WKat A-inateurs Can Do in MarcK 



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THERE are many things that ama- 

 teurs can do before the busy season 

 actually begins. Order your seeds, 

 ees, plants, fertilizers, tools and spray- 

 g outfit. A better garden can be had 

 y planning now than later. By 

 ordering early you will get your trees 

 and plants as soon as the weather is safe 

 for shipping. Look over the old tools; 

 repair those that need it, and sharpen all. 

 In the localities where the snow leaves 

 early, considerable work can be done on 

 the lawn and in the garden. The lawn 

 may be raked, fertilized and rolled ; bare 

 spots can be sodded. Walks and drives 



WITH THE FRUITS 



If you have some old fruit trees of 

 worthless varieties, graft them with 

 scions taken from trees of desirable 

 varieties. They will bear in about 

 three years. 



Prune currants, gooseberries, rasp- 

 berries and blackberries. Cvirrants and 

 gooseberries produce their fruit on wood 

 that is at least two years old. When 

 pruning remove only a portion of the old 

 wood, and allow a similar number of 

 new branches to take their places. If 

 you did not do so last fall, remove the 

 old wood from the raspberries and black- 



A Well-made and Well-kept Tennis Court 



At residence of Mr. A. AlexaiKler, Hamilton 



can be graded and rolled ; apply fresh 

 gravel where needed. Remove from 

 the lawn, garden and walks all the 

 rubbish that was left over winter. 



Repair all holes in tree trunks by re- 

 moving the rotten wood, singeing the cut 

 surfaces, and fiUing with cement. 



Birds kill insects and add much to the 

 charm and pleasure one can have in the 

 garden. Make houses for them. 



Remove all dead wood from trees, 

 shrubs and vines ; if overgrown, they may 

 be thinned out. Most shrubs require very 

 little pruning. Late-flowering shrubs 

 may be pruned while dormant. I{arly 

 flowering shrubs should not be pruned 

 until thev have bloomed, as they will 

 produce their flowers on twigs that were 

 formed last season. Hardy roses may 

 be pruned towards the end of the month. 



berries. Thin out the new canes, and 

 cut them back to about three and a 

 half feet. 



Prune the fruit trees. Thin out the 

 apple and cherry trees. The growth 

 produced last season on peach, pear and 

 plum trees should be headed back. 



Prune the grape vines after the severe 

 weather is over, and before vegetation 

 begins, so that they will not bleed too 

 profusely. 



Much trouble with insects and fung- 

 ous pests can be averted by action now. 

 Destroy the egg massesof tent caterpillar, 

 cocoons of fall webworm, and the winter 

 stages of all injurious insects that vou 

 may happen to come across. If you 

 happen to find an insect or fungous 

 disease on your trees, jio matter what 

 the stage of its life cycle, and do not 



know same, send specimens with de- 

 scriptive notes to The Canadian Hor- 

 ticulturist. 



in the vegetable garden 



A hotbed or cold frame is useful in 

 the kitchen garden. The material for 

 it soon should be in course of preparation. 

 Fresh manure should be placed in a heap 

 for ten days or so, and turned once 

 during that time. A hotbed or cold 

 frame is useful for starting early vege- 

 tables. Sometimes four to six weeks 

 may be gained in hotbeds, and two to 

 four weeks in cold frames. If you have 

 neither of these, start some vegetables 

 in boxes on the window-sill. 



Home-grown rhubarb may be had 

 early by placing a barrel or box, from 

 which the top and bottom have been 

 removed, over a clump of rhubarb in 

 the garden. Cover the top at night 

 and during cold days. 



Beds of asparagus and rhubarb may be 

 manured. If manure is not available, 

 use nitrate of soda at the rate of one 

 ounce to the square yard. Rake it in 

 and repeat the dose three weeks later. 



If you are burning wood in the house 

 stove or furnace save the ashes for fer- 

 tilizer. Keep the pile dry. Even coal 

 ashes are useful. They supply practic- 

 ally no plant food, but improve the 

 texture of the soil. 



If the soil in the vegetable garden is 

 heavy, it would be well to buy sand to 

 lighten it. An application of lime or 

 strawy manure also would aid in loosen- 

 ing a clay soil. 



THE OUTDOOR FLOWER GARDEN 



Do not remove the cover from bulb 

 beds until danger of severe frost is over. 

 Remove by degrees. It is best to leave 

 the mulching near by, so that it can be 

 replaced when severe weather threatens. 



Plan to rearrange the hardy border 

 and to fill the gaps. The effect of alternate 

 thawing and freezing is very trying for 

 plant life out-of-doors. If the ground 

 is frozen, there is still time to give some 

 protection. Cover with some strawy 

 manure held in place by branches of 

 trees. Remove the covering as soon as 

 danger of severe frost is past. 



FLOWERS INDOORS 



Late in March repot the hardiest kinds 

 of window plants, such as geraniums, 

 ferns, and plants required for summer 

 decoration. Water them thoroughly 

 so that all the soil in the pot is moistened. 



Flowering bulbs should have plenty 

 of water when in flower. When the 

 flowers have faded, the bulbs will be of 

 little or no use for pot culture another 

 year. They may be removed to the 

 garden, however, and will make a use- 

 ful addition to the border. 



After freesias have finished flowering 

 dry them off slowly. They should be 



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