APRIL. 



623 



APRIL. 



Seed may also be sown now in the reserve 

 garden for autumn flowering. 



Mignonette and Ten-week Stock. Seeds 

 of these fragrant flowers may be sown in 

 patches or beds for transplanting on a 

 warm border in the same manner. The 

 blossom of the ten-week stock is shown in 

 the accompanying illustration. 



Pansies. These will now be interesting. 

 Water the fresh-potted plants sparingly, 

 until the roots reack the edge of the pots. 

 Top dress the beds with rotten manure ; 

 look for and destroy black slugs; plant 

 out seedlings, and put in cuttings. 



Polyanthuses. Polyanthuses require pro- 

 tection from cold winds and sudden storms, 

 which are apt to do them considerable 

 injury, and break stalks crowned with 

 heavy trusses of bloom. Polyanthuses in 

 pots will now require plenty of water. 



Ranunculuses. Ranunculuses require 

 the soil to be loosened as they come up, 

 and watering with weak manure water. A 

 watering with lime water will destroy any 

 worms in the beds. 



Rose Garden. All pruning and any 

 planting not done last month must be 

 finished early in this, and all recently- 

 planted trees copiously watered, and the 

 ground stirred, but left rough, at least un- 

 raked. Beds for tea-scented roses prepared 

 for planting towards the end of this month 

 or in May. (See Roses Noisette^ Bour- 

 bon^ China, Tea-scented, etc.) 



Seed Sowing. All seeds intended to 

 flower during the summer should be sown 

 during this month. Lists and descriptions 

 have already appeared of hardy annuals. 

 In places where they are extensively grown, 

 another sowing might be made this month. 

 It would be best to sow now where they 

 are intended to remain. The modem 

 system of furnishing the flower garden has 

 limited the use of annuals. In gardens, 

 however, where the family may not be 

 always at home, or where the proprietor is 



indifferent to more permanent and durable 

 flowers, a very brilliant display may be 

 made for several months with annuals. 



Tulips. Tulips must now be protected 

 with canvas or mats in frosty, snowy, or 

 very wet weather, exposing them entirely 

 during every hour of genial sunshine. They 

 may be protected from cold winds and 

 frosty nights by netting thrown over hoops, 

 and by mats in severe weather, leaving 

 plenty of light and air. Stir the surface 

 soil, watch for mice and other marauders, 

 who seem as fond of the sweet roots as 

 man is of the gorgeous flower of this 

 splendid bulb. 



April. Fruit Garden and 

 Orchard. Work in. 



Apples and Pears. These trees, which 

 bear their fruit on spurs, when culti- 

 vated in gardens, are usually trained as 

 espaliers, as pyramids, or dwarf bushes. 

 In the mature state they require care in 

 selecting the shoots to be retained, pre- 

 ferring ripe, short-jointed, brownish shoots, 

 shortening back those to a bud which will 1 

 extend the growth of the tree, studying, 

 first, the production of spurs ; second, to 

 keep the heart of the tree open ; third, as 

 the finest fruit is borne on the extremities 

 of the branches, to keep these within as 

 compact a range as possible. 



Apricots. The directions given below 

 for peaches and nectarines apply equally 

 to apricots. On these trees, branches, 

 sometimes of considerable size, will 

 suddenly wither and die. When this 

 happens, the dead limbs should be cut 

 away as near the base as possible. 



Disbudding. Stone fruit, such as apri- 

 cots, peaches, nectarines, plums, and 

 cherries, bear chiefly on the wood of the 

 preceding year, and on these fruiting shoots 

 are left from 12 to 1 8 inches in length. On- 

 such shoots it will be found that there are 

 many wood buds that will break into full 



