■November, 1917 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



181 



knocked over in watering, weeding, 

 •or in an accidental gust of wind. 



Plant Foods for the Winter Garden 



"^TEXT to drainage, both in import- 

 •*• ance, and in the actual operation 

 of getting ready to plant, comes the 

 soil. While a very rich good garden 

 loam will answer the purpose, it is 

 much better to prepare a special soil 

 for winter use. To make this, pro- 

 cure from an old pasture or roadside, 

 where the grass appears to have 

 grown luxuriantly, pieces of sod sev- 

 eral inches thick. Cut this up fine 

 with a spade or an edger and pass it 

 through a coarse screen; this gives a 

 soil full of natural humus. If you 

 can get sods which have lain long 

 enough to rot until they will pass 

 through a coarse screen, so much the 

 better. If neither of these can be ob- 

 tained, use clean, garden soil. Sec- 

 ondly, obtain some fine and very well 

 rotted manure — if possible, containing 

 a good percentage of cow manure. The older 

 and more thoroughly decomposed this is, the 

 better. Thoroughly mix together the soil and 

 manure in the proportions of one of manure to 

 two of soil, adding enough coarse sand so that 

 the resultant mixture will be thoroughly "cut" 

 by the particles of sand and so friable that it 

 will fall apart readily, even when fairly moist, 

 after being squeezed in the hand. If manure 

 cannot be obtained, commercial humus, or 

 leaf mould from the woods may be used 

 in its place; and a pint or so of fine ground 

 bone added for each bushel of soil. The 

 whole must now be thoroughly mixed, pre- 

 ferably a week or ten days before wanted 

 for use. 



A soil thus prepared will serve as the founda- 

 tion for practically all work under glass. As 

 you become familiar 

 with the requirements 

 of the individual 

 plants, and attempt 

 to grow a larger list, 

 you may want 

 heavier soil for some 

 things and lighter for 

 others, but, if results 

 with soil as thus pre- 

 pared above are not 

 generally satisfactory, 

 you can look else- 

 where than to the soil 

 as the source of your 

 trouble. 



Preparation for Planting 



r T v HE next step is 

 •*■ getting ready for 

 planting. The soil in 

 raised benches must 

 be at least four inches 

 deep, and the frames 

 or solid beds prefer- 

 ably six or eight 

 inches. Even with 

 this depth of soil, the 

 individual plant has 

 much less space than 

 it would have in the 

 open ground. If man- 

 ure has been used, the 

 soil will be fairly rich. 

 But, in addition to 

 this, after the soil has 

 been put in place, a 

 good dressing of wood 



Thoroughly mixing the soil ingredients before putting into the benches is quite 

 important. Incorporate fertilizer at this time 



ashes sprinkled over the surface, and raked 

 in, will help to sweeten the soil and provide 

 potash; a light dressing of bone dust, if none 

 has been used in making the mixture, should 

 also be raked in. If the soil is at all dry, it 

 should be wet down thoroughly, soaked 

 through and through — so it will have a chance 

 to dry out sufficiently before the seeds or 

 plants are put in place. 



Throughout the season, the plants both in 

 beds and benches and pots, while making active 

 growth, will be benefited by a further applica- 

 tion of plant food in the form of a light dres- 

 sing of bone dust or tankage or nitrate of 

 soda (the latter is most safely applied in 

 solution, a heaping tablespoonful being used to 

 a gallon or so of water), applied when the soil 

 is fairly moist. 



Does double glazing "deliver the goods ? " Well here are two lettuces grown under same frame conditions, but that on 



the right of picture was from double sash 



Fresh Air and Plant Health 



PHE one thing which the beginner 

 *- is pretty sure to neglect is giving 

 plants indoors as much fresh air as 

 they need. A safe and simple rule 

 is as follows: Give all fresh air pos- 

 sible, while maintaining the minimum 

 of temperature. 



This does not mean that the 

 ventilator should be kept open or the 

 sash raised during night and day as 

 long as the plants do not freeze. The 

 winter gardener should aim at giving 

 his plants fresh air every day, prefer- 

 ably in the] morning, so that the 

 air in the frames or house will have a 

 chance to warm up again from the 

 sun before nightfall. On very stormy 

 days, especially with sash, fresh air 

 cannot always be given. Any air 

 draughts that will directly hit the 

 plants must be avoided. The frames 

 or ventilators can be opened in such 

 a way that the wind will not blow 

 directly into them, i. e. on the lee 

 side. It is better to have a moderate opening 

 for several hours rather than to open up wide 

 for a few minutes to "change the air," re- 

 sulting in a sudden fall of temperature, fol- 

 lowed by a quick rise. 



Keeping the Plants Healthy 



TN ADDITION to giving an abundance of 

 *■ fresh air and to keeping the soil watered 

 frequently enough so that it is evenly moist, 

 without ever getting absolutely dried out or 

 wet enough to be soggy, the surface will, of 

 course, be thoroughly stirred or cultivated 

 frequently, both to admit air and to prevent 

 the growth of weeds. Any plants grown in 

 rows such as radishes or carrots, should be 

 "thinned" even more promptly and carefully 

 under glass than out of doors, because the 

 conditions are more 

 favorable to the de- 

 velopment of disease 

 or of weak growing 

 plants. 



Fumigate regularly, 

 every zveek, or two 

 weeks at the most, with 

 tobacco dust or tobacco 

 paper. 



If you will take the 

 slight trouble of doing 

 this (and it takes only 

 a few minutes each 

 time) you will have a 

 practically sure pre- 

 ventive against aphids 

 and sucking insects 

 of all kinds. If, by 

 any chance, any of 

 them do appear, they 

 can be sprayed with a 

 nicotine extract (aph- 

 ine or Black Leaf 40), 

 and fumigation given. 

 If care is taken to 

 do the watering on 

 bright mornings, so 

 there will be much 

 less likelihood of dan- 

 ger from " rot " of var- 

 ious kinds. All dis- 

 eased leaves, dead 

 plants, refuse and so 

 forth will of course be 

 scrupulously cleared 

 up and burned at 

 once. 



