For December. 1023 



295 



In the Garden and in the Greenhouse 



GEORGE F. STEWART 



In the Garden 



WE have now arrived at the close of the year and 

 the beginning of another. Some crops have come 

 out about as we expected, while others have been 

 disappointing. We are told that hope is the last thing in 

 the world : certainly a gardener needs to be full of it. 

 as his whole work depends on co-operation with Nature, 

 and the greatest students of the elements are still very 

 ignorant about its actions. Many of us, who are garden- 

 ers, have had little theoretical education, which makes us 

 depend more on the practical and on what we may have 

 picked up by reading and observation. When we have 

 done our best with a crop and the result is more or less 

 of a failure, it ought to bring out what is really in us 

 by the way we take it, for it is easy to do gardening when 

 everything is a success. Sometimes one may have an un- 

 reasonable employer (which makes it all the harder to bear 

 a disappointment) who does not seem to be able to under- 

 stand that gardening cannot be done wholly by rule ; the 

 powers of Nature are often too much for any rule man 

 may lay down. 



Late December, no matter how we feel its frosty chill, 

 ought to make us glad, as no doubt it did those Judean 

 shepherds when they found that the Promised One had 

 arrived to bring deliverance to an oppressed humanity. 

 No thinking man can deny that, with the advent of Christ, 

 a force to be reckoned with for the uplift of humanity 

 appeared on this earth, no matter what our private 

 opinions of Him may be. Early January is here also. 

 If I remember correctly the name of this month comes 

 from a root which means a door. The door of opportunity 

 is ahead of us another year, and now is the time to lay 

 out our plans. 



\\'ork in the garden at this season is partly in seeing 

 that the more tender plants have suitable protection 

 against severe frost. If the covering is of leaves, or any- 

 thing that the winds may blow away, a few branches laid 

 over, will keep it in position. See that the raspberries 

 which are in a location where they are liable to suffer, 

 are well protected. The best way is to cover them with 

 loam after they have been laid low on the ground. How- 

 ever, if this has been by any means neglected until the 

 ground has frozen too hard, they may be tied up and pro- 

 tected with straw. Strawberries, as soon as the ground 

 has frozen quite hard, may be covered with litter. This 

 covering is to keep the plants frozen steadily through the 

 Winter, not to keep them from freezing, so that a heavv 

 covering does more harm than good. 



Root crops and potatoes, as time permits, should be 

 looked over and any that show signs of decay, removed. 



As time and weather permits, the pruning of fruit trees 

 may be attended to. Pruning is to keep the trees from 

 becoming overcrowded with branches, to assist the forma- 

 tion of fruit buds, and also the preservation of their shape 

 and symmetry. The trees also may be sprayed for scale 

 if this has not already been done. It is advisable to give 

 protection to the trunks of trees against the attacks of 

 mice, which will very soon destroy a tree bv girdling the 

 bark ; prevention is better than cure. 



The lilacs are very liable to an attack by scale and a 

 spray with an insecticide may be given as a preventative 

 even if no scale is seen on the plants. 



In localities where spinach remains through the ^\'inter, 

 a slight covering of hay will keep it from freezing and 

 thawing. Of course, we all know that a blanket of snow 



is the l)est covering for ])lants, but in some localities it 

 comes and goes, making it necessary for us to provide 

 other means of protection. 



This is a good season of the year to look over the stock 

 of stakes and bean poles, so that provision may now be 

 made to make up for any shortage, as there is always 

 plenty to do when the time arrives to use them next season. 

 Tools, and flats for carrying and transplanting plants in 

 the Spring may need to be repaired or replaced by new 

 ones. If all these things are on hand, it saves time when 

 the mind is occupied with more important things. 



All plants that are in cold frames ought to be looked 

 over regularly, removing any dead leaves from the plants ; 

 or if the plants, such as violets and pansies, are planted 

 out, the soil should be stirred around them. If the sides 

 of the frames are well banked with strawy horse manure, 

 mats and shutters, it will keep out the frost. Take ad- 

 vantage of every mild sunny day and air them freely. 



Watch the evergreens carefully, should there be heavy 

 falls of snow, and remove the snow as soon as possible. 

 It is easy to damage them in a way that cannot be 

 remedied. 



In the Greenhouse 



Seeds of onions may be sown about the first of the 

 year. These, if properly handled, may be used for exhi- 

 bition next year. We have tried potting them off but have 

 had better results by transplanting them in flats, allow- 

 ing a good space between each plant. 



Successional sowings of lettuce may be made and also 

 of beans, spinach, cauliflower, radishes and parsley. To- 

 matoes, beans and cucumbers may be grown together in a 

 night temperature of sixty degrees. Lettuce, radishes and 

 cauliflower may be grown in a night temperature of forty- 

 five degrees. Rhubarb may be forced in a temperature of 

 from fifty-five to sixty ; beets and carrots around sixty 

 degrees. 



Chicory roots should be forced in the dark, also turnip 

 tops and beet tops which make excellent salads. It is all 

 a question of space and time for the enjoyment of these 

 vegetables in \\'inter. They are of much better quality 

 than those which may be obtained in the open market, 

 grown in the South during the Winter months. There is 

 just as much enjoyment in growing vegetables as there 

 is in growing fancy plants and flowers. 



Late December and early January find the greenhouses 

 probably as scarce of flowers as during any period of the 

 year. I refer to cut flowers, for chrysanthemums are 

 about past, which makes quite a difference in getting ma- 

 terial to fill a good box of flowers for the use of the 

 familv several times a week. On the average place, prob- 

 ably the carnation and the rose are the principal stand-. 

 bys. Those who grew the carnations indoors during the 

 Summer, and have looked after all details necessary to 

 their growth, such as cleanliness and food, will see the 

 advantage at this season. The plants will produce more 

 flowers and have better stems than those which are planted 

 out in the field for the greater part of the Summer. 



Skillful growers of the rose can time an entire crop 

 to come in at a given period, but in a small rose house, 

 which is the general rule on private estates, this is not 

 advisable. It is better to have one-half of the plant grow- 

 ing and the other half setting buds and flowering. This 

 can be regulated to a certain extent by pinching some of 

 the buds as soon as they set early in the Fall and allowing 

 the others to proceed to flowering. 



