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

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Apply top dressing or mulch after the ground freezes, and not before then. The real purpose of mulching is to protect the plants from sudden changes of temperature in spring. Use only loose-textured material so as not to smother the plants. Cut back one-third of all trees and shrubs when planting this fall. This does not include evergreens or shrubs already cut back by the nursery before shipping. Exchanges THE TORCH, West Philadelphia High School for Girls. THE MILESTONE, The Baldwin School, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. ONAS, William Penn High School, Philadelphia. THE SHIELD, Haddonfield High School, Haddonfield, N. J. THE PENN FARMER, Pennsylvania State College. THE RADIATOR, New Haven High School, New Haven, Conn. SPICE, Norristown High School, Norristown, Penna. THE SARGENT QUARTERLY, Sargent School of Physical Education, Cambridge, Mass. SIMMONS COLLEGE REVIEW, Simmons College, Boston, Mass. THE GARNET AND WHITE, West Chester High School, West Chester, Penna. THE TECH OWL, Westinghouse Technical Night School, East Pittsburgh, Penna. SCHOOL LIFE, Melrose High School, Melrose, Massachusetts. THE CALDRON, Friends' Select School, Philadelphia. THE HORTICULTURAL COLLEGE MAGAZINE, Horticultural College, Swanley, Kent, England. NEWS ABOUT THE GUILD, Studley, Warwickshire, England. Gleanings Miss Seeman and Miss Barber very considerately had birthdays so near together, that we could plan a party to celebrate, and include them both. We surely had a gay time on the evening of October 3. Games, such as “Going to Jerusalem,” and 18

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time. But we did have to impress a couple of passers-by into service when lifting the leggy beasties into the bus. They would be limp for a while, and then suddenly all their legs would fly out in as many directions. But the deed was finally accomplished, and with Miss Carter’s excellent piloting, we reached home with no untoward events. The eleven cows, the bull and the two babies are now well-filled-out, and show no sig is of their long, hard journey, which was broken only by “time out” for the dipping of them all, even the calves, for the tick eradication, according to the latest rulings of the State of Florida. As Mr. Cleaver was still laid up and there was no one on the place with both the time and knowledge of how to make the cows most comfortable, Miss Carter told her difficulties to Martha Twining, and Martha came over immediately to help out. It has eventuated that Martha has been doing the work in her usual energetic and able fashion, and the rest of us have done the helping out to the extent of our feeble abilities. It has seemed like old times to have Martha with us again, and we are doubly glad the cows came. Hints From “ Better Plants ” This is a good time to take out 6 inches of soil around trees and fill in with equal proportions of mixed soil and manure. You do not expect even the short-lived vegetables to get along without fertilizer. How can you expect a long-lived tree to do well without some nutrition? Clean the grounds and gardens thoroughly this month. Garden pests and their offspring do not like cleanliness. Save all the furnace ashes. Apply them heavily to trees and shrubs. Sprinkle them on the lawn. They sweeten the soil. Save all leaves. Do not burn them. Use as a top-dressing, and for the compost pile. There is nothing better than rotted leaves to break up a heavy soil. Azaleas and Rhododendrons appreciate leaf mulch. For storage, keep the leaves in a pit. We believe it is a mistake to collect or rake grass when mowing the lawn. The cut grass affords nutrition. See that all plants go into winter with plenty of moisture around their roots. Newly planted trees and shrubs should be particularly well soaked down with water until the ground freezes. Most winter-killing, or failure of evergreens during the winter, is due to the ground freezing dry. This is an important pointer. Don’t forget that roses, weigelas, buddleias, magnolias, Japanese maples, flowering almonds, etc., will winter-kill severely unless mounded with earth and given a top-dressing of leaves or straw. 17

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others equally intelligent caused much mirth, and the evening was a most enjoyable one. Mr. Kaiser “put over” another of his trips on the School— rather, not on nor even at the School, but way over beyond Media, on October 6. We tramped through Painter’s Arboretum, and the woods beyond, but didn’t manage to reach Indian Rock. It was a rather warm day, too, so enthusiasm waned rapidly after the first hour. But from all accounts of the Pen Bryn trip last June, we judge that that was not to be mentioned the same day, even. We are sure that Judy would have scorned our weariness after Painter’s Arboretum! At least there was no corduroy road! Our action on October 10 brought in about $50, the expenditure which has yet to be decided upon. Pedi made an ardent auctioneer. Six of us had a delightful trip to the Luray Caverns over the week-end of October 11-13. The country was gorgeous, and “Maggie Buick Hebden” went like a bird all the way. The Caverns were well worth the 576 miles of road there and back. Another member was added to our student body in October —Irene Rogers, from East Lyme, Connecticut. The more, the merrier, in any community, and it applies most accurately when one considers Irene. The 30th was a busy day. Miss Seemann took her two classes to Dreer’s Nursery at Riverton, in the afternoon, and Mrs. Dikeman had all of us over at her house for a Hallowe’en party in the evening. We went in the most mysterious and outlandish costumes, and the masks were the best of all. Me-phistophiles was there, and a colored mammy—who proved to be “J. J. Allen”—not the real one, but the one already met by the 1923 students—and Mrs. “Allen.” The evening was spent playing games—and eating, and everyone had a most delightful time. Tom Hall spent two week-ends here during November, and Pet went in one week-end, and Trip for the two days after Thanksgiving, to stay with Tom and help her a little. Coolidge should feel that he has the School back of him. He was elected by an overwhelming majority at the School polls. School Gardening “lectures” have gone off pretty well. We don’t know how many startling scientific facts Miss Seemann was able to glean from them. On November 18 Miss Carter took us all down to the Ambler Opera House as her guests, to see Norma Talmadge in “Secrets,” a charming picture. After our return we were regaled with nice hot cocoa and crackers. An illustrated lecture by Mr. George Dawson on the 20th attracted many of us to Philadelphia. Many lovely slides of villas and gardens, some of which Mr. Stevenson has been telling us about in Landscape class, rewarded us. Part of the group went and had supper at the Bazaar of the Daughters of 19