We earnestly ask your co-operation in trying to solve the question of marketing Minnesota apples.  All interested must assist in this important subject.

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WORLD’S TALLEST TREES.—­The tallest trees are the Australian eucalyptus, which attain a height of 480 feet.

GARDEN HELPS

Conducted by Minnesota Garden Flower Society

Edited by MRS. E. W. GOULD, 2644 Humboldt Avenue So.

Minneapolis.

HARDY CHRYSANTHEMUMS.

The new type of hardy chrysanthemums called “early-flowering” has been largely developed by a Frenchman named August Nonin, of Paris, who has devoted much of his life to perfecting this strain from seedlings of the old-fashioned “mums” of our grandmothers’ gardens.  It is considered by far the most satisfactory kind to grow out of doors, blossoming earlier than the pompons.  A few of the best of these early-flowering types are:  White—­Crawford White, Dorothy, Milka and Normandie; yellow—­E’toile d’Or, Carrie, October Gold; pink—­Beaurepaire, Eden, Le Danube; red and bronze shades—­Harvest Home, Firelight, A. Barham and Billancourt.  These are the earliest bloomers of this type.

Hardy pompons are still most largely grown for outdoor flowering, but of these there is also a choice, as the earliest bloomers are the most desirable to use.  Lilian Doty, a large-flowered, clear, bright pink, is considered the very best of these.  Donald and Minta are other good pinks.  The earliest whites are Queen of the Whites, Waco, Grace and Myer’s Perfection.  Jeanette, Wm. Sabey, Golden Climax and Zenobia are the best yellows, and Julia Lagravere, Urith and Tiber the best crimson and bronze shades.  There are many other beautiful pompons, but they bloom too late for practical out-of-door use.

The single mums have of late been used successfully out-of-doors when early blooming varieties have been chosen.

Of these Elsa, Gladys Duckham and Mensa are the earliest whites:  Ivor Grant, Mrs. Southbridge and Mrs. Buckingham the earliest pinks; Josephine, Golden Mensa and Marion Sutherland the earliest yellows; and Silvia Slade, Ceddie Mason and Brightness the earliest crimson and bronze shades.

As soon as it is warm enough in the spring the plants should be set out about twelve inches apart in rich garden soil, and kept pinched back during May and June to insure a stocky growth.  If one has old clumps in the garden, they should be taken up and divided and set in new earth just as any old perennial plant would be treated.

During the hot summer weather they should be well watered once a week and sprayed in the cool of the evening.  This will keep down the black and green aphis, the worst enemies of mums.  In case these pests become a menace a spray of tobacco water will end the trouble.  A little bone meal or well rotted manure dug about the plants in August will help to produce fine blooms.