178 



THE CANADIAN 11 O U i" 1 C U L T U R 1 S T 



ing flfci I will be produced throughout 

 the wiiiUr. It is very ditricull to in- 

 duce fuschias to bloom copiously dur- 

 iiji; the cold months. 



' ' Most house plants should be plunged 

 outside. The objection to setting them 

 out of the pots is that in taking them 

 up again in the fall the roots are muti- 

 lated. Under outdoor conditions the 

 moisture is more uniform. A handful 

 of cinders should be placed under- 

 neath each pot to ensure perfect drain- 

 age. In September the pots should be 

 lifted. If they can be put in a cold 

 frame and left there until October, 

 better results will be had in winter. 

 Care mu.st be taken not to have too 

 much moisture around the plants. 

 Never allow water to lie at the roots. 

 It is much better to have the plants 

 too dry than too wet." 



In a recent interview with Mr. O. 

 Grainger, of Deer Park, he stated that 

 geraniums are the staple plant for 

 window decoration in private houses 

 during winter. "For best results," said 

 Mr. Grainger, "new soil must be given 

 every year. The growth made during 

 the winter months exhausts the earth 

 in the pots. In the spring the best 

 plan is to take the plants out of the 

 pots and set them in the garden. Stout, 



strong growth is made during the sum- 

 mer, and before frosts come in the fall 

 the plants can be taken up, put in 

 fresh potting soil, and set in a sunny 

 window. If the plants are cut back 

 and the shoots taken oiT, young growth 

 is induced, and in a short time flower 

 buds appear. 



' ■ Begonias, too, are excellent for 

 winter window decorations. If kept 

 outside all summer the same as geran- 

 iums, they will do well throughout the 

 winter. The tuberous-rooted speci- 

 mens cannot be treated in this way be- 

 cause they die down in the fall and 

 must have a rest until spring. Rex 

 begonias are very desirable for winter 

 use, while the tuberous begonias should 

 be cultivated for spring decoration in 

 the spring. 



"Fuschias, if bedded outside during 

 summer, and put into pots when taken 

 up in the fall, are very desirable. They 

 immediately shed their leaves, but if 

 carefully attended to and kept moist 

 new growth soon appears, and an 

 abundance of blossoms burst open late 

 in the winter or early spring. 



"Impatiens Sultani is almost a per- 

 petual bloomer, and should be found in 

 every collection of window plants. If 

 well attended to and given suitable 



soil, this plant will present a pleasing 

 appearance all through the winter. 



"Petunias are of httle value for the 

 window collection during winter. With 

 most specimens new plants have to be 

 raised each spring, and by fall they 

 have become too large. Some of the 

 double varieties can be propagated 

 from young shoots, and arc used in 

 windows for winter decoration. 



"There are a few plants that can be 

 used to advantage in winter by sowing 

 seed late in the summer or early in the 

 fall. Cinerarias, if sown in the latter 

 part of July or early in August, will 

 come into bloom about March 1. The 

 seed should be placed in pans, and as 

 soon as the seedlings are large enough 

 to handle they should be transj)lanted 

 into flats. In a short time they can 

 be placed in small pots. After a few 

 weeks, a final shift can be made to pots 

 large enough for them to flower in. 

 Calceolarias are not usually a success 

 under winter conditions. They re- 

 quire high temperature. If the seed 

 is sown in August and favorable con- 

 ditions are maintained throughout the 

 winter, these plants make a brilliant 

 display in May. As soon as the warm 

 summer weather comes they .make vig- 

 orous growth and give lots of bloom. "^ 



I 



Hints for City Gardens During July 



WATER, water, water is the cry 

 from the garden during the hot 

 days of July, and your success 

 with your plants will depend on how you 

 answer it. Every garden makes a 

 special demand upon some method of 

 watering or irrigation. There are vari- 

 ous ways of watering the garden, each 

 best adapted to certain conditions un- 

 der which the gardener works. Those 

 favored with a city water supply are 

 to be envied. 



It is better to give plenty of water 

 every few days, than a little each day. 

 The surface is kept moist by the latter 

 method, and the roots rise for the moist- 

 ure, and thus are easily injured by the 

 heat of the following day by being near 

 the surface. Enough water should be 

 given to wash the leaves and sink deep. 

 The best time for amateurs to water is 

 at night. Then the moisture has a 

 chance to do its best work before evap- 

 oration begins under the hot sun the 

 next day. 



Scarcely any amateur gardener will 

 go to the trouble and bother of pre- 

 paring a supply of liquid manure at 

 frequent intervals. This may be done 

 easily and simply, in the following man- 

 ner: Hunt up any old paint or oil 

 barrel. Half a hogshead will do if 

 available, or even a large packing case, 

 although the barrel is better, as it has 

 no corners and is more watertight. Sus- 



pend a half empty sack in the top of 

 barrel, as shown in the illustration, 

 fastening the sacking to an old iron 

 hoop, caught over the top edge of the 

 barrel, or to sticks placed across the 

 top Fill this sack with fresh cow manure 





--->r- 



■ IT 



-■iF:: 





^'itMi^Mii 



A Simple Method of Mixing Your Liquid Fertilizer 



and suspend it in the barrel as shown. 

 Nearly fill the barrel with water, put 

 the cover on, and in a short time the 

 liquid will be ready for use. 



A spigot, fastened at the bottom of 

 barrel, will be found a handy means to 

 dra.w off the liquid for use in the gar- 



den. Several refillings of the barrel 

 with water may be made before the 

 sack of manure has to be refilled. Bv 

 suspending the manure in the sack, 

 no sediment will form at the spigot to 

 stop the drawing off of the water for use. 



One of the most expensive habits 

 of most gardeners is the wasting of 

 time between crops. Many think as 

 soon as September comes, that the 

 garden is about over for the year. 

 Waste no days in the garden. There 

 are at least 11 vegetables that can be 

 planted in July: beans, early peas, 

 corn, beets, carrots, cucumbers, let- 

 tuce, radishes, okra, cress, and white 

 French turnip. As fast as crops ma- 

 ture, put in something else. Don't 

 let your garden run out the first of 

 September or October. Use your land 

 for "all it's worth" till the cold weather 

 won't let you use it any more. 



Don't supply your men with poor ; 

 tools and expect them to get the best -' 

 crops in the neighborhood. You can 

 get more work out of a man and bet- 

 ter results by giving him a good wheel 

 hoe, than letting him shift for any old 

 thing to hoe with. 



Plenty of manure water for young 

 celery plants will amply repay for 

 trouble in maintaining a supply con- 

 stantly on hand. It is hard to over- 

 feed or over- water celery plants. 



Don't let the tomato vines run glori- 



