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