Chapter VIII: Preface (8)

In China, and to some extent in Holland, kite-flying is not the pastime only of boys, but of grave men. And certainly grave men might do many more foolish things. To feel a kite pulling at your hands, to let out string and see it climb higher and higher and higher into the sky--this is a real joy. For good kite-flying you want plenty of room and a steady wind; hence a big field is the best place, unless you are at the seaside when there is a wind off the land, in which case you can fly your kite from the beach. To make an ordinary, serviceable kite, take two laths (which can be bought for a penny from any builder), one three feet long (AA in the picture) and the other two feet (BB). Screw BB with two screws exactly in the middle, at right angles to AA, at C, a foot from the top. Then take some stout twine of good quality and make the outline of the kite by tying it securely to the ends of each of the laths. Next take the thinnest unbleached calico you can find, stretch it fairly tightly, and sew it over the strings. (Or strong but light paper will do, pasted over the string.) Make a hole (D) through the upright lath and calico, midway between the cross-piece and the top, and another hole (E) about fifteen inches below the cross-piece, and tie a strong string, two and a half feet long, to these holes, with a loop (F) in it a foot from the top hole. To this loop you will tie the string of the kite. The tail (G) is made of pieces of paper about six inches long, rolled tightly and tied at distances of a foot. Its exact length will depend on the strength of the wind and can be determined only by experience, but, roughly speaking, it should be five times the height of the kite, or, with the kite which we are making, fifteen feet long. It is best to have the tail in two or three pieces, and then it can be lengthened or shortened at will. For instance, if the kite plunges in the air and will not keep steady, the tail is not long enough; but if it will go up only a little way, the tail is probably too long. Be sure to have plenty of string, carefully wound, so that there will be no hitches in paying it out. When starting a kite you need the help of some one who will stand about thirty yards away, holding the kite against the wind, and throw it straight up when you have the line tight and give the signal. If it does not rise it may be well for you to run a few yards against the wind. At first you must not pay out line very rapidly, but when the kite is flying steadily you may give it, also steadily, all the string it wants.

Kite Messengers

A messenger is a piece of cardboard or paper with a good-sized hole in it, which you slip over the string when the kite is steady, and which is carried right up to the kite by the wind.

A Simple Toy Boat

The following directions, with exact measurements, apply to one of the simplest home-made sailing-boats. Take a piece of soft straight-grained pine, which any carpenter or builder will let you have, one foot long, four inches wide, and two inches deep. On the top of the four-inch side draw an outline as in Fig. 1, in which you will be helped by first dividing the wood by the pencil line AB, exactly in the middle. Then turn the block over and divide the under four-inch side with a similar line, and placing the saw an eighth of an inch each side of this line, cut two incisions right along the wood about a quarter of an inch deep. The portion between these two incisions forms the keel. Then carry the line up the middle of the end A, and repeat the incisions as along the bottom, these making the boat's stem-post. Next turn to the top again, and make a line, similar to the dotted line CC in Fig. 1, about three-eighths of an inch inside the outline of the boat, and then carefully hollow out with a gouge everything inside this dotted line. It must be very carefully done; it is better, indeed, to err on the side of not hollowing her out enough, and then a little more can be removed afterward. Next shape the outside, first with a saw and then with a chisel, again using the utmost care. Try to give her a fine bow, or "entry," and a good clean stern, or "run." If the boat were cut in two crossways in the middle, the section ought to resemble that in Fig. 2. This flat "floor" will be graduated away to nothing at bow and stern. Next fix on the lead keel (see K in Fig. 3), which should be a quarter of an inch thick, a quarter of an inch deep at the bow, and three-quarters at the stern, fastened on with four long thin screws. Next make the deck, which should not be more than an eighth of an inch thick and should fit very closely at the edges.

The mast (C), which should be about three-eighths of an inch in diameter at the foot, and should taper slightly, must stand one foot above the deck, and pass through the deck four and a half inches from the bow. First pass it through the hole in the deck and place it in position, leaning a little back from the bows; then slip up the deck and mark the place in the bottom of the boat where the mast rests, and there fix, with four small brass screws, a block of wood with a hole in it, into which the mast can be firmly "stepped." Then on the upper side of the deck, just in front of the mast-hole, screw a small eyelet. This is to hold the line called the foresail sheet (L), but as the deck is only an eighth of an inch thick you must place a little block of wood under the deck, into which the eyelet can be screwed. Directly this is done, the deck is ready to be screwed firmly to the boat with brass screws. If you are in any doubt as to its being water-tight, you had better bore a hole in it and put a cork in, so that you can tip it up and empty it after each voyage.

The bowsprit (J), a quarter of an inch in diameter, should be three and a half inches long, two inches of which project beyond the bow. Screw it firmly to the boat. You have now to shape the boom (F) and gaff (D), which must have a fork at the end, as in Fig. 4, to embrace the mast, the ends of this fork being joined by string. The boom should be eight and a half inches long and three-eighths of an inch in diameter, and the gaff five inches long and a quarter of an inch in diameter. The gaff is kept in position, about three inches from the mast-head, by the throat halyards and peak halyards, to which we now come. The peak halyards (H), throat halyards (G), and foresail halyards (F) should be of very fine fishing-line. After being tied respectively to the gaff and foresail, they pass through small holes in the mast, down to eyelets screwed into the bulwarks on each side of the mast.

The foresail sheet (L) and main sheet (M), which are some four inches long, are hitched to eyelets screwed into the deck amidships, one just in front of the mast, as already explained, and the other about two inches from the stern. The sails must be of thin calico, neatly hemmed round. Both sails should come to about three inches of the head of the mast. The foresail is fastened only to the tip of the bowsprit, the foresail halyards, and foresail sheet; the mainsail to the gaff, all along, and to each end of the boom.

Nothing has been said about a rudder, because a boat built and rigged in the manner described would balance herself, and so keep on any course on which she was laid. With a very little wind she ought to cross and recross a pond without any hitch, all that will be necessary being to let the sails have plenty of play, by loosening the foresail sheet and main sheet, and to give her a steady push.

Walnut Shell Boats

To make a boat from a walnut shell, you scoop out the half shell and cut a piece of cardboard of a size to cover the top. Through the middle of this piece of cardboard you thrust a match, and then, dropping a little sealing-wax into the bottom of the shell, and putting some round the edge, you fix the match and the cardboard to it. A sail is made by cutting out a square of paper and fastening it to the match by means of two holes; but the boat will swim much better without it.

Walnut Fights

Here it might be remarked that capital contests can be had with the empty halves of walnut shells. A plate is turned upside down, and the two fighters place their walnuts point to point is the middle. At the given word they begin to push, one against the other, by steady pressure of finger and thumb on the stern of the shell. The battle is over when the prow of one shell crashes through the prow of the other. This always happens sooner or later, but sometimes the battles are long and severe. At the end of each contest the number of shells defeated by the victor should be marked on it, and it should be carefully kept for the next conflict. At school we used to have tremendous excitement when two champions met, a walnut with a record of 520, for instance, and another with 700. The winner in such a battle as this would, of course, be numbered 1,221, because you always add not only your defeated adversary to your score, but all his victims too.

Suckers

A sucker is a round piece of strong leather. Thread a piece of string through the middle, and knot the string at the end to prevent it being pulled through. Soak the sucker in water until it is soft, and then press it carefully over a big smooth stone, or anything else that is smooth, so that no air can get in. If you and the string are strong enough, the sucker will lift great weights.

Skipjacks

The wish-bone of a goose makes a good skipjack. It should be cleaned and left for a day or two before using. Then take a piece of strong thin string, double it, and tie it firmly to the two ends of the wish-bone, about an inch from the end on each side. Take a strip of wood a little shorter than the bone, and cut a notch round it about half an inch from one end. Then slip it half way between the double string, and twist the string round and round until the resistance becomes really strong. Then pull the stick through to the notch, into which the string will settle, and tie it at each side, so that it is not likely to slip either way. A little piece of cobblers' wax must be put on the bone on the other side to that where the stick naturally touches. Pull the stick right over to stick on the wax, and lay the skipjack, stick downward, on the ground. In a little while the wax will give way, and the wish-bone will spring high into the air.

A Water-Cutter

The cut-water is best made of tin or lead, but stout cardboard or wood will serve the purpose. First cut the material into a round, and then make teeth in it like a saw. Thus:--Then bore two holes in it, as in the drawing, and thread strings through them, tying the strings at each end. Hold the strings firmly, and twist them a little. Then, by pulling at them to untwist them, the cut-water will be put in motion, first one way, while they are being untwisted, and then the other, while they twist up again. If held just over a basin of water, the notches will send spray a great distance, but you must be careful to dip them only when the cut-water is revolving away from you, or you will be soaked.

Whistles

With a sharp knife a very good whistle can be made of hazel or willow, cut in the spring or early summer. A piece of wood about three inches long should be used. Remember what an ordinary tin whistle is like, and cut the mouthpiece at a similar angle, and also cut a little nick out of the bark, in the place of the hole immediately beyond the mouthpiece in the metal instrument. Then cut all round the bark about an inch from the other end of the stick, hold the bark firmly with one hand clasped round it, and hold the inch at the opposite end firmly with the fingers of the other, and pull. The greater portion of bark should slide off quite easily. You will then have a tube of bark about two inches long, and a white stick about three inches long, with an inch of bark remaining on it. Cut from the mouthpiece end of this stick as much as exactly fits between the end and the little nick in the bark which you have already made. Shave the top until it is flat (just as in an ordinary whistle), and place it inside the bark again. Then cut off from the white part of the stick all but a quarter of an inch: fit this into the other end of the bark tube, and you ought to get a good shrill whistle. It will be better if you keep a pea inside.

Christmas--Evergreen Decorations

Getting ready for Christmas is almost as good as Christmas itself. The decorations can be either natural or artificial or a mixture of both. In using evergreens for ropes, it is best to have a foundation of real cord of the required length, and tie the pieces of shrub and ivy to it, either with string or floral wire. This prevents any chance of its breaking. For a garland or any device of a definite shape, the foundation could be a stiffer wire, or laths of wood. Ivy chains are described on page 135.

Paper Decorations

The simplest form of paper chain is made of colored tissue paper and glue. You merely cut strips the size of the links and join them one by one.

For paper flowers, paper and tools are especially made. But for the purposes of home decoration ordinary tissue paper, wire, glue, and scissors will serve well enough.

Mottoes

Mottoes and good wishes can be lettered in cotton wool on a background of scarlet or other colored linen or lining paper. Scarlet is perhaps the most cheery. Or you can make more delicate letters by sewing holly berries on to a white background; and small green letters can be made by sewing box leaves on a white background. For larger green letters and also for bordering, holly leaves and laurel leaves are good. Cotton-wool makes the best snow.

Christmas Trees.

In hanging things on the Christmas tree you have to be careful that nothing is placed immediately over a candle, nor should a branch of the tree itself be near enough to a candle to catch fire. After all the things are taken off the tree there is no harm in its burning a little, because the smell of a burning Christmas tree is one of the best smells there is. To put presents of any value on the tree is perhaps a mistake, partly because they run a chance of being injured by fire or grease, and partly because they are heavy. The best things of all are candles, as many as possible, and silver balls which reflect. On the top there should, of course, be either a Father Christmas, or a Christ child, as the Germans, who understand Christmas trees even better than we do, always have. For lighting the candles a long taper is useful, and for putting them out, an extinguisher tied to a stick.

Bran-Tubs or Jack Horner Pies

Bran-tubs or Jack Horner Pies are not so common as they used to be, but there is no better way of giving your guests presents at random. As many presents as there are children are wrapped up in paper and hidden in a tub filled with bran. This is placed on a dust-sheet, and the visitors dip their bands in and pull out each a parcel. The objection to the bran-tub is that boys sometimes draw out things more suitable for girls. This difficulty could be got over by having two tubs, one for girls and one for boys. Sometimes the ribbon of each parcel is long and falls over the edge of the dish. The boys take one color ribbon, and the girls the other, and all pull at the same time.

Philopenas

Two games with nuts and cherries may as well go at the end of this section as anywhere else. Almonds sometimes contain double kernels. These are called Philopenas, and you must never waste them by eating both yourself, but find some one to share them with. There are several ways of playing. One is "Yes or No," in which the one who first says either "yes" or "no" must pay a forfeit to the other. Another is "Give and Take," in which the one that first takes something that the other hands him is the loser. Or whichever of you first says to the other "Good morning, Philopena," on the following day, or the next time you meet, wins a present. Or this is sometimes played that whoever first answers a question put to him by the other must pay a forfeit. Of course this makes great fun in trying to invent and evade plausible questions.

Cherry Contests

Cherry-eating races can be very exciting. The players stand in a row with their hands behind them, and a number of long-stalked cherries are chosen from the basket and placed by the tip of the stalk between their teeth. At the word of command the players begin their efforts to draw the cherry up by the stalk into their mouths. All heads must be held down.

CANDY-MAKING

Utensils

For making candy you will need an enamel or earthenware saucepan; a long wooden spoon; one or two old soup-plates or dishes; a bowl, if there is any mixing to be done; a cup of cold water for testing; a silver knife; and, if you are not cooking in the kitchen, a piece of oil-cloth or several thicknesses of brown paper to lay on the table.

General Directions

Butter the dish into which the candy is to be poured before you begin to cook. To do this put a little piece of butter on a piece of clean soft paper and rub it all over the dish.

Always stir round the edge as well as the middle of the saucepan. Stir slowly but continually, for candy burns very quickly if left alone.

The flavoring should be added just before taking the saucepan off the fire.

To find out if your taffy or candy has boiled long enough, drop a little in the cup of cold water. If it at once becomes crisp and hard, it is done.

Before your candy is quite cold, mark it with a silver knife into squares. This will make it break up more easily and neatly when cold.

Barley Sugar

1 lb. powdered sugar.
The white of an egg.
1/2 a pint of water.
1/2 a lemon.

Dissolve the sugar in the water, and add the well-beaten white of an egg (this must be done before the mixture is heated). Then put on the fire in a strong saucepan. Remove all scum as it rises, and when the syrup begins to look clear, take off the fire and strain through muslin. Put the syrup back into the saucepan and let it boil quickly until you find by testing it that it is done. Then add the juice of the lemon and pour on to a buttered dish. Before the mixture sets cut it into strips and twist.

Chocolate Caramels

1 tea-cup golden syrup.
1 tea-cup brown sugar.
1 tea-cup milk.
2 oz. butter.
4 oz. powdered chocolate.
A pinch of salt.
16 drops vanilla.

Boil all together for half an hour, stirring continually.

Cocoanut caramels are made in the same way, except that 1 oz. of grated or desiccated cocoanut is used instead of the chocolate.

Cocoanut Cream

1-1/2 lb. granulated sugar.
4 oz. grated cocoanut.

Melt the sugar with as little water as possible. Continue to let it boil gently until the syrup begins to return to sugar again. Directly this happens put in the cocoanut and mix thoroughly. Pour the mixture into a flat dish or tin.

Cocoanut Cream (_another way_)

1 cocoanut, grated.
1 lb. granulated sugar.
1/2 a cup of cocoanut-milk.
1 oz. butter.

Put the sugar, cocoanut-milk, and butter into a saucepan. When they boil, add the cocoanut gradually. Boil for ten minutes, stirring all the time. Pour the mixture into a basin and beat till nearly cold, then turn out into a dish.

Cocoanut Drops

1/2 lb. cocoanut, grated.
1/2 lb. white sugar.
The whites of 2 eggs, well beaten.

Mix well together and bake in drops on buttered paper for fifteen minutes.

Cream Caramels

1 tin Nestle's milk.
1 lb. soft white sugar.
2 oz. butter.
Vanilla.

Melt the sugar with a very little water, and when boiling add the butter and Nestle's milk. Stir continually, as the mixture burns very easily, for fifteen minutes. Try in water to see if it will set. Add the vanilla, pour into a dish, and beat until nearly cold.

One ounce of cocoanut or 2 of grated chocolate can be used instead of vanilla to flavor the above.

Fruit Cream

1 cocoanut, grated.
1-1/2 lb. granulated sugar, moistened with a little cocoanut-milk.

Put the sugar in a saucepan and let it heat slowly. Then boil rapidly five minutes; add grated cocoanut, and boil ten minutes. Stir constantly. Put a little on a cold plate, and if it makes a firm paste, take from fire. Pour part of it into a large tin lined with greased paper; and add to what remains in the saucepan, chopped blanched almonds, candied cherries, nuts, etc. Pour this over the other cream, and cut in bars.

Pop-Corn

The corn has to be "popped" over a clear fire in a little iron basket with a long handle. The corn is put in the basket and shaken continually, and in time each grain pops suddenly and becomes a little irregular white ball. These can be eaten with salt, or rolled in a sweet syrup (colored and flavored as you like it best) made of 1/2 lb. of white sugar boiled for ten minutes with a very little water.

The Plainest Toffee

3 oz. butter.
1 lb. brown sugar.

Stir until done.

Another Toffee

1 lb. raw sugar.
1/2 lb. butter.
2 small tablespoonfuls of syrup.
The juice of half a lemon.
Half a teaspoonful of powdered ginger.

Melt the butter in a saucepan, and then add the sugar, syrup, and ginger. Stir continually, adding a little lemon juice every now and then. Boil for ten minutes, and then test in cold water.

Two ounces of blanched and split almonds can be added to the above. The almonds should either be mixed with the toffee just before taking it off the fire, or else a well-buttered dish should be lined with them and the toffee poured over.

To blanch almonds, put them in a bowl and cover them with boiling water. Put a saucer over the bowl to keep the steam in, and leave for about three minutes. Then take out the almonds one by one and rub off their brown skins between your fingers.

Everton Toffee

1 lb. brown sugar.
1 small cup of water.
1/2 lb. of butter.

Boil the water and sugar together very gently until the sugar is melted. Then add the butter and boil all together for half an hour.

Molasses Candy

1/2 lb. molasses.
1/2 lb. brown sugar.
2 oz. butter.

Boil all together for half an hour.

Nut Candy

1 pint of chopped nuts.
1/2 lb. brown sugar.
3 oz. butter.
Juice of one lemon.
Tablespoonful of water.

Boil everything, except the nuts, for twenty minutes, stirring all the time. Test, and if done, add the nuts. Stir them in thoroughly and pour off into a dish.

Nut Candy (_another way_)

1 lb. brown sugar.
6 oz. butter.
3 oz. chopped nuts.

Melt the butter in a saucepan, then add the sugar. Boil from ten to fifteen minutes and then add the nuts. Walnuts, Brazil nuts, almonds, or peanuts (which have been baked) may be used.

Peppermint Candy

1 lb. syrup.
2 oz. butter.
1 small teaspoonful of essence of peppermint.

Boil the butter and syrup very gently until the mixture hardens when tested in water. Add the peppermint and pour into well-buttered dishes.

Stuffed Dates, etc.

Very dainty and good sweets can be made without cooking at all. All that is necessary is to have a certain amount of cream with which to stuff or surround stoned dates, cherries, and French plums, or walnuts and almonds.

The cream is made in this way. Put the white of an egg and one tablespoonful of water into a bowl, and into this stir gradually 1 lb. of confectioner's sugar (confectioner's sugar or "icing" is the only kind that will do), working it very smooth with a spoon. This will make a stiff paste, which can be moulded into whatever shape you please. The cream can then be divided into different portions, and each portion flavored as you like best. A few drops of vanilla or lemon juice, a little grated cocoanut or chocolate, or some pounded almonds, make excellent flavorings. Part of it can be colored pink with cochineal, or green with spinach-coloring.

When this is done, stone some dates, French plums, or raisins, or blanch some almonds and slit them in two, or have ready a number of the dried walnuts which can be bought at any grocer's. Only the perfect halves must be used. Form some of the cream into little balls and put it between two walnut halves or two almond halves, or stuff the other fruit with it. Trim all the sweets very neatly with a knife and roll them in granulated sugar. This is prettier when it has been colored pink or green, but there is no necessity to do so.

To color the sugar, mix about 1 oz. with a few drops of green or pink coloring; dry it thoroughly, and, if the grains are not quite free, put the sugar between some paper and roll it, or crush with an iron.

Another richer mixture for filling dates, etc., can be made as follows:--Mix 1/2 lb. of ground almonds with 1 oz. of ground pistachios. Beat the whites of 3 eggs to a stiff froth and add the almonds and 1/2 lb. of confectioner's sugar. Color with green. Almonds can be bought already ground.

GARDENING

Introductory

Although young America is growing more and more fond of out of doors, the lovely old occupation of gardening is less a favorite than formerly: and this is a great pity, for if one loves flowers, nothing so repays labor as gardening. Nor is it necessary to have a large tract of ground to cultivate. Indeed a tiny piece, well tended, is both more interesting and more successful. A corner of a city back-yard--even a window-box can be a source of never-failing entertainment; although of course a little plot of rich earth in one part of a lawn or country garden, lends itself to greater and more extensive plans. The important thing about growing plants is to like to do it. If you are impatient of routine and neglectful you should not be intrusted with plants any more than with animal pets, for they are both entirely dependent on your care.

It is your business, as a gardener, to know everything you can about your flowers. A gardener should be able to recognize seeds as well as seedlings; to know what treatment each flower likes best; and to exercise a special care for tender plants which need protection until there is no longer any danger of frost. The beauty of a flower depends very much upon its content. Many flowers need particular soils; some need dry soil, some moisture, some shade, and some sun; and the gardener, who is a kind of mother to the flowers, will have to remember all those things. In return, the flowers, which have a real sense of gratitude to those who care for them tenderly, will do their best to grow beautiful.

It is best to begin with a few flowers and to learn all that one can about these. Annuals will scarcely ever fail if carefully sown in good soil. In making your choice, choose so that you will have flowers from spring to autumn. Perennial plants are the most satisfactory of all to grow; for once planted they need only a very little attention and increase in size each year. Bulbs produce some of the most beautiful flowers and are very easy to grow. But great care must be taken not to dig into them after their blossoms have died down.

Besides those flowers for the growing of which directions are hereafter given there are many tender ones which must be raised in frames. This is a part of gardening which can well be left until later and upon which instructions can be found in any more advanced book on horticulture.

Color in the Garden

In arranging a garden, select flowers which will keep it full of blossom from May to October, and remember when planting and sowing that some colors are more beautiful together than others. The color arrangement of a garden is always difficult, but one must learn by experience. Scarlet and crimson, crimson and blue, should not be put together, and magenta-colored flowers are never satisfactory. Whites and yellows, and whites and blues, are always suitable together, and for the rest you must please yourself.

The Use of Catalogues

A good catalogue gives illustrations of most flowers, and in many cases its cultural directions are very helpful. As an extension of the notes that follow nothing could be more useful than two or three catalogues issued by good growers.

Gardening Diaries

It is a good thing for a gardener to keep a diary. At the beginning of the book he would make a plan of the garden, to scale: that is to say, allowing one inch, or more, in the plan for every foot of bed. In this plan would be marked the position of the bulbs and perennial plants. The diary would take note of everything that happened in the garden. The sowing of seeds would be recorded; also when the seedlings first appear; when they are thinned out, and when they blossom: in fact, everything to do with the life of the plants. A little collection of drawings of seedlings would be of great use in helping to distinguish them another year. At the end of the book might be written the names of any plants that the owner would like to have, or any special information about the culture of a plant, or the description of some arrangement which had been admired in another garden.

Flower-Shows

Where several children have gardens in the same big garden, or the same neighborhood, a flower-show is very interesting to hold now and then. To do this it is needful first to find some one willing to act as judge, and--if agreeable--to give several small prizes in addition to certificates of merit. The different things for which prizes are offered will depend, of course, upon what the competitors can grow. There might be prizes for different flowers, for collections of flowers, and for lettuces or radishes, if there are enough competitors who grow such things. But the most important prize would go perhaps to the owner of the best-kept garden. Another for the best arrangement of bunches of flowers, garden and wild, might lead to some very pretty bouquets.

Tools

For simple gardening the following tools are needed:--spade, trowel, hoe, rake, watering-can with a fine rose, syringe. They should all be strong and good. Besides these tools you will need either wooden labels or other home-made means of marking seeds, some strong sticks to use as supports for tall-growing plants, and tape to tie them up with. A pair of gloves--any old ones will do--is very necessary.

Watering

Plants should never be watered when the sun is shining on them. Early morning in spring, and late afternoon or early evening in summer, is the best time. It is best to water with water which has had the chill taken from it by standing in the sun or in the house. In watering seedlings and tiny plants, keep the rose on your watering-can; but with big plants it is better to take off the rose and pour the water gently, waiting every now and then for it to sink in round their roots. If the ground is very dry and baked, break up the surface of it round the plants with a rake, or push a fork carefully into the earth. This will help the water to sink in.

Water very regularly during hot and dry weather. It is very hard on your plants to give them a splendid drink one day and to forget all about them for a week.

Ferns should have a gentle spray bath every afternoon if you want to keep them fresh and green, and all leaves look the brighter for a shower from your watering-can.

Perennial plants, annuals, and rose-trees will greatly benefit if watered with slop-water while they are flowering.

Wall Pockets

If your garden is very small, but is against a sunny wall, the growing room can be increased by fixing a number of pockets, made of wood or of flower-pots, against the wall. These should be filled with good soil, and in them wallflowers, pinks, bulbs of different kinds, Wandering Jew, and some varieties of wild-flowers, etc., can be planted.

Borders

The first thing to do when a plot has been given to you, is to mark it off clearly with a border. There are several ways of doing this. Gardens are sometimes bordered with escallop shells, which are neat enough but seem rather out of place among flowers. Tiles make another tidy artificial border; but the best is made of natural rough stones from six to twelve inches long. These stones, which should be sunk into a groove, are soon covered with patches of green moss, and if between their irregular ends you drop a few seeds of low growing annuals, such as candytuft; or plant little pieces of thyme, blue forget-me-not, or any kind of rockfoil or stonecrop, the border will become one of the prettiest things in the garden. If you prefer a growing boundary, a very nice stiff little hedge can be made by sowing endive in a line all round the garden, and, after allowing it to run to seed, cutting and trimming it. But of course there is no natural border to compare with box; but to get a good box hedge is a tedious matter.

Annuals

The seeds of all annuals can be sown from March until June according to the locality. Any one in the neighborhood who has gardened for some years can tell you when to plant better than any catalogue. The seeds of favorite flowers should be sown several times at intervals of a fortnight, so that you may have a succession of them through summer and autumn.

Preparations for Sowing

Before sowing any seeds, see that the soil is nicely broken up, and remove any stones.

When you have decided where to sow the different seeds, take away a little earth from each place and sow the seeds very thinly--remembering that each plant must be from four inches to twelve inches apart; cover lightly with the earth you took out and press it down firmly with your trowel. Then mark the place with little pieces of white wood, on which the names of the seeds have been written with an indelible pencil. It is much easier to sow the tiny seeds thinly if you first mix them with a little sand. These must be only just covered by a very fine sprinkling of earth; but sweet-pea and nasturtium must be sown deeper.

Thinning Out and Transplanting

Begin to thin out the seedlings very soon after they appear, and be very careful not to pull up too many. It is easiest to thin out when the soil is wet. When the seedlings are two inches high only those which you wish to keep should be left in. It is not very easy to say exactly how much room to leave the different plants, but plants which will be six inches high should be about three inches apart; those which will be one foot high about six inches, and so on. Godetia, nasturtium, love-in-a-mist, sweet-pea, cornflower, and larkspur seedlings can be transplanted when about two inches high, if you find you want them where they have not been sown. To do this water the ground well first, and then pull the seedlings out so gently that none of their tiny fibrous roots are snapped; and, if possible, bring away a little earth with each. Re-plant them as quickly as you can, making for each a little hole big enough for the roots to spread out in. Hold the seedling in position, and fill in with very moist earth; or else, after you have made the hole, fill it up with water, then put back some of the earth and stir it up into a sort of paste, and put the seedling in this, filling up the hole with the rest of the earth. Seedlings that have been transplanted must be kept moist until they have taken a good start, and if possible they should be shaded with a branch of evergreen, for they droop very quickly in the heat.

All seedlings must be watered gently and often. If you notice how quickly the sun dries the surface of the ground, you will see how necessary it is to keep the ground moist until the roots get bigger and go down deep into the earth.

Weeds and Seedlings

It is most important to know what the baby-plants will look like when they come up, because one has to weed hard in the warm showery weather, and if one is not careful, mignonette, sweet-peas, and poppies may go on the rubbish heap, and chickweed and purseley be left on the flower-bed; which, although it is what the birds like, will, later, be very disheartening to you. Of course, if your seeds are well marked, there will be less difficulty, but even then weeds will come up amongst them. The only safe way is to get to know the appearance of all the seedlings, and to help you to remember it is a good thing to make little drawings of them in your garden note-book.

Autumn Sowing

Some seeds, such as cornflowers, godetias, and poppies, can be sown in the autumn. They will stand the winter as a rule and will make finer plants and blossom earlier than if sown in spring. They should be sown thinly in open ground.

Any good catalogue will give you a list of annuals suitable for your purposes and with a little advice from an older gardener you will have no difficulty in selecting wisely.

Biennials

These are best sown in May. If the garden is full they may be sown in an ordinary wooden box filled with several inches of good earth. Transplant them to their permanent places later on.

Remember that all plants will flower for a much longer time if the flowers are kept cut and any faded ones taken off.

Saving Seed

The best seed is saved from plants set apart for that purpose; for good seed comes from the first and finest flowers and not from those left over at the end of the flowering season. These plants should be sown in a little patch by themselves, should be allowed to run to seed, and carefully tended until the seed-pods are ripe enough to be gathered. If, therefore, you have not a large garden, it is best to buy most of your seed each year, using a little of your own, from which, however, you must not always expect the finest flowers. If you have no wish to keep any of your flowers merely for seeding purposes but still want, while getting flowers from them, also to save a few seeds, the thing to do is to mark one or two of the finest blossoms with a tiny piece of wool or silk (it is better when it is the color of the flower) and let it go to seed. Take special care of the plant, and cut off all other flowers as you wish to gather them. Watch the seed-pods when they are formed, and when they are ripe--that is, brown and dry--cut them off, break them open, and spread the seeds out. Look them over very carefully to see that there are no maggots amongst them, and if they are at all damp leave them in a warm place until they are dry. Then make them up in little packets, clearly labeled with their names, colors, and the date, and put them away in a dry place until next spring. In saving sunflower seeds choose your best sunflower, and when the petals have fallen tie it up in muslin, or else the birds will steal a march on you. In gathering sweet-pea pods one has to be rather clever, because when they are quite ripe they burst open and the seeds fly out suddenly, sometimes just as one is going to cut them. In one poppy pod there are hundreds of seeds, enough to stock a garden, and the same is the case with the pretty pods of love-in-a-mist. Nasturtium seeds should be picked up when they fall on the ground, and spread out until quite brown and dry. Cornflowers, which have little seeds like shaving-brushes, generally sow themselves, and marigolds do too, but they are both easy to save. In choosing a place in which to keep seeds through the winter remember that damp is not the only danger. Mice enjoy them thoroughly.

Perennials

Perennials are plants which, although they die down in winter, come up again and blossom every following spring or summer. They can be grown from seed, but, with a few exceptions, this is a long and troublesome part of gardening, and it is best to get them from friends or from a nurseryman.

Planting Perennials

The best months for planting perennials are November, February, and March. Dig a hole large enough to take the roots when well spread out, hold your plant in position, with the junction of stem and root just below the level of the earth, and fill in gently with fine soil, pressing it down firmly all round the plant, and if there is danger of frost protect the plants with straw, bracken, or a mulching of manure. Never water if there is any likelihood of frost.

Here follow some general remarks concerning the treatment of perennials through the spring, summer, and autumn:--

Slugs

In the spring, slugs, which eat the tender new leaves of many plants, can be kept away by sprinkling coal-ash around them.

Watering

In hot weather, water perennials regularly and well, breaking up earth around them so that the water sinks in easily.

Supports

All tall-growing perennials will need stakes to support them. Care must be taken not to injure the roots when putting these in. The stalks can be tied with twine.

Dividing

Perennials can be divided if they grow too large. With summer-flowering plants this should be done in October or November, and with spring-flowering plants in June. In dividing you simply dig up the plant and break off as much of it as you want, being careful not to injure the roots. As, however, there are many plants which, to be divided, must be cut, and as this is an operation which requires some skill and knowledge, it would perhaps be better to take advice.

Perennials From Seed

Snapdragon, wallflower, pansies, and hollyhocks are very easily grown from seed. They can be sown in June (wallflowers are best sown in April) in boxes, and thinned out and transplanted to permanent places as soon as they are large enough. They will blossom the following year.

Seedlings

Seedlings of most perennials can be bought for a few cents a dozen. They should be planted as quickly as possible and watered well, and they will flower the following year.

Consult a good nurseryman's catalogue for a list of hardy perennials, as for the annuals.

Bulbs--General Remarks

A garden that is planted only with bulbs, or with bulbs and a few ferns, can be kept beautiful all the year round. Many of our loveliest flowers come from bulbs, and they are easy to grow and interesting to watch from the moment that the first leaf-tips push through the earth until they die down. The position of all bulbs should be very carefully marked on the beds and in your garden-plan, so that you will not cut or injure them when digging your garden over.

The first bulbs to come--through the snow sometimes--are the snowdrops, single and double, crocuses--yellow, purple, lilac, and striped--and then the tiny bright blue squills; and a little later the yellow daffodil and white narcissus, hyacinths, and tulips of every kind. Then white, red, and purple anemones, ranunculi, and wax-like Stars of Bethlehem. In June there are wonderful irises and tall spikes of summer-flowering gladiolus--red and white--and later still the tall garden lilies. There are many of these lilies, and all of them are exceedingly beautiful. Two kinds should be in all gardens--the white Madonna lily, and the orange tiger lily. All the bulbs that have been mentioned cost very little and can be grown very simply. And all bulbs that have been mentioned can remain untouched for many years unless they exhaust the soil around them (when, instead of increasing as they should each year, the plants become poorer and smaller).

Never move a bulb when it is in active growth: after the leaves have died down is the right time.

Leaf-mould mixed with your garden soil will help to give you fine flowers.

If the leaves of the bulbs are attacked by slugs, as they often are, sprinkle a little wood-ash all around them.

Planting Bulbs

For planting bulbs choose a day when the earth is dry, and make your holes with a trowel. If you want to make a clump of bulb-plants, take away the earth to the right depth from the whole area you wish to fill, place your bulbs in position, points upward, and cover over, pressing the earth firmly down.

In planting a bulb in a hole made for it by a trowel, be very careful to see that it is resting on earth, and is not "hung," that is to say, kept from touching the earth underneath because of the narrowness of the hole.

All bulbs may be protected during the winter by laying hay or straw over them. This must be neatly pegged down, and removed in March.

Cutting Leaves

Never cut all the leaves of plants growing from bulbs, but allow those that are unpicked to die down naturally. If they look very untidy, as the leaves of the Star of Bethlehem always do, tie them up tightly. Seeds of annuals can always be sown among bulbs, and they will hide dying leaves and fill up the places that are left vacant.

Shades

"Shades" are subterranean gardens: holes in the ground, some eighteen inches deep and about a foot square (or larger), the sides of which are covered with moss and little ferns. At the bottom you can sink a pot or a tin, which must always be kept filled with water. It is more interesting if a toad or a frog lives there. Over the hole stands a shade made of glass and wood, which, together with the water, keeps it cool and moist.

Kitchen Gardens

If you want to grow other things besides flowers, lettuces, radishes, and mustard and cress are interesting to raise. Strawberries, too, are easy to cultivate, but they need some patience, as the first year's growth brings very few berries. In sowing the seeds of lettuce, radish, and mustard and cress, follow directions given for sowing flower seeds on page 320. If you want to grow even the few things mentioned, which need only very simple culture, the soil of the garden must be good.

Lettuce

Sow a few seeds of lettuce very thinly in a line once every three weeks. When the seedlings, which should be protected from birds by netting, are three inches high, thin them out, leaving one foot between each plant. The seedlings that are pulled up can be transplanted or eaten. Transplanted lettuces should be shaded during hot weather and given plenty of water. During dry and hot weather you may water lettuces every day.

Radishes

Sow a few radish seeds thinly once every three weeks, and cover very lightly with earth. These seedlings also must be protected by netting from birds, and must have plenty of water, or the radishes will become stringy and poor. In summer sow in a shady place.

Mustard and Cress

Mustard and cress seed can be sown at any time and is almost sure to be successful. In very hot weather sow in the shade, or protect from the sun in the middle of the day. The cress should always be sown three days before the mustard. It is a favorite device to sow one's name in mustard and cress. For other ways of treating it, see page 332.

Strawberries

Plant strawberries carefully in August or September. Dig a hole for each plant and spread the roots well out. Hold the plant while filling in the earth, so that that part of it where root and stem join comes just below the soil. Each plant should be eighteen inches from its neighbor. Cut off all runners--that is, the long weedy stems which the plants throw out in spring, and water well if the weather is dry. Protect the strawberries from birds, and watch very carefully for slugs, which are greedy strawberry-eaters. When the fruit begins to form, lay some straw on the earth under and between the plants. This will keep the berries clean.

Town Gardens

So far, we have been speaking of gardens in the country, or, at any rate, not among houses. There are many more difficulties to contend with in town gardening; there is more uncertainty, and often less reward for the greatest care, than in country gardening; but the flowers that do grow seem so sweet between dull walls and under smoky chimneys, that one can forget how much more luxuriant they could be in other circumstances.

Flowers for Towns

The following list of annuals, perennials, and bulbs which grow well in the heart of towns, though it is not complete, contains enough plants to fill a garden:--

ANNUALS. PERENNIALS. BULBS.
Alyssum. Jap. Anemones Crocuses.
Candytuft. Campanulas. Daffodils.
Collinsia. Delphiniums. Hyacinths.
Coreopsis. Flags. Madonna Lillies.
Mignonette. Gaillardias. Squills.
Nasturtiums. Pinks. Spanish Irises.
Poppies. Sunflowers. Tulips.
Sunflowers. Wallflowers. Winter Aconite.

In addition to the plants mentioned above, hardy ferns grow well, and so do lilies of the valley, and stonecrops and saxifrages. Wandering Jew will also thrive, and the canary creeper grows as well in town as in the country.

In summer, geraniums, fuchsias, heliotrope--which must be well watered--pansies, lemon verbena, and scented geraniums, can be planted out.

Roses do not do very well in towns; but hardy ones will grow quite enough flowers to make the possession of them a great delight.

Indoor Gardening and Window Boxes--Precautions