.14 



THE CANADIAN IK) Rl' I (' U l/r H R T ST 



February, 1914 





>5Xl^v 





Prize Winning Acters 



in the dark as not. If they are placed 

 where the sun strikes them directly they 

 should be shaded with sheets of news- 

 paper laid on the glass covering. The 

 minute they are up they should receive 

 all the light possible and be kept near 

 the window. 



From the time the seed leaves appear 

 until the seedlings are big enough to 

 transplant is the critical period of the 

 plant's growth. Prepared as suggested, 

 the boxes will need no further watering 

 until the seeds have germinated. If 

 watering really appears necessary, use 

 the sub-irrigation method as you did 

 when preparing the boxes for sowing. 

 As the seedlings develop care should be 

 taken not to over-water, as they will do 

 better if kept on the dry side. When 

 watering is done, however, it should be 

 done thoroughly, and again sub-irrigation 

 is the method to be adopted. In this 

 way the soil is saturated through, the 

 seedlings are not bent over by the force 

 of water, nor the foliage left wet to start 

 damping off. Where rooms are steam or 

 hot air heated, some difficulty will be ex- 

 perienced in keeping a normal degree of 

 moisture in the atmosphere. This un- 

 favorable condition may be to a large 

 extent overcome by giving all the fresh 

 air possible and evaporating water near 

 the plants, shallow flat pans being best 

 to use for this purpose. 



In admitting air be careful to avoid 

 cold draughts striking plants. In many 

 cases it may be convenient to admit air 

 through an adjoining room, or to put 

 a layer or two of newspapers, which are 

 splendid non-conductors of heat or cold, 

 between the window and the plants. 

 While most of the seeds sown will do 

 nicely ns suggested in a night tempera- 

 ture of forty-five to fifty degrees, with a 

 rise to sixty or seventy degrees during 



the day, there are several that require 

 fifty-five to sixty degrees at night to do 

 as they ought. These include tomatoes, 

 peppers, egg plants, melons, cucumbers, 

 and such heat-needing plants as l-)egon- 

 ias, salvias, and heliotropes. These, 

 however, may be brought along after the 

 early vegetables. For instance, if cab- 

 bage and lettuce seeds are planted in 

 February and tomatoes and peppers a 

 inonth or so later, they will be sprout- 

 ed about the lime the former are trans- 

 planted, and can occupy the space thus 

 made vacant. By the time these are 

 ready to transplant the earlier vegetables 

 will be ready to go to the cold frame, and 

 in many locajities into the garden, to 

 make room for the newcomers. 



All this may seem a lot of trouble, but 

 when one has spring vegetables and 

 (lower beds weeks ahead of neighbors 

 who have not troubled at all, you will 

 feel amply repaid for having started your 

 seeds in the house windows. 



leaving only the tip or crown bud to 

 each branch. About one week later give 

 a dressing of pulverized sheep manure, 

 and keep the hoe going freely, as long 

 as it is possible to get among the plants. 



Asters (Callistephus Chinensis) 

 "Marquis" 



The aster is generally known as one 

 of the most beautiful of all our annuals, 

 as well as one of the easiest grown, 

 when its requirements are known. It 

 will grow in any good garden soil, but 

 is best in a rich loamy soil. The plant 

 may be raised from seed, any time from 

 the beginning of March to the end of 

 May, and good results obtained. 



The seedlings should not be allowed 

 to become crowded at any time, but as 

 soon as large enough to handle they 

 should be transplanted singly in boxes 

 or in beds, and as the season advances, 

 about the end of May or beginning of 

 June, they should be planted where they 

 are intended to bloom, the ground hav- 

 ing been previously prepared and man- 

 ured. The planting should be carried 

 out, if possible, in showery weather. 



The plants require a lot of room. 

 They should never be less than one foot 

 apart for Daybreak, Hohenzollern, and 

 Queen of the Market, and one and one- 

 half to two feet for Semples, Vick's 

 Branching, and similar varieties. At no 

 period of their growth should the plants 

 be allowed to suffer for want of moist- 

 ure. I prefer to keep them moist by a 

 judicious use of the hose. During a dry 

 time use the hose once a week. When 

 the plants are about one foot in height, 

 they should be given a light sprinkling 

 of fertilizer, hoed into the soil. The 

 plants should be watched for aster bug. 

 The only relief known to the writer 

 that can be recommended is hand pick- 

 ing. All sprays tried so far have to be 

 handled with such extreme care that it 

 makes the remedy as bad as the pests. 



As soon as the flower bud shows, it 

 is well to remove all secondary buds, 



Hot Frames 



R. B.Rom, Ptterbore, Out. 



A hot frame is just the same kind of a 

 structure as the cold frame, but is placed 

 upon a quantity of fermenting manure. 

 To prepare this manure, get all you can 

 from the nearest horse stable ; make it 

 into a good sized heap; water well if 

 dry. Leave it for a few days until fer- 

 mentation sets in ; then turn it over, wat- 

 ering again if you think it necessary, 

 that is, if it appears to be dry. The idea 

 is to get the manure into an active and 

 uniform fermentation and have it con- 

 tinue for some time after putting the 

 soil in it. 



Use the same position for the manure 

 heap as for a cold frame. Have the 

 heap about one to one and a half feet 

 wider than the frame, with a depth of 

 from one and a half to two feet ; tramp 

 it down good and firm, then place the 

 frame on top, and put in the soil to the 



A Hot Frame Made of Cement 



depth of, say, three or four inches. 

 Throw some manure up around the out- 

 side of the frame. This will help to 

 hold in the heat. Put on the glass and 

 let it stand for four or five days, when 

 the heat should be even. I would ad- 

 vise a thermometer placed in the frame 

 where it can be easily seen. \\ hen the 

 temperature falls to about seventy-five 

 degrees seed can be sown. .At night 

 do not allow the temperature to fall 

 too low, but keep it as near sixty de- 

 grees as you can. It should not go be- 

 low forty-five degrees at any time. In 

 sowing seeds, sow them the same as in a 

 cold frame. At first keep a small open- 

 ing in the sash to allow the steam 

 caused by the manure to escape, other- 

 wise a damp mould will get on the earth 

 or the seedlings will rot. 



Keep all seedlings that come up first 

 by themselves, and the ungerminated 

 ones keep well under the glass ; give the 

 seedlings that are showing up more 

 light and ventilation. When they get a 

 little stronger take the flat out of the 

 frame and place in the warm sunlight, 

 so that the young plants may harden be- 

 fore transplanting out in the open beds. 

 Vegetables or flowers can be started in 

 either of the frames, and one can obtain 

 much satisfaction from theiti. 



