294 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



January, 1908 



Give the asparagus bed a dressing of well- 

 rotted manure and carefully spade it into the 

 soil. Old salt that meat has been packed 

 in is good to spread over the asparagus beds. 

 Use it with the manure 



During this month is a good time for carry- 

 ing manure to the garden for early spring. 

 Coarse or strawy manure must never be used 

 in a garden; well rotted cow or hen manures 

 are the best to use. 



If commercial fertilizers are necessary, 

 buy the raw materials and mix them yourself. 

 You will save from four to ten dollars per 

 ton by doing so. A good tight floor and a 

 scoop-shovel are all that is necessary for 

 mixing the fertilizers. 



Don't plow your land when it is too wet, 

 as it ruins the land and also the crop that is 

 to be grown on it to some extent. Plowing 

 when the soil is too wet is one of the causes 

 of the black root among cotton plants. To 

 those farmers who sell cotton seed, remember 

 last year and save enough to plant your crop 

 twice at least. Then if there is a late frost 

 and the cotton is killed, as some of it was last 

 spring, you will have plenty of seed to replant 

 the ground. 



During January is a good time for building 

 new fences and fixing old ones. The best 

 fences are made with the woven and welded 

 wire. Do not build fences with barbed wire 

 as it ruins more stock than it is worth. 



Georgia. Thomas J. Steed. 



Plant Peas Now for Early Crops 

 in the South 



TO GROW the finest garden peas and to 

 have a continual supply here in the 

 South from early March until June, sow the 

 seed any time from January ist to the last of 

 March. In this section (Middle Georgia) 

 the extra early and early varieties are planted 

 the first week in January, the second early the 

 last week in January and the late varieties 

 the first and second weeks in February. The 

 early peas, planted January ist, give a good 

 supply for the table from the first to the last 

 of March; the second early, planted the last 

 of January, give a crop from the first of 

 April to the first of May; and late varieties, 

 planted the first two weeks in February 

 supply the table from the first of May to the 

 middle of June. Peas planted later than 

 March 30th will not succeed in this section 

 for the garden pea likes a cool moist soil and 

 cool weather. 



Good peas can be grown on almost any 

 garden soil, but they prefer a cool, moist, 

 friable loam, in which the roots can penetrate 

 deeply. For the best results the land must 

 be thoroughly prepared, the seed sown in the 

 right way and at the right time and thorough 

 cultivation given to the plants. To prepare 

 the land, a good quantity of barnyard manure 

 and commercial fertilizer should first be 

 spread over the ground. Then break the soil 

 up deeply with a plow, or dig it up with a hoe 

 or spade, making trenches six inches deep 

 and three feet apart for early peas and from 

 eight to ten inches deep and four feet apart 

 for the later varieties. For every fifty feet of 

 row, drill one pint of seed into the trenches 



and cover about two or three inches deep. 

 As the plants grow, fill in with earth until the 

 trench is level with the surface. The soil 

 should be given a good plowing and hoeing 

 every two weeks so as to keep it loose and 

 free from weeds-. Cultivation is continued 

 until good-sized pods have formed on the 

 vines; further cultivation is unnecessary. 



Almost any kind of bush or brush will make 

 a good support for the vines. Poultry netting 

 may also be used, but is rather too expensive 

 for the purpose. The peas may be planted 

 close to the garden fence, and the vines 

 trained over it. The fence would not only 

 make a good support but would be a good 

 protection from cold winds. A very satis- 

 factory support can be made by putting a 

 post at each end of the row and running two 

 or three strands of telephone wire from post 

 to post on each side of the row. 



Peas are sometimes planted where cotton 

 has been grown the year before and by 

 making a row of peas on each side of a row 

 of cotton stalks, the latter can thus be 

 utilized as a support for the vines. This 

 latter method, however, while thoroughly 

 practical for the early and mid-season 

 varieties, cannot be used for the tall, late 

 varieties. 



For growing in the Southern garden, the 

 best varieties of peas are for the earliest crops, 

 Prolific Early and Best Extra Early; for the 

 mid-season, Quantity and Duke of Albany; 

 for late crop, Champion of England and 

 Laxton's Evolution. The Boston Unrivaled 

 is a splendid late variety for the South. 



Georgia. Thomas. J. Steed. 





V 







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Winter Work for the Beekeeper 



ALTHOUGH bees are not very active 

 during the cold months, they need 

 looking after just the same. If the entrances 

 to the hives of the colonies wintered outdoors 

 (which must be small to keep out cold) 

 become clogged with dead bees or debris, 

 the hive inmates will become uneasy from a 

 lack of fresh air. To prevent this, the 

 entrances of all hives must be cleaned from 

 time to time with a piece of bent wire, but 

 do not raise the hook high enough to strike 

 the bottom-bars of the frames. This would 

 disturb the bees and some will leave the 

 cluster and will be chilled before they can 

 return to it. To lose a few bees in summer 

 is not worth mentioning, but in winter and 

 spring it is very important that no bees be 



Pack snow about the hives wintered outdoors; it will 

 protect them from cold piercing winds 



killed. Whenever working around hives 

 during cold weather, special pains must be 

 taken not to jar them. 



Snow is a great protection for beehives. 

 I have often shovelled snow against the 

 wintering cases of colonies wintered outdoors. 

 It serves a twofold purpose — keeps off the 

 piercing winds and helps retain the warmth 

 generated by the clusters of bees within the 

 hive. 



Keep the entrance to the hive free from 

 snow; if it becomes closed with ice, the bees 

 will suffocate. Some bee-keepers claim to 

 have good success with outdoor wintering if 

 the entrances are several feet under snow, but 

 I have never found the necessity of trying it. 



Mice will enter hives if they can. The 

 dead bees, honey and pollen seem to suit 

 their taste. If the entrance is not higher 

 than three-eighths of an inch, field mice 

 cannot enter the hive. If they try to gnaw 

 through the wood, a piece of wire cloth, four 

 meshes to the inch, can be tacked over the 

 entrance. Never make an entrance bee- 

 tight. A bee that tries to get out but cannot, 

 will disturb the rest of the cluster. If mice 

 do bother, there are generally only a few, and 

 they can be caught with traps. 



Lean a wide board against the entrance 

 of wintering cases to prevent the wind and 

 snow from blowing directly into the hives. 

 If the hives are made warm, less honey will 

 be consumed by the bees in their efforts to 

 keep warm. The board will also prevent 

 the sun from shining into the hives and thus 

 enticing the bees to go out when it is too cold 

 for them to fly. If the weather warms up 

 enough for bees to fly, the boards must be 

 removed. 



Whenever the weather is sufficiently warm 

 for the bees to fly, be sure that the entrances 

 are free from dead bees and snow. During 

 such warm days is also the time to open hives 

 that are suspected to be short of stores. Of 

 course, it would be better not to open hives 

 containing bees in winter, but sometimes it 

 is necessary in order to feed them. The 

 examination must be done as quickly as 

 possible and the hive closed at once. If a 

 colony has consumed so much of its stores 

 that there is doubt as to whether it will starve 



