Pennsylvania School of Horticulture for Women - Wise Acres Yearbook (Ambler, PA)

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that of our summer time. Here we grow the antirrhinums, the primula.-,, the calendulas, the freesias, the stock, the begonias, the lupins, the petunias, and many other beauties which thrive and bloom all through the winter. In the very early spring this house is still further brightened by the narcissus, the tulips, and the hyacinths of Easter time. Here also is the home of a very thrifty oleander. The propagating house, as its name implies, is where our seeds germinate and our little cuttings take root. For this latter purpose there is a row of propagating benches, filled with sand and supplied with bottom heat. Here also we grow our finest tomatoes. On a trellis over one of the doorways leading into this house is a very lovely allamanda, whose golden trumpet flowers burst forth every now and then, firmly believing that they are in their native home in the tropics. The fernery, in addition to containing ferns and palms, and some enormous rubber plants, is also the home of our lilies, our winter roses, and a number of thrifty and fragrant heliotropes. Here also we force larkspur, columbine, foxgloves, iris, and other perennials with remarkable success. On one side is a fern wall where we have planted maidenhair ferns, lobelia, and various other delicate hanging plants. When it becomes a mass of green, and the tiny blue lobelia flowers peep out here and there, it is a very pretty sight indeed. Happy Winter Days Now for the potting shed on a working day; a cold snowy winter day when, mingled with our happy, busy chatter, there is a sense of awe that we should be gardening when all the outside world is cold and dormant. On one side of the potting shed is a long, wide bench with box-like openings below containing various kinds of soil—loam, sand, leaf mold, etc. Each student has a locker with all necessary implements. It is here that we sow the seeds in flats, prick then , out later into second flats, then to thumb pots, and later into larger and larger pots till the plant has reached blooming and maturity. Of course, this is not all. There are many other tasks for our happy winter days. The little plants must be fed to encourage the'r rapid growth and timely blooming. Every day we must give water wherever it is needed, and the plants are cultivated constantly to conserve the moisture, aireate the soil, and keep down the weeds and disease. Greenhouse pests, the aphis, the red spider, the mealy bug, etc., must be watched for and immediately discouraged with sprays. And so the days'fly by and before we are aware of it we are Getting Ready for Outdoor Planting Here we come to another feature of the usefulness of the greenhouse. A number of our cool season vegetables, such as head lettuce, early cabbage, and early cauliflower, could not be brought to maturity before the excessive heat of summer if it were not for the fact that the seeds are started under glass so that the little plants are ready to set out as soon as the frost is out of the ground. Also, some of our warm season vegetables: tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, sweet potatoes, etc., could not mature in our short season if they were not started in the greenhouse and transplanted. The Scime is true ol

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IN THE SCHOOL GREENHOUSES By One of the Students “In all places, then, and in all seasons, Flowers expand their light and soul-like wings Teaching us, by most persuasive reasons, How akin they are to human things.” It is most natural for us to think of flowers as belonging only to the out-of-doors. Hot houses and greenhouses seem on first thought an unnatural state, but when we study the life history of plants, we find that in manv, many ways their little needs are similar to our own. By sheltering them from the rough elements, and by giving each plant only the food and conditions which make for its best development, we are only aiding Nature in her struggle to produce perfection. When managed carefully and intelligently “The Garden Under Glass” can be made a bit of Paradise, wherein many thousands of little lives cnme forth in wonderful beauty, almost startling us by their quick response to kindness and care. When our class entered the School in February of last year, the greenhouses were in the midst of their winter glory. How well we remember those wonderful beds of antirrhinums! We didn’t know they could be so beautiful. And the sweet pea bed—a gorgeous mass of blending colors, the stalks so tall and strong, that later when we opened the ventilator permanently they grew right through. From a little distance it looked as though the greenhouse was so joyous with vegetation that it had simply burst. Then there were the sweet-scented carnations, and the white and rosy cyclamens, and so many other flowers with names at first hard to remember, but with colors and scents that could never be forgotten. How the Greenhouses Are Arranged The greenhouses are divided into six sections. Two cool houses, an intermediate house, a propagating house, a fernery, and a potting shed. The temperature of the cool houses is that of the out-of-doors on a comfortable summer day, while the intermediate house is slightly warmer. The propagating house is somewhat oppressive to us, but the little cuttings and the germinating seeds think it is just about right. The fernery has a whiff of the deep woods, and the potting shed is always comfortable. In the first cool house are the individual vegetable gardens, each student being allotted a small plot to plant and care for during the fall, winter and spring. In these gardens we usuallv grow tomatoes, cauliflower and parsley, all of which thrive well under glass. Along one side of the house are the geraniums—a mass of bloom in all seasons of the year. In this house also we force the calla lilies for Easter time, and the rhubarb for the late winter. Still another feature of this house is our much-prized fig tree, actually bearing fruit. In the second cool house we grow the carnations, sweet peas, and various other plants which prefer a slightly cool temperature. The intermediate house always contains the greatest variety of flowers, because it is this temperature which most closely assimilates

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many of our prettiest summer flowers. In addition to the greenhouses, the School is equipped with a number of cold frames. These are used extensively in preparing fo:‘ outdoor planting, and several of the frames are used as permanent beds for violets. The Greenhouses in Summer Possibly you think this is their resting season. But no indeed! They are useful the year around. There are many plants which require shading and special care during their early life and this can be done to best advantage in the greenhouse. There are also many plants which thrive best by being kept in the greenhouse all the year round, where it is possible to keep! them at an even temperature and give them a constant supply of moisture. Preparing for Winter It :s customary to fumigate the houses thoroughly before the winter planting begins. This rids the houses of pests and disease germs. Also, there is a regular housecleaning and repainting—all for the purpose of disease prevention as well as for appearance. The soil is removed and fresh, well composed soil put in. Sowing, potting, repotting, and transplanting re-commence in earnest. The greenhouses are a wonderful educational feature. Aside from the fact that they shelter and encourage our plants, they serve as a constant lesson in concentration, and we find that it is remarkable what Can be accomplished in a small space. Moreover, they are intermingled with all our other horticultural work. They aid us materially in our studies of Botany and Entomology, and the potting shed serves as a laboratory for our experiments in the study of Chemistry and Soils. A Final Glimpse Our small vegetable gardens are planted with vigorously growing tomatoes and cauliflower. A row of sweet peas has been started in front of each plot. The geraniums have been pruned and are a blaze of color and the fig tree is fruiting. The intermediate house is promising a glory of color and sweet scent later in the season. There is a row of Japanese chrysanthemums just bursting into bloom in the smaller cool house, and the asparagus ferns are flourishing. We have no need to look forward to a rather dull winter of constant book study. We have our greenhouses. Truly, they are ours, for we do practically all the work in them, under constant expert guidance. We have truly discovered that greenhouses are profitable. To body, mind, ahd soul their benefits are far-reaching, and, when carefully and intelligently managed, they may be profitable to the purse as well.