it8 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



May, 1911 



may be pricked out in shallow boxes, 

 and when they are ready to transplant 

 outside dig a trench about a foot or eight- 

 een inches deep, leave the soil in the bot- 

 tom loose, put about three inches of well- 

 rotted manure in the bottom, and tread 

 down firm, and cover this with about 

 three inches of soil. Now transplant your 

 celery and apply plenty of water. As the 

 plants grow, draw the soil around the 

 stalks, taking care not to cover the tips 

 of the leaves ; when doing this hold the 

 tops well together with one hand and 

 draw the soil well around the plants with 

 a small hoe or other suitable instrument, 

 continue this operation at intervals as 

 long as they continue to grow, banking 

 up the plants after the trench is filled. 

 Some people plant their celery on the flat, 

 but by planting in a trench and banking 

 up in this way one will find that the cel- 

 ery is much more crisp and tender. I 

 find a good way to do the final planting 

 out, is to get an old baking tin and lift 

 each plant separately with a kitchen fork, 

 with as much soil adhering to the roots 

 as possible, place carefully in the tin, 

 and carry to where they are to be plant- 

 ed. The ground to be planted should 

 have been previously marked out and 

 holes dug with a trowel about eighteen 

 inches apart. 



TRANSPLANTING CABBAGE 



In planting out your cabbages, if pos- 

 sible choose a dull day, and press them 

 firmly down again, slightly lower than 

 before, and leaving a small hollow 

 around the stem so that the water will 

 drain down to the root. After planting 

 give a soaking of water, even if it is rain- 

 ing at the time. The time to transplant 

 cabbage and cauliflowers is from the 24th 

 May to the middle of June. As soon as 

 the cabbages have been planted out, 

 plant a few seeds of cucumber in different 

 parts of the frame, and shut the frame 

 up or very nearly so, as in the first stage 

 of growth cucumbers want plenty of heat, 

 and never let them get too dry. As soon 

 as the plants have made two or three 

 leaves, thin them out to not more than 

 two plants together, but it does not mat- 

 ter if the seeds have not all come up as 

 one in a place and four in a frame is quite 

 enough. If you have chosen a good frame 

 variety, such as Telegraph, you should 

 have all the cucumbers you will require 

 after they begin to bear. Those, how- 

 ever, who have room for a separate frame 

 from the start, will obtain cucumbers 

 much earlier by sowing in April. 



To obtain cucumbers it is necesary to 

 propagate the flowers, or the young cu- 

 cumbers will not start. I have often been 

 told by people that their cucumbers vines 

 have plenty of flowers, but that they 

 never can get any cucumbers. This is ow- 

 ing to the fact that they produce two 

 distinct kind of flowers, one which will 

 never produce a cucumber at all and the 

 other which will grow into a cucumber if 



properly propagated. The floivers aie 

 easily distinguished, as one g'ows an a 

 thin stalk, and the other grows out of 

 the end of a very small cucumber. 



In order to make these latter grow, get 

 a small camel's hair brush and insert it 

 in the flower with a long stalk, and twist 

 it around. This will collect all the pollen. 

 Now insert the brush in the centre of the 

 flower with a small cucumber on it, and 

 twist it around again. The pollen from 

 the first flower will adhere to the second, 

 and a few days later it will begin to grow. 

 These flowers should be gone over every 

 day as they soon die if not propagat- 

 ed. One will often find that the first 

 flowers that come out are the barren ones, 

 and sometimes these continue for a week 

 or more before any of the others appear. 



I always like to make my frame in two 

 distinct sections, as I use one for vege- 

 tables and one for starting a few flower 

 seeds. By making your frame in sections 

 in this way you can keep the flower side 

 closed more or less according to the 

 weather, whereas the cabbage side will 

 require as much ventilation as possible or 

 the plants will become too spindly. These 

 flower plants will want transplanting in 



is enabled to sow them so much earlier. 

 I should recommend a few seeds of the 

 following, the choice of the variety 

 being left to the grower: .Aster, Dian- 

 thus. Lobelia, Pansy, Snapdragon, Ribis- 

 cus, Tobacco-Plant, Petunia, Phlox, 

 .Stocks, Verbena, Zinnia. 



These should all be started in a frame. 

 There are of course many others, but 

 these are all favorites and comparatively 

 hardy, the last in the list being perhaps 

 the most tender. These will all require 

 plenty of room when transplanted to give 

 the plants an opportunity of spreading. 

 The Lobelia, however, is the exception 

 in this case, as being an edging plant it 

 can be planted fairly close together. 



Intensive Gardening 



H. F. KenneJj, Ljrcu, Oat. 



fContinurci from last i.s,s-uf) 



The third point then is constant culti- 

 vation and attention to growing plants. 

 Now, a word about arrangement of 

 plants and successive plantings. Remem- 

 ber, no theories but practical experience. 

 During the first week in July I dug the 

 potatoes and the balance of the potato 

 ground was worked up and enriched. On 



Young Tomato Plants 



Grown by Mr. i-oarcc Smith, Grimsby, Ont. 



the frame in the same way as the cab- 

 bages in order that they may make 

 stronger plants for finally planting in the 

 garden. This section of the frame may 

 also be used as a cucumber frame after 

 the plants are all transplanted. 



FLOWERS FOR BEDDING 



We now come to the question of what 

 to grow in the way of flowers for bedding 

 out. Of course a great deal will depend 

 upon the tastes of the individual grower. 

 There are a great many annuals that 

 must have an early start in moderate 

 heat, as if sown in the open border they 

 take too long before they reach the flow- 

 ering stage, and by utilizing a frame one 



this strip of ground I sowed turnips and 

 winter radishes, resulting in an excellent 

 crop of both. 



In another part of the garden I planted 

 early in April, lettuce, radishes and spin- 

 ach. These were used up by the first 

 of June. Then in the same ground I 

 planted Golden Bantam sweet corn, which 

 yielded excellent ears about the end of 

 .August. Around the fence which en- 

 closes the garden I have a row of straw- 

 berries, which yield us all the fruit we 

 require, both for table use and also for 

 canning. Besides these, I have cucum- 

 bers growing up on trellises like grape- 

 vines, thus taking up scarcely any room 



