Chapter LVIII entitled, “Some Hints on Growing Vegetables.”)

CHAPTER XLIII

HOW PLANTS GROW

“WHAT becomes, please, of the humus soup after the plant roots take it

up?” asked Mary Frances thoughtfully.

“It’s a wonderful story,” Bouncing Bet spoke in her sweet voice. “You

see, the plant food soup is carried up into the larger roots, into the

sapwood of the tree, into the branches and into the leaves; and the

leaves——”

“Give us shade!” Eleanor did not realize that she had interrupted.

“They do,” smiled Bet. “But that is not their work.”

“Oh, do leaves work?” Eleanor was surprised.

“They work very, very hard,” Bet replied. “They do such wonderful work

that a leaf has been called a leaf factory, or a leaf-mill.”

“You think that leaves do not resemble the factories or mills you have

seen,” went on the fairy. “It is not in appearance that they resemble

mills and factories, but in the work they do; for they manufacture

starch. I suppose there is really no starch in the whole world that

leaves have not made.”

“Oh,” exclaimed Mary Frances; “even the starch in our dresses—is that

made by leaves?”

“Yes,” Bet smiled, “even that; and the starch in your bread and the——”

“Tell them the story, Bet,” said Jack, who was much interested.

“All right,” answered the little fairy, turning to pick a leaf from the

magic tree. “Please do not interrupt, and I will tell you about—

THE LEAF-MILL

Nothing can grow without the right kind of food.

Plants cannot use the “plant-food soup,” just as it is

taken up by the roots, to make new growth.

The leaves must first turn the liquid food into

_starch_, which is the right kind of food for the plant.

A leaf has been called a leaf-mill, because it has many

tiny grinding stones.

These tiny grinding stones are the green grains

in the cells which form the leaf. They are called

_chlor-o-phyll_ bodies.

The leaf-mill grinding stones are turned by sunshine

power. Without sunshine they cannot work.

By the leaf-mill grinding stones, a gas from the air

(carbonic acid gas) is mixed with the plant food soup

sent up by the plant’s roots, and starch is formed.

While doing the work of manufacturing starch, the

leaf-mill throws off into the air another gas, called

oxygen. Oxygen is needed by all animals; carbonic acid

gas (or carbon dioxide) is needed by all plants whose

leaves make starch.

But even the starch must be changed before the plant

can use it to make new growth. It must be made into

sugar!

So the leaves act as stomachs, and digest the starch

they have made for the plant’s use. In them, in some

wonderful way, the starch is changed into sugar, and

some mineral matter from the humus soup is mixed with

the sugar. This combination forms a perfect food, ready

for the plant to make into new growth.

“Isn’t it a wonderful story?” asked Bouncing Bet, as she finished

speaking.

“It’s the most surprising garden story I’ve yet heard,” declared Mary

Frances.

“I’ll never, never think of leaves again as just ‘for shade,’” declared

Eleanor. “But I’m glad they do give shade,” she added.

“Trees give a great deal of shade,” said Bet, “because they expose as

large a surface of leaves as possible to the sun. On a large tree,

nearly half an acre of leaf surface may be in the sunlight at once.”

“And the sunlight turns the grinding-stones of the leaf-mill,” said

Mary Frances softly.

“And they make food for the tree,” Eleanor whispered.

“Sometimes a plant does not need for immediate use all the food the

leaves have made,” Bet continued, “so it stores it away for future use:

sometimes, in roots; sometimes, in leaves; sometimes in other parts of

the plant—as in the grains of wheat.”

“I wonder how the storage places look,” said Eleanor.

Bet laughed. “You’ve often seen some of them,” she said. “When you eat

turnips and beets, you are eating the food stored in the roots of these

plants. When you use onions, you are using food stored in leaves.”

Mary Frances thought the fairy had made a mistake, and Bet seemed to

read her thought.

“Oh, no,” she laughed, “I’m not mistaken. You see, the bulb of the

onion is made up of the thickened lower ends of the leaves, the top

green parts of which have dried off.”

“It is interesting,” she went on, “to see how quickly the plants which

have stored food begin to grow when put into the warm place. It is

because of this fact that bulbous flowers are the first to bloom in

the Spring. They do not have to make food to begin to grow, for their

food is ready for use, and just a little warmth and moisture will start

them.”

“Oh, I see why crocuses, and hyacinths, and tulips bloom so early,”

said Mary Frances.

“Yes,” nodded Bet, “and it is an interesting experiment to make a

carrot hanging basket. Cut the top off a large carrot and scoop out a

hollow. Fill the hollow with water, and hang the carrot in a warm room.

The beautiful green leaves will soon grow, using the material stored in

the root for food.” Just at this point, Jack stepped forward.

“I’m sorry,” said he, “to interrupt such an interesting lesson, but as

we have so little time, by your leave, Bet, I will commence my story

about some of our most peculiar relatives—if the young ladies would

enjoy hearing about them.”

CHAPTER XLIV

A WICKED INNKEEPER

“INDEED, we would enjoy hearing about them,” declared both the girls.

“Before I begin to tell you about our peculiar relatives, some of which

kill, some of which steal——”

“Oh!” gasped Eleanor.

“Oh!” muttered Mary Frances.

Just at that moment out of the bushes ran the tiniest, littlest bit of

a dog that ever lived.

At first the girls didn’t see him, he was so small.

He ran right to Jack, and put a tiny bit of paper in his hand.

“For pity’s sake, Bet,” Jack exclaimed, “I forgot to send back the

magic tree and here’s the Queen’s messenger with a command from Her

Majesty! Oh, oh, oh!”

“Will it be all right if he sends it back immediately?” Bet asked of

the tiny dog, whose head she was patting.

The dog wagged his tiny tail and stood on his hind legs. Bet bent her

ear to his mouth.

“It will be all right,” she said aloud, “if you return it this minute.”

“Attendants!” shouted Jack. “Attendants!”

Out ran the tiny elves.

“Take back the magic tree!” commanded Jack, “and apologize to Her

Majesty for keeping it over time.”

He took a little box out of his pocket. Opening it, he shook out a

shining powder, and before the girls could see how it came about, the

tiny tree just as they first saw it, growing in the little tub, was

before them. The elves sprang to its sides. The little dog ran on

before; and elves, dog and tree vanished from sight.

“I wouldn’t have had it late for anything!” Jack spoke sadly.

“You were teaching us so kindly,” said Mary Frances; “that was the

reason you forgot. Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“If you appreciate my lesson so much,” Jack said, smiling, “the Queen

won’t mind at all.”

“How glad we are!” cried the girls.

“And now,” Jack went on happily, as Bet danced around; “now, I will

begin a story about one cousin—

A WICKED INNKEEPER

As you know, plants hang out signs to attract Mrs. Bee

and Mrs. Butterfly and other insects to the feast they

have spread—the pollen and the nectar feast. The signs

are the attractive colors of the flowers.

One flower that hangs out a very pretty little white

sign is the Sundew. The sign seems to say to the

passing fly or gnat, “Come, rest upon one of my pretty,

sparkling leaves, and take a meal at my pretty white

blossom-table. Stop at Sundew Inn.”

The little fly is charmed with the cordial invitation,

and lights down upon one of the leaves which glisten

all day with a substance that looks like dew.

In a moment, he knows his mistake, for the sparkling

drops are a sticky fluid which holds the little fellow

fast, and the tiny hairs on the leaf’s surface bite him

like so many mosquitoes!

The leaf rolls up a little, and more of the sticky

fluid pours upon him. It is the digestive fluid of the

plant. The wicked Sundew Innkeeper is eating up his

guest!

“Just like the Spider and Fly in the old story,” said Mary Frances,

repeating the lines:

“‘Will you walk into my parlor?’

Said the spider to the fly,

‘’Tis the prettiest little parlor

That ever you did spy.’”

“Exactly!” agreed Jack. “The sundew invites the fly for the same reason

that the spider does—because it needs it for food.”

“Oh,” shuddered Eleanor, “do plants eat animals?”

“Not if they can help it,” replied Jack. “Many, many years ago, when

the sundew’s great-great-great-great-grandparents were unable to find

the kind of food they needed, they developed this method of getting

nitrogenous food, to keep from starving.”

“Oh, I see,” said Mary Frances, looking wise.

“Is the sundew the only plant which eats insects?” asked Eleanor; “and

does it grow around here?”

“It grows in every section of this country,” replied Jack, “and also in

Europe and Asia.”

“The Pitcher Plant, which is found in soggy marshes, eats insects,

too,” he went on; “only it manages in a different way. Its leaves are

shaped like vases or pitchers, and are usually half filled with water;

its flowers are reddish purple in color, easily deceiving the flies

into thinking they are meat. The insects are attracted also by the

sweet fluid, which is on the edge of the ‘pitcher,’ and crawl or slide

down the slippery hairs which line the upper part.

“Once down, the bristly hairs prevent them from climbing back, and they

are drowned in the water. The plant eats the soup which their bodies

make. The form of Pitcher Plant which grows in the western states has

vases large enough to drown small birds and field mice.”

“It isn’t a pretty story,” commented Mary Frances.

“Not a bit,” agreed Eleanor.

“It would make us ashamed, wouldn’t it, Jack,” Bouncing Bet was

speaking, “if anybody but Mother Nature had invented that way of

keeping things moving?”

“She must have had good reason,” replied Jack.

CHAPTER XLV

UNINVITED GUESTS

“SO much, then, for the disrespectable murderer branch of the family,”

he continued. “Now I will tell you about some of our thieves. We don’t

approve of them any more than you would approve of a cousin who turned

out to be a thief, but—well, I shall begin by telling you about—

DODDER

No plant would invite such a miserable pauper as a

visitor. It’s worse than any beggar you have ever

known, for a beggar at least digests his own food.

Not so with dodder. It is too lazy to do even that!

It has therefore, no leaves. It doesn’t need them. It

starts out as an honest plant baby, but soon “goes

wrong,” reaching out long tendrils by which it takes

hold of any convenient plant neighbor. It sends little

leg-like suckers down into the stem of this plant

neighbor. It lets go of the earth with its roots, and

drinks the life-blood, or sap, of its host, the plant

on which it has seized hold.

The disgracefully lazy dodder does no work at all

except to make flowers and seeds. The flowers are tiny,

star-shaped, of a yellowish, greenish or white color,

and each flower makes four seeds to go on to make more

thieving plant babies!

“Isn’t it disgraceful!” exclaimed Bet. “Jack and I never want to

associate with plants that murder and steal——”

“Not if we can help it,” said Jack, “we don’t.”

“You’ll be sorry,” he went on, “to learn that Indian pipes, too, are

uninvited guests, living on food in other plant roots.”

“Oh,” said Mary Frances regretfully, “I always thought them so pretty!”

“Well, they are pretty, and dodder, even, is pretty in a way, because

of its yellow color, but both are—

PARASITE PLANTS

Parasite means “eating at another’s table.”

Parasite plants are those which fasten upon other

plants and steal their food.

Real parasite plants lack all green color, for since

they steal food already digested, what need have they

for green matter (chlor-o-phyll) by means of which a

plant digests its food?

There are also some half parasites, which, while

living partially upon stolen food, get some food for

themselves.

The pretty waxy Christmas mistletoe is a half parasite.

You notice that it has some green coloring or

chlor-o-phyll, which it uses to digest the nourishment

it gathers from the air.

“My,” exclaimed Eleanor, “I’m glad it doesn’t steal all its food. That

shows it’s trying to help itself. It isn’t such a ‘piggy’ as some

plants!”

“Oh, not every parasite plant destroys the plant whose food it takes.

Not very long ago, human beings found out that the very tiny parasite

plants which fasten themselves to peas and beans and other similar

plants (called Legumens) are very beneficial to them. They do steal

some predigested food, but in return they give to them a much more

valuable food, which they have taken from the air. This valuable food

is nitrogen.

For this reason, these parasitic plants, or nitrogerms, have been

gathered and grown, and are now sold under the name of ‘Cultures for

Legumens.’ When applied to peas, beans, clover, etc., they cause them

to grow very rapidly, and give very abundant crops.”

“How wonderful!” said Mary Frances.

Just then the fairy clock chimed four.

CHAPTER XLVI

HOW SEED BABIES TRAVEL

“COME,” cried Bouncing Bet. “Now, I am going to tell you a wonderful,

true fairy story. You never realized, did you, that plants travel? I

mean that they travel without the help of human beings.”

“No,” the girls shook their heads.

“You can’t deny that they spread from place to place, can you?” asked

Bet.

“Indeed, I can’t,” said Mary Frances; “the dandelions have spread all

over our land within a short time.”

“And I’ll tell you how they did it,” Bet went on. “But first I’ll tell

you—

WHY PLANTS TRAVEL

If the seeds of a plant always fell on ground nearby,

the space would soon become choked up, and the new seed

babies would have no chance to live; so, many plants

have been provided means of sending their seed babies a

long distance from the mother plant, and in this way

they have spread or traveled from place to place, until

some cover very large areas.

HOW PLANTS TRAVEL

_Seed Pods with Burry Coats_

Did you ever think, when you pick “beggar lice” and

“sand burrs” off your clothing and throw them down on

the ground, that you are helping the plant mother do

just what she wanted you to do with her seed baby?

She put “stickers” all over the coat of her seed baby

so that it might catch hold of your dress, or of the

fur of your doggie, or your cow, and be dropped in a

new place where the seed baby could grow with better

chances than at home near her.

When you make burr baskets out of the sticky burdock

seeds, unless you burn them, you are helping the

burdocks to travel.

_Pods which Shoot Seeds_

The mother plants of the “spider plant,” and of the

pansy, and of the violet send their seed babies to new

homes by using seed pods which burst open and shoot the

seeds far and wide in all directions.

_Tumble Weeds_

Some mother plants actually carry their seed babies to

new places.

The “tumble weeds” of the West dry up in Autumn,

and are broken off near the roots by the wind,

which carries them along over field and meadow; and

everywhere they go, they are dropping seed babies in

new places. If you watch them as they tumble about you

will feel like laughing at their comical appearance.

Now we have come to the fairy seed babies, the—

_Seed Babies with Wings_

You’ve seen them often—seed babies flying about on the

wings which their plant-mother gave them. Sometimes you

have helped them start to fly.

Oh, yes, you have.

Don’t you remember when you pulled the fluffy head off

a dandelion, and blew it to “see what time it was?”

Of course you didn’t know it, but you sent scores

of dandelion seed babies floating off in the air on

their fairy wings. Perhaps the wind took one up where

you left off blowing, and landed it such a distance

away from its old home that it might have seemed like

hundreds of miles to the little thing.

Milk-weed seed babies fastened to their beautiful silky

down, which is so light it floats along like a fairy’s

feather, actually travel on the “wings of the wind.”

Some trees, too, give their seed babies wings. Haven’t

the winged seeds of the maple fooled you into thinking

they were birds or insects of some kind? It has amused

you, too, to notice how far the wings of these seed

babies have carried them on the wind.

“Haven’t the plant mothers provided wonderfully for their seed babies’

welfare!” exclaimed Mary Frances.

“Yes,” replied Bet; “back of the plant mother is another mother—Mother

Nature. Oh, but she is wise!”

CHAPTER XLVII

HAVE A SEAT ON A TOAD STOOL

“MOTHER NATURE has taught plant mothers many secrets as to how to take

care of their babies,” Bet continued, “but perhaps her most amusing

trick is the wrapping of certain seed babies in seed cases which look

like worms or bugs. Did you ever notice the seeds of the castor oil

plant?”

“They look exactly like bugs!” Mary Frances exclaimed.

“Almost,” Bet nodded; “probably to make some bird think it’s going to

have a fine meal. When the seed has been carried a little distance, the

bird will discover its mistake, and drop the seed baby in a new home.”

“What a cunning trick!” exclaimed Eleanor.

“Isn’t it!” said Mary Frances. “I remember now, that I once saw on a

plant what I thought was a worm, and when I tried to brush it off, it

burst open, letting the seeds scatter about.”

“I wonder if that wasn’t this plant?” Bet asked as she held up a dried

flower head, out of which a worm seemed to be crawling.

“That’s it!” cried Mary Frances. “What is the plant called, please?”

“It has a very long name,” Bouncing Bet replied; “too long for you to

remember, I fear; but it means a ‘coiled worm,’ and shows how perfectly

one plant mother has performed this comical trick.”

“I suspect all plant mothers have some trick,” Mary Frances ventured.

“That leads me to tell you about one kind of plants we’ve not yet

mentioned.

They are the—

PLANTS WITHOUT FLOWERS

If plants have no flowers, you will ask, how can the

new baby plants grow? Can there be seed babies without

flowers?

No, flowerless plants do not bear seeds, but they do

have plant babies, otherwise we would not have ferns,

mushrooms, and many other important plants.

The plant babies of flowerless plants come from spores,

not seeds.

Did you ever gather Christmas ferns? They are the ones

which cheer you so with their beautiful green color

in the woods when so many other things are asleep in

winter.

On the back of the fern leaves, perhaps you have

noticed little brown rusty-looking spots.

In these spots or spore-cases are the spores. When the

spore cases are ripe, they burst open and throw out the

spores which look like a fine dust.

Each grain of this dust must live in a moist, warm

place, and pass through several changes before a baby

fern can grow.

Mosses grow in a similar way. So, also, do—

MUSHROOMS OR TOAD STOOLS

Mushrooms are flowerless plants, and they do not grow

from seeds, but from spores.

The spores fall from the pretty gills on the under side

of the umbrella part of the plant.

Of course, since they have no green color, you know

that mushrooms do not make their own food. They, like

most other—

FUNGI,

live on dead vegetable matter.

Mushrooms grow by means of thread-like feeders which

they send down into the dead material which they use.

It is a good thing that fungi use dead trees and leaves

and other dead matter for food; otherwise, these things

would keep on piling up!

I wish to tell you of one kind of fungus, though, which

lives on living material in trees. It is called the—

BRACKET FUNGUS

Perhaps you have thought the bracket-like shelves you

have seen on some tree, pretty.

You did not know, then, that some spores of the bracket

fungi had fastened into a wound in the bark, and had

sent long threads down into the living part of the tree.

The poor tree cannot help itself, and after a while it

will die of starvation because the bracket fungi have

used up all its food material.

So do be careful never to injure the bark of a tree;

for wherever it is torn, it leaves an open wound—just

as when you scratch your finger or your arm.

There are other fungi which you’ve seen oftener than

toad stools. They are—

MOLDS

You’ve often seen the mold which comes on bread which

has been left in a rather dark, warm, moist place.

The mold comes from the thousands of germs in the

dust in air. These germs settle down and use anything

possible for food, and send out spore-dust to make more

germs.

While they are growing and making spore cases, they

appear as molds and mildews.

The germs in the dust are too tiny to be seen without a

microscope, and their near relatives—

BACTERIA

are about the tiniest of living things.

They grow everywhere. Some do us harm and some benefit

us wonderfully.

Cheese is made out of milk by one of the good kind;

another kind makes vinegar; some other kinds fasten

themselves to the inside of our mouths and bodies,

bringing disease, like typhoid fever and consumption.

When we keep our bodies and mouths and teeth clean, we

help our blood to destroy such bad bacteria.

Sunlight destroys bad germs.

Fresh air destroys bad germs. You should have plenty of

fresh air both day and night.

“Pshaw,” said Jack, as Bet finished speaking; “toad stools are meant

for fairies to sit on, and mushrooms for human beings to eat. What kind

of nonsense are you trying to teach, anyhow, Bet?”

The girls laughed, for they saw Jack wink as he spoke.

“Come,” said he, “you’ve been standing too long—come, have a seat on a

toad stool?”

With that he ran toward a beautiful white mushroom, and Bet followed.

When they were seated, Mary Frances asked:

“What is the difference between a mushroom and a toad stool?”

“Well,” Jack replied, “I guess there isn’t really any difference,

although some people think that toad stools, if eaten, poison people

and that mushrooms are harmless, but some mushrooms are very poisonous,

so do not try to use any you gather, unless some grown people know them

to be harmless, for some of the most beautiful would kill you the most

quickly.”

“I’ve eaten mushrooms,” said Eleanor, “but they were canned ones.”

“Oh, they are safe enough,” Bet smiled.

Then the fairy clock struck the half-hour.

CHAPTER XLVIII

SOME WAYS TO RID OF WEEDS

“FOUR-THIRTY!” exclaimed Jack, “and we have only until five o’clock.”

“My, you’ll have to talk fast,” said Bouncing Bet, “in order to tell

all you want to.”

“One quarter of all I want to, you mean, Bet,” Jack replied.

“I’m afraid my brother and father and mother will come look for us,”

said Mary Frances.

“No,” Bet shook her head, “not until five o’clock.”

“I suppose fairies know,” Eleanor whispered.

Jack began to talk rapidly:

WEEDS

To the little plant baby which you love and wish to

grow, weeds are like terribly hungry beasts who steal

their food, and choke them to death, and say:

“Get out of here! I’m a piggy-wig, and I want

everything myself!”

So unless you want your favorite plants to die, you

will kill the weeds in your garden.

Even if some of your plants do live through the fight,

they are weak and poor from the lack of food, and the

hard work they have been through.

Someone has said that weeds are plants that are not

wanted, and people often find that the less they are

wanted, the harder it is to get rid of them.

You see, most weeds have grown in spite of everything,

and have accommodated themselves to such unpleasant

surroundings that when they find themselves in splendid

surroundings, as in your garden soil, they begin to

grow ‘with a vengeance.’”

“I know!” Mary Frances laughed.

“Well, we fairy folk want to help you as much as possible with your

garden. I am going to tell you about—

SOME WAYS TO RID OF WEEDS

Of course, one of the best ways is to pull the weeds,

never allowing them to go to seed. That’s best for

annual kinds.

But the perennial kind must have the roots destroyed,

so deep digging or ploughing in the Fall is a great

help.

Cleaning off the growth and burning it in the Fall

kills many seeds which might “winter over,” and come up

in the Spring.

Salt is often used to kill grass in paths and garden

walks.

Some of the commonest weeds found in the garden are—

_Lamb’s-quarters_, or _Pigweed_, which is usually very

unwelcome in the garden, but which some people use for

“greens.”

_Roman Wormwood_, or _Hogweed_, which, from its name,

you can see is troublesome everywhere.

[Illustration: ROMAN WORMWOOD]

_Beggar-ticks_, or _Stick tights_.

I guess you know them—

Their seed babies, I mean. Didn’t you get them all over

your dresses and stockings one day in the woods?

[Illustration: BEGGAR-TICKS]

_Smartweed_ and _Knotweed_ and _Lady’s Thumb_ all

resemble each other in appearance.

_Plantain_ and _Rat Tails_ (Rib Grass, English

Plantain) are cousins in the same family.

_Pepper Grass_ and _Shepherd’s Purse_ are cousins, too,

and both belong to the Mustard family. You’ve often

eaten pepper grass seeds, haven’t you?

_Field Laurel_, or _Sour Grass_, has leaves with a

pleasantly sour flavor.

“Excuse me,” said Mary Frances, as Jack paused, “but you didn’t mention

that if you ‘cultivate’ your garden, it will kill weeds.”

“I’m so glad you said that!” Jack replied. “It is the best way to keep

weeds out of your garden; but I was speaking of where they had ‘gotten

a start.’”

“They’re hard to pull sometimes,” remarked Eleanor. “I’ll tell you how

I know. We have just the tiniest lawn, and father gives me an ice-cream

cone for pulling five cents’ worth of weeds.”

“Isn’t that lovely of him!” Jack exclaimed.

“Sometimes,” he went on, “it is not only for the sake of the plants you

want to have grow that you destroy the weeds, but to protect yourself.

For instance, you wish to kill out all poisonous plants; such as—

POISON IVY

The leaves of poison ivy, if touched, will provoke a

painful, poisonous rash on the skin of most people.

This is caused by the irritating, acrid juice in the

leaves. This juice probably protects the plant—for

instance, no cattle will enjoy eating it.

[Illustration: POISON IVY]

Thousands of cases of ivy poison could be avoided if

everyone knew the plant.

Remember, the poison ivy vine has three leaves on a

stem, while its harmless and beautiful cousin, Virginia

Creeper, which resembles it so much, has five leaves on

a stem.

Jack stepped forward and showed the girls the difference in the leaves,

just as they are pictured here.

They examined them carefully.

“I think I’ll never mistake poison ivy for that other plant,” said

Eleanor.

“I hope not,” Bet chimed in, “for I am so fond of—

VIRGINIA CREEPER

This plant is a native of America, growing everywhere

from Canada southward even to Cuba. It makes a charming

decorative vine on wall and fence.

It will soon repay one for the trouble of carrying a

root home from the woods, for it easily takes root

in a new place, and everyone is delighted with its

magnificent brilliant red foliage in the Autumn.

“That sounds like a book, Bet,” exclaimed Jack. “I think the most

interesting thing about Virginia Creeper is the tiny hand-like

‘clingers’ with which it holds on to the wall or fence.”

“I was going to tell that, Mr. Jack,” Bet replied; “but, never mind, I

want to tell about—

SOME WAYS IN WHICH PLANTS PROTECT THEMSELVES

You remember that I told you that the “velvet” fur of

the great mullein keeps animals from eating the leaves?

Well, perhaps you’ve never thought of it, but the

prickles of the rose and blackberry and the thorns of

some trees prevent their being destroyed many and many

a time.

“Indeed, I know,” laughed Mary Frances. “No one will ever see me try to

pick a wild cactus!”

“Or nettles?” asked Jack, pretending to pick splinters from his hand.

“I hope your garden never has more weeds than we saw when we were over

there in the moonlight last evening,” he went on.

“Why, were you in my garden?” Mary Frances was amazed.

“It looked splendid,” beamed Bet.

“We will come often,” Jack added, “and if we never see more weeds than

last evening, you’ll be growing wonderful vegetables and flowers.”

“Feather Flop—” Mary Frances began, then she thought perhaps she’d

better not mention the rooster.

“It’s about time to say good-bye,” Bet said, “but you need not feel

sorry because we will—

Come in the moonlight

To see how your garden grows.”

CHAPTER XLIX

QUEEN’S LACE TRIMS WELL

“HOW lovely that will be, Mary Frances!” exclaimed Eleanor.

“I shall come out some evening to see you, dear fairy folks,” said Mary

Frances, “even if you cannot talk with me. Maybe Eleanor will come,

too.”

“I don’t believe you’ll know us when you see us. I might come as Jack

Frost,” Jack answered.

“And I might seem a Luna moth,” said Bouncing Bet. “But you’ll know we

are interested and are trying to help you.”

“Come,” said Jack, “we have a gift for you. Here is a package of wild

flower seeds which we hope you will plant.”

“Thank you, oh, thank you!” Both the girls were delighted.

“There’s only one condition with our gift; you must never tell anyone

about us! If you do, not a seed will grow.”

“Oh!” The tears came into Mary Frances’ eyes. “Not Mother?” she asked.

“Would the Queen let them tell her mother?” Jack turned to Bet.

“Yes,” said Bet, “because her mother believes in fairies.”

“Indeed she does!” Mary Frances was enthusiastic. “She knows all about

the Cooking People.”

“Yes,” both Bet and Jack nodded.

“The Thimble People.”

They nodded again.

“And the Doll People.”

“The Queen of All Fairies sent them, you know,” said Jack to Bet.

“Of course,” Bet replied.

“Now for my party dress,” she suddenly sang out, and with “Excuse me!”

ran away.

When she came back she was dressed in the queen’s lace gown, only it

was more gorgeous than before, for it sparkled with a thousand jewels.

She picked up her dainty pink skirt and began to dance.

“Isn’t my dress pretty?” she asked.

“Queen’s lace trims well,” she laughed. “Come, Jack!” And together they

danced in mid-air, treading on nothing.

“Good-bye, dear girls,” they sang. “Good-bye, little gardeners! Good

luck! Remember the fairies will be watching your gardens!”

Just then Mary Frances noticed a big soap bubble floating toward the

little dancers. Nearer and nearer it came, and stopped in front of them.

Jack opened a door in the soap bubble, and in they stepped.

“Good-bye,” cried Bouncing Bet, as Jack closed the door.

“Good-bye!” cried the girls. “Good-bye, kind, lovely fairy folks!”

Jack and Bet threw kisses to them until the bubble floated out of sight

over the tops of the trees.

* * * * *

“Oh, Mary Frances,” cried Eleanor after a short silence. “Oh, it was

the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me!”

“Well, so this is where you girls were hiding!” Billy’s voice made both

the girls jump. “My, you gave me a scare! Not a bit of lunch tasted,

and not a sign of you!”

“Oh, Billy,” exclaimed Mary Frances, “how you startled me! How’s

Mother? Could she—could she come?”

“Mother’s all right,” said Billy, “only Father thought best for her

not to try to come, and sent me for you girls—Hello! I see you’ve been

gathering wild flowers.”

He had spied the flowers that Jack and Bet had let them gather.

“Gee! aren’t they beauties! Did you find them near here? I don’t wonder

you forgot your lunch!”

“Oh, Billy—that reminds me—I’m awfully hungry!” Mary Frances said, “and

I imagine Eleanor is, too.”

“I’m—I am hungry,” Eleanor spoke as in a dream.

“Well, then, since there are no fairies to bring the lunch baskets to

us, let’s go to the lunch baskets,” said Billy, picking up the bunches

of flowers and leading the way.

“You’ll need a pail to put these flowers in water,” he said.

When he spoke of fairies, Mary Frances put her fingers to her lips.

Eleanor smiled and nodded.

“Let’s spread supper!” said Billy.

“That will make us late getting home, I fear,” Mary Frances parleyed.

“No, sir-ee!” Billy smiled, “Father’s going to drive over for us!”

“Oh, isn’t that fine!” cried the girls, opening the baskets.

They ate as only hungry children can eat.

“Here comes Father—just in time for dessert,” cried Billy suddenly, and

all ran to meet him.

They reached home before dark, and were welcomed by a smiling mother.

“Our wild flower picnic was a success after all,” Mary Frances said,

kissing her and giving her the beautiful flowers.

CHAPTER L

THE WILD FLOWER GARDEN

THE girls were in Mary Frances’ mother’s room whispering to her the

story of their experience with Jack-in-the-Pulpit and Bouncing Bet.

“Wasn’t it wonderful?” Eleanor clapped her hands softly. “Oh, I am so

glad I could share Mary Frances’ pleasure!”

“I am as glad as Eleanor,” Mary Frances said. “I wish every girl and

boy, too, could have seen and heard what we did!”

“So do I, dear,” said her mother. “Shall you ask Billy to help you

plant the seeds of the wild flowers?” she asked.

“If you think, Mother dear, it wouldn’t be a wrong story to simply tell

him that we got the seeds in the woods?”

“I think that would be all right,” replied her mother.

“What about Eleanor’s package?” asked Mary Frances. “Shall she keep it

until she goes home to plant in her own garden?”

Her mother hesitated. “I may as well tell you, girls. I have a

wonderful surprise for you, myself.”

“Oh, do tell us!” they cried.

“Sit down, then,” she said, and they took their low chairs to her knee.

“This is my secret. Our dear old friend, Eleanor’s father, has to go

away on business—maybe he will be gone a year—and Eleanor is to come

live with us.”

“Oh, how lovely!” cried Mary Frances, throwing her arms about her

friend’s neck and kissing her.

Tears came into Eleanor’s eyes.

“I’m so glad,” she said. “I shall miss Father terribly, but if you and

Mary Frances’ father just adopt me for a while, it will be something

like having my own dear father and mother. What about Bob? Do you know

where he is to be?”

“Yes, dear child,” smiled Mary Frances’ mother; “that is another

pleasant surprise. Bob is to go away to school with Billy.”

“Oh, will he study gardening?” cried Eleanor.

“He will, if he wishes, your father said.”

“Isn’t that grand!” Eleanor was enthusiastic—then her face suddenly

clouded.

“When will Father go?” she asked.

“Not until the middle of September, Eleanor. He and Bob are to come

visit us the first of the month, and you are to be with us from now on.”

“You’re to be my sister!” Mary Frances laughed.

“And you may call me Mother, if you wish, dear,” added Mary Frances’

mother.

“Oh, it seems so cozy and lovely!” sighed the little girl.

“Well, now, my girlies, since the secrets are told, why not get Billy

to help you plant the wild flower seeds?”

“All right!” they cried, jumping up and kissing her before they ran

away.

“Oh, Billy! Billy!” they shouted as they saw him in the garden.

“Here come ‘our twins’,” laughed Billy, turning toward his father. “I

wonder what’s up.”

“Hello, girls,” he answered as they came near. “What can we do for you?”

“Oh, Billy, and Father, have you heard the news? Of course you have!

Eleanor is to be my sister, and yours, Billy, and she’s to call Father,

Father; and Mother, Mother; aren’t you, dear?” said Mary Frances,

kissing Eleanor, who smiled shyly.

“Whew!” exclaimed Billy. “Stop for breath, Mary Frances, can’t you? If

Nell were as bad as you——”

“Oh, Billy!” chided Eleanor.

“I guess all that Billy means to say,” interposed his father, “is that

we’re all glad that such a good little girl is to come live with us.”

“You’ll have to live up to that reputation, young lady,” laughed Billy.

“And now,” Mary Frances produced the packages of wild flower seeds, “we

want our brother to help us plant seeds.”

“What kind of seeds are they?” questioned her father.

“Where did you get them?” asked Billy.

“We got them in the woods where we gathered the wild flowers,” answered

Mary Frances.

“No wonder I couldn’t find you,” Billy commented. “Where do you think

they’d better be planted, Father?”

“Not near a garden of cultivated flowers,” said his father.

“No,” Billy remarked, “for we learned that the cross-fertilization or a

mixture of pollen might bring very poor flowers in the garden if wild

ones were planted too near, and might also fill it up with weeds.”

“Down in this corner would be a good place, it seems to me,” said their

father, leading the way.

“I’ll be with you as soon as I get my spade and fork,” called Billy.

Everybody helped, and the bed was soon planted.

“I know they’ll all grow for Jack——” Eleanor began.

Mary Frances pinched her arm, and Eleanor just caught herself in time.

“For Jack Frost will not get here soon enough to harm them,” finished

Eleanor.

“He’ll not be here in time to harm the perennial kind,” Billy said.

“No,” his father took up the thought, “August is an ideal time to plant

the seeds of perennials.”

“We have a number of seeds ready for planting.” Billy turned to Mary

Frances. “Where are they, sister?”

“In the play house,” replied Mary Frances. “Shall we get them?”

“Yes,” said her father, “I have plenty of time now, and I will help

Billy, if he will act as ‘master of ceremonies.’”

“Father, I don’t know such a heap.” Billy’s face colored.

“Well, son,” said his father, “we’ll all appreciate your telling us

all you can of what you learned. I know a little theory on the subject

myself. I only wish I could have had training and experience in

gardening when I was a boy.”

“It’s the most interesting subject in the world, I believe,“ Billy said

earnestly.

“Here are the seeds,” cried Mary Frances, as she and Eleanor came with

a number of packages.

CHAPTER LI

GROWING PERENNIALS FROM SEED

“WE bought,” said Billy, taking the packages in his hand, “only the

seeds of the perennials which are easily grown. It’s far better to buy

the young plants of the more delicate kinds.”

“I should think so. May we see what you have here?” asked his father,

reading aloud the names on the envelopes which Billy gave him. They

were—

Gaillardia

Coreopsis

Iceland Poppies

Larkspur

Bell Flowers

Oriental Poppies

Baby’s Breath

Hollyhocks

Foxgloves

Columbines

“Of course,” Billy explained, “all of these seeds could be started in

the early Spring in a sunny window in the house, or in a hotbed, and

transplanted to the open ground in June; but the advantage in planting

them in July or August is that they will get a good start before cold

weather, and will bloom the next Summer.”

“Oh, wouldn’t they bloom in the coming Summer if planted in the house

very, very early in the Spring?” asked Eleanor.

“A few, such as sweet williams and gaillardia, might,” Billy answered,

“but it would be quite uncertain.”

“Do you make the seed bed in just the same way as for any other seeds?”

asked Mary Frances.

“Yes, taking great pains to have it finely pulverized. Well, let’s get

to work! Father, please tell us what you think is a good place.”

After pointing out a good sunny place, his father helped Billy make the

seed bed, and the girls sowed the seed.

“Cover the tiny seeds with just a thin layer of soil,” directed Billy,

“but put a heavier cover on the larger ones. The rule is to cover a

seed with three times its diameter.”

“Next we press them down firmly,” said Mary Frances, “and sprinkle with

water very gently.”

“Good!” her father praised her. “What a fine little gardener you are!

By the way, when do we see that play house garden of yours, dear?”

“Oh, Father, that’s to be another surprise!” Mary Frances answered.

“You’re to be invited to a Garden Party—you and Mother, and other

people, too.”

“Won’t that be fine! I hope you will not forget Aunt Maria,” her father

smiled.

“That’s a part of the secret, Father; please, please don’t guess any

more! And please don’t tell Mother, will you?” Mary Frances begged

anxiously.

“Indeed, I shall not, little girl,” he answered. “I think it is a

delightful idea.”

“The bed should be shaded from the hot sunlight,” Billy went on

irrelevantly, “until the plants are quite large.”

They turned toward him.

“How’s that best managed, son?”

“It can be managed in several different ways,” said Billy. “For

instance, brush may be laid over the bed, but that is not a very good

method. A better one is to make a—

CHEESE-CLOTH SHADE FRAME

Drive down several stakes on the border and in the

center of the bed.

Make a cover of cheese-cloth to fit over the bed, and

fasten it to the stakes.

You see, the cheese-cloth lets in light and air and

rain, yet protects the little seedlings from the direct

hot rays of the sun.

“We boys will drive down the stakes if you girls will make the

cheese-cloth cover,” volunteered their father.

“Sew we will, won’t we, Eleanor?” laughed Mary Frances.

“Was that a pun?” asked Billy. “Why, Mary Frances!”

“She meant we will so,” Eleanor tried to explain, but everybody smiled.

“You do not need to sew if the beds are narrow, for the cheese-cloth

will be wide enough,” Billy said, “nor if you use another method of

shading the seed beds. I mean if you use—

LATTICE SHADE FRAME

Instead of using cheese-cloth, laths are fastened to

the upright stakes to form a “lattice.”

“I think the cheese-cloth frame would be less trouble to make.” Eleanor

was much interested.

“All right, then,” said Billy. “We’ll expect you to have your part

ready in time.”

“Do you leave the cheese-cloth, or the lattice shade frame over them

all winter?” asked Mary Frances.

“No.” Billy shook his head. “After the little plants are about three

inches high, you remove the frame, and let them grow with a will. By

the latter part of September they will be well rooted, able to live

over winter if covered with leaves when the weather becomes frosty, and

sheltered from the north winds.”

CHAPTER LII

THE MONEY THE CHILDREN MADE

“ELEANOR, if you’re going to ‘market garden’ with Billy and me, you’ll

have to get up right away.”

Mary Frances shook her little friend into wakefulness.

“Mar-ket—gar-den-ing?” yawned Eleanor, stretching. Then sitting

up, “Oh, yes, I remember now, Mary Frances! How stupid of me! It’s

Saturday! My, I’m sorry I overslept!”

“Never mind, girlie, but hurry up and dress. Billy’s already out in the

garden putting things in the wheelbarrow.”

They didn’t take much time for making a fancy toilet, and were soon out

in the play house garden with Billy.

“Hello, girls,” he called. “Aren’t these green peppers beauties?”

holding some up.

“Green peppers!” said Eleanor. “Why, lots of those green peppers are

red!”

“Oh, you’re no Italian,” laughed Billy, “or you would know that most

green peppers turn red when ripe enough.”

“What else have we to-day?” asked Mary Frances. “Of course we have our

parsley, and lettuce, and tomatoes, and ‘pot herbs.’”

“And cabbage, and carrots, and beans, and cucumbers,” added Billy.

“And egg-plants!” Eleanor was proud to be able to add a name to the

list.

“All the articles mentioned, Ma’am,” said Billy, pretending to offer

them for sale.

“I’ll buy everything you have,” answered Eleanor, “if you’ll sell for a

penny.”

“‘Said the piggy, “I won’t!”’” Mary Frances misquoted, “and I don’t

blame Billy, for we’ve made lots of money this Summer.”

“Yes, I know,” said Eleanor; “from the times I’ve been out with you

selling garden truck, you must have quite a fortune by now.”

“Oh, say——” began Billy.

“What?” asked Mary Frances.

“Why, I was just thinking that since Eleanor was always helping us so

much, she ought to share in the profits.”

“Wouldn’t that be fine!” Mary Frances hugged her friend in delight.

“No.” Eleanor shook her head. “If you divide among three, you won’t

make money nearly as fast.”

“We’ve done so well that we won’t mind going a little more slowly,”

said Billy. “Shall we tell what a pile we have in the bank, Mary

Frances?”

“Oh, Billy, you know I’m crazy to tell her!”

“Well,” Billy took a book from his pocket, “last Saturday night we had

forty-four dollars and fifty-seven cents, and Mrs. Dailey owes us two

dollars and nineteen cents.”

“Oh, Billy, did you two make that much in this short time?” Eleanor

could scarcely believe her ears.

“More than that!” Mary Frances exulted. “And we’ve paid Billy back the

money we borrowed from his ‘prize money’ for seeds.”

“Let me see. Forty-four and two are forty-six,” said Eleanor. “You may

have sixty dollars by cold weather!”

“More likely seventy, Billy?” asked Mary Frances.

“I’ve heard of counting dollars before they were hatched,” Billy

laughed.

“Is Nell a partner from now on?” asked Mary Frances.

“Yes,” Billy said, “if she helps, she shares in the profits—but, gee, I

wish Bob was here!”

“Well, you know he’s coming soon!” said Mary Frances, “and, besides,

you’ll be together the whole school year!”

“Say, you girls get to work!” exclaimed Billy, and they flew to gather

parsley, and tiny little red peppers, and thyme, and leeks, out of

which Mary Frances made penny bunches of pot herbs, while Eleanor tied

some three-cent and five-cent bunches of the parsley.

“Are we ready now?” asked Eleanor as Billy piled the wheelbarrow high

with vegetables.

“No, indeedy!” Mary Frances exclaimed. “Now, it’s my turn. Come on out

into the front garden and help me gather my bouquets.”

“Let me see the order book, Billy, please?” she asked.

“Oh, yes, Doctor Hopewell wants roses, larkspurs, and baby’s breath;

Mr. Courtley asked for sweet peas. As we have only the perennial kind

which have no odor, I shall put a sprig of lemon verbena with them.

Aren’t they beautiful?” as she began to gather them. “I just believe

Mr. Courtley is going to give them to Miss Constance. Last Sunday she

wore to church the bunch of tufted pansies he bought of me on Saturday.”

“Nell, you gather yellow flowers to-day. Isn’t that right, Mary

Frances?”

He handed her a basket.

“In that,” Mary Frances nodded. “You’ll find scissors inside the play

house door.”

Eleanor was soon cutting perennial sunflowers and coreopsis.

“Billy, get some blue flowers to put with the coreopsis?” Mary Frances

called after a minute, and Billy began to cut some eupatorium.

“Isn’t this a charming bouquet!” exclaimed Eleanor as she arranged the

blue and yellow flowers.

They all admired it, but they voted the pink roses, and larkspur, and

baby’s breath the most beautiful of all.

“Now, we’re ready to start!” Billy led off with the wheelbarrow, the

girls following with baskets of the herbs and flowers.

“Have you planned to do anything special with the money, Mary Frances?”

asked Eleanor.

“Well, for one thing, I shall save a good deal for seeds and plants in

the Spring, and Billy says we’ll plant bulbs in the Fall. That will

cost quite a little.”

“And we’re planning to make a hotbed and a cold frame,” broke in Billy,

who overheard.

“And when we started gardening I borrowed quite a little sum for seeds

from my savings account—with Mother’s permission. I have to put that

back,” Mary Frances added.

“Money, like all good things,” Billy looked wise, “should be taken care

of!”

“Oh, you miser, Billy!” Mary Frances playfully shook her finger.

“Isn’t it strange what funny ideas some people have of how things

grow?” remarked Billy. “A city chap at school told me he had always

thought that cabbages grew on vines and potatoes were picked off

bushes!”

“Well, if he never saw them growing, how could he know?” Mary Frances

reasoned after they stopped laughing.

“That’s right!” teased Billy. “Stand up for him.”

By that time they were in the heart of the village, and had very soon

sold everything, for the village people had become accustomed to look

for the children.

“Every vegetable you bring is so fresh that we wait to buy of you,”

several said.

“Splendid luck to-day,” commented Billy, on the way home.

“Have you saved the things your mother ordered?” asked Eleanor.

“Of course,” answered Billy. “You don’t suppose we’d neglect one of our

first and best paying customers.”

“Mother is a dear!” said Mary Frances. “So is Father! They must wonder

why they haven’t been invited to see our gardens.”

“When are you going to ask them?” Eleanor inquired.

“Why, don’t you remember? When we give our garden party.”

“That’s to be about the first of September, I believe,” said Billy.

CHAPTER LIII

MARY FRANCES’ GARDEN PARTY

“THERE!” Mary Frances looked up from her writing. “That is the last

invitation, all ready for the envelope. Eleanor, did you hear?”

“I heard,” her little friend laughed, “but I was so busy putting the

last curl to the tail of the address on the last envelope that I

couldn’t pay attention.”

“Oh, I am so much obliged to you for addressing them,” said Mary

Frances. “Let me see if I’ve thought of every one,” laying them aside

as she counted.

“Here is Grandma’s; here, Aunt Maria’s; here, your father’s; here,

Bob’s; and last, but very important, Mother and Father’s. Let’s go mail

them.”

“What did you say to Aunt Maria?” Eleanor inquired as they walked along.

“I said,” Mary Frances recited:

“DEAR AUNT MARIA:—

“Please come to my Garden Party next Wednesday. We’ve

been industrious enough this Summer to please even you!

“I don’t want to tell you any more, for fear I’ll spoil

the surprise, but we won’t have a bit nice time unless

you are with us. I’ll never forget how pleased you were

with my cooking surprise.

“With love, which I want to give you in real hugs, and

real kisses,

“MARY FRANCES.”

“Mary Frances, do you dare hug your Aunt Maria? I’d never dare, I’m

sure. The very thought scares me! She always seems so cross.”

Mary Frances laughed. “I used to feel the same way,” she said, “but

after I found out that she was cross just because she was afraid——”

“Afraid? Your Aunt Maria afraid!”

“Yes, afraid, and ashamed that somebody might think she was loving and

kind. When I found that out, I felt different. I was sorry for her.”

“I know she loves you dearly,” Eleanor admitted.

“She’s a dear old bear who growls just for fun, and I hope she comes

to the party. Grandma will come, I know, and——”

“So will Father and Bob,” finished Eleanor.

“Oh, I can scarcely wait for Wednesday!”

They were at the post office by this time. On their way home they

discussed their plans.

“Billy will bring the tables to the play house on Tuesday,” said Mary

Frances, “and we’ll all do everything we can to get ready.”

“What shall we have for refreshments?” Eleanor asked.

“Why, I think it would be lovely to have everything from our garden—of

course, excepting the ice-cream,” Mary Frances laughed. “I wonder how

this would be:

Tomato and Lettuce Salad with Mayonnaise Dressing

Creamed Potatoes

Cucumber Relish

Sandwiches

Green Pepper and Cheese

Nasturtium

Ice-Cream

Spearmint Jumbles

Coffee

“Oh, Mary Frances, that sounds perfectly wonderful to me!” exclaimed

Eleanor, “but how can you manage to serve so many things?”

“It won’t be hard to manage,” Mary Frances answered, well pleased.

“I’ve thought it all out carefully. We can have the mayonnaise dressing

all ready for the salad the day before, and can make the sandwiches

Wednesday morning if we wrap them in waxed paper.”

“How do you make those sandwiches, Mary Frances?” asked Eleanor.

“Oh, I’m glad you asked that, for they are so good, Eleanor. Use—

FOR TWELVE GREEN PEPPER SANDWICHES

3 five-cent packages cream cheese

2 green peppers, chopped very fine

Mix together and spread on well-buttered thin slices of

bread. Cover each with another buttered——

“As if I didn’t know that much!” exclaimed Eleanor. “How do you make

the other kind?”

“Oh, the nasturtium sandwiches? Why, you use the chopped stems and

a few flowers of the nasturtium plant between the bread. They taste

something like the daintiest of radishes.”

“I can make the sandwiches!” Eleanor exclaimed. “They are easy. Now,

what about the potatoes?”

“They can be creamed in the morning and warmed in the oven just before

serving.”

“Oh, that’s fine! What about the spearmint jumbles you mentioned?”

“I made up that recipe,” Mary Frances confessed. “You see, I’m so crazy

to have everything from the garden that I just had to be original.”

“I’m wild to hear about this recipe!” Eleanor said. “Let’s go into the

play house and I’ll write it down.”

When they were seated, Mary Frances began:

“I looked all over the garden, Eleanor, and I couldn’t think of a thing

we could use in making candy, and I certainly think we need candy,

don’t you?”

“Indeed, I do!” Eleanor agreed.

“Suddenly I spied the spearmint growing with my other herbs. ‘The very

thing!’ I thought, so I just made up a very simple recipe for—

SPEARMINT JUMBLES

2 cups sugar

½ cup water

1 cup mint leaves

1. Wash the mint leaves.

2. Put the sugar in a saucepan. Add the water.

3. Stir sugar over the fire until dissolved.

4. Cook quite hard until the sugar begins to turn

brown. Take from the fire. Add mint leaves, stirring

hard.

5. Turn out on a buttered pie plate. Add 2 tablespoons

butter.

6. Stir hard until candy falls apart or crumbles into

small pieces.

“My, but you are smart, Mary Frances!” declared Eleanor. “I wish I

could do such things—but what if some people don’t care for spearmint

flavor?”

“We could make some fudge.” Mary Frances met the suggestion, “but I

think everybody ought to think it good this time because it’s from our

garden. I didn’t like to plan for ice-cream even because it didn’t grow

there.”

“Don’t you wish it did!” cried Eleanor.

“If it did, I’d have acres of ice-cream plants!” Mary Frances laughed.

“We’ll cook everything right here in the play house,” she continued;

“that little stove will do all that we want.”

“Oh, won’t it be too grand for anything!” Eleanor hugged Mary Frances

in enthusiasm.

* * * * *

So when Tuesday came, they set to work, and carried out their plans.

“Who’s to serve the feast?” asked Billy, as he arranged the plates

according to the girls’ directions.

“Oh, we’ll do that,” answered Mary Frances. “All we ask you to do,

Billy, is to open the freezer and dish the ice-cream.”

“Believe me, you may count on me, ladies,” said Billy, bowing. “Count

on me for a large share in the ice-cream work, although I can’t see

that there will be much work, for I ordered it in the form of bricks.”

“Billy, you’re a brick!” laughed Eleanor.

By twelve o’clock Wednesday, the refreshments were ready, and the girls

went to the big house to “doll up,” as Billy said.

Mary Frances glanced out of the window just as she fastened the last

button of Eleanor’s dress.

“Here comes Aunt Maria!” she cried and bounded down-stairs and out on

the porch to meet her. While she was hugging her, Eleanor’s father and

Bob appeared on the scene, and you can imagine how happy the little

girls were.

“Where can Grandma be?” Mary Frances asked, after her mother and father

had welcomed everybody. “Oh, there comes the station auto-bus. It’s

going to stop here!” Surely enough it stopped, and out stepped the dear

old lady, whom everybody tried to greet at once.

In the midst of the confusion, Mary Frances and Eleanor slipped away to

the play house, and a little later Billy and Bob piloted the guests to

the play house garden.

“Mistress Mary, never contrary,

Will show how her garden grows,”

announced Bob, leading the way up the path, where Mary Frances shook

hands with each one in a most grown-up, dignified fashion introducing

them to “My friend, Miss Eleanor,” just as Mother Paper Doll had done

in the Housekeeper story.

“So this is you children’s garden surprise, dear! Isn’t it beautiful!”

There were tears of joy in their mother’s eyes.

“Were there ever such children!” exclaimed their grandmother.

“If there are any more wonderful, I have yet to see them!” Aunt Maria’s

nose went up into the air with pride.

“Jolly good gardener, Bill!” Bob slapped his friend on the back.

“What you’ll be next year,” Billy retorted.

“Father hasn’t said a word!” Mary Frances suddenly discovered.

“I’ve been speechless with surprise, dear,” he said. “It certainly paid

to wait to see such a garden. The flowers are wonderful!”

“Why, haven’t you seen the garden before this?” everybody asked, and he

told the whole story.

As he finished, Bob and Eleanor’s father spoke. “I’m gladder than ever

that Bob’s to go away to Billy’s school!”

Then nearly everybody began to talk at once, saying how much more

sensible the ideals of education were to-day than when they were young,

and more of such grown-up talk, which gave the boys and girls a chance

to slip away to get the refreshments.

“How did you guess we were hungry?” asked Bob’s father as Mary Frances

served the salad, and Eleanor passed the sandwiches in a dainty basket,

trimmed with pink bows.

“Where did you find such beautiful lettuce and tomatoes, dear?” asked

Grandma, showing her enjoyment of the treat.

“That’s part of the secret,” laughed Mary Frances. “After you’ve tested

our vegetables, we’ll show you our vegetable garden.”

“Gee!” exclaimed Bob, “you don’t mean to say you raised these?”

“Everything’s from this garden except the ice-cream!” Eleanor asserted

proudly.

“Some farmers!” Bob started to say, but his father interposed.

“You forget, son, that you’re in a formal social gathering—at a garden

party, if you please.”

“Please pardon me,” Bob begged, bowing to the company.

“Let them talk—it’s the youngsters’ party,” somebody whispered so loud

that everybody heard, and everybody laughed.

After the ice-cream and coffee had been served, and the bonbon dish

of candy was passed, “What delicious mints!” so many people praised,

that Mary Frances said she would carry the candy dish with them to the

vegetable garden, and all could see the bed of mint where she gathered

the leaves for the flavor.

It would be impossible to tell you how happy and proud the children

were as they showed their vegetable garden, with its beautiful neat

beds bordered with nasturtiums.

You can imagine how they looked, for if you read the garden lists in

early chapters of this story, you know what they had growing.

“Everybody may pick a bouquet,” said Mary Frances, seizing Eleanor’s

hand and leading the party to the flower garden. Just as they started,

Doctor Hopewell drove up with his son and two daughters.

“We couldn’t help stopping,” he declared. “You made such a beautiful

picture.”

They were welcomed with delight, and the girls insisted upon their

having some salad and ice-cream.

“Isn’t this the most charming thing you ever heard of!” sighed Marjorie

Hopewell.

“It’s just like a girl’s dream come true!” her sister Helen agreed.

“The girls will never get over this. To have peace I’ll have to turn

farmer yet! Bill and Bob will have to give me pointers!” their brother

Harry laughed.

“Indeed, I’d like to see you all doing what these young people have

done,” their father told them.

The doctor and his family left in about an hour, with flowers for Mrs.

Hopewell, but the other guests stayed until five o’clock, sitting on

the easy chairs which Billy had placed along the walk in front of the

play house.

The day was so beautiful—not too warm, not too cool; not a rain cloud

in the sky, but scattered about with little white fleecy “flocks of

lambs” clouds, as Mary Frances said. Perhaps that and the beauty of

the garden made them linger, but they seemed sorry to leave.

“You will all come again! Soon!” Mary Frances and Billy made them

promise. “And you’ll come to our garden party next year! We’ll have

both Bob and Eleanor for partners then!”

CHAPTER LIV

FEATHER FLOP’S CONCEIT

“OH, Feather Flop! Feather Flop!” called Mary Frances, as she carried a

pan of the “left overs” of the garden party out to the rooster the next

morning.

Feather Flop made some queer gurgling noise in his throat.

“Why, what’s the matter, old fellow?” she asked in alarm.

“Matter?” cawed Feather Flop hoarsely. “Matter? Why, this: I’ve nearly

crowed my bill off trying to call you. I’m so hoarse I can scarcely

whisper! I grew so weak, finally I had to lean up against the fence to

crow!”

“Mercy! Was it as bad as that?” asked Mary Frances. “Why, I must

have been so tired out from our garden party that I slept so soundly

I didn’t hear. I’m sorry—you must have wanted to see me very

particularly, too!”

“‘Our garden party!’” echoed Feather Flop. “‘Our garden party!’ As

though any mention had been made of me!”

“Oh! oh! oh!” cried Mary Frances. “Oh, was that it, Feather Flop? I

never thought—really! I supposed I must keep you a secret just as I’ve

been accustomed with other fairy folks.”

“Fairy folks!” exclaimed Feather Flop. “Fairy folks! I’m not a fairy!

I’m a farmer! and even if you don’t remember, it doesn’t change the

fact that if it hadn’t been for me, you wouldn’t have had any garden at

all.”

“Why, you conceited old fellow!” cried Mary Frances. “How do you make

that out? But,” seeing the disappointment on his face, “of course, I

appreciate your help. Indeed I do, Feather Flop,” she added.

“Don’t you recollect?” asked Feather Flop. “Don’t you recollect that

day when you couldn’t understand the seed catalogue? Who was it that

helped you then? Who was it, little Miss?”

He cocked his head and looked up at her expectantly.

“Why, it was you, Feather Flop!” Mary Frances exclaimed. “It certainly

was you, my old friend!”

Feather Flop blinked. “I’m glad you can call it to mind!” he remarked.

“If you had only just mentioned my name at the garden party, I wouldn’t

have felt so bad.”

“Oh!” said Mary Frances.

“Even if you’d just said to me, if you’d just said, ‘Feather Flop,

old chap, you can’t come to the garden party, of course, but you’re

invited,’ I wouldn’t have felt as I did.”

“Oh, dear!” said Mary Frances.

“If you’d said at the party, ‘Now, if my old friend, Feather Flop,

hadn’t helped me,’ or something like that, I’d have been so proud and

glad.”

“How do you know I didn’t?” Mary Frances parleyed under sudden

inspiration.

“How do I know? I was there. I was there even uninvited!” declared

Feather Flop.

“Why, where in the world were you?” asked Mary Frances in astonishment.

“You couldn’t have been in the garden, for we were everywhere.”

“It’s a riddle!” Feather Flop’s voice sounded as though he was

laughing. “I was in the garden! You can’t guess where!”

“Indeed, I can’t.” Mary Frances shook her head. “Unless you were under

something inside the play house.”

“No, I wasn’t inside the play house,” said Feather Flop, in a voice

which still sounded like laughter. “Guess again! One more guess!”

“Give it up.” Mary Frances acknowledged her defeat.

“Why, I was outside the play house on the roof!” declared the rooster

triumphantly.

“Oh!” cried Mary Frances, delighted. “So that is where you were! You

really were at the party, after all! Now I shall feel better. If I’d

only realized how you felt, I’d loved to have invited you and to have

had you there!”

“That makes it all right,” said Feather Flop brightly. “I only thought

you’d forgotten me and maybe didn’t want me! That’s what made me so

sad!”

“Not want you!” exclaimed Mary Frances. “Not want you! I think you are

the most wonderful rooster in the whole wide world, and the smartest——”

“Farmer?” asked Feather Flop anxiously.

“Yes, indeed, farmer!” declared the little girl, picking him up and

tenderly smoothing him. “If it hadn’t been for you, I doubt if I’d have

had a garden!”

“Oh, I’m the happiest rooster in the wide world!” sighed Feather Flop,

“and if I weren’t just a plain farmer rooster, I’d turn into a fairy

prince, dressed in blue satin trimmed with gold and diamonds, but as it

is—I’m hungry!”

“Come!” laughed Mary Frances. “Come, eat,” she said. “I like you far

better than any fairy prince, for you’re my own dear friend—my farmer,

Feather Flop.”

And Feather Flop looked so proud you might have imagined him in tiny

overalls and sun hat.

CHAPTER LV

BOB AND BILLY’S VACATION

THE boys had been at school several weeks, and Mary Frances and Eleanor

were well started in their studies, when one golden-leafed day in

October, each girl received a letter from her brother as they stopped

at the post office on their way from school.

“We’re coming home on Friday,” both letters read alike, “to plant the

bulbs, and we’ll expect your help after school, and all day Saturday,

if necessary; and we’ll hope—just hope—for some play house cooking.”

“Isn’t it comical for them to say just the same thing!” exclaimed

Eleanor.

“Won’t we have fun!” Mary Frances answered. “Let’s see, this is

Wednesday. I wonder if Billy wrote to Mother.” And away they flew to

find out.

“Mother, you’ve known for several days, I just believe,” declared Mary

Frances, whereat her mother laughed and confessed that she had known,

but that it was her turn to keep a surprise in store for them. Then

all three fell to making plans for the visit.

“We’ll give a dinner in the play house,” decided Mary Frances, “and

invite you and Father.”

“Oh, you children would have more pleasure without grown-ups,”

protested her mother.

“Not a bit of fun without _our_ kind of ‘grown-ups,’ you mean,” Mary

Frances contradicted lovingly. “Doesn’t she, Eleanor?”

“Yes, indeed!” Eleanor answered emphatically.

“You dear children!” was all the mother said, but the girls knew that

their invitation was accepted.

When the boys came, there was so much to talk about that they didn’t

get to work until Saturday. There were stories of the jokes which the

second year fellows played on the “Freshies,” and of the winning of the

big football game, and of the rigid training in athletics, and a volume

of other talk new to the girls; at least, new to Eleanor, and equally

entertaining to Mary Frances and her parents.

“I wrote ‘the governor’ all about that,” said Bob as he finished

relating one particularly amusing incident.

The girls looked puzzled.

“He means his ‘old man,’” explained Billy.

“Oh, Billy! How you talk!” cried Mary Frances. “Do you mean his father?”

“Sure guess!” nodded Billy.

“Well, Father, if that’s the way they learn to talk, I shouldn’t think

you’d let them go back.” Mary Frances pretended to be indignant.

But he only laughed, saying, “Oh, they’ll outgrow it.” And the boys

took up anew the threads of their stories.

It was quite late before they got to bed, but they were up bright and

early Saturday morning.

“We fellows haven’t time now to explain why bulbous plants bloom so

readily in the Spring.”

“We know; don’t we, Mary Frances?” Eleanor exclaimed without thinking.

Mary Frances pursed her lips to look like “Hush!” and shook her head,

which made Eleanor remember that Jack-in-the-Pulpit and Bouncing Bet’s

lessons were to be a secret.

“If you know so much, Nell,” Bob replied mockingly, “perhaps you can

tell the difference between a corm, a rhizome, a tuber, and a fleshy

root.”

“Well! Well!” cried Mary Frances, “I guess we better not lay claim

to any more knowledge,” and she winked at Eleanor, who nodded

understandingly.

“But,” said Billy, opening his note-book, “we will tell you a little

something about—

THE PLANTING OF BULBS

Anyone can have flowers which grow from bulbs.

They require so little care that everybody can be

cheered in the early Spring with the sunshine of

daffodils, and the fragrance of hyacinths, and the gay

color of tulips; which, after the dullness of winter,

are appreciated more, perhaps, than any other flowers.

Their leaves and flowers being wrapped with their food

supply, in the storage bulbs, it takes only the call of

a few days of warmth and sunshine to bring them into

bloom.

So every one should—

PLANT SPRING-FLOWERING BULBS IN AUTUMN

In October or November is the best time of the year for

planting Spring-flowering bulbs; in localities where

the Winters are not severe, December is perfectly safe.

The bulbs should have time to make some roots before

the ground freezes.

HOW TO PLANT BULBS

Bulbs do not like clayey soil, nor do they like

dampness; neither do they thrive on fresh manure.

Remembering this, you already know just about what kind

of soil they need—well-drained, loamy soil, full of

humus or well-rotted manure, and some sand; for sandy

soil is needed by all bulbs.

If you do not have such garden soil, dig quite large

holes with your trowel, and fill them with such a

mixture. If you do not have well-rotted manure, use a

sprinkling of bone meal.

DEPTH TO PLANT

A good rule for the depth to plant bulbs is twice their

length; but sometimes it pays to plant them deeper to

protect them.

If planted deeper they come into bloom a little later,

but the protection of the depth may save them from

destructive freezing.

WHERE TO PLANT BULBS

Blooms of bulbs look beautiful anywhere. One need not

hesitate to place them in masses (a number near each

other) in the garden borders, for after they bloom and

die down, there will be no bare spots if some annuals,

with short roots, are grown over them; such as alyssum,

ageratum, violas, verbenas.

Plant the low-growing sorts of bulbs in the front, and

the taller kinds in the back of the garden.

Cover, when the ground begins to freeze, with several

inches of dry leaves or grass.

Most bulbs do best if not lifted after blooming; that

is, let them be in the ground for several years. Then

the new bulbs which have grown on the old ones will

need to be separated and planted.

Narcissus and daffodils may remain many years without

disturbing.

Hyacinths do not do as well as other out-door hardy

bulbs, becoming less vigorous each year. They do a

little better if the bulbs are lifted and dried in the

Summer and replaced in the Fall.

If you plant—

BULBS IN THE GRASS

One caution is necessary: after they are through

blooming, wait until the green leaves turn yellow

before cutting the grass. If the leaves are cut before

they turn, the bulbs will die.

Nowhere else do such flowers look so beautiful as in

the grass.

To plant small bulbs, such as crocus, dig holes in the

turf with an apple-corer, or with a “dibble,” which is

a pointed stick. Throw in a tiny bit of bone meal and

some sand. After placing the bulb, being certain to put

the root end down, and the pointed top up, cover with

sand and pack the turf firmly back in place.

A better way is to lift the turf with a spade. Dig,

to loosen up the soil; add a little bone meal; plant

bulbs, replace sod.

To place them in an artistic position, throw down a

handful and plant where they fall.

CHAPTER LVI

DAFFODIL AND OTHER BULBS

“GOOD!” Bob approved as Billy paused, “that’s a splendid lecture, Bill.”

“Isn’t it?” cried Eleanor. “I believe we know almost everything now

about planting bulbs.”

“What kinds are we going to plant?” asked Mary Frances, looking at the

large package the boys had brought with them.

They opened it and Bob began to speak: “Young ladies,” he commenced;

then, “Oh, I say, Bill, I can’t come this ‘professor act.’ You’d better

do the lecturing!”

“No, sir-ee!” declared Billy. “It’s your turn now. Go ahead.”

“Oh, go on, Bob,” cried Eleanor.

“Please do!” begged Mary Frances.

“All right, then,” replied Bob, laughing, “only don’t expect much

erudite stuff from humble me—even when I read my notes.”

Then, opening his book, and clearing his throat, he started once more:

“Listen, young ladies, and you will hear of—

BULBS TO PLANT IN THE FALL

_Snowdrops_

The earliest Spring garden flower, sometimes coming

literally out of the snow as early as February; but

usually blooming in March. The blossoms are small,

white, bell-shaped, not in the least showy. Only one

who has come upon them unexpectedly blooming in his

garden knows the thrill of pleasure which they bring.

As they are small and inexpensive, plant a number of

bulbs about two inches apart, to cover an irregular

circle. Once planted they take care of themselves.

_Squills_ (_Scilla_)

Near the Snowdrops, plant in the same way, a dozen

Siberian Squills. Beautiful blue flowers, which will

bloom perhaps while some of the Snowdrops are in

blossom. Once planted, do not disturb.

_Grape Hyacinths_ (_Muscari_)

Little stalks of tiny tight blue bells, or white,

somewhat the shape of tiny fairy-folks’ grapes.

Everyone should have a dozen or so of these pretty

early Spring-flowering bulbs.

_Narcissus_ or _Daffodils_

Everybody knows a daffodil, for breathes there a human

being with soul so dead as not to feel warmth of heart

at the sunshine glow of its yellow petals?

But not everybody knows the difference between

daffodils and jonquils and narcissus.

The fact is, they are all sold by dealers under the

name Narcissus.

Every Narcissus has a “cup and saucer” form. In some,

the cup, or _trumpet_, is tall; in some, it is short;

in others, it is double: and according to the shape of

the cup, each Narcissus is named.

All dealers agree that the type with the double cup

is called _daffodil_. It is not generally thought so

attractive as the single sorts.

The single sorts are of the following different

varieties of Narcissus:

{_Giant Trumpet._ Very showy, with large cups and

{ saucers. Buy “Emperor,” and “Empress.”

{_Medium Trumpet._ (“Star” Narcissus.) Not so

{ large nor attractive, but very graceful. Buy

_Narcissus_ { “Barii Conspicuus.”

{_Poet’s Narcissus._ Old-fashioned favorite. Charming

{ fragrant white flowers, with cups edged with red.

{ Buy “Poeticus” (Pheasant’s Eye) or “King Edward

{ VII.” Very easily grown.

_Jonquils_ are the small-flowering type of Narcissus.

They are easily grown, and many have a charming

fragrance.

_Polyanthus Narcissus_ or Nosegay Daffodils are the

little clustered kind grown indoors.

All these distinctions, and many others, are made

by the dealers, but almost everyone of us thinks of

all the yellow Narcissus as Daffodils. They grow so

readily, with almost no care, that everyone, with only

the tiniest garden, should plant at least a half dozen

bulbs of the “Giant Emperor.”

Within a few years after planting, the Spring will

bring dozens of blossoms of—

“Daffodown-dilly,

Come up to town,

In a green petticoat

And a gold gown.”

_Hyacinths_

Single sorts do better than double. As a rule,

hyacinths do not improve from being kept in the ground

all Winter; they may be taken up and stored in a cool

cellar over Winter to be planted in the early Spring;

but a better plan is to let the old bulbs gradually

“run out,” and plant a few new bulbs each Fall. These

are sent to dealers every Autumn from Holland, because

the climate of Holland is nearly perfect for bulb

growing. Sometimes hyacinths do quite well for a number

of years kept in the ground out-of-doors.

Their charming fragrance, color and form, make them a

most attractive flower. They come in white, pinks and

purples.

_Tulips_

The most gorgeous of all Spring-flowering bulbs.

{_Early Single._ Grow about eight inches high; come in

{ pinks, reds, yellows, white.

{_Early Double._ These are not so beautiful as the single

{ varieties.

{_Cottage Garden_ (May flowering). A tall variety, growing

{ about eighteen inches high, blooming much later than

_Tulips_ { the Early Single.

{_Darwin._ The most desirable of all tulips, but not very

{ early. The tallest grow nearly thirty inches high.

{ Globe-shaped flowers of most brilliant shades of reds,

{ purples, pinks and white. If yellow is desired, buy

{ one of the Cottage Garden, for there are no yellow

{ Darwins.

{_Parrot._ Showy; of variegated shading and irregular

{ petals. Not so artistic as single sorts, but very odd

{ and interesting. Buy only a _few_ bulbs.

While tulips are most effective if planted in groups

or masses, an edging of the stiff blooms of the Early

Single is delightful, especially if a red is alternated

with a white. They look almost like “candles in bloom.”

_Lilies_

Lilies dislike sour soil, so sprinkle some lime over

the ground before digging it deeply. A little powdered

charcoal in each hole helps, too, and it is well to

dust each bulb with flowers of sulphur to protect from

worms and mildew.

Lilies love shade, and do best among other perennials

because they will shade their roots, which spread out

near the surface of the ground. By the way, since they

spread near the surface, do not “cultivate” lilies. Do

not disturb the bulbs, which will bloom for years if

planted right in the first place. Most lilies bloom in

Mid-summer.

{_Plantain Lily_ (Funkia). The most easily grown,

{ with spikes of blooms about eighteen inches

{ high, in white, blue or lavender.

{_Yellow Day Lily_ (Hemerocallis). Grows anywhere,

{ sometimes killing out other flowers.

{ Blooms on stems about thirty inches high.

{_Madonna Lily_ (Candidum). Beautiful, stately,

{ tall white lilies with delightful fragrance. They

{ resemble “Easter Lilies.” Cover bulbs with

_Hardy Lilies_ { only two inches of soil.

{_Red Spotted Lily_ (Lilium Speciosum Rubrum).

{ A tall Japanese lily, easily grown. Large white

{ flowers dotted with red, borne on a tall stem.

{_Tiger Lily_ (Tigrinum). Orange spotted with

{ black. Very easily grown.

{_Lilies-of-the-Valley._ Grown from “pips,” or tiny

{ bulbs. Plant in the Spring in rich earth. They

{ like some shade.

_Iris_ (_Flags_)

_Spanish Iris._ Exquisite orchid-like blooms, in white

and rich shades of blue, yellow, bronze.

_German Iris._ Very easily grown and very desirable.

BULBS TO PLANT IN EARLY SPRING

Among these are:

_Tuberoses_

Plant in May, and again in June and July, in order

to have a continuation of bloom of these powerfully

fragrant and beautiful white flowers.

_Gladiolus_

These bulbs are planted in May and June at two weeks

intervals, in order to have blooms from July to

October. They like rich soil, and powdered sheep

manure, which is sold by the pound, is a good

substitute for rotted stable manure. They like the

sunny places.

The bulbs of both tuberoses and gladiolus should be

taken out of the ground in the Fall after the foliage

becomes yellow. The stems are cut off and the bulbs

dried on an airy shelf, or any place which is neither

very warm nor very cold. They are set in the ground

again in the Spring.

Cannas and dahlias grow from fleshy roots and are

planted in the Spring also. They are lifted and dried

in the Fall.

If your garden space is small, the following selection

of bulbous plants will give a great deal of enjoyment:

HARDY BULBS FOR A SMALL GARDEN

6 Snowdrops

6 Grape Hyacinths (2 white, 4 blue)

6 Emperor Daffodils

6 Poet’s Narcissus (Pheasant’s Eye)

6 Early Single Tulips

12 Darwin Tulips (3 each, of four different colors)

3 Spanish Iris

6 German Iris

GROWING BULBS INDOORS

It is very interesting and delightful to grow bulbs

indoors, where the warmth “forces” them into bloom in

the cold winter months. If they are managed in the

right way, you may have blooms from Christmas on. Do

not attempt to have over a half dozen pots the first

year.

Bulbs may be grown indoors in pots or in prepared

fibre, which may be bought of a dealer.

If grown in pots, prepare a rich soil of sand and leaf

mold. If impossible to get leaf mold, use a sprinkling

of bone meal. Place some pieces of broken flower pots

or pebbles in the bottom of the pots to drain the water

off, or the bulbs will mold.

If grown in prepared fibre, moisten the fibre before

putting in the pot, but do not make it wet enough

to wring. Plant bulbs as in soil, but do not pack in

tight. After watering, turn pot on the side to drain

off the water. A piece of charcoal in the bottom of the

pan or pot keeps the fibre sweet.

Hyacinths do well when grown in glass vases. The glass

vases used are made for the purpose, and hold the bulb

just above the water—not touching.

The main point in growing bulbs indoors is to arrange

to keep them growing in a _dark, cool_ place until

the roots have formed and the leaves show about three

inches.

This is accomplished in several different ways. Perhaps

the simplest of all is to place the pots on a cool

cellar floor and cover them with ashes, which will

assure their being kept in the dark. Keep them damp by

watering the ashes once or twice a week. (The same idea

is better carried out by the use of a _cold frame_, the

making of which is described in the next chapter.)

Place the pots on ashes in the frame, throwing three or

four inches of ashes over them; or use dried peat moss

instead of ashes. This is sold by dealers in seeds and

plants.

Place glass cover on the cold frame when the weather

becomes severe.

About three weeks before you wish them to bloom bring

some of the potted bulbs into the warmth of the house.

Do not place them immediately in a very warm place

or in the sunlight. Give them as much fresh air as

possible.

After planting bulbs in prepared fibre, or hyacinths in

glasses, keep them in a dark, airy closet until the

roots have formed, which will be in about six weeks.

Then bring them into warmth and light. The roots of the

hyacinth should reach the bottom of the glasses before

bringing them into the light.

Daffodils and single tulips, crocuses, polyanthus

narcissus (often grown in pebbles in water) all are

easily forced into bloom indoors.

“But,” added Billy as Bob drew a long breath, “growing bulbs indoors

is a rather tedious experiment, and better not be attempted by young

children,” as he pulled Mary Frances’ hair ribbon untied.

“Well, neither of you would have known much, Mr. Superior Knowledge,”

laughed Eleanor, “if you hadn’t studied this all within a week or so.”

“Let’s begin to plant,” was Billy’s answer.

CHAPTER LVII

BILLY BUILDS A HOTBED

DURING the Christmas holidays the children made wonderful plans for

their gardens.

“Everything should be started very early,” said Bob, airing his newly

acquired knowledge, “and the best place to start seeds is in a hotbed.”

“I tell you what we’ll do, Bob,” Billy suggested. “Let’s come home in

March and build one!”

“Won’t that be grand!” cried the girls with enthusiasm. “We’ll help all

we can.”

“Ah! You can’t——” began Billy, then stopped.

* * * * *

So one sunny day in the early part of March, just the very day Eleanor

discovered some of the snowdrops blooming, the boys surprised them.

About an hour after they came, the lumber and sashes for the hotbed

arrived.

“We bought the frames ready to set up,” Billy said, “but a fellow could

make one quite well. Even a grocery box, if cut in the right shape and

covered with glass, makes a good substitute.”

“Yes, we made that kind at school for practice,” added Bob, and to show

how well he had learned his lesson, he started to dig where they had

decided to place the hotbed.

Meanwhile Billy referred to his useful note book, and explained what

they were about to do. “The situation is very important,” he said, “for

we learned at school that a—

HOTBED

should be sheltered from the north winds; so, if

possible, place it on the south side of a large

building.

Let it slant toward the sunny south, where the glass

sash will catch the sun’s rays.

You see, a hotbed is a tiny greenhouse. In both a

greenhouse and a hotbed, artificial heat is supplied.

Greenhouses are heated by steam or hot water pipes:

ordinary hotbeds are heated by fresh manure, which, in

the process of decomposing, gives off a great amount of

heat.

Heat, air and sunlight are essential for plants’ growth.

The slanting glass sash catches the sunshine, and holds

in the heat which the manure gives off. The sashes are

raised a little in the warmest part of each day, which

gives the plants air.

The frame is generally about eighteen inches high in

back and twelve inches in front.

Dig nearly two feet deep, in a space a foot wider and

longer than the frame.

Get ready a pile of fresh horse manure which has been

mixed with one-third as much bedding straw or litter.

If very dry, sprinkle with water. When, in a day or

two, it begins to steam, turn it well over, and in a

day or so more, fill the dug-out space to within six

inches of the top.

Place the frame on this, and bank up the _outside_ with

more manure. Cover the manure with earth.

Fill the inside with earth six or eight inches deep,

and water with a sprinkler.

Put on the sash, and place a thermometer inside. It may

go up to 120 degrees, but in a few days will come down

to 90 degrees, when the bed is ready for planting.

Seeds may be planted direct in the soil, but a more

convenient plan is to fill shallow boxes, called

“flats,” with soil, and plant the seeds in them,

placing them in the hotbed. They are easily lifted if a

slat is nailed across the middle, when the young plants

are ready for transplanting into the—

COLD FRAME

The frame and glass sash of a cold frame are just like

those of a hotbed, but the cold frame is placed on the

ground without fresh manure, sometimes without any

manure.

Usually, the earth is dug up to the depth of a foot and

mixed with well-rotted manure and the frame placed on

_top_ of it. Soil is also banked up on the outside for

protection from cold winds.

An old cooled off hotbed is really a cold frame.

A cold frame is always useful for—

1. “Wintering over” plants a little too tender to leave

unprotected.

2. Transplanting seedlings (young plants) from the

hotbed, where they will gradually become accustomed

to a cooler atmosphere before they are placed in the

outside ground.

Young lettuce plants may be placed in the cold frame in

the Autumn, and will supply salad nearly all winter.

Parsley and herbs will stay green the winter through if

placed in the cold frame.

Some hardier seeds may be started in the cold frame

instead of the hotbed; such as cucumber or melons.

Always cover the sash with burlap or old carpet on very

cold nights, to prevent young plants from freezing.

Before the boys returned to school, the children had sowed in their new

hotbed the seeds of the following flowers and vegetables:

Ageratum

Alyssum

Corn flowers

Snapdragons

Lettuce

Radishes

Parsley

Tomatoes

Peppers

CHAPTER LVIII

SOME HINTS ON GROWING VEGETABLES

MARY FRANCES repeated to Eleanor some of the lessons which Billy had

given her on growing vegetables.

She had a little book in which she had taken notes.

“Billy told me,” she said, “that when he was little, he used to wonder

why things wouldn’t grow if they were just ‘stuck down’ in the ground.

You see, he didn’t know that the making of the beds was the most

important matter of all.”

“Why, I’ve heard people say that anything would grow if planted by

certain people—that they ‘had luck,’” Eleanor stated.

“If you had watched those very people,” Mary Frances replied wisely,

“you would probably have seen that they loosened up the soil before

they ‘stuck’ the plant down.”

“I imagine that’s true,” agreed Eleanor.

“Well,” Mary Frances continued, opening her book, “as you know, in

getting the outdoor beds ready, you—

(1) Dig deep to loosen the soil;

(2) Spread over it well-rotted manure;

(3) Dig and turn the soil over again;

(4) Rake the top soil fine and level.

It is a good plan to spread leaves and manure over the

ground in the Fall and dig them in in the Spring to

make the soil rich and crumbly, or friable.

Did you ever think how many different parts of plants

are used for food?

We eat the _roots_ of some vegetables; such as beets,

carrots, radishes, turnips.

Of others we use the _leaves_; such as lettuce, celery,

cabbage, spinach, parsley.

Of others, the seeds; as beans, peas, corn.

Of others, the fruit; as peppers, melons, tomatoes.

THE EARLIEST VEGETABLES TO PLANT

The following vegetable seeds are not very delicate,

and can stand a good deal of frost.

Plant as soon as the ground is warm, about the first of

April.

_Peas_ { The new early “Lactonia” peas are to be

{recommended, because it is not necessary to

Plant seeds 2 inches {use brush for them to climb upon. Buy one

apart, 2 inches deep, {pint. Sow peas every week for a month to have

1½ feet between {them ripen from time to time

rows. {(“successively”).

{ “All Heart” is very delicious. Remember that

{lettuce will be much more tender and crisp if

_Lettuce_ {grown very quickly in beds rich in manure.

{Over it, a shade frame should be used in

Plant seeds ½ inch {mid-summer and hot weather.

deep, broadcast, or 3 { In transplanting to rows from the hotbed,

inches apart, in rows 1 {put plants 6 inches apart.

foot apart. { Cos, or Romaine, or Celery Lettuce is very

{easily grown. The heavy ribs of the leaves

{are crisp and good. It grows quite well in

{hot weather.

_Onions_ {

{ Buy yellow onion sets—one pint. It takes two

Cover the onion with {years to raise onions from seeds. When ready

soil. Leave 2 inches {to pull, take every other one or so, leaving

between onions; 6 inches{the smallest to grow larger.

between rows. {

_Radishes_ { The best are the little red globe shape.

{Sow some in early Spring in hotbed. Sow every

½ inch deep, about 2 {week to have “successive,” crops. They will

inches apart. Rows 1 {be ready in about four weeks. Radishes like

foot apart, or {a sprinkling of lime in the soil.

broadcast.

{ Buy five-cent package of Crosby’s

_Beets_ {“Egyptian.” Seeds may be sowed thick, for

{not all germinate. Thin the rows by pulling

Seeds 1 inch deep, 2 {the weakest plants. The young leaves may be

inches apart, in rows 1 {cooked as “greens.” Never cut the tops off of

foot apart. {beets when cooking. Cut off only the leaves.

{Beets may be sowed again in June for a late

{crop.

THE SECOND EARLY VEGETABLES TO PLANT

(About ten days after the first)

{ Buy one package “Sutton’s Red Intermediate.”

_Carrots_ {Carrots do not like new rich soil.

{ Radishes may be sowed between the rows; for

Sow ½ inch deep, 3 {they will be pulled before the carrots need much

inches apart, in {room. Sow carrots rather thick, and thin out

rows 1½ feet apart. {weak plants.

{ Buy one package “Prizetaker Leeks.” Sow in

_Leeks_ {March or April, and when they are about half a

{foot high, transplant to deep, rich soil, 6 inches

Sow seeds 1 inch {apart, in rows 1 foot apart. Plant deep, to

deep, 2 inches {“blanch,” or whiten the tops.

apart, in rows 1 { Leeks may be sowed in September and transplanted

foot apart. {in the Spring.

{ Buy one package “Dwarf Perfection” or “Moss

{Curly.” Soak seed over night in water. Parsley

_Parsley_ {may be broadcast if space is limited. Add an

{equal quantity of sand to the seeds to help

Sow ½ inch deep, {sowing. Throw sand and seeds over the seed bed.

about 4 inches {Cover by using a toy rake. When 4 inches high,

apart, in rows 1 {it may be transplanted to rows. “Winters over”

foot apart. {in cold frame, and in some localities outdoors, if

{covered with leaves.

_Thyme_ and _Sweet { Buy one package each. Broadcast and rake

Basil_ {in the seeds. Sweet Basil grows tall. Thyme

{only about four inches high.

Broadcast.

{ Sow broadcast in March in flats (shadow boxes)

{in hotbed, or under glass. When 2 or 3 inches

{high, thin out. When ground is really warm, set

{out 15 inches apart in rows 2 feet apart. Children

_Peppers_ {will not need more than half a dozen plants of

{large sweet peppers. Buy “Chinese Giant.”

{ Little red peppers are particularly pretty in the

{garden, and are useful for flavoring soup—use

{only a half or a quarter of one, though. Buy

{“Small Chili” or “Red Cherry.”

{ Sow about a dozen seeds in late March or early

{April in strawberry box filled with rich soil, and

{place under glass. Some warm day in May, make

{a hill about eight inches high, and after tearing

_Cucumbers_ {off the bottom of the box, plant it in the hill.

{After a few days, thin out the weakest plants,

{leaving three or four standing. Two or three moth

{balls in the ground, when the leaves come

{through, will keep bugs away.

{ Sugar Corn takes up so much room in the

{garden that only a very few hills should be planted

{by a child. When the weather is very warm,

{make little hills 3 feet apart. Drop 6 corn kernels

_Corn_ {a little distance apart into the hole. Cover with

{about an inch of soil. Shallow cultivation helps.

{Buy one package “Stabler’s Early” for early

{corn; one package “Stowell’s Evergreen” for

{later crops.

{ _Lima Beans._ Buy “Bush Limas,” because it

{will not be necessary to set poles for them to

{climb upon. Wood ashes mixed with the soil

_Beans_ {helps them grow. They do not like damp, heavy

{soil. Do not plant before warm weather, because

2 inches deep, 6 {beans are tender. Plant in _warm_ weather,

inches apart, in {edgewise, with the “eye” down.

rows 18 inches { _String Beans._ Buy “Stringless Green Pod.”

apart {Plant every week after all danger of frost is past,

{2 inches deep, 6 inches apart, in rows 18 inches or

{2 feet apart.

{ It is best for the small gardener to buy the

{plants and set them out in rows when the weather

{is really warm. “Earliana” is the best early

{variety.

{ “Ponderosa” is the best later variety. If you

{sow seeds, start them under glass in March or

{even earlier. When plants are about 3 inches high,

_Tomatoes_ {transplant to strawberry boxes. Break bottom of

{box and transplant box into the open ground

Plants, 2 feet {when it is really warm. Tomatoes need supports

apart, in rows {to rest or climb upon. The simplest support is

3 feet apart {a stake driven down near them, to which the

{stems are tied as they grow. Stakes driven at

{intervals with heavy cords running from one to

{the other make another good support; but the

{best is a slat frame.

{ If grown from seeds, they will not be ready for

{about 18 weeks.

[Illustration: TOMATO TRELLIS OR SUPPORT]

{ _White Potatoes._ It is best for children not to

{attempt to grow more than one plant of potatoes,

{but they may be interested to know that white

{potatoes are grown from the “eye,” cut in a large

{square-shaped piece of the potatoes. The potatoes

{form on the roots of the bush, and are dug

_Potatoes_ {and stored in the Fall.

{ _Sweet Potatoes_ grow on the roots of a very

{pretty vine which trails over the ground. To get

{the young plants, some sweet potatoes are grown in

{hotbeds, and the vines are transplanted in hot

{weather to open ground.

In transplanting, always press with your fingers the

soil firmly down around the roots.

FERTILIZERS

As you know, in order to make good and rapid growth,

plants need the right kind of food. Manure is the

best fertilizer. In manure almost every kind of plant

food is supplied, but there are chemical foods which

stimulate growth and are easily applied. If it is

impossible to obtain manure, use decayed vegetables and

leaves, and _Commercial Fertilizer_, which is made up

of the mineral or chemical food needed by plants. Do

not use too much, for it is very heating and may burn

the roots of young plants. Never let the roots come

into direct contact with the powder—always sprinkle

some earth over it after throwing a small quantity

(about two tablespoonfuls) in a hole.

_Bone meal_ or Ground Bone is another excellent food.

If sprinkled on the ground and dug in around the roots

of roses, it will give them a good food supply.

_Nitrate of Soda_ is a very stimulating food for

_vegetables_. Use 1 tablespoonful in 4 quarts of water

in the sprinkler. Do not use until the plants are

at least 3 inches high, and only once in two weeks.

Sprinkle ground near roots—do not sprinkle leaves.

_Cow Manure_ and _Sheep Manure_ may be purchased in

powdered form for use in a small garden, and in this

form are most easily managed by little folks.

Powdered Sheep Manure dug in around the roots of roses

once a month assures a wealth of bloom.

INSECTICIDES

All plants will be attacked by insects.

One of the best insecticides for children to use,

because it is not poisonous to human beings, is Slug

Shot, a patent preparation, which will kill worms and

many other biting insects. It is inexpensive and need

be dusted but lightly on foliage which is bitten.

Tobacco tea made by throwing boiling water over tobacco

stems, and letting it cool, is used for aphides (Plant

lice).

For other insecticides, see Chapter XXIX.

In the following blank pages, write down your own

experience in gardening; for example,

-----------------+---------------+---------------------------------

NAME. | DATES. | REMARKS.

-----------------+---------------+---------------------------------

_Sweet Peas._ |Plant in the | Plant in deep drills, in rich

(Improved Early | _Autumn_, or | earth. Give them a wire

Spencer.) | early Spring. | frame to climb upon. Never

Pink, lavender, | | water at night, as the dampness

white. | | causes them to mildew.

| | Pick blossoms daily.

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CHAPTER LIX

THE CITY GARDEN

CHILDREN who live in the city usually have so little ground that they

are not often encouraged to attempt gardening.

Even in the tiny 9 x 12 foot city yard, provided it has sunshine during

some part of the day, a surprising variety of plants may be grown.

In the new style of building, happily the old-fashioned boarded-up

fence is disappearing, being replaced by iron fencing, which gives an

open appearance and admits air to the rear of the dwelling; but if one

lives where the garden is “walled in,” a great deal of pleasure may be

gained from—

HANGING GARDENS

Along the sunniest wall of the garden, hang boxes on

iron brackets as shown in the picture on this page.

The lower garden should be placed high enough to let

the sunlight into the small hotbed which is placed on

the ground.

In the upper garden, annual flowers and vines may be

grown.

In the lower garden, plan to have—

A SOUP AND SAUCE GARDEN

containing mint, parsley, chives, onions, little red

peppers.

In the ground near the hotbed, you may grow tomatoes,

carrots, and—

_Okra_ or _Gumbo_

Plant seeds in May. You will probably need only two

plants, one foot apart. Use the pods while young.

“White Velvet” is a good variety. The plants grow three

feet tall. In chicken or tomato soup the beautiful

green odd-shaped slices give a richness of flavor.

In using fresh thyme in soup, add it a few moments

before serving instead of cooking it from the first,

and notice the improvement of flavor.

In the hotbed garden you may have radishes and lettuce

at the time they come with, their tempting freshness

and their high prices in the Spring markets.

* * * * *

In the city, many flowering plants are grown in sunny

windows. The following named will be found among the

best for the—

INDOOR GARDEN

Hyacinths

Chinese Lilies

Tulips

Tuberous-rooted Begonias

Ferns

Bermuda Buttercup Oxalis

English Ivy

Impatiens Sultana

Spirea

Geraniums

_Bermuda Buttercup Oxalis_ blooms all winter in

clusters of golden yellow flowers. The foliage is

beautiful, resembling that of clover.

_Grand Duchess Oxalis_, in pink, is another charming

house plant. It comes in white and lavender also.

The other types of Oxalis are pretty in hanging baskets.

The bulbs of Oxalis cost from three to five cents each.

Plant six in a pot, and be certain to give them good

soil, partly leaf loam. Keep them in a dark, cool place

for a short time. Water them as they dry out. Bring to

the light gradually. They will sometimes bloom in six

weeks. Oxalis, already started, may be had of a florist.

Another pretty house plant is a vine grown from a sweet

potato placed in a hyacinth glass or bottle of water.

* * * * *

For the dining table center piece, the next time you

have grapefruit for breakfast, save the seeds, and

plant them quite thick, about one-half inch deep, in

a shallow earthen flower pot. Keep well watered. It

may take six weeks for the leaves to peep through, but

they make a beautiful green decoration for the house in

winter.

[Illustration: SWEET POTATO VINE]

Do not forget your strawflowers which you dried in the

Summer. They look pretty with the Japanese air plant,

which stays green so long without water.

WATERING HOUSE PLANTS

Immerse the pot in a bucket of water, and leave it

until it stops bubbling. This done twice a week is far

better than daily sprinkling. Neither is it good to

keep water in a saucer under a plant; the roots do not

like a constant soaking. Wash the leaves from time to

time, and when the weather is warm enough, give them

some fresh air.

Tobacco dust will keep away green lice (aphides); so,

also, will Persian insect powder. Blow either on with

little bellows, or “air guns.”

There is a plant food for house plants which is sold by

dealers. One teaspoonful dug into the earth once in two

weeks is very beneficial to their growth.

CHAPTER LX

GARDEN COLOR-PICTURES

MOTHER NATURE never makes a mistake if left to her own choice of colors.

Indeed, she is a real color artist. What could be lovelier than the

purple of the New England aster, near the lavender of the Joe Pye weed,

with an interlacing of wild carrot and yarrow; then, not too near,

the dangling orange jewel weed, and a little farther away, the brown

cat-tail-all set in a green frame, in the soft light of the dove blue

of the sky?

That is just one of Mother Nature’s color-pictures. If you watch her

many pictures, you will learn that—

Flowers in masses are more beautiful than in design.

That many white flowers are needed to divide the severe contrast of

colors.

That—

{purple and lavender

Yellow combines well with {blue

{scarlet

{browns

but that yellow does not combine well with crimson or magenta.

{yellow

Blue combines well with {crimson, magenta

{pink

Light pink and yellow are good together, depending upon the shades.

It is difficult to describe the beauty of Mary Frances’ garden. Peeping

over the green velvet of the lawn is a border of low-growing white

flowers which look like ribbons of snow. They are sweet alyssum—“Little

Gem.”

Just back of them come pink Baby Rambler roses; next, a large mass

of charming blue-lavender eupatorium; and “locking arms” with the

eupatorium, on the other side, is a rudbeckia, a bush bearing little

“brown-eyed” flowers.

Between the pink of the Baby Rambler and the blue of the eupatorium

is a bush of feverfew; and between the blue of the eupatorium and the

yellow of the rudbeckia is the white of achillea.

Mary Frances says that she thinks that these flowers form the most

perfect color-picture in her garden.

On the other side of the garden are perennial sunflowers which are so

much more desirable than golden glow, and beneath them are brilliant

nasturtiums.

One must remember that the various shades of one color always combine

well together.

For instance, in the Spring, Mary Frances has pink tulips blooming just

beneath a bush of flowering almond; and daffodils beneath golden bell

or forsythia.

The flowering almond and forsythia shrubs that Mary Frances has, she

grew from little sprigs which a neighbor gave her. She simply put them

down into the ground and kept them well watered!

All the flowers mentioned except nasturtiums are hardy perennials, and

have never had but the slightest care since planting two years ago,

except thinning out where they became too thick.

CHAPTER LXI

PATTERNS FOR PAPER FLOWERS

DEAR GIRLS AND BOYS:

Don’t you want to make a flower, now that you begin to know how

wonderful they are?

TO MAKE A WILD ROSE

Materials required:

Pink, green, yellow tissue paper; white tracing paper;

very _fine_ wire; heavy wire for stem; yellow beads;

small piece beeswax; pair small pincers; scissors; glue.

1. To make the _corolla_,—

(_a_) Lay a piece of pink tissue paper over the pattern

of the _corolla_ shown in the picture on the next page.

(_b_) Cut out; and curl the tips of the petals, by

drawing them through between the thumb and blade of the

scissors, just as your mother does ostrich feathers.

2. Trace, through a piece of tracing paper, the

_calyx_, and _foliage_, as shown in the picture. Cut

out, and use for patterns in cutting green tissue paper

calyx and leaves.

3. To make the _stamens_,—

(_a_) Cut three pieces of fine wire, two and a half

inches long, for the _filaments_. (See picture of

stamens.)

[Illustration: HOW TO MAKE A WILD ROSE]

(_b_) Fasten a small yellow bead _anther_ on each end

of the wire _filaments_, by bending the end of the wire

over the bead with pincers. Fold the filament wires in

half.

4. To make the _pistil_ and _stem_,—

(_a_) Cut a piece of heavy wire six inches long—to form

the _stem_.

(_b_) On one end, fasten a large yellow bead to form

the _stigma_. Cut a piece of fine wire eight inches

long. One inch below the _stigma_ bead, hold the folded

_filament_ wires in a little bundle around the stem

wire, and wind with the fine eight inch wire—to form

the _ovary_. The heavy wire between the _stigma_ and

the _ovary_ represents the _style_.

5. Cut a piece of beeswax a little less than a

half-inch square. Mould it with the fingers under hot

water until you have a soft ball.

6. Slip the pink _corolla_ up the wire stem until over

the wound wire. Spread the _stamens_ out to prevent the

corolla from slipping off.

7. Fit the beeswax over the wound wire to form the

_calyx_ cup; and pack a tiny bit of yellow tissue paper

into the opening of the corolla _under the stamens_.

8. Wind the _calyx cup_ with the green tissue paper

calyx which you cut by the pattern, and fasten the end

with a tip of glue.

9. Run a fine wire in and out through the stems of the

foliage.

10. Cut a piece of green tissue paper eleven inches

long and one inch wide. Commencing at the green _calyx_

cup, wind the stem of the rose with this green strip

of paper. Half way down, insert the _petiole_ of the

foliage, or leaves, under the strip, and continue

winding to the end of the stem. Fasten the end by

winding with fine wire.

There! you have the flower, and you know the names of the parts as well

as Billy and Mary Frances know them.

CHAPTER LXII

THE MARY FRANCES GARDEN CUT-OUTS

EVERY boy or girl who will carefully make up the Mary Frances Garden

Cut-Outs, and will study the lists of flowers printed on the reverse

side of each garden, will very soon become familiar with the name,

season of bloom, and appearance of the best-known perennials. Notice

the artistic effect of “massing,” or grouping the same kind of plants

close together.

In order to recognize the flowers mentioned in the lists, turn to

Chapters VII, VIII, IX, and X, to read descriptions.

DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING

THE MARY FRANCES GARDEN CUT-OUTS

1. Turn to the picture of Mary Frances’ Play House

before the Children Planted the Gardens.

Cut along the red lines A, B, C, on the edge of the

picture; and D in center of grass plot.

2. Turn to Mary Frances’ Garden Cut-Out No. 1—Early

Spring Hardy Garden.

Detach or cut out the page.

Cut along the edges of each colored portion.

3. Insert the little flaps A, B, C, D, of the cut-out

portions into the openings A, B, C, D.

4. Follow the same directions in

Garden No. 2—Early Summer Hardy Garden.

Garden No. 3—Mid-Summer Hardy Garden.

Garden No. 4—Late Summer or Early Fall Hardy Garden.

You will be delighted with the fairy-like way in which you have changed

the landscape in front of the picture of Mary Frances’ Play House; but

the pictures give only a slight idea of the beauty of the real gardens

which Billy and Mary Frances made. In order to see how beautiful the

flowers are, you will have to plant your own real gardens.

May they give you as much pleasure as they did Billy and Mary Frances.

CHAPTER LXIII

LITTLE GARDENERS’ CALENDAR

THE following plan was given to Mary Frances and Eleanor by the boys.

They called it—

THE LITTLE GARDENERS’ CALENDAR

In _Mid-Winter_ or _January_, plan out your garden,

drawing a map and filling in space.

* * * * *

A little later, in _February_, get the hotbed ready,

and spray roses with Bordeaux Arsenate of Lead,

remembering it is a violent poison. Use one tablespoon

to a quart of water. This will help prevent mildews and

fungi.

* * * * *

In _March_, or even in _February_, study seed catalogue

and order seeds.

Plant some seeds in the hotbed.

Prepare some of the out-door seed beds by spading and

manuring.

In _April_, transplant hardier plants to cold frame, or

open ground.

Spray everything again.

If weather is warm enough, sow seeds out of doors.

* * * * *

In _May_, sow seeds of some annuals and vegetables

out-of-doors.

Look out for weeds: kill them while young.

* * * * *

In _June_, plant seeds and seedlings in open ground.

* * * * *

In _July_, plant late seeds; carrots, turnips, etc.

* * * * *

In _August_, start perennials for next year. Weed!

* * * * *

In _September_, order bulbs needed.

Move flowering plants which are not in right place.

* * * * *

In _October_, save seeds of annual flowers, labeling

each envelope carefully.

Set out bulbs, unless you live below or near the Mason

and Dixon line; _November_ is a better time in that

case.

In _November_, rake up leaves and make into compost

heap. Throw a little lime among them. Never burn them.

They make humus.

Take up summer bulbs and store them carefully.

Spread manure over the ground to be spaded in the

Spring.

Hill earth about six inches high over rose bush roots.

Spread litter and leaves over bulbs and perennials to

protect them during winter.

* * * * *

In _December_, trim dead wood from rose bushes.

Destroy nests of cocoons, burning them, and read the

MARY FRANCES GARDEN BOOK.

CHAPTER LXIV

BUDDING AND GRAFTING

TO most boys and girls, the marvelous method of getting new varieties

of fruit is a matter of great interest.

In budding, as you know, a bud is set under the bark of

a growing plant.

In grafting, the top of the plant is cut off and a

branch of another plant is inserted. These branches are

usually cut in the Autumn and kept in sand all winter.

In the Spring, the tree to be grafted is cut and

the branch (or, scion) is inserted, as shown in the

accompanying drawing, and held in place by raffia and

grafting wax.

[Illustration: GRAFTING]

It was not until the boys’ second winter at the garden school that they

experimented with grafting peach trees and budding rose bushes, and it

was a year later before they knew the result of their work.

If you are particularly interested in the subject, send to the United

States Department of Agriculture for Bulletin No. 157, on “The

Propagation of Plants.”

CHAPTER LXV

PRIZES AT THE COUNTY FAIR

“REMEMBER in all gardening, that experience is your best teacher. Do

not become discouraged if you fail. Do not undertake too much. Remember

that most people fail to get good plants because they do not prepare

deep good beds, and do not ‘cultivate,’ or stir the ground. Watering is

nothing like so necessary.”

This is what Mary Frances was telling a number of children in the

garden one day as Billy came upon her unawares.

“You couldn’t have better advice, children,” he said.

“Than Billy gave me,” Mary Frances added. “He taught two friends and me

so well, that next year we are each to have our own garden plot, and

‘race’ with Billy to see who can raise the finest vegetables.”

“Some of the very finest are to be sent to the County Fair,” stated

Billy.

“And they’ll be ‘winners,’ you may be sure,” Bob prophesied as he and

Eleanor joined the group.

“So will some of our flowers, won’t they, Nell?”

Before Eleanor could answer Mary Frances, there sounded the joyous

shrill crow of Feather Flop.

“I’m sure they will!” it meant to the little girl, but none of the

others seemed to hear the rooster.

Perhaps he did know—for one year from that day, each of the children

received some premiums at the County Fair; but, to Mary Frances’

surprise, she had three more than Eleanor; two more than Bob, and one

more than Billy!

“I wonder why your garden did better than all the rest,” said Bob. “You

didn’t seem to work any harder than we did.”

“Oh, it was just a ‘happen so,’” answered Mary Frances, but she

remembered that many a morning she had seen prints of the claws of

Feather Flop in her garden, and a little pile of weeds at

THE END

The Mary Frances Books

For Teaching Useful Things in an Entertaining Way

By Jane Eayre Fryer

[Illustration]

These are not mere story books to be read through and cast aside. They

are instruction books in story form which the youthful readers joyfully

study because they think it is play. But in this play they learn

principles of usefulness which fascinate because of the manner in which

these principles are presented.

[Illustration]

=THE MARY FRANCES GARDEN BOOK, or Adventures Among

the Garden People.= The spirit of comradeship and of

loving understanding of little men and women thoroughly

permeates this unique garden book. The enchantment of

the story of Mary Frances’ gardens successfully carries

the play-lesson idea, as the most potent method of

creating a love for work and learning, into a realm

undreamed of before. The little reader’s delight is

heightened by cut-out gardens which are inserted in the

book. These cut-out gardens are beautifully colored to

show the natural color of the flowers, insects, etc.

They include a playhouse, April and May garden, June

and July garden, August and September garden, vegetable

garden, etc., and will not only familiarize the child

with the plants and their seasons of bloom, but also

inspire a love for practical outdoor gardening.

The world was begun in a garden, and the story of

reproduction is given in a most reserved and skilful

manner as the great plan for the perpetuation of life.

Size 7¼ x 9½ inches. Illustrations on every page, with

colored cut-out gardens. Cloth, with colored inlay on

front.

Net =$1.50=

=THE MARY FRANCES HOUSEKEEPER, or Adventures Among the

Doll People.= A glimpse into this book is enough to

make a girl’s heart leap. Here she finds not only the

story of the Paper Doll Family of Sandpile Village,

and how they acquired a home, but also the paper dolls

themselves—thirty-six large sheets of dolls and of the

new, patented kind of cut-out furniture. The practical

explanation of household duties and management are

woven in so skilfully that as the story tells how Mary

Frances learned to dust, to sweep, or make beds, the

little reader takes it all in eagerly as part of the

story. 250 pages. 7¼ x 9½ inches. Illustrations on

every page. Cloth, with colored inlay on front.

Net =$1.50=

=THE MARY FRANCES SEWING BOOK, or Adventures Among the

Thimble People.= It tells, in as quaint and delightful

a story as ever appealed to a child’s imagination, how

the fairy “Thimble People” teach Mary Frances to sew.

It teaches _the reader_ how to sew—how to make every

variety of garment—how to make the various stitches—how

to use patterns—how to fold and cut the material—how

to piece it together. The book includes a complete

set of patterns for doll clothes—undergarments—street

clothes—coats—hats—even a wedding dress. 300 colored

illustrations. 320 pages. 7¼ x 9½ inches. Cloth, with

colored inlay on front.

Net =$1.50=

=THE MARY FRANCES COOK BOOK, or Adventures Among

the Kitchen People.= This winsome book so happily

combines fact and fancy that any girl who reads it will

all unconsciously absorb the principles of cookery

while devouring the most fascinating sort of story.

It throws a glamor around the processes of baking

and boiling and leads girls into pleasant habits of

usefulness and industry. The book gives recipes in the

simplest, plainest words. It describes every operation

clearly—just what Mary Frances did, and how she learned

to avoid mistakes. The book stimulates the imagination

and creates a desire to follow Mary Frances’ example.

Cloth, 170 pages. 7¼ x 9½ inches. Over 200 colored

illustrations.

Net =$1.20=

THE JOHN C. WINSTON COMPANY

PUBLISHERS PHILADELPHIA

Handsomely Illustrated Books For Children

[Illustration]

=MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF ALL NATIONS—By Logan Marshall.= A book to win

the heart of every child. Famous stories from Greek mythology and the

legendary literature of Germany, England, Spain, Iceland, Scandinavia,

Denmark, France, Russia, Bohemia, Servia, Italy and Poland—stories in

which children, and men and women, too, have delighted through the

centuries. They are told in simple graphic style, and each one is

illustrated with a beautiful color plate. The work has considerable

educational value, since an understanding of many of the stories here

set forth is necessary to an appreciation of our own literature and

civilization. 24 full-page color plates. 320 pages.

=$2.00=

[Illustration]

=FAIRY TALES OF ALL NATIONS—By Logan Marshall.= The most beautiful book

of fairy tales ever published. Thirty superb colored plates are the

most prominent feature of this new copyrighted book. These plates are

absolutely new and portray the times and customs of the subject they

illustrate. The subjects were posed in costumes of the nation and time

in which each story is set, and are unrivaled in rich color, lively

drawing and dramatic interest. The text is original and interesting in

that the famous fairy tales are taken from the folk-lore and literature

of a dozen principal countries, thus giving the book its name. Many old

favorites and numerous interesting stories from far-away lands, which

most children have never heard, are brought together in this charming

book. 8vo. Over 300 pages.

=$2.00=

[Illustration]

=TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE—By Charles and Mary Lamb.= A superb edition

of these familiar tales has been prepared in similar style to “Fairy

Tales of All Nations.” Each of the twenty tales is illustrated with a

magnificent color plate by a celebrated German artist. It is one of the

finest gift books ever published for children, telling them in simple

language, which is as nearly like that of Shakespeare as possible, the

stories of the great plays. The subjects for the illustrations were

posed in costumes of the nation and time in which each story is set and

are unrivaled in rich color, lively drawing and dramatic interest. 320

pages. 20 full-page color plates.

=$2.00=

=RHYMES OF HAPPY CHILDHOOD—By Mrs. Andrew Ross Fillebrown.= A handsome

holiday book of homely verses beautifully illustrated with nearly

100 color plates and drawings in black and red. Verses that sing the

irrepressible joy of children in their home and play life, many that

touch the heart closely with their mother love, and some not without

pathos, have been made into a very handsome volume. Gilt top, uncut

leaves.

=$2.00=

THE JOHN C. WINSTON COMPANY

PUBLISHERS PHILADELPHIA

* * * * *

Transcriber’s Notes:

Obvious punctuation errors repaired. The character of y with a breve

does not exist in utf-8 and so has been replaced in this text with a y

with a circumflex ŷ.

Page 41, “Tausendschon” changed to “Tausendschön” (Baby Tausendschön)

Page 55, “Myotis” changed to “Myosotis” (Myosotis Palustris)

Page 71, “windows” changed to “window” (prettiest shallow window boxes)

Page 277, “see” changed to “seen” (You’ve often seen the)

End of Project Gutenberg's The Mary Frances Garden Book, by Jane Eayre Fryer