iv.] AUGUST 203 



GARDENING IN AUGUST 



THIS is the best month of the year for the gardener to 

 take a holiday, not because there is no work to be done, 

 but because it can be done almost equally well in July or 

 September. 



All weeds should be cleared away before they have 

 ripened their seed. The weather generally favours the 

 application of the hoe, which ought to be kept in constant 

 use. Trees and shrubs planted within the year need to be 

 watered freely during weeks of drought. 



While people are away from home young French 

 Beans or Scarlet Runners often grow more quickly than 

 they can be used. When this is so they should be care- 

 fully picked two or three times a week, before they begin 

 to grow coarse and old. As they are brought in they 

 should be laid by in large earthenware pans alternately 

 a handful of beans with a handful of salt, until the pan is 

 full. Preserved in this way, they may be eaten all through 

 the winter. When wanted they can be taken out, well 

 soaked, and then boiled in the usual way. Beans so 

 treated will be found to have a much better flavour than 

 any tinned vegetable. 



In the early part of the month Cabbage seed for the 

 main spring crop should be sown thinly, so as to have 

 strong plants ; the bed should be kept moist by shad- 

 ing if the weather is dry. Towards the end of the 

 month some of the earlier sowings will probably be 



