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THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIS 



April, 1912 



Those who like mushrooms, and most 

 people do, should get a brick of spawn, 

 break it into pieces, and make holes with 

 a stick in the outside of hot bed, and in- 

 sert a piece of the spawn in the holes. 

 You will be rewarded later with a crop. 

 The ventilation of the bed must be watch- 

 ed in brigfht, sunny weather. Give it air 

 by opening the sashes, closing them 

 when cool, and watch out for sudden dips 

 of the weather. During any such cold 

 spell, cover the glass with loose manure, 

 straw or matting. 



Dahlia and gladiolus tubers can be 

 started in the hot bed, thus advancing 

 Itheir flowering season, and as spring 

 advances, and use for the hot bed is 

 over, plant some melon plants in it, or 

 cucumbers. When danger of frost is 

 past, store your sashes in a safe place 

 for another season. The old manure of 

 the hot bed comes in fine in the fall for 

 fertilizing perennial beds or bulb borders. 



In warm or dry locations, sow lettuce, 

 radish and cabbage plants, and as warm 

 weather advances put in peas and vari- 

 ous other vegetables. Fork up the soil 

 nround rhubarb, and in your asparagus 

 bed whiten the soil with salt and fork 

 in the mulch or manure which should be 

 given to this valuable succulent. Though 

 in average seasons I prefer May for sow- 

 ine the ordinary crop of vegetable seeds, 

 still there are sometimes favorable days 

 in April in which to prepare the garden. 

 Never work your soil if at all wet as it 

 is only time lost. It is far better to wait 

 if necessary until June in cold seasons. 



The average width between rows is 

 about twenty inches, and the usual depth 

 of soil to cover is twice the depth of the 

 diameter of the seed. Coarse seeds as 

 beans and corn can be covered from two 

 to three inches and others from one-half 

 inch to an inch. One rule to observe 

 when sowing seeds is to firm the soil af- 

 ter covering. There is an old saying 

 that the foot is the best gardener. This 

 can be understood when you think that 

 the pressure of the foot brings the seed 

 directly into contact with the soil, exclud- 

 ing the air, and absorbing the immediate 

 moisture. 



As soon as you have sown the seeds, 

 the weeds appear also. Weeds are a ne- 

 cessary aid to the cultivation of the other 

 crop, as their eradication stirs the soil. 

 This lets in the air and saves the soil 

 moisture, or in other words it waters 

 the ground with the hoe. 



Be careful when too thick to thin out 

 beets, onions, carrots and parsnips, and 

 when breaks appear to replant with other 

 plants. Every well appointed garden 

 should have an asparagus bed, beside 

 rhubarb and parsley. 



GROW SOME ASPARAGtrS 



Asparagus is so easily cultivated and 

 so highly prized it is a very profitable 

 plant for growers. For a small family 



The Garden of Mr. Ralph C. Wade, Toronto, Ont. 



Read doscription on this page. 



a bed thirty by five feet would give plen- 

 ty of stalks. Some persons go to great 

 trouble to prepare one. If such a bed is 

 to be permanent the result justifies their 

 care. Select a well drained situation. 

 Dig out the soil to a depth of at least 

 twenty inches. Into this trench fill in six 

 inches of rich manure, offal, bones and 

 other rank fertilizer or litter which, if it 

 does not decay immediately serves for 

 drainage, and cover over with good soil, 

 rotten sod, and so forth. When it is 

 ready, procure two hundred plants of 

 Conover's Colossal or Giant variety. This 

 is suflficient to plant a bed of this size, 

 make three rows, eighteen inches apart, 

 with the plants six inches apart. Dig 

 out each row by the garden line a foot 

 deep. Against the bank place your 

 plant, spreading out the roots evenly, 

 having the pips or crowns three inches 

 below the .soil ; fill in the soil to a level, 

 and tread down firmly. Rake the soil 

 smoothly and place a mulch of two inch 

 manure. 



Cuttings of currants, grape vines, and 

 so forth, can be made in the early part 

 of April. They should be planted in good 

 soil to the tip of the bud. A vegetable 

 garden should be planted and managed 

 to have a succession of various plants, 

 so that when one crop is used up, as 

 early peas and peans, you can remove 

 them and plant cabbage or celery. Above 

 all provide plenty of manure. Don't be 

 afraid of having too much. Work it in 

 deeply, and you will have sure results. 



PREPARE FOR FLOWERS 



Flower beds should be raked up clean, 

 also clean all rubbish off the premises. 

 Divide your phloxes and replant into new 

 soil. Delphiniums, rudbeckias, iris and 

 other quick spreading plants divide and 

 replant. Plant in large groups. Studv 

 out combinations for color effects now 

 so as to have them this summer. 



April gives you a chance to revise your 

 border with either shrubs or perennials, 

 and to plant out special effects. Now is 

 the time to pay attention to your lawn by 

 fertilizing, sowing fresh seed on bare 

 spots and giving a liberal top dressing 

 of good garden soil. April showers will 

 do the rest after a good rolling to smooth- 

 en upheavals. Do not roll when wet as 

 this packs the soil too closely. 



If you have not one, make a rose bed. 

 Follow any form you may wish but the 

 simplest is a well shaped oval rounded 

 well up in the centre. Get yo'ur roses 

 and plant early. Late planting is not as 

 successful unless you cut plants hard 

 back. Roses should have young roots, 

 well established, before hot weather sets 

 in. Of course, if plants are in pots you 

 can plant them out any time in sum- 

 mer. 



A Backyard Garden 



The garden of Mr. Ralph C. Wade, 

 Toronto, illustrated herewith, demon- 

 strates what can be done in the line of 

 beautifying an ordinary backyard. Mr. 

 Wade may be seen in the illustration. The 

 arch under which he is standing is cov- 

 ered with two crimson ramblers, on either 

 side of which are two grape vines, one a 

 fine Roger and the other a Niagara; 

 then a Syringa. 



The order of planting next the board 

 fence on the west side, which Mr. Wade 

 has found most satisfactory, is to put 

 dahlias and prince's feather, of the tall 

 variety, next to the fence, then tall pale 

 and dark blue delphiniums, foxgloves 

 and Canterbury bells, then rows of as- 

 ters, both late and early varieties. Next 

 comes a row of Golden Wave Calliopsis 

 and dark blue larkspur mixed. These 

 bloom early as they are planted with the 

 other hardy annuals in the fall when the 

 border is prepared for winter. They 



