THE MONTH'S REMINDER, JANUARY 1918 



Bare Twigs are laced against the moonlight sky; 



Yon icicle on the eaves gleams like a knife, 

 But from the hearth the crackling flames leap high. 

 And here my paper garden stirs to life ! 



The purpose of the Reminder is to call to your attention the things which should be thought about or clone during the next few weeks. 

 For full details as to how to do the different things suggested, see the current or back issues of The Garden Magazine. (An index of con- 

 tents is prepared for each completed volume, and is sent gratis on request. The Readers' Service Department will also cite references on 

 any special topic if asked — that's its job.) To get the full benefit of this department, check off with a pencil, 1/ in the square provided for 

 that purpose before each paragraph, the items that apply to your own case, and use the page as a reference list. 



ONLY a foolish or an inexperienced 

 gardener considers January a "no- 

 thing-to-do" month. January should 

 be the time of preparation for the 

 entire year's garden campaign. Every move, 

 change, and new undertaking is to be planned 

 in detail. Supplies and materials of all kinds 

 should be studied up and ordered. 



Above all — start this month a garden 

 record or diary in which to keep track from 

 time to time of all your garden activities. 

 There is no necessity for such a diary to be 

 "written up" every day. But vegetable and 

 flower planting dates; variety names of hardy 

 perennials and shrubs, Roses, etc.; seasons of 

 bloom; dates of killing frosts; and many other 

 things will be of inestimable value to you in 

 improving your garden work of all kinds 

 from year to year. And now to this month's 

 work! 



The Vegetable Garden 



D Choose the situation for and determine 

 the size of your garden. If ground is frozen, 

 mark out with stones. Get accurate measure- 

 ments. "Go easy" if this is first experience — 

 resist temptation to attempt too much. 



□ Plan your garden. Work out all details. 

 Put them down on "made-to-measure" 

 plans. It is much easier to do it now than 

 when you are ready to plant — saves time, 

 seeds and disappointment! 



□ Order your seeds early ! This year's 

 seed stock is lowest in many years. Seedsmen 

 have to be governed by old rule "First come 

 — first served." Be among the first! Get the 

 varieties you want, and have your seeds on 

 time. 



□ Order your fertilizer early. Prices are 

 high but — use a full supply ! Vegetables are 

 high too. Don't risk having poor crops this 

 year. 



□ Overhaul, repair and paint tools. Don't 

 just think about this — do it! Nine garden 

 tools out of ten are worn out by neglect, not 

 use. Make yours the tenth. A worn out, 

 dull and rusty tool is a tremendous handicap. 



□ Order new tools now. Deliveries will be 

 slow — transportation slower. Don't take 

 chances. Tools have gone up in price, but 

 not as much as labor and vegetables — money 

 spent in good tools will be a better investment 

 than ever before. 



D Begin to get your supply of manure. 

 Thoroughly rotted, short, fine, fairly dry. 

 You can't have too much. A good manure 

 pile is advance guarantee of a successful gar- 

 den — the best there is. 



Do you keep a pig? No joking! If you 

 have room to fix him a 3 x 6 "place in the 

 sun" where he can tramp and root your 

 manure between times, he makes a mighty 

 good investment — increases the value of the 

 manure and turns all waste food from table 

 into real money. 



The Flower Garden 



Not much doing here, but — 



Scout around and see that the mulching on 

 hardy border, Rose bed, hardy bulb bed and 

 so forth is in good shape. Sometimes our De- 



cember winds loosen or blow it off before snows 

 have had a chance to settle it. Watch for mice 

 in mulching on Rose beds and bulbs or where 

 leaves have collected around shrubs. Use 

 traps; and remove and replace if necessary. 



□ Make definite plans for any new flower 

 gardens or re-arranging old ones. The hardy 

 perennials may be moved easily early in. the 

 spring. If they have been in several years, a 

 shift will do them good. 



□ Order hardy perennials now for delivery 

 as soon as your ground is ready in the spring. 

 You may lose a season's bloom by having 

 them come late. 



□ Include bone for your flowers along 

 with your fertilizer order: "inch-bone" or 

 "knuckle bone" for lasting results in making 

 up new beds, bone meal for top soil and for 

 top dressing to rake in in the spring. Bone is 

 great stuff for blooms! 



The Greenhouse 



Business enough here — first active work for 

 the new year! 



□ Get everything in readiness for the 

 under-glass drive that begins next month — 

 first move in your 1918 garden operations. 

 Get all your accessories in shape. Make new 

 flats — two inches deep for starting seeds, 

 three for transplanting. Wash all empty pots. 

 Soak for forty-eight hours, scrub with fine 

 sand and stiff brush — cleans out the pores so 

 air can get to the roots. Make a seed board 

 and planting stick to help in putting in seeds. 

 Get a fine " rose spray" for your watering can 

 for watering seedlings, its bad business to wash 

 them down with a heavy spray. 



□ Prepare soil for starting seeds — fresh 

 loam (better if baked or steamed to kill weed 

 seeds), one part; humus, or sifted leaf mould, 

 two parts. Add sand "to cut" if necessary. 



□ Prepare soil in advance for potting and 

 transplanting plants. Good clean garden 

 mould, with humus or leaf-mould enough to 

 make light and spongy; add a pint or so of bone 

 meal or bone flour to the bushel, thoroughly 

 mixed through. This should stand for 

 several weeks before using, so that the bone 

 will be immediately available to plants when 

 used. 



D Test all old seeds. Place between thick 

 pieces of blotting paper, constantly kept 

 moist; or, better, start in soil under same 

 conditions that you expect to have in starting 

 seeds next month. 



□ Start stock plant's from which to get 

 cuttings. Geraniums, Heliotropes, Paris Dai- 

 sies, Begonias, Coleus, and other stock plants 

 which have been carried through should now 

 be started into active growth and pruned back 

 quite severely so as to give a good supply of 

 cuttings next month. 



D Start vegetables for forcing under glass. 

 Cucumbers, tomatoes and melons (all "warm 

 blooded" plants), are good to follow winter 

 crops of lettuce, radish and so forth as the 

 days get longer and there is more sun heat. 

 To save time, start them in advance in pots, 

 to set in beds or benches as soon as space is 

 available. Use thoroughly well rotted ma- 

 nure and light soil, half and half. Paper pots 



187 



are easier to care for than clay pots — don't 

 dry out so often, and give the roots more 

 room. 



□ Start cauliflower now for growing in 

 frames or in greenhouse. Put seedlings in 

 individual pots as soon as large enough to 

 handle. 



Keep blooming plants well fed — fine bone, 

 liquid manure or liquid nitrate of soda, a 

 tablespoonful to a watering pot — will all help 

 to keep late blooms up to full size. 



Keep up cultivation. Both flower and 

 vegetables require air in the soil, as well as 

 moisture and warmth to make good growth. 

 Never let a crust form. 



□ Divide or bench Ferns now for new 

 plants. The new season of growth begins 

 about this time. Old plants cut up and re- 

 potted will make shapely, new plants by 

 next fall. Old plants which increase by 

 "runners" set in the bench now will furnish 

 a new supply of plants in this w 7 ay. It will 

 save time to root new runners directly in pots 

 plunged in soil. After rooting, just cut off 

 runner and you have new plants all potted up! 



□ This is also time for Azaleas to make a 

 natural start. Buy or bring in a few plants — 

 start slowly in cool temperature. 



D Start another crop of Sweet Peas now. 

 You do not want to be without these beautiful 

 flowers during the spring months. Put in a 

 row or two (where they will have plenty of 

 head room) of the "Christmas flowering" or 

 "greenhouse" types. 



Keep plants in general healthy. Days 

 are short and cold but some fresh air should 

 be given practically every day — early in 

 morning while sun is bright, and the temper- 

 ature of the house is on the increase. 



Fumigate regularly. Don't wait for bugs 

 to appear. A few cents worth of aphine or 

 Blackleaf 40 and a few minutes' time, once 

 every week will keep the house clean. This 

 . is especially important now, because of 

 crowded conditions bound to exist during 

 February and March. 



The Frames 



□ Next month \vill be hot-bed time — but 

 now is the time to get manure for heating or 

 enriching soil. Preparation must begin the 

 three weeks or so before time to sow seed. 

 Manure must be composted, bed made, and 

 allowed to cool down before it is safe to plant. 

 Get busy! 



If you are running any frames through 

 winter, remove snow from sash as soon as 

 possible over growing plants. Snow over dor- 

 mant plants that are being "wintered over" 

 is a good thing — keeps out both exteme cold 

 and bright sunshine, equalizing conditions in 

 frame. 



Be careful to keep all drains and gutters 

 outside of frames clear and free from surplus 

 snow. A sudden thaw may soak or even 

 flood soil in frames with bad results. 



□ Repair sash and frames now. They will 

 not be needed until next month, but then you 

 will have your hands full with other things. 

 It is a slow job which should be carefully and 

 thoroughly done. If left till later will be 



