August, 1916. 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



197 



other half until actual removal of the 

 plant, a week or two later. By doing 

 this, some new roots may form on the 

 side which has been cut, within the 

 earth ball, so that when the plant is 

 potted these will be removed intact. 



Before potting, saturate the soil well 

 w ith water, and leave potting until the 

 following day. Be sure and place the 

 newly potted plants in a shady place, 

 indeed, when possible, it is a good plan 

 to take the plants up in the cool of the 

 evening. After potting, do not overdo 

 the watering, as there are not feeding 

 roots yet to take up the water, and it 

 ily drains through the soil, doing it 

 !\o good. An understanding of these 

 simple things, and a carrying out of 

 the advice given, will bring its reward 

 in the shape of some nice plants through 

 the winter months. 



Nor is it too early to be thinking 

 about the bulbs. For instance, bulbs of 

 the Madonna lily should be planted this 

 month, and such bulbs as are wanted 

 for early blooming in the house, should 

 be potted at once. Bulbs of lilium aura- 

 tum, too, should be planted in August 

 or September. Daffodils intended to be 

 grown in boxes or pots, should be got 

 in soon now. 



I wonder whether it is known that it 



is very easy to grow the snapdragon 



(antirrhinum) in the window garden 



in an ordinary flower pot ? Try it. The 



long spikes of flowers, in light and dark 



reds, yellows, and pure white, are really 



beautiful ; moreover, the spikes stay in 



bloom quite a while, the individual 



flowers opening one after another. They 



are very hardy. The seed should be 



secured and sown now, or if you have 



plants already, cuttings can easily be 



rooted, but be careful to select wood 



for your cuttings that is not too soft. 



Whichever plan you adopt, the plants 



should be in flower quite early in the 



spring. If it's to be seeds, get the new 



named varieties, as they are the best 



for pot culture. If you start a batch 



from seed, let the first flower open on 



' each stalk before selecting those you 



' wish to keep. Another plan is to trans- 



! plant those you have in the garden into 



j pots of good size. Cut out the oldest 



I stalks in the centre, and the newest 



j ones well back. 



ii 



Garden Suggestions for August 



Henry Gibson 



Increase the vitality and the fruit 

 bearing ability of squashes, pumpkins 

 and melons by restricting the vine 

 growth. As a rule the vines tend to 

 spread a great deal more than is neces- 

 sary. Prevent this spreading by snip- 

 ing off the tip ends of the vines, prefer- 

 ably with a sharp knife, close to, but 

 lust beyond a leaf stem. 



WINDOW-BOXES, hanging-bas- 

 kets, tubs and similar devices 

 that are used for decorative 

 purposes around the house, will now be 

 so full of roots, that some top-dressing, 

 with good loam and manure in equal 

 parts, or frequent applications of liquid 

 manure, will be needed to maintain a 

 strong display of bloom for the next 

 few weeks. 



Flower-beds and borders are at their 

 best, and every effort should be made 

 to maintain a neat, tidy appearance 

 about the garden. Decaying leaves, 

 weeds, litter and spent blooms should 

 be picked up at least once a week. 

 Grass edges need to be kept trinuned, 

 and the lawn mowed as occasion re- 

 quires. 



The dahlias should be showing buds 

 by this time. If they continue a coarse, 

 heavy growth, without any tendency 

 to flower, cultivate deeply so as to cut 

 some of the roots, which will check the 

 growth, and cause the plants to throw 

 up flower buds. Those plants that are 

 showing flowers, will be benefltted by 

 an application of bone-meal or other 

 highly concentrated fertilizer well 

 worked in around the base. Don't be 

 too liberal with liquid manure on the 

 dahlias, as it has a tendency to induce 

 too soft growth. 



August is the best month of the year 

 to set out evergreens, and one can give 

 more attention to it at this time than 

 at any other period of the gardening 

 season. Any plantings of these sub- 



jects that are contemplated, should be 

 undertaken at this time, as all nursery- 

 men will ship the plants at this season. 



Careful attention should be given at 

 all times to see that no red spider is al- 

 lowed to attack these plants, and par- 

 ticularly the newly planted ones. This 

 pest is the worst enemy of evergreens, 

 and while it is comparatively easy to 

 control, yet nothing short of persistent 

 effort will exterminate it. Fish oil 

 soap, commonly known as whale-oil 

 soap, one pound to five gallons of water 

 is a sure remedy, but we do not recom- 

 mend using it, except in early spring, 

 before the young growth has started, or 

 late in the summer, after the growth 

 has become hardened somewhat. There 

 is a danger of damaging the young 

 growth if whale-oil soap is used during 

 the period of most active growth. 

 Should spider he very destructive at 

 this time, a good spraying with clean 

 water from the faucet will check his 

 activities. 



The value of a cold water spraj' as a 

 method of controlling insect pests is 

 not as much appreciated as it should 

 be. Not infrequently one may have 

 plants near the house that are attacked 

 by some insect. To spray with some of 

 the approved insecticides might leave 

 an ugly spot on the paint of the house, 

 or some other place that would stain, 

 for it is unfortunately only too true 

 that many insecticides do stain when 

 they come in contact with paint and 

 similar material. Under these circum- 





Tl.vj vege^able.g throve in this part o£ Mr. Eaki.n'.s Garden at Stimey I^ake, Otit. 



