256 SCHOOL AND HOME GARDENING 



borings and the formation of guiu. Kill the worms with a 

 wire or sharp-pointed knife. After the trees are all gone 

 over in this way, mound the soil up above the level. This 

 process is to be repeated two or three times a year. 



If the spring is late, and buds are not yet open, some prun- 

 ing and spraying may be done early in the month. If the 

 season is early and the blossoms are open, watch for the proper 

 time to spray for curculio and codling moth. 



All planting of trees and shrubs should be pushed this 

 month. Tea roses and other hybrids may be safely handled 

 in the open. 



Eake the lawns, remove the winter dressing and roll the 

 grass with a heavy roller. The first mowing may be necessary 

 before the month is over. Grass seed should be sovm early in 

 the month where the sod is thin. Top dress with lime and 

 commercial fertilizer, chiefly phosphate. Nitrogen may be 

 applied later. 



This is a good month for sodding banks and borders along 

 walks and driveways. 



Hedges should be pruned and the litter raked from under 

 them. Give the grounds a cleaned-up appearance. Eake the 

 driveways, fill in the washed out places and go over with a log 

 drag or King road drag. 



MARCH 



Vegetables. — A few tender vegetables may now be put 

 out without much fear of frost. But make the main plantings 

 of bush beans, pole beans, sweet corn, okra, squashes, cucum- 

 bers and melons, the last of March or in April. 



Transplant to the open garden cabbage, cauliflower and 

 some of the celery, tomatoes, egg-plants, peppers, sweet potatoes 

 (Fig. 133). 



Early in the month plant Irish Cobbler potatoes for home 

 use and market. 



Make more plantings of several of the early hardy vege- 



