142 



T HE CANADIAN H O R 1' 1 C U L T U R 1 S T 



June, 1907 



Do not plant dahlias or cannas un- 

 til all danger of frost is past. Manv 

 amateurs plant dahlias too earl}-. Those 

 whose growth has been retarded will 

 produce the finest flowers. DahUas do 

 not bloom so well during the heat of 

 summer as they do in fall when the 

 nights are cool. 



■ Thinning, weeding, cultivating and 

 watering are the most important chores 



THE VEGETABLE GARDEN' 



Commence to cultivate and hoe as 

 soon as the young plants appear. Do 

 not wait until the weeds get a start. 

 By stirring the soil early, many weed 

 seeds that have sprouted and not yet 

 appeared above the surface, will be 

 killed. 



The best time to water the vegetable 

 garden is in the evening, but water it 



Large Mammoth Squash Growing Abundantly in an Out-of-the-way Place 



this month. Do not neglect them if 

 you desire the best results. 



Prune all the flowering shrubs that 

 bloom before the leaves appear, as 

 these will produce their flowers next 

 spring on this season's growth. 



WITH THE FRUITS 



If you want to grow larger and bet- 

 ter fruit on your trees than you have 

 done in the past, thin the fruit on the 

 limbs this month. Read the article 

 on this subject that appears on an- 

 other page of this issue. 



When picking strawberries, keep the 

 newly-picked berries out of the sun. 

 The best way to pick the berries is to 

 grasp the stem and remove about one- 

 half an inch of it with the fruit. Do 

 not separate the berry from the hull 

 until about to be used on the table. 

 The new strawberry bed should be 

 cultivated continually. Remove all the 

 blossoms and allow the strength of 

 the plant to go towards producing a 

 strong crown in the old plant and an 

 abundance of runners. These pointers 

 are for the matted row system. Lar- 

 ger berries, but not so many of them, 

 may be produced by growing' the straw- 

 berries on the hill system. In this 

 case, all runners should be removed. 

 If a strawberry plant collapses, dig a 

 hill and kill the white grubs. 



Fruit trees and bushes should be 

 sprayed if clean fruit is the object. If 

 the home orchard is large enough, the 

 purchase of a knapsack sprayer or 

 even a barrel pump will be a profitable 

 investment. 



Gum or sawdust near the base of 

 peach or plum trees indicates the pres- 

 ence of borers. Dig them out or they 

 will kill the tree. 



any time rather than allow it to suffer 

 from drought. 



Sweet com can be sown at any time 

 during the month. Late cabbage and 



When danger of frost is about past, 

 sow seed of such tender vegetables a 

 cucumber, pumpkin, squash and melon 



To secure early tomatoes, train them 

 to a trellis or to stakes. Pinch off all 

 the side .shoots and allow the strength 

 to go to one stalk. 



Hand weeding is necessary in the 

 onion patch. The young plants ari 

 easily choked by weeds. 



Thin the beets, but do not destro\ 

 all the superfluous little plants. Thc\ 

 may be used on the table as greens, o> 

 they may be transplanted after cut 

 ting off most of the leafage. Watei 

 them until they become established. 



The squash bug is troublesome. It^ 

 depredations may be lessened bv mean- 

 of a decoy. Lay small pieces of board- 

 near the squash plants and kill thr 

 bugs under them every morning. Squasli 

 and melon plants mav also be protectee] 

 from bugs by covering with cheese cloth 

 Besides common vegetables there art 

 many that are unusual but wortli 

 growing. Why not try something new - 

 Swiss chard, a type of beet, is excel- 

 lent as a boiled green. Sow the seeds 

 as early as possible. When the plants 

 are up, they may be thinned from time 

 to time, and the thinnings boiled for 

 table use, or they may be transplanted . 



Twin Backyards that Betray Respectively Crude and Refined Ideals 



These home gardens, side by side, are object lessons. One, unkempt and uncared for is a horrible sxamnl,. of 



situaTed"toTonow'^W";e °,""=^i, "l!''"u """l, "?,1^^ «'«'/ ^"^ A"-"' »»d vegetables, is a mSlel fo^o hers sZ arly 

 situatea to toUow. Note also the backyards illustrated on pages 143 and 145. 



cauhflower oftentimes can be planted 

 between the rows of early potatoes 

 before the latter are done. ' Try some 

 Savoy cabbage ; they are excellent and 

 delicious for table use. 



There is no lleshy root as in the case 

 of common beets. Other vegetables 

 that are worth trying are, kale, Brus- 

 sells sprouts, globe artichoke, cardoon 

 and Chinese cabbage. 



