122 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



Floral Edition. 



Sanseveria Uaurentii in flower. Grown by H. 

 Irwin, Westmaunt, Que. 



Sow them half an indi deep if you 

 have not started them in heat, feed 

 with liquid manure once in ten days, 

 the same as for celerj' ; cultivate be- 

 tween freely, and let us have some good 

 sized and mild onions this year, by 

 attending to them frequently. Oorn 

 can be grown in hills or rows, the lat- 

 ter for preference. Earth them up the 

 same as for potatoes, and drive a stake 

 at each end of the row, with a wire 

 for protection against wind. Cut 

 asparagus with a knife below ground, 

 never pull it. Sprinkle salt on the 

 bed during the growing season. 



Cut off the bloom of strawberi^ies if 

 they were only planted last fall and 

 have a good crop next year. The fol- 

 lowing year take the runners and 

 .start a new bed, having it in good 

 shape by the time the old one is past 

 usefulness. Tomatoes plant every ionr 

 feet along the south side of a north 

 fence. Trim out all laiterals but four, 

 training these up fan-shaped either to 

 stakes or netting. Do not let suckers 

 come up from the roots and never 

 water the foliage, thus avoiding the 

 black spot on fruit. 



Do not chase the birds out of your 

 garden, especially the sparrows, as they 

 destroy their weight in insects every 

 week. Protect the peas, lettuce, and 

 black currants from the sparrows by 

 throwing a few crumbs regularly in 

 another part of the garden, covering 



j)eas and lettuce with fine gauze net- 

 ting or chees€-<;loth till they are well 

 up. For currants tie some black 

 thread about the bushes, with pieces 

 of white paper dangling. Use -white 

 hellebore for red currant and grape 

 catei'piMars, and slug shot for cabbage 

 worm. Don't kill bees, darning- 

 needles, crickets, lady-bugs, spiders, 

 frogs and toads, as they feed on harm- 



ful insects, and should be encouragiil 

 Make a comjKJst heap now, so thai 

 you will have some good stuff to dig 

 into your garden next fall. Dig a hob- 

 the size required, putting layers o:" 

 earth and manure to a foot or two 

 above the ground, covering the whole 

 with four or five inches of earth, on 

 top of which grow vegetable marrows, 

 or .squaslh. 



Luxuries for the Home Garden 



Miss Harris, Brome Co., Qu<;. 



ASPARAGUS and mushrooms are 

 counted among the almost pro- 

 hibitively expensive luxuries for 

 the home table. Their scarcity and the 

 uniformlj- high prices demanded for 

 them gives Color to the prevailing idea 

 that their culture is difficult and suc- 

 cess possible only to the expert gar- 

 dener and greenhouseman. True, 

 neither asparagus nor mushrooms are 

 grown in a day but anyone who has 

 the patient forethought to cultivate 

 biennials and perennials instead of 

 spending all his labor on annuals which 

 will show more immediate results, need 

 not shrink from the starting of aspar- 

 agus and mushroom beds. 



"Patience is a virtue — 



Get it if you can — 

 Often found in woman, 



But seldom found in man." 



And so, to women gardeners especially, 

 I would say, b.y all means have a mush- 

 I'oom and an asparagus bed, cheat the 

 greengrocer and have these luxuries 

 plentiful on your table throughout the 

 season; only patience, along with one 

 or two other favorable conditions, are 

 necessary to certain success. 



The Asparagus Bed. 



If you are better endowed than most, 

 with the virtue just alluded to and 

 wish your asparagus bed to cost as lit- 

 tle as possible, you may plant the seed 

 in spring or early summer. The bed 

 should be dug deep, made very rich 

 and the soil well worked until it is fine 

 and light. Sow the seed thinly in shal- 

 low drills, about two or three feet 

 apart, covering with an inch of soil. 

 When the seedlings are a couple of 

 ■^^Teks old thin them out so as to leave 

 only the stronger ones standing not 

 closer than two inches apart. Through- 

 out the season the bed must be kept 

 watered and well cultivated, the soil 

 around the plants being stirred occa- 

 sionally and no weeds allowed to grow. 

 The following spring they may be 

 transplanted two feet apart in perman- 

 ent beds and will commence bearing in 

 three or four years from planting. 



An easier and quicker way is to pur- 

 chase good roots from a reliable seeds- 



man. By so doing you will save two 

 years or more. 



For the home garden a convenieir 

 size for an asparagus bed is five feei 

 wide, so that the middle can be easil.v 

 reached from either side, and of a 

 length sufficient to plant the number 

 of roots desired. Plant in three rows, 

 one in the middle and one on each side 

 of the bed, taking care that the side 

 rows are at least a foot from the edge 

 of the bed. Dig lengthwise trenches 

 about eight inches deep and place the 

 roots in them a foot apart, spreading 

 out the roots of each plant and placing 

 in such a way that the crown or top 

 will be covered about three inches when 

 the trench is filled in. 



Keep the beds free from weeds. Do 

 not allow the surface to bake. 



When the plants are well started cul- 

 tivate between the rows with a hand 

 cultivator or hoe. Some growers give 

 the bed an application of salt dug into, 

 the surface of the soil every year, one 

 half pound to the square yard, which i- 

 very beneficial. 



Remember that the better and deeper 

 the soil of your asparagus bed is pre- 

 pared beforehand and the more ferti- 

 lizer you supply it, the more and better 

 asparagus you will get, so do not 

 neglect your bed this season becaus. 

 you do not expect to cut the tendti 

 shoots until next year or the year after. 



Special knives can be bought for cut- 

 ting asparagus but any sharp knife 

 carefully used will serve. Thrust the 

 knife down into the soil at an angle 

 so as to sever the asparagus stalk two 

 or three inches below the surface of the 

 bed — never try to pull up the stalks. 



If good, large roots are planted and 

 properly cultivated, you should be abl(^ 

 to cut a little asparagus the following 

 spring, but a good crop will not be 

 gathered until the bed is two or three 

 vears old. 



"Do you know that your chickens 

 come over into my garden?" 



"I thought they must be doing 

 that!" 



"Why did you think so?" 



"Because they never come back." 



