The Garden Magazine 



Vol. VI— No. 1 



Published Monthly 



AUGUST, 1907 



_) One Dollar a Year 

 I Fifteen Cents a Copy 



[For the purpose of reckoning dates, New York is 

 generally taken as a standard. Allow six days' difference 

 for every hundred miles of latitude.] 



August Opportunities in Farm 

 and Garden 



THE up-to-date cultivator finds abundant 

 opportunities to keep himself busy 

 during this hottest month of the year. There 

 is no rest in either garden, orchard or green- 

 house if the best results are to be forced out 

 of each during the coming winter; and, 

 moreover, during August we lay foundations 

 in many cases for next year. 



Budding of peaches, cherries and plums 

 must be done now. Read the article on 

 page 24 for clear-cut instructions. 



SOW THESE VEGETABLES 



Peas and beans for late crop may be 

 attempted. If they do mature you will gain 

 just that much, and if conditions are against 

 them and they fail, the value of the seed lost 

 is so slight as to be not worth counting. 



Make sowings of spinach for fall use, also 

 some hot-weather lettuce, such as Black- 

 seeded Simpson. In all cases where late 

 crops are planted, use early — that is, quickly 

 maturing — varieties. 



Sow parsley for early crop next spring and 

 carry over the plants in a coldframe. 



Mustard is a welcome salad in late fall and 

 can be raised from seed sown now. 



In the nursery, propagate by green wood 

 cuttings any shrubs, trees and vines. Take 

 the cuttings and insert them in boxes of 

 sand placed where they can be kept from 

 frost during the winter, a greenhouse is the 

 best possible place. If you have not got a 

 greenhouse, lay your plans immediately to 

 build one, for all the construction must be 

 finished before the end of October in order 

 to reap the greatest advantages of its pos- 

 session and to avoid early frost. 



In the hardy border, now is the appointed 

 time to thin out clumps that have become 

 overgrown, and also to rearrange groupings 



which are to be improved. Soak very 

 thoroughly with water before lifting; then, 

 if the work is done with ordinary care, the 

 plants will not suffer. 



Do you want to raise your own perennial 

 plants for bloom next year? Sow seeds in 

 August. The secret of successful germi- 

 nation of all perennial plants, which are often 

 spoken of as difficult to handle, is sowing 

 seed as soon as it is ripe. On page 1 5 will 

 be found complete instructions for August- 

 sown perennials. 



PLANT STRAWBERRIES 



Set out potted plants for fruiting next 

 year and rearrange the old beds that are not 

 to be dug under, retaining such plants as 

 may be desired, cutting off and destroying 

 all others. 



Cultivation in the orchard must not be 

 continued after this time. The trees will 

 have made their growth and should be given 

 a chance to ripen up their wood for the winter. 



Cut low meadow grass, if any has been 

 left owing to the rush of work in cutting the 

 crop on the uplands. Don't delay, for as 

 soon as the growth becomes woody its food 

 value is reduced to a minimum. Top dress 

 with manure all cut-over grass land that 

 needs feeding. New pastures can be seeded. 



FARM AND GARDEN CROPS 



Did you have a sufficiency of fresh green 

 vegetables last winter? If not, resolve now 

 to remedy any defects. Sow turnips, ruta- 

 bagas, for winter supplies — fields from which 

 early potatoes and peas have been gathered 

 will be available for the purpose. In the 

 South plant potatoes early in the month for 

 a fall crop of new potatoes. 



Crimson clover and alfalfa should be 

 seeded down by the middle of the month, 

 at the rate of twenty pounds per acre. 

 Alfalfa is not only good fodder but it enriches 

 the land wonderfully. Sow Essex rape for 

 stock feed on land that has been cleared. 



TROUBLESOME PESTS 



In the flower garden, look out for the aster 

 beetle — a creature about one inch long, of 

 dead black color, which appears suddenly in 

 countless hordes and attacks many of our 

 hardy flowers as well as carrots and other 

 vegetables in the fields. There is no effective 

 means of attacking him other than hand 

 picking. This is expensive and troublesome 

 on a large scale, and where practicable, the 

 next best thing to do is to allow the chickens 

 to run over the ground and catch what 

 they can. 



Continue to wage war against green fly 

 and black fly, wherever they appear, spraying 

 with kerosene emulsion. The hardy chrys- 



anthemums are particularly liable to be 

 attacked by the black fly, and if let alone, 

 they will surely injure the opening buds. 



BUILD SOME COLDFRAMES 



A few boards, surrounding a well-prepared 

 seed-bed of finely pulverized soil so that they 

 will support a sash some distance above the 

 ground level, will give a practical coldframe 

 that can be used in a variety of ways. 



Build these frames now, use whatever 

 space may be wanted for seeds as indicated 

 above, and the remaining space will be useful 

 for winter storage of many things which can 

 be moved in during October. 



In the coldframe grow cinerarias, calceo- 

 larias, primroses (the Sinensis and obconica 

 kinds) for flower in early spring. 



Ventilate the frames from now until cold 

 weather arrives by lifting the sash at both 

 ends. Do not try to keep the interior warm 

 but merely afford protection to the inmates. 



HOUSE PLANTS 



If the old rubber plant is too big, or you 

 want to propagate from it, now is the time to 

 begin. Tie a handful of moss around the stem, 

 keeping it thoroughly soaked with water, 

 and in a short time roots will be emitted. 

 When this occurs, take a flower pot, cut it 

 in half and bind the two halves around the 

 rooting portion of the stem, filling with light 

 soil containing plenty of sand, and keep 

 well watered. The roots will take firm hold 

 and next spring the stem may be cut off 

 level with the bottom of the pot and the new 

 plant started on its own career. 



The same thing can be done with dracasnas 

 that have become unwieldy. 



Carnations that have been growing out- 

 doors may be potted up, and also take cuttings 

 of geraniums which will serve as stock plants 

 to give more cuttings for early planting in 

 the spring. 



All tender greenhouse plants that have 

 been put out during the summer should be 

 taken up and potted this month if they are 

 to be carried over the winter. 



FLOWERS FOR CHRISTMAS 



Bulbs that are to be in full flower for 

 Christmas Day must be potted during 

 August. Mr. Kirby tells, on page 20, how 

 to have daffodils and Paper White narcissus 

 from Thanksgiving onwards. 



Roman hyacinths can be handled exactly 

 like Paper White narcissus, and they are even 

 more sure in their flowering. 



The most fragrant winter flower for the 

 window garden is mignonette, which can be 

 had from seed sown in pots or boxes now 

 and kept growing. Mignonette is one of 

 the few plants that will not stand trans- 

 planting. 



