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About Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980 | View Entire Issue (May 21, 1943)
1 By Marguerite Rietlcr Zinnias Are Popular Members Of Annual Garden Family One of the most colorful and easiest grown flowers in the annual garden is the popular zinnia, which is grown as easily as any of the garden annuals. In the past several years, the flower has changed from the brilliant, large flowered manner in which it formerly grew to a refined an nual with a large range of colors and a fascinatiiig variety of shapes and sizes. Zinnias are found in a wide variety of classes, the best known of which are the Dahlia Onias. If well grown these pro re flowers that are four inch es across and are on plants which reach a height of four feet. The blossom has a tend ency to incurve and resemble the formal decorative dahlia. California Giant or Mammoth type will produce flowers equal in size to the dahlia zinnias but have a far better range of col ors. 'Pompon or Lilliput zin nia produces small blooms on a normal, size plant. The blooms are compact and symmetrical, and make an excellent cut flower. Fantasy or Cactus zinnias arc named thusly because of the Iwisted and curled petals in their symmetrically arranged flowers. ' The flowers are of me dium size and may be found in Several lovely colors. One of the newer strains is Uir Zinnia Early Wonder, which Ql bloom 45 days from the date of seeding. The flowers are .two and one-half inches in di ameter, and excellent for cut ting. Cut and come again is a dwarf variety of zinnia, which produces a flower that when it is fully open resembles a modi fied cone. It is equally valu able for cutting and bedding. . Crested zinnias are unusual and a popular member of the zinnia tribe. These do not al ways come true, so they must be rogued out to keep the true blooms. The Cupid zinnia is a miniature with tiny blossoms and short stems. Goblin is the best of these babies. Zinnias can be seeded out doors between April 15 and May 1, although later sowings are also practical. Sow two to three seeds to a hill. The plant iuld be pinched off once after tvte second set of leaves have formed. The strongest of the three sprouts should be left as the plant in the hill. Zinnias are fond of plenty of food, and organic matter will do much to provide husky growth. A liquid fertilizer ap plied every fortnight will give good results, and the plants should be watered every two weeks during the growing sea son. The blossoms for maximum flower beauty should be cut only when fully mature. "When cut in the mature stage, the blooms are- prettier and last consider ably, longer. 1 Pheasants continue to be a difficult pest in many victory mrdens. Scarecrows, bits of 2-th tied to string and inflated paper bags are all being used to aid in scaring these vegetarians. Another method that has proved satisfactory in the prevention of destruction by these birds is the tying of lids from tin cans on horizontal strings placed across the garden. The light will glint from these lids, and the birds will fear a trap. A little color may be intro duced into the garden by plac ing a bright colored flower at the end of each row. Perhaps one of the most showy would be gladiolus, which will stand as erect as a soldier and have a fairly long blooming season. Be fore the plant blossoms, the tall blade leaves would distinctly mark the end of the row. Seed for the late cabbage, sa voy, kale, brussel sprouts, cauli flower and late broccoli should be sown outdoors during the early part of May. Seed sown now will make sturdy plants to be transplanted during the lat ter part of June. It is advised that the seed be sown thinly in a wide row, and will be perfectly safe in the open garden. Fall gardens are practicable. Begin planning yours now. They should be planted by mid-summer. Beans are best planted as a succession crop at 10-day inter vals. For dry beans, plant the white pea bean or navy bean. Gardens should be cultivated as soon as the surface dries off fyr a rain. Do not cultivate more than an inch deep. Keep out of the garden when the ground is sogzy. it will pack down the soil and form a crust. Night Time Garden Robbers The fifth column in the vic tory garden is found among the night time robbers, which par ticularly dote on young tender stems and leaves. Classed among these pests are cutworms and slugs, and they require a great deal of attention from the gar dener. During the daytime, the cut worms curl up about an inch under the surface of the soil, close to their intended victims. The slug hides under damp old boards, pieces of sacking, trash piles, clods and rocks. A little digging with the trow el will reveal the cutworms and thorough garden clean-up will go a great deal to uncover both the slugs and their eggs. As many as 800 eggs may be laid in the two-year life span of the common garden slug, which is known to all Willamette valley gardeners. These pests are partially con trolled by an insect ally, the large black or brown ground beetle, that is found hiding un der objects moved in the garden during the daytime. The most satisfactory garden control measure is the use of calcium arsenate - melaldchyde bait, which is sold under vari ous trade names. It is equally effective against slugs, cut worms, sowbugs and earwigs. Since the bait is poisonous, care must be taken in its use. to prevent chickens, birds or chil dren from eating it. It should be placed in small piles upon pieces of shingles, boards or tin, and covered with a box or a large board. These precautions, not only serve as a protective measure, but increase its effi ciency for the pests are more apt to find it when they crawl under the box or board for pro tection. Trellises Save Garden Space To save space and to produce cleaner fruit,-the suggestion has been made that eight-foot trel lises should be made to support tomato vines. Although . eight feet may cause a gasp, three of those eight feet are buried in the ground to give support. Placed horizontally across the five feet of the trellis, which ex tends above the soil, should be four or five cross bars to which the tomato vines may be fasten ed. While the trellises are more costly than other methods, they may be taken up and used year after year. Replanting Vegetables Increases Activity Increasing the May activity in tlie victory garden, is the neces sity of replanting of many of the vegetable plants and seeds that were put into the ground too early and were damaged or de stroyed by the weather. The majority of the crops for the garden should be planted now, and the gamblers who planted with the hope that the weather would favor them, should replant now. 7 m THJUuaU, Some laid all frihn win gauged by a daily. That irai before Master Bread proved them all crazy. AT YOUR GROCER'S Cantaloupes For Breakfast For the garden where space is not at a premium, the family diet will be aided by the addi tion of cantaloupes and other melons. The . trade name of cantaloupes is commonly applied to the smaller nearly round or oblong heavily netted types of muskmctons of both green and salmon fleshed varieties. The term muskmelon is more often applied to the larger types of melons such as Spear, a widely grown variety. They require a moderately long growing season with plen-. ty of heat and sunshine, a dry atmosohere and ample soil mois ture. The soils, most widely used for the growth of cantaloupes are the warm sand or silt loam types which are well drained, easily prepared rind adaptable for irrigation. The Spear melon is the best for the western por tion of the state. Rotted manure, with or with out commercial fertilizer is use ful in providing organic matter and plant food for the melons. In some cases it. is applied to the hill, a forkful to each. Most seed is planted directly into the field when the danger of frost is past. Several seeds should be plac ed in each hill and later thinned until only the strongest are left. The cucumber beetles are most destructive to the young plants, and these may be repelled by a mixture of one part of calcium arsenate powder to 20 parts of landplaster. This should be dusted on the. plants as soon as they appear above the ground, and should be repeated every few days during fair weather and after each rain. The cantaloupes are picked when the stem is on a "full slip." The "full slip" is distin guished by the stem separating itself completely from the mel on, leaving a clean stem cavity. Booster Gives Good Start A mild starter solution will do much to give transplants the right start when they are set out. When used the plants be gin growing right away, and de velop faster. The starter solu tions are made by mixing one and one-half ounces of commer cial fertilizer with one gallon of water, when poured from one half to one pint of this mixture about the plant when it is set into the garden. The mild strength will do no harm to the plants, yet if too much fertilizer is mixed with with the water, damage may re sult. Several gardeners had this problem last year, when they felt if a little was a good thing, more was better, and promptly added too much. Liquid fertilizers made from one to one and one-half ounces of commercial fertilizer in one gallon of water can be used every seven or eight days on leafy crops such as lettuce, cab bage and chard, forcing them to grow more rapidly and keep them growing. One gallon will be enough for six or eight feet of row, pouring onehalf to one pint to each plant. These boost er solutions may also be made of barnyard manures soaked" in water. Weed often, a half hour of cul tivation before the weeds are half an inch tall does more good than two hours work a few days later. For 50lh-bag : 25 bag 10Jb-box 5 Ib- box ; SnW lw,d Vroduvf. T- Z New Garden Book Tells Proper Trees and Shrubs for Gardens One of the most popular books in the northwest today is the book, "Trees and Shrubs for Pacific Northwest Gardens." by John A. Grant and Carol L. Grant. This entertaining work, which is receiving the plaudits of book critics and the gratitude of the purchasers, is written in a style at once spontaneous and invig orating. Mr. Grant, native of Britain (Wales), now an Ameri can citizen living in Seattle, is a famous landscape designer, lecturer, teacher, and garden advisor, and hasy spent many years studying garden condi tions in the Pacific northwest. This knowledge, added to a life time's study of horticulture, he imparts in "Trees and Shrubs for Pacific Northwest'Gardens," which is now on sale at the Arboretum Foundation, Henry building, Seattle, the proceeds going to the University of Washr ington Arboretum for its main tenance and development. The book has the beauty of simple descriptions readily un- Fall and Early Winter Gardens The aim of the victory gar dener is to keep the garden con tinually productive throughout the season. This type of garden takes careful planning and thought. One of the most im portant gardens for which prep aration should be made now. is that composed of fair and early winter vegetables. A number of important vege tables arrive at the peak of their development during the fall months. These include cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and curly kale. Other crops are Swiss chard, mustard, late corn and beans. Many of these reach their finest stage at that time. The mistaken idea of the fall garden is that the plants are put in in the late summer or early fall, but contrary to this, the seed must be planted now and transplanted in the middle of the summer. Several of the fall and early winter vegetables can take the place in the garden of those early maturing crops such as peas, early lettuce and spinach. The first group mentioned, which includes the many mem bers of the cabbage family, are grown for fall and early winter by sowing seed in an outdoor seed bed in a handy place where the plants may be given atten tion. The seed should be drop ped so that the young plants will stand half an inch apart. The cauliflower heads must be kept white by tying the large leaves together over the heads when the latter arc forming. Cabbages should be left stand ing in th" field until the heads are thoroughly firm before cut ting. Brussels sprouts should be allowed to become solid. The sprouts and curly kale are espe cially resistant to frost. Lettuce is an important fall vegetable and can be grown from seed in 75 to 90 days, de pending upon the type of lettuce grown and the seed tempera tures prevailing. Fall lettuce should be started in mid-summer. Spinach is a hardy and quick-growing crop and will be ready to cut in six to seven weeks. Several varieties of winter radishes are found on the mar ket, which can be planted in mid-summer to produce a win ter crop. The varieties vary in color and shape from the black radishes to pale pink ones. Fall crops of turnips are usually far more productive than the early spring crop, for they usually es cape maggot injury. a BETTER CROP finest n..n. dcrstood by beginners as well as advanced landscape archi tects. Whether you have a small plot of ground or a vast estate, this book tells how to make the most of it; tells you "What to Grow and How to Grow Them"; describes design effects you may achieve; deals with this region's rain and wind; teaches pruning, spraying, and propagation, soils and fertiliz ers. It tells, , In the 335 pages illustrated by beautiful close up pictures, the fascinating things which can be done with a bog, with deep shade, or the plant-pictures which may be created in full sun under hot and dry conditions. It is a book to hold your attention to the end and it is the only gardening book written for the area west of the Cascade mountains (and also the great valley of the Co lumbia) from the tip of the Al aska Panhandle southward to the California coast just north of San Francisco, a region nev er covered by eastern authors on gardening. The "West" is justly proud of "Trees and Shrubs for Pacific Northwest Gardens, What to Grown and How to Grow Them," by John A. Grant and Carol L. Grant. Small wonder that, just off the press March 9, it is fast becoming the most popular book of today in the Pacific Northwest. Vines Not for Small Garden Not advised for the victory garden that is cramped for space, for something special where room is not the most critical issue, are the vine vege tables. This group differs great ly from the other garden vege tables, and includes cucumbers, squash, pumpkins and melons. These vine type vegetables claim a great deal of space in comparison to their yield and are greedy feeders. To counter act their desire for space, the vines may be trained on trellises or on fences. To satisfy the desire for food, well rotten manure will provide all that they ask,-although it is wise to add a few wood ashes. The fertilizer should be thor oughly mixed with the soil at the bottom of the hill, and cov ered with two or three inches of light friable soil. Five lo seven seeds should be planted to a hill, and they should be thinned out to leave four to six of the strongest plants, and later reduced to three or four. The seed may be planted any time during the re mainder of the month. The most critical time in the career1 of the plants is when they are forming their first true leaves, and at that time should be inspected daily for signs of the 12 spotted cucumber beetle. The beetle will consume the foliage of the plane in a remark ably short time. In addition the insect spreads a virus disease, which causes the vines lo will and lays eggs, which develop into root eating maggots. When the plants start to pro duce vine, they will be benefit ted by a side dressing of ferti lizer, which should be applied in a broad circular band six inches away from the plants. If the soil is dry, a thorough watering is desirable. 4,00 2.50 - 1.50 .go C0 Cook Crops Carefully The best vegetables your Vic tory garden can produce may be spoiled before they reach the table if they arc not carefully prepared. Choose the method of cooling those vegetables ac cording to color and flavor, if you wish them to be most ap petizing, is the advice of Miss Frances Clinton, home demon stration agent. Green vegetables like spin ach, asparagus, peas, chard or green broccoli retain their color best if cooked in a kettle with out a cover. In cooking certain acids are sent off in the steam which react with the coloring matter in green leaves to dark- FARMERS HOPMEN- ATTENTION! IT'S HALF GONE BETTER GET YOUR ORDER IN 2 CAR LOAD SHIPMENT of WIRE 9, 10, 11, 12, 14-gauge Smooth Wire 32-inch high Stock Fence, S-line with 12" stays 14-gauge Barbed .Wire. OPEN TTdPimSM... "'Gardening for Food55 WITH Locked in a subterranean water course the secret of Olympiads rare flavor, "IV lh Wntcr" (from our own sub terranean wells) that performs these additional functions In perfecting Olympia Beer . . . Extracts hidden flavors from the hops and grains. Promo tea purity and clean taste throughout all processes, including fermentation and ageing. Preserves Olympia's character and flavor when the beer is bottled. BUY WAR BONDS Capital Journal, Salem, Oregon, Fridays May 21, 1943 9 en and dull the color. An un covered kettle permits the steam to escape so the acid ac tion on the vegetable is reduced. Avoid adding vinegar when cooking green vegetables. Nev er use soda on vegetables; it destroys the vitamins even though it may brighten the green color. Red vegetables like beets and red cabbage lose their color if alkali is present in the cooking water. Adding a little lemon juice or vinegar causes the color to return. Sweet sour sauces arc often served with these veg etables to improve their color. Tomatoes have an entirely dif ferent coloring substance then do beets or cabbage. Tomato color is not affected by heat but the vitamin C in tomatoes may be destroyed by heat and FARM STORE Hi SATURDAY NIT E UNTIL 9 CecM KG W 620KC 10:30 p.m. to 10:45, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, until February, 1944. BE CAREFUL AND air. Cook tomatoes as short a time as possible in a covered kettle, with little stirring. ' Yellow vegetables carrots, squash, sweet potatoes rich in 1 the coloring matter that carries i vitamin A have a mild flavor, I The color is not affected by I cooking uiUchs it is prolonged, ' nor is the flavor exaggerated. Strong flavored vegetables cabbage, onions, turnips, cauli flower, broccoli owe their fla vor to certain sulphur com pounds. These break down dur ing cooking to give off offensive odors and make the vegetable slow to digest, unless the cover is removed from the kettle, cooking is rapid, and enough water to float the vegetable is fused. The rapid cook also save3 vitamins and minerals. O'CLOCK LISTEN TO DIlIly THREE NIGHTS WEEKLY there's invaluable help in store for you and every Victory Gardener in the Pacific Northwest . . . Cecil Solly, the Northwest's own garden authority, talks to you on the air ... about jwrfood gardening problems. Mr. Solly is brought to you as a wartime public service, by theOlympia Brewing Company. Vhilort uettftmt ,tl "fine nf Ametl(tt tlxceiltonut Brtwtrm" OLYMPIA BREWING COMPANY OtYMPIA, WASHINGTON, U. S. A. SAVE MAN HOURS
