April Making Ready for Summer 



course, preferable to use soft water from tanks or tubs 

 or alternatively hard water that has been exposed to 

 the air for a few days ; but beneficial though soft water 

 may be its use is only practicable in quite small gardens, 

 and recourse must be had to the hose. Growth is rapid 

 at this time of year, and a check such as is occasioned 

 by drought may make all the difference between success 

 and failure. It is yet too early to apply quick-acting 

 fertilisers ; the best time to do this is as soon as flower 

 buds or small fruits have formed. 



Disbudding is an important item of garden work 

 Superfluous shoots on Roses, i.e. those that are very 

 weak, ill-placed, or too numerous, should be rubbed off ; 

 the stems of herbaceous plants, such as Delphinium, 

 Phlox, etc., ought to be thinned out, leaving only a dozen, 

 more or less, on each clump. 



The First Rose Pests. No sooner have we put the 

 Rose garden in order, and prepared for quiet moments 

 in which to indulge in anticipation of the delightful time 

 that is coming, than we are called upon to take reprisals 

 against the first of a whole army of pests that are 

 waiting an opportunity of bringing to naught our most 

 cherished hopes. Already those wretched grubs of the 

 winter moth have begun to ruin the leaves of the most 

 precocious shoots and to eat out the heart of tiny buds. 

 Many may be killed* by hand, though it is necessary to 

 look over the bushes each day ; this is rather a tedious 

 method, yet it is probably the most efficacious of all, 

 for one makes sure that those found will do no further 

 damage. An alternative is to spray with some poisonous 

 compound, and so poison the food of the grubs. Arsenate 

 of lead is the best substance to employ, and it may be 

 conveniently obtained in paste form. Otherwise the 

 mixture, as recommended by the National Rose Society, 

 may be used : Arsenate of soda, 1 oz., acetate of lead, 2f 

 oz., water, 10 gallons. The two substances are first dis- 

 solved in a small quantity of water, the full amount being 



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