sites and terraces. Be specific about your conditions when ordering the seed. Four pounds of seed per 1 1,000 square feet of lawn (two pounds for renovation) will be ample. Split the quantity in half and sow one half at right angles to the other for even distribution, Choose a still day to sow the seed and cover it by raking. Then roll the area to get the seed in close contact with the soil.

Soil should be moist as well as properly prepared if the conditions for seed germination are to he ideal. If the soil is very dry, defer seeding until after a rain, unless it is possible to water the area heavily and wait a day or two before sowing the seed.

Seventeen years ago I decided to grow blueberries. Several hundred large shrubs were obtained and successfully transplanted.

In order to send all the strength possible into the root system, the plants were cut to six-inch stubs. The first year’s growth was excellent, each bush recovering about half the normal size. For the second year, it was good cultural practice to remove all the flower buds and, if you realize how many buds there are on one blueberry, you can easily understand that it took me over two weeks to complete the disbudding.

The third season was the year of great expectancy. The shrubs had regained their original size. The blossoming was beautiful and prolific. By midsummer, the branches were so laden with fruit that they literally touched the ground.

An interested county agent and I estimated that we would have at least 500 quarts of juicy, luscious. saleable berries. But do you know how many we actually did get? Less than three quartsÑmostly unripened ones. bird rejects and dried runts. It seemed that every “flying vacuum cleaner” in Bergen County had a visa to the Runk blueberry patch. And that included birds who normally are not considered fruit eaters at this season. Among them were the red-eyed vireos, chickadees, flycatchers, rose-breasted grosbeaks, orioles, swallows, woodpeckers, native sparrows and others.

The red-eyed vireo occurs wherever trees grow. It nests low but belongs essentially to the forest canopy far overhead. Undoubtedly, it was once the most abundant bird in North America. It may still enjoy this distinction despite the fact that vast areas that were once good red-eye habitat have been cleared and are now occupied by birds requiring more open types of country.

The red-eyed vireo is pre-eminently famous as a singer. He is incessant in his song and particularly vocal during the heat of our long summer days when few other birds sing.

The nest of the red-eye is the commonest one encountered in the woods. A small cup-shaped structure about the size of one’s fist, it is always slung between two twigs of a fork and situated from 5 to 20 feet from the ground. The nest is a beautifully finished piece of workmanship, constructed of fine grasses and rootlets, bits of birch bark and paper from wasps’ nests, bound together and to the supporting branches with spider’s or caterpillar’s webbing and flexible strands of grapevine bark.

The vireo’s summer food is insects but after the breeding season it relishes a great variety of small fruit, particularly the blueberry.

There is some sort of blueberry adaptable to almost every section of the continent. The most important and widely usable one for landscape use is the highbush blueberry, Vaccinitim corymbosum. It is a deciduous shrub reaching 12 feet in height but in gardens can easily be kept lower by proper pruning. The foliage turns a bright scarlet in the autumn. sometimes even orange.

Blueberries fail in alkaline and neutral soils, such as those of ordinary vegetable gardens. The ideal medium for them is a mixture of peat and sand, well drained and aerated but with an ample supply of water during the growing season. Cultural practices are similar to those of the rhododendron.

Many varieties of blueberries are now available at the local nurseries and fruit growers. They differ chiefly in habits of growth, maturity dates of fruit and diversity of twig coloring for winter effect. As they are long-lived plants (50 to 75 years), a little extra care in their selection is worth-while.

I enjoy looking back at plant history and seeing how things have changed. Weeds continue to be a battle almost 60 years later. Here is an article published in 1952 to show what they were doing back then.

Weeds – man’s opponent since he first grew crops—are loosing the fight. With the discovery of 2-4-D for broad-leaf weed control, a tremendous new research program began sounding the death knell for all weeds. Our accumulated store of knowledge, plus improved equipment and techniques, make the possibilities of weed control with chemicals appear unlimited.

At first research was directed towards the destruction of established weeds. But more attention is being directed towards killing weeds with chemicals in the very early stages of growth. This approach is logical because less chemical is required to kill small weeds and the early control of weeds removes a source of competition for moisture and nutrients. Now, we go still further and destroy weeds before or at the time the crop is planted.

Time and expense are required to remove weeds by hand or cultivation from seedbeds, newly planted turf, gardens and field crops. It’s a great improvement, therefore, to he able to either kill weed seeds directly or the seedlings shortly after germination. Some materials which have been used for this purpose add fertility to the soil, in addition to saving much time and money in weeding and maintenance.

One chemical has repeatedly shown outstanding promise in newly prepared seedbeds in the Northeast. It is a material known chemically as granular calcium cyanamide and commercially as cyanamid. In the granular form, calcium cyanamide contains 20 per cent nitrogen and the equivalent of 70 per cent hydrated lime. When the weed destroying capacity is considered with the fertilizer value of cyanamid, this chemical becomes a versatile material.

How is cyanamid used to destroy weed seeds? Several methods have been found practical. but the following simplified procedure is quite satisfactory. Apply 50 pounds of cyanamid uniformly over every 1,000 square feet of newly prepared seedbed. The term “newly prepared seedbed” implies that all preparations of grading and leveling have been completed. Since 50 pounds of cyanamid will supply 10 pounds of nitrogen, no additional nitrogen should be applied to the seedbed; some phosphorus and potash will be needed, however. Approximately six pounds of superphosphate and 1% pounds of muriate of potash will, with the 50 pounds of cyanamid, give the ingredients of a complete fertilizer. The superphosphate and potash are mixed with the upper 2 to-3 inches of topsoil. Unless a soil test shows that the soil is very acid with a need for more than 48 pounds of limestone, which is equivalent to tile amount of calcium contained in the cyanamid, this material can be omitted when preparing the soil.

When these operations are complete, cyanamid is broadcast over the surface of the seedbed at the previously mentioned rate. Do not apply it in bands. Spreaders which will distribute the material evenly are available. Cyanamid can he left undisturbed on the soil surface or it can be raked lightly into the upper topsoil. If the seedbed is on a slight slope the cyanamid should be raked in.

Seeds should not be sown until about four weeks after the soil has been treated with cyanamid. If the seedbed becomes dry during this period it will be necessary to apply water, wetting the soil to a depth of 3 or 4 inches. This does not mean to hold the hose or sprinkler in one spot until puddles form over the surface, but rather, to water slowly allowing the water time to penetrate the soil.

When the seedbed is ready for seeding, rake only the upper 1/4 to 1/2 inch of topsoil to provide the germinating layer for the seed. When the area is seeded, roll it lightly.

An adaptation of this method is to apply 25 pounds of cyanamid to each 1,000 square feet of soil, raking it into the upper inch or two of prepared seedbed. The same amount of superphosphate and potash previously recom• mended with 50 pounds of cyanamid is also applied at this time and cultivated in with the cyanamid. When this is dotie, broadcast another 25 pounds of cyanamid on the surface and rake it lightly into the topsoil. -A waiting period of about four weeks is required to make sure the toxic effect of the cyanamide has dissipated before tile area is seeded. Moisture should be added if the soil becomes dry during the waiting period.

The importance of weed-free seedbeds cannot be over emphasized when lawns are seeded in late spring and early slimmer. The success or failure of a seeding at this time depends largely on whether weeds are controlled or allowed to compete with the young grass seedlings for food and moisture.

This cyanamid method of weed control is also useful for late summer or early fall seedings. The treatment should he planned far enough in advance to allow for a four-week waiting period after treatment. If this is done, the seedbed can be seeded in time to take advantage of the early fall growing season.

Cyanamid has been found useful in controlling weeds in tobacco and vegetable seedbeds, as well as in new putting greens and fairway and lawn turf. It is being studied now as a treatment for the control of weeds in soil newly planted with corn and as a pre-seeding treatment for legume-grass plantings. Nurserymen may find it useful in seedbeds for crops which require hand weeding or hoeing.

The study of weed control in seedbeds is not limited to cyanamid. Many other chemicals which can he applied in the same manner have been tested. Those which have given good to excellent control of weeds are: ammonium thiocyanate at two to four pounds, 2,4-D at one-eighth pound and one-half gallon of PMAS (phenyl mercury acetate) to ten gallons of water, all per 1,000 square feet of soil. PMAS is a turf fungicide and may be effective against such seedbed diseases as damping-off and seedling blight. A waiting period of from two to four weeks before sowing seeds should he observed with these materials, as with cyanamid. Soil moisture must also be maintained.

Chemicals can be used to destroy weed seeds in compost. Clean compost, free of viable weed seeds, is essential for top-dressing putting greens, grass tennis courts, howling greens and other fine turf areas and for use in seedbeds and greenhouses. Calcium cyanamide is very effective in destroying weed seeds in compost, Other materials will kill the seeds but have not proven as useful from a practical standpoint.

Treating compost with cyanamid is a simple job. After the compost has been prepared and passed through a 1/4-inch mesh screen. 13 pounds of cyanamid should be thoroughly mixed with each cubic yard of screened compost. At the time of mixing the compost should contain from 15 to 20 per cent moisture. In other words, it should he slightly moist, but not wet and sticky. Once the compost has been treated with cyanamid a waiting period of from four to six weeks is usually required before the compost can he used. During this period the cyan-mid becomes active and kills the seeds in the compost. If the compost is used before this action is completed, it may burn or discolor the lawn.

A satisfactory method is to prepare the “cyanamized” compost during early fall months and store it in bins for use the following spring. Enough of this mixture can be made at one time to provide sufficient compost for the complete growing season.

If cyanamized compost is to be used satisfactorily, a few precautions should be followed. Do not apply this mixture on wet grass. The compost will adhere to wet foliage and cause burning. And do not leave the grass completely covered with a pile of compost for any extended period. As the compost is spread on the grass it should be worked down between the blades with the hack of a wooden rake or with a steel door mat used as a drag.

The grass will take on a pleasant rich green appearance shortly after the corn-post is spread on it. This is largely due to the nitrogen content of the compost. The amount of nitrogen and calcium supplied by the compost should be taken into account in the fertilizer program. On the basis of applying one-quarter cubic yard of compost on 1,000 square feet of lawn, there would be approximately one-half pound of nitrogen and the equivalent of three pounds of limestone added. Weed-free cyanamized compost is a tonic to turf.

Cyanamid can also be used in field preparation of compost. If the top-soil needs additional treatment to improve the texture, that should be done before the cyanamid is applied. Often some form of organic matter or compost and sand are used to alter and improve the soil. When these operations are complete, mix cyanamid into the upper 2 or 3 inches of soil at the rate of 50 to 75 pounds to 1,000 feet. A waiting period of four to six weeks will give the cyanmia time to break down and destroy the weed seeds. This method of field preparation of compost is somewhat similar to the preparation of a weed-free seedbed.

Sterilizing soil with fertilizers or chemicals appears to be a very practical method of controlling weeds and fertilizing seedbeds in one simple operation.

Question: I have been told that when the field hedge rose was planted near a hybrid tea rose that the hybrid tea blossoms reverted back to a single wild rose in form, but retained their hybrid color. Could this happen? RG, Wisconsin

Answer: Your hybrid tea rose will not be changed in any manner by its proximity to other roses. Often a grafted rose sends up shoots from below the graft. These shoots are very vigorous and soon kill out the part of the rose that is above the graft. Then all you have is a wild rose of the sort used for grafting the hybrid tea. Always watch for shoots appearing below the graft and remove them promptly. They are easily identified since their foliage and stems are quite distinct from the growth above the graft and since they develop from below the surface of the soil.

Question: Steamed bone meal is often advised, especially in the planting of bulbous plants. Can you tell me how I can best use bone meal in my fall planting – the quantity, and on which plants? MD, Tennessee

Answer: Steamed bone meal is an excellent, slow acting, organic fertilizer carrying about 20 per cent phosphorus and two per cent nitrogen. Five pounds per 100 square feet, applied in the early spring, is the average amount used. It is safe to use, and where a quick acting fertilizer is not required, it is to be recommended and should be of benefit to almost any plant, especially those having bulbs, corms, tubers or rhizomes.

Question: Our Bermuda lawn is being taken by quack grass. Is there any way of getting rid of this weed without carefully removing every bit of it? Is it true that it grows only in acid soil? RH, Oklahoma

Answer: Quack grass is one of the worst pests in the lawn or garden. Only digging and removing every bit of the rootstocks will control its spread in your lawn. If one will take the trouble to remove every spear of quack grass for one entire growing season it will be eliminated from the lawn.