ae 
HIS is the month of many activi- 
ties for every person who owns a 
small place. When transplant- 
ing, or flower bed making, or 
early spraying, or lawn mowing, or weeding 
doesn’t keep one on the jump, some newly ar- 
rived bug will. First among the duties is 
eternal vigilance against weeds. 
Then comes early planting, which means 
early flowers. All but the tenderer things can 
go in at once. And all, with a very few ex- 
ceptions (such as Poppies, Portulaca, Lupins, 
and so forth), can either be planted where 
they are to mature or sown in a seed border 
and later transplanted. Transplanting has advantages: the seeds may 
be sown earlier, as a warm protected spot can be picked out; they can 
be watched and tended more carefully, as they are all together in one 
place; and a perfect stand of the best plants only can be secured when 
they are transplanted. The “seed bed” should be raised a few inches 
and topped with clean, light soil mixed with old compost. Make the 
rows four to six inches apart and mark each carefully. Most flower 
seeds are much smaller than vegetable seeds and should be barely covered 
from sight. Many complaints about poor germination of flower seed are 
due to too deep burial. When seeds are planted where they are to remain, 
sow with each kind just enough radish seed to mark their position. 
taken as a standard. 
HE various kinds of summer blooming bulbs, as Dahlias, Gladioli, and 
Cannas, offer the most certain way of having flowers during the long- 
est season from planting now. Glad- 
ioli may be put in at any time from 
. 78 
Sure Way to Get April until the 
Beautiful Flowers date oy sc 
from an inch and a half to four inches 
deep or even more in very light soil. 
There are three ways of securing a 
succession of bloom—planting the 
bulbs at different depths, planting 
them in succession Atl planting dif- 
ferent varieties which mature at dif- 
ferent times. By combining these 
methods, two plantings will give flow- 
ers from summer until frost. Bulbs 
lanted deep will not need support 
cumbers and melons. 
ike those planted near the surface. 
A place sheltered from prevailing : 
winds should be selected if possible. chicory. 
In planting bulbs of Dahlias and 
Cannas, do not make the mistake of 
putting in a whole clump of the vari- 
eties which you may have kept over 
yourself from the last season; one or 
two roots in a place will give better 
flowers. 
S SOON as all danger from frost 
is over, all bedding plants from 
pots, such as Heliotrope, and Gerani- 
ums, may be set out. But the possi- 
An Unappreciated Pility_of plant- 
p in a garden 
Opportunity ee ane pots 
is not limited to these things ordi- 
narily bought at your local florists. 
Potted Roses may still be safely set 
out even if they are all ready to 
bloom. Many vines and hardy peren- 
nials will flower freely from potted 
plants set out now. 
Get Out Your Rubber Coat. If you 
want perfect fruit next fall, you must 
keep your eyes open now and be ready 
to spray ‘at just the right moment. 
The eraays for the various fruit trees 
must be hice just before the blossoms 
open and just after they fall. Spray 
Roses now with a combination spray 
to be effective against both milder 
insects. Also keep an eye on your currant and gooseberry bushes for the 
first sign of the currant worm. Arsenate of lead will fix him. 
fruit). 
kale, for plants. 
Streptocarpus. 
many others. 
Cinnamon vine. 
yA plants left in the greenhouse and the coldframe must be given 
care in the way of watering and ventilation. If you are neglectful, 
a few hours of bright sun may work havoc with some of your choicest 
plants. In the frames tomatoes, eggplants and so forth, and the tenderer 
Don’t. Let flowers, are still being hardened off preparatory to 
Th being set out as soon as this month’s frost is over. 
em Burn Up 8 e careful not to get caught by a sudden late, frosty 
night. Keep plenty of old cloth covered sash, old boards, blankets or 
something cla similar on hand, so that everything to be guarded can be 
covered up on short notice. 
What was the condition of your frames last year? Can’t you do better 
this season? Did you make real use of them or were your frames empty 
except for weeds, or full of maturing crops of tomatoes, cucumbers, 
melons, ns and eggplants, all a week or two in advance of those in 
the garden? Clear a small space in the middle of each frame now and 
set out the best plants you have of these things, even if it is only two or 
three of a kind, for extra early results. All of the other things will be 
out of the way in the course of a few weeks, and these permanent things 
can have the entire space. 
THE MONTH’S 
REMINDER 
MAY, 1916 
For reckoning dates, the latitude of New York City is generally 
a In applying the directions to other 
localities, allow six days’ difference for every 
hundred miles of latitude 
Plant this Month 
4 Vegetables, under glass, To remain: tomatoes, cu- 
cumbers, melons, especially English forcing varieties of cu- 
For transplanting (in Northern states), lima and pole beans, 
corn, cucumbers, gourds, melons, okra, and squash. 
© Vegetables, out doors, After danger from frost: beans, 
lima beans, corn, cucumbers, melons, martynia, okra, pump- 
kins, squash; later, from frames, plants of beans, corn, cu- 
cumber, eggplant, peppers, melons, squash, and tomato; 
sucession crops of, beets, carrots, cress, kohlrabi, leek, lettuce, 
peas, late potatoes, mustard, radish, spinach, turnips, Witloof 
In seed-bed for transplanting later: Brussels sprouts, cabbage, 
cauliflower, celery (late), kale, leek, tomatoes 
Also asparagus, French artichoke, rhubarb, and sea- 
Flowers, under glass, For plants for fall and winter 
bloom: Antirrhinum, Begonia, 
Heliotrope, Ice-plant, Lantana, Lemon Verbena, Petunia, 
Flowers, out doors, from seed: annuals and tender 
biennials and perennials, such as African Daisy, Ageratum, 
Alyssum, Antirrhinum, Asters, Balsam, Calendula, Candytuft, 
Castor-bean, Celosia, Cockscomb, Ornamental Corn, Cosmos, 
Dianthus, Gypsophila, Japanese Hop (Humulus), Ipomoea, 
Larkspur (annual), Lobelia, Marigold, Mignonette, Morning- 
glory, Myosotis, Nasturtium, Nicotiana, Pansy, Petunia, 
Poppy, Salpiglossis, Stock, Sunflower, Verbena, Zinnia, and 
Plants: Abutilon, Ageratum, Alternanthera, Alyssum, Aster, 
Begonia, Coleus, Geranium, Heliotrope, Lobelia, Petunia, 
Phlox, Drummundi, Salvia, Verbena, Vinca, Cobea Scandens, 
Moonflower, Humulus, Kudzu-vine, German Ivy. 
Bulbs: Anemone, Begonia (tuberous), Caladium, Calla, 
Canna, Dahlia, Gladiolus, Tuberose, Zephyranthes; also Apios 
(tuberous rooted Wisteria), Emerald vine, Madeira vine, 
N CASE of sudden late frosts, there 
will be some plants in the open 
which will need protection as well as 
those still in the frames—early pota- 
toes, early peas, and your first planting of 
beans may be protected if you provide a coy- 
Don’t Be Afraid To ‘8 for them by 
: running the wheelhoe 
Bury Them Alive with the hillers on 
over them when a frost threatens, covering 
leaves and all with the light, loose soil thrown 
up. After all danger is over, if they have not 
already shot up through this light covering, 
it can be shaken gently off with a dull pronged 
fork. A better method, however, where possible, is to use some of the 
glass plant protectors which may now be cheaply had. These not only 
ew e protection from frost but promote rapid growth during the day. 
Vhere irrigation is available, that also can be used for frost protection. 
BEFORE THE END OF THE MONTH 
HEN your first plantings of beets, carrots, lettuce, etc., are ap- 
proaching maturity, do not neglect to make a second sowing for 
succession. On the twenty-fifth of May, think of Thanksgiving. Start 
all late winter crops of cabbage, cauliflower, brussells sprouts, ete., about 
this time for transplanting in July to permanent positions. 
Just after the second weeding, before the plants are again hoed or 
cultivated, is the best time to give the plants a light dressing of nitrate 
of soda. Available nitrogen is deficient in most soils until the ground 
gets thoroughly warmed up next 
month. A garden 50x 100 ft. would 
require twenty-five to thirty-five 
pounds. It can be put broadcast or 
put along the drills, being careful not 
to touch the plants, and then covered. 
with the soil. 
[ DECIDING when to set out the 
tenderer things, such as plants of 
melons, lima beans, and cucumbers 
started in frames, or egeplants and 
peppers, don’t be in 
The Tenderer {5 much of a hurry 
Vegetables if the weather con- 
tinues cold and unfavorable, even if 
danger of frost is presumably over. 
Even if they are not frost bitten, 
their growth will be so severely 
checked by uncongenial conditions, 
that they will be much slower in 
making a start than if you had kept 
them in the frame for several days 
more, waiting for the ground to really 
warm up before setting them out. 
Treat your asparagus bed and your 
rhubarb bed to an extra feed. Work 
into the soil a good top dressing of 
high-grade fertilizer and in addition 
give an application of nitrate of soda. 
If these plants become impoverished 
now, it will mean not only a shorter 
season and a smaller yield for the 
balance of this year, but weaker 
plants for next spring. 
With the advent of warmer days, 
insect activity will be renewed. The 
secret of success in dealing with them 
must always be “prompt action.” 
Keep your sprayer cleaned, your pow- 
der dry, and your weather eye open. 
When in doubt, spray—or dust as the 
case may be. 
ii THE ground is kept constantly 
stirred, weeds cannot grow, but 
how is it possible to cultivate carrots 
or onions before they come up? It is 
. an excellent plan to 
eS Out sow “marker” ors of 
radish or turnips with 
things of this kind. These will come up in a few days and mark the 
rows. Where a seed drill is used, the rows are left plainly marked by 
the roller. Then five to seven days after planting, go over all with the 
wheel hoe, using the “onion hoes.” Just after the seeds sown have 
sprouted, but when they have not yet got to the surface of the ground, 
go over the rows themselves with a fine-tooth steel rake, and thousands 
of weeds will be destroyed which would otherwise have to be gathered by 
hand. This also loosens the surface soil, and remember that many a 
“poor stand” is due not to the fact that the seed failed to germinate but 
that it could not push through the layer of hard soil. 
When the radishes or turnips come into sight, go over them again. 
If you have a double wheel hoe, straddle the row, and set the hoes to 
shave as close as possible without cutting out the plants, when working 
slowly. Do not be tempted to put them a little farther apart so that 
you can do the work faster. 
Give the first cultivation with the wheel hoe just as soon as the plants 
in the row can be plainly seen. As soon as the little plants are all up, 
give the first hand weeding. If this ¢an be done as soon after a rain as 
the ground is dry enough to be worked comfortably, so much the easier. 
A small hand weeder will be found most convenient for this work. As. 
soon as the hand weeding is done, use the wheel hoe again, with the 
cultivator teeth set to work the soil quite deep. 
(for green 
Daisy, Fuchsia, Geranium, 
241 
