ROSES SUITABLE
FOR HOME LAWNS
Native Species Are Most Suitable
for the Yard and for Bor
der Planting.
THE PRUNING IS IMPORTANT
Different Treatments Required Where
Blossoms Are to Be Produced for
Different Purposes—Heavy
Manuring Essential.
Advice as to tlie varieties of roses
best suited to a particular region is
best obtained from the nearest grower
or nurseryman. A different type of
rose is needed for each of the various
purposes for which roses are used.
Those which are suitable for lawns
or borders will not give satisfactory
cut flowers; special kinds are best for
arbors or trellises and other orna
mental purposes. In the opinion of
flic United States Department of Agri
culture. roses are not very satisfac
tory for hedges, as most types are
The Hybrid Tea Rose.
neither sufficiently compact nor suffi
ciently branched to make u really good
hedge.
Native species, and those least modi
fied by man's crossing and selection
are most suitable for lawn and border
planting. Border roses should have
tittle pruning, the removal of the dead
wood and the cutting of the whole
bush to the ground every five to eight
years being the best way of handling
most varieties.
Climbing roses used for arbors and
trellises may be managed either to
give an abundance of bloom or to pro
duce shade, hut they cannot do both
satisfactorily, and they are not well
adapted to the production of shade as
many other plauts. Climbing roses
should he pruned just after blooming
by having the wood of the previous
year's growth removed.
Cut-flower roses need clean culture,
severe pruning and special care; there
fore they should be planted by them
selves la secluded beds and should
tiol be used to beautify the grounds
In place of the roses appropriate for
lawns and borders. Cut-flower roses
should be cut each spring to within
six Inches or one foot of the ground
for finest blooms, or one-third to one
half the wood should be left if the
object Is a large quantity of blooms.
The essentials for satisfactory rose
growing are a well-drained retentive
soil, thoroughly enriched, preferably
with rotted manure. Cut-flower roses
particularly need heavy annual ma
nuring. Special care must lie exer
cised to prevent the roots front drying
when out of the ground for transplant
ing. Dormant roses should have from
one-half to two-thirds of the wood re
moved at the time of transplanting.
Watchfulness Is the price of success
with roses.
MAKE GARDEN PERMANENT
With Little Attention Hardy Plants
Will Produce Crops That May
Be Depended Upon.
A bod of asparagus is known to have
given continuous service for more than
HO years, and asparagus is one of the
flrsl of the spring vegetables, a row
of blackberries along a garden fence
has produced abundant crops for 1
succesalve years. A few hills of rhu
barb have provided a delicious sauce
and helped with the making of pies
season after season, with very little
cost or attention. Strawberries re
quire more care, but they furnish the
first ripe fruit in the spring, and a
very small plot of ground iu one cor
ner of the garden will supply the fam
ily, says the United Stales Depart
ment of Agriculture.
WATCH FOR PLANT LICE
If you would he sure of getting a
crop of egg-plants, cucumbers, canta
loupes. ns well as other garden vege
tables. watch for plant lice. A nicotine
spray will get them, but wait
until the under sides of the leaves are
covered before you begin the treat
ment.
♦=■ ..
SHRUBS YOU WILL LIKE
Home builders who are plan
ning to plant shrubbery on their
lawns will find it worth while to
make a study of shrubs. Set out
shrubs that you will not tire of
In a few years. It pays to take
your time In selecting. To select
plants intelligently a careful
study should be made of the
lawn, soil, position of buildings,
walks, drives, bodies of water,
the surrounding area, and adja
cent buildings. Evergreens will
not thrive in smoke zones of
cities or near factories.
ASPARAGUS MUST
HAVE RICH SUIL
Delicacy Will Grow in Drained
Ground If Plant Food Is
Properly Applied.
ROOTS BETTER THAN SEED
Spring Is Good Time to Transplant—
Shoots May Be Blanched by Ridg
ing Up Over Rows With
Loose Sandy Soil.
Asparagus should have a place In
every home vegetable garden where it
will thrive. This crop cun be grown
on almost any well-drained soil, but
will do best on a deep, mellow sandy
loam, says the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture. There is little
possibility of having the land too rich,
and liberal applications of partly rot
ted barnyard manure should he made
before the plants are set. The seeds
of asparagus muy be sown during the
eurly spring in the rows where the
plants are to remain and the seedlings
thinned to stand 14 inches apart in the
row' at the end of the first season. It
is usually most satisfactory to pur
chase two-year-old roots from some
seedsman or dealer. The roots should
be transplanted during the late au
tumn or early spring.
Before setting out the plants, the
land should he loosened very deeply,
either by subsoil plowing or deep spad
ing. It Is a good plan to remove the
topsoil and spade manure Into the sub
soil to a depth of 14 or Id inches; then
replace the topsoil and add more
manure. There are two methods of
setting an asparagus bed. depending
entirely upon the kind of cultivation to
be employed in the garden. If the
garden space is limited, the plants
should be set In a solid bed. one foot
apart each way. In setting asparagus
the crowns should be covered to a
depth of four or five Inches.
The part of the asparagus used as a
vegetable is the young shoot that is
thrown up during the early spring.
The shoots tire removed when about
four or five Inches in length by cutting
slightly below the surface of the
ground, but care should he taken that
the knife is not thrust at an angle or
the crowns will he Injured. If so de
sired, the shoots may he blanched by
ridging up over the rows with loose
sandy soil or by allowing the mulch to
remain and the shoots to make their
way through it; but unblanched as
Asparagus Ready for Market.
parasus always lias a better flavor
than blanched, Is more easily produced,
aud is more satisfactory for home use.
Too heavy mulching has a tendency to
retard the growth of the shoots by
keeping the ground cold until late in
the spring.
No shoots should be removed the
first year the plants uve set in the
permanent bed, and the period of cut
ting should he short tlie second year
After the second year the plants be
come well established, and with proper
fertilizing and cure the bed will last
indefinitely. During the cutting sea
son all the shoots should be removed,
as the roots will cease to throw up
shoots us soon us oue is allowed to mu
tt: r».
FARMERS URGED TO RAISE GEESE
AS FOWLS FURNISH TABLE MEAT
1
Geese Need Litttle Feed Outside of Pasture During Greater Part of Year.
j (Prepared by the United States Department
of Agriculture.)
During tlie holiday season, when
the unctuous goose graces the largest
available platter, is the time to think
j of the advisability of growing a bunch
: of these profitable birds for the tables
that will be spread for hungry fam
ilies another year. The goose pop
i ulation in the United States has been
on the decline in recent years, but
; the United States Department of Ag
riculture expresses the opinion that
there are many farms on which a few
I can be raised on pasture and other
feed that will scarcely be missed. Al
though the demand for feathers is not
what it once was, and the eggs are
not in demand for cooking, these birds
are worth while as producers of de
licious meat. The objection has been
raised that the meat is too oily, but
this condition is largely due to im
proper cooking, to failure to remove
the surplus fat of the abdominal cav
ity, and to not skimming off tlie grease
while cooking.
Grass Furnishes Bulk of Feed.
Where there is low, rough pasture
laud with a natural supply of water,
geese can be raised at a profit. They
are generally quite free from disease
and all Insect pests, but they ure oc
casionally affected by the diseases
common to poultry. Grass makes up
the bulk of the feed and It is doubt
ful whether it pays to raise them if
good gruss range Is not available. A
| body of water where they can swim
Is considered essential during the
1 breeding season and is a good thing
during the rest of the year.
The market is not so general us for
chickens, but the demand und the
price are unusually good in localities
where goose fattening is conducted
on a large scale. However, a few
geese are desirable on many farms
where there is no such market. Ex
cept in winter and during stormy
weather, mature geese have little need
for a house. Breeders in the North,
uud some in the South, use a shed
! open to the south as a protection in
winter. Coops, barrels or other shel
ter are needed by goslings. The
houses may be kept clean by supply
ing plenty of straw for bedding.
From 4 to 125 geese may be pastured
on an acre of land, the number depend
ing upon the quality of the pasture.
Ten geese to the acre is a fair aver
age. Free range should be used
wherever possible. In tlie South many
people use geese to help in keeping
down the weeds in the cotton fields.
Along about the first of February
g»»eso should get a ration suitable
for egg production so that goslings
may be hatched at about the time the
first pasture is available. Nests may
be made on the floor of the house, or
In large boxes, barrels or other shel
ters. It is desirable to collect tlie
eggs daily and to keep them In a cool
place where the contents will not
evaporate too rapidly; if kept for
some time they may be stored in loose
bran.
i lie first eggs are usually set un
der hens, while the last ones the
goose lays may he hatched either un
der hens or under the goose If she
goes broody. If the eggs are not re
moved from the nest where she is
laying she will usually stop laying
sooner than If they are taken away
daily. The sitters may be broken up
if they are confined to a slat-bottom
coop, with water to drink but no feed,
for two to four days.
Some breeders prefer to raise all the
goslings with hens, as geese sometimes
become dllficult to manage when al
lowed to hatch and rear their young.
Hens used for hatching goose eggs
must be dusted with Insect powder
and have good attention as the period
of incubation for goose eggs is longer
than for chicken eggs. Goose eggs
may he hatched in Incubators and
the gosling raised in brooders, but tIlls
is not a common practice.
From 28 to SO days are required to
hatrti goose eggs. Moisture should he
added after the first week if the eggs
are set unde? hens or in incubators,
warm water being sprinkled on the
i eggs or the nest. Incubators should
• be run at temperature of 101.5 to
102.5 degrees Fahrenheit, or about 1 Ms
degrees lower than for hens’ eggs,
and the eggs should be cooled longer.
Four to six eggs are put under u hen
and 10 to 13 under a goose. They
muy be tested about the tenth day,
und those that are Infertile or con
tain dead germs should be removed.
Goose eggs hatch slowly, especially
under hens, and the goslings are re
moved us soon as hatched and kept
i in a warm place until the hatching
Is over, when they are put back under
the hen or goose.
After the eggs are all hatched some
breeders give all the goslings to the
geese. Hens with goslings may be
' kept In coops and their charges al
lowed to range, but they are not al
lowed to go Into the water until sev
eral days old. In mild weather
will be able to look after themselves
when seven to ten days old. Coopa
with board floors are desirable for
goslings and they should be protected
from their enemies and looked after
in case they get lost in their wander
ings about the farm.
Feeding the Young Birds.
Goslings do not feed until they are
24 to .Id hours old, when they may be
fed any of the mashes rec^imended
for chickens or for ducklings, or a
mash or dough of two-thirds shorts
or middlings and one-third corn meal,
which after six weeks may be made
equal parts shorts and corn meal and
5 per cent beef scrup. Bread and milk
is also an excellent feed for goslings.
Fine grit is needed and may be pro
vided by using 5 per cent of sharp
sand in the mash, or by keeping it
before them in a hopper.
If goslings are to be fattened give
them a ration of one-third shorts and
two-thirds corn meal by weight, with
5 per cent of beef scrap added, and
a feed of corn at night.
In February, when the feeding for
eggs Is begun, a ratiou made up of one
pound of corn meal, one of bran, one
of middlings or low-grade (knir. and
10 per cent of beef scrup, which is fed
in the morning, and equal parts of
corn and wheat, or corn alone, fed
at night, will produce good results.
Grit and oyster shell may be pro
vided at all times, but they are es
sential during the laying period. In
winter and at other times wheu there
is no good pasture available, geese
may be given roughages such as cut
clover, hay. alfalfa, silage, cabbage,
mangels, or any waste vegetables.
PEAS REQUIRE MUCH SPACE
Smooth Varieties May Be Sown Eariy
or as Soon as Ground Is in
Shape to Work.
Peas are not adapted to growing
in very small gardens, as they require
; much space. Most gardeners, how
! ever, insist upon having a few short
rows of peas in their gardens. In
large gardens enougU peas should he
planted to provide surplus for fan
ning. The smooth varieties uiay be
sown very early or just as soon as the
ground is in shape to work in the
spring. The wrinkled varieties should
not be sown until the ground has
warmed slightly. Some of the dwarf
varieties can l>e grown without sup
ports, but the iurger growing sorts re
quire brush, a wire trellis or some
form of support. The old-fashioned
English sugar i»ea on good soil will
grow tf a height of 5 or 6 feet and
produce peas until midsummer. It
should be borne in mind that under
ordinary conditions i>eas do not with
stand great heat, and that they must
produce their crop before midsummer.
—United- .States Department of Agri
culture.
WOOD ASHES MOST VALUABLE
Those Produced by Burning Hard
woods Like Hickory or Oak Con
tain Much Potash.
The use of coal ashes is permissible
on heavy clay soils. However, they
should be screened and all coarse cin
ders removed before being applied, and
then should be spread evenly over the
surface and thoroughly mixed with the
soil as deep as it is plowed or spaded.
Coal ashes have little value as ferti
lizer. their use being mainly to loosen
the soil and make it more workable.
Wood ashes, especially those produced
by burning hardwoods like hickory,
maple, or oak. frequently coutaln as
high as 7 per cent potash, and are val
uable fertilizers. Those produced from
burning soft wood*, such as pine, and
also hardwood ashes that have been
exposed to the weather, have compara
tively little value as fertilizer. About
50 pounds of dry, unbleached hard
wood ashes may be applied to a plot
of ground 30 by 00 feet in size, but
should be well mixed with the soil.
KEEP FOWLS FROM FREEZING
Prevent Trouble With Combs and
Wattles By Anointing With
Vaseline and Kerosene.
Frozen combs and wattles of chick
ens may be prevented by anointing
with a salve made of equal parts of
vaseline and kerosene, well mixed.
Apply this nt night during very cold
weather. Put It on thick in cases
where the combs and wattles are al
ready frozen. This salve Is also ex
cellent for colds In the bead or rat
tling in the throat. Hub the salve
over the nostrils and undcu the throe.* i
Where Your Taxes Go
How Uncle Sam Spends Your Money
in Conducting Your Business
By EDWARD G. LOWRY
Aethor "Washington Close-Ups,” "Banks and Financial Systems,” etc. Contributor
Political and Economic Articles to Leading Periodicals and a Writer of Recognized
Authority on the National Government's Business Methods.
Copyright, Western Newspaper Union
VIII.
INCOMPETENTS ARE KEPT
The annual turnover in the govern
ment service is something almost in
credible. Mo business corporation,
however strongly established, could
long endure the heavy annual drain on
Its resources. Hundreds of men leave
the government service daily; and
new, untrained people have to be taken
on and taught to do the work. This
costs money, as every employer
knows,
The regulations from the govern
ment ser^R- are chiefly from the su
pervisory Bid most highly paid posi
tions and m>m the very lowest grades.
^The men at the top, if they have any
Initial1^; or ability or ambition to
make a name for themselves, are of
fejgnl private employment at double
or treble or more what the govern
ment can pay them. The people in
the lowest grades leave for private
employment when opportunity affords
because in too many Instances they
actually cannot keep body uud soul
together on their government pay.
It is the people in the middle clast
who stay on the longest. The whole
constant process makes for a steady
deterioration in the quality of the
government service and tends to re
tain the mediocre In public employ
ment.
The civil service commission, through
which the great bulk of government
employees are brought Into the serv
Ice, is acutely aware of this condition
Its reports give emphasis to the diffi
culty constantly experienced in secur
ing and retaining competent employ
ees. The rotation in office has become
Increasingly frequent and vitally im
pairs the efficiency of the service.
During the war there was a lower
rate of turnover in the mechanical
forces than in outside establishments.
The proposition of separations, how
ever, Is excessive In clerical, profes
sional and technical positions. In
which the rate of turnover sometimes
amounts to a third of the force in a
year.
During the nine months preceding
the armistice more than 00,000 ap
pointments were made in the civil
service and about 118,000 separations
occurred—that is, for every two ap
pointments made one person left the
service. For a period of similar length
following the armistice only 00 per
cent as many appointments were made,
hut there were neurly 33 per cent more
separations. In this period almost as
many positions were vacated as were
filled.
The exigencies of the war required
a great expansion of the clerical
forces at Washington and elsewhere
and this was accomplished by a labor
turnover several times above normal.
The percentage of declinations of ap
pointments among eligibles on the civ
il service register Increased in many
instances from .‘10 to more than 50 per
cent—that Is, more than half the meu
and women who successfully passed
civil service examinations and were
offered Jobs under the government re
fused to take them. It is estimated
that more than 950,000 of those who
met the test were appointed during
that time.
The civil service commission says
tlatly:
“Those familiar with the federal
service at Washington know that the
service is now hampered by the re
tention of incompetents whose re
moval is rendered difficult hy influences
which are incompatible with the effi
ciency of the service. Preferences
and exemptions increasingly clog the
departments with persons who, no
matter how inefficient, are difficult to
remove, and whose retention tends to
destroy the discipline of the service.”
Among these inefficleuts, of course,
are the superannuated and the phys
ically incapacitated. The bureau of
efficiency estimated, before the pass
age of the superannuation retirement
law, the number of employees in the
civil service of the United States sev
enty years of age and over as follows:
Number
Hallway postal clerks. 197
Rural letter carriers. 464
City letter carriers. 23V
Post office clerks. W7
Mechanics . 32*
General employees, Dlst. Columbia. .1.4M
General employees elsewhere.1.613
Total .4.696
The commissioner of pensions sup
plies the following compact statement
of the age of the employees in the pen
sion bureau:
Number in the classified civil serv
ice, 874; age of the oldest employee,
eighty-eight; number over eighty years
of age, 26; number between sixty-five
and eighty, 266; based on age of sixty
five, number eligible for retirement,
292; percentage of employees eligible
for retirement, 83.4; average age of all
employees, July 1, 1919. fifty-eight.
These old men and women bear the
burden of the administration of the
complex, intricate and involved pro
cedure under the pension laws having
to do with the disbursement of $222,
159,292 in 1920 to 600,000 and some
odd beneficiaries.
WHAT OF THESE OLD MEN ?
Congress enacted a law In 1890 re
quiring all heads of departments and
Independent establishments in the
federal service to report each year to
the secretary of the treasury the num
ber of employees tinder them who were
below a fair standard of efficiency.
Every year this Is done and the letters
to the secretary of the treasury from
the various departments and bureaus
are printed in the book of estimates of
appropriations compiled for use by
congress in making up tlie annual
supply bills. Congress never pays the
slightest heed to these reports. They
are made up year after year, but the
inefficient are never fired.
For example, last year the chief
clerk of the treasury reported 170 em
ployees of tlie Treasury department as
below a fair standard of efficiency. But
nothing will be done about It. The
Interior department reported 139 in
etlloients. and will probably go on re
porting them till they die of old age.
There are employees of the govern
ment in Washington who are totally
blind and who are led from their
homes to their offices each day and
back home again in the afternoon.
I knew in 1913) one gentleman of
ninety-two years who had been in the
government service for seventy-two
years. He was being paid at that time
$900 a year. His maximum pay dur
ing bis long service was $1800 a year.
James K. Polk was President when
this old gentleman came Into the serv
ice. He was born ou January 10,
1828. His father was a captain of
the regular army in the war of 1812.
After that service lie led an active life
In other occupations until 1848. when
he died, leaving a dependent family of
nine persons, three of them boys. It
fell to the lot of one of them to be the
:hief support of the family.
It came to puss, then, that at the age
of twenty he received through tlie
influence of navy friends of his father
a small clerkship at the naval observ
atory, then under the superintendence
of that accomplished officer, Matthew
Fontaine Maury, whom he served as
nmauueusls for ten years, accounting
it a great privilege and pleasure to
have heard Maury's voice dictating the
words of sense and wisdom which
make up the sailing directions, the
wind and current charts and other
publications Issued from the observ
atory for the benefit of the world.
From a copyist at first. November 9,
1848, at $3 a day, the young man was
advigiced as follows:
July 1, 1853, qlerk at $1,200 a
1 ou j July 1, J8J4, clerk at $1^00 a
year; July 1, 1870, principal clerk at
$1,800 a year; December 0, 1011, clerk
at *1,400 a year; May 1, 10i8, stenog
rapher and typewriter at $900 a year.
It will be seen that he was demoted
In December, 1911, and again in May,
1918, to lower positions, Involving less
work and responsibility. These demo
tions were at his own request. In
October. 1917, he received from the
assistant secretary of the navy, Mr.
Roosevelt, the following letter;
‘‘I have to inform you that you have
been granted leave without pay for
six months beginning October 13, 1917.
‘‘As you have been in the employ
of the government now nearly sixty
nlne years, and during all that time
your record has been excellent, I re
gret that there is no way In which the
department could continue you on the
rolls with compensation.
"I desire at this time to express
the appreciation of the department for
your long and satisfactory service, and
the hope thut you will be so benefited
by this lease that you can return and
resume your duties at Its expiration.”
I talked with one of the cabinet
officers about the old and feeble em
ployees
He Said: ‘‘I don’t know what con
gress intends to do about them, hut I
know what I intend to do with those
in my department. I intend to leave
them alone. They can stay here as
long as they like, until some provision
Is made for them. When I was new
In tlie department I dismissed two of
these old people and demoted another,
on the ground that they were super
annuated and inefficient and were a
hindrance to the work.
‘‘All three of them wrote me sad
letters and promptly committed sui
cide. That was enough und more
than enough for me. Never again
will I disturb one of them. I do not
choose to have it on my conscience
thut I pronounced sentence of death
on an old man or an old woman in
the*service of the government. They
can all stay on here as long as they
like. I found them here and some of
them will be here when I leave. If
congress chooses to provide for them
that is Its obligation. But I will never
sentence another one of them to self
destruction. no matter what the cost
to the taxpayer and the government."
The Beaten Road.
Sincerity Is like traveling in a plain,
beaten road, which commonly brings
a man sooner to Ida Journey's end than
by-waya, in which men often loa*
the umeivea,—TLiotsuu.