188 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



January, 1918 



slighted, and loose glass will mean breakage 

 and frozen plants. Do it now and do it 

 right. A coat of paint is good insurance. 



Give ventilation frequently, even if tem- 

 perature inside does not make this necessary. 

 Fresh air is important to health of plants — 

 and it discourages diseases and bugs. 



Small Fruits 



It is not too late to mulch strawberry bed 

 if you haven't yet done so. It protects against 

 spring "heaving," and plants from starting 

 into growth too early. 



D Were your cane fruits, raspberries, 

 blackberries and so forth gone over to remove 

 all canes that had fruited at the last bearing 

 season? If not, do the work now. Cut old 

 canes back to ground. Cut back long tops 

 of new growth likely to thrash about in wind. 

 Go over currants and gooseberries in careful 

 search for any wood that may be attacked by 

 borers — affected shoots are light colored and 

 wrinkled and shriveled, instead of sound and 

 plump. 



D Prune currants and gooseberries if not 

 done last fall — will save valuable time next 

 spring. From currants cut out some new 

 growth and the oldest growth to leave good 

 shapely, open bush. Don't be afraid of over- 

 pruning. Leave wood two to four years old, 

 as this bears best. Gooseberries especially 

 need to be kept in wide open form to allow 

 free circulation of air in summer to protect 

 against the "mildew," the great gooseberry 

 trouble. Long branches, reaching over to the 



ground should also be cut back. Mildew is 

 likely to get a start on leaves resting on soil 

 or grass. 



D Prune grape vines as early as possible. 

 They are one of the first things to start in 

 the spring, and the flow of sap is so great 

 that injury or even death may result from 

 "bleeding" if work is done too late. Ninety- 

 nine per cent, of grapes are not pruned enough. 

 Cut back last year's lateral growths to two or 

 three buds — even if you remove more than 

 half of total wood, no matter. 



Espaliers and fruits trained against walls 

 need protection from winter sun — arrange 

 a screen of evergreen boughs, corn stalks, 

 or something similar to the south of them, 

 if they are in a sheltered, sunny position. 

 Mulch about roots also, to prevent growth 

 starting up prematurely in the spring. This 

 should be done now, while ground is frozen 

 hard. 



The Orchard 



Watch the young trees carefully, to see 

 that they are not being injured from rabbits 

 or other rodents, when the heavy snows keep 

 them from getting at their other sources of 

 food. A heavy tarred paper tied around trees 

 will protect them. 



□ Don't put off" your pruning! Good 

 resolutions won't produce good fruit. Spare 

 the knife and spoil the pippin — or Winesap, or 

 Mackintosh, or whatever it may be! Remove 

 first, all broken or diseased wood, second, 

 surplus growth or crossing or rubbing limbs; 



third, branches or parts of branches inter- 

 fering with the general shape or development 

 of the tree. Make all cuts clean and neat — 

 remember that a bruised, broken end will not 

 heal quickly, and invites disease. Remember 

 that the "bud" nearest the cut you make will 

 be the one to make most rapid new growth, 

 and in the direction that the bud points. 

 Choose the point for cutting accordingly. 

 Don't leave a long stub above the cut, nor 

 cut close enough to weaken the bud. 



D Don't neglect winter spraying. This 

 is absolutely essential to have good fruit. 

 Strong sprays can be used now, while trees are 

 dormant. Work must be done thoroughly to 

 be effective. It is best to go over trees twice. 

 On quiet days, if possible, to be absolutely 

 certain of covering every square inch with the 

 spray. 



It will pay to "scrape" old rough barked 

 apple or pear trees before spraying. Regular 

 tree scrapers cost thirty-five or fifty cents. 

 The back of a draw-shave, old carving 

 knife, or any stiff piece of metal will do for a 

 few trees. 



When pruning, also, clean out old wounds 

 and cavities, rotten wood and so forth — these 

 can be treated and filled later but cleaning 

 them out now will destroy insect eggs or 

 disease germs harboring there, and save time 

 in spring. Bad cases need expert operators. 



□ Have a sanitary orchard — all prunings, 

 trimmings, and old fruits, rake up clean and 

 burn. Don't leave possible sources of in- 

 fection to plague you next season. 



The Beginner's Garden w. c. mccollom 



{Supplemented by the pictures on facing page) 



CHATTING ABOUT SOME OF THE FIRST PRINCIPLES "THAT EVERYBODY KNOWS" AND WHICH ARE USUALLY 



TAKEN FOR GRANTED 



WHY do so many gardens begun with 

 good intentions in spring, wind up 

 in disappointment in midsummer? 

 Good money is spent — unstint- 

 ingly for seeds of Jones Giant Tomato and 

 Smith's Everbearing Bean. Everyone is 

 saturated with the "garden spirit," new im- 

 plements are purchased — a clever salesman, 

 could, I believe even (at this season) sell a 

 contraption guaranteed to keep the flies 

 brushed off the plants; but in August, that 

 same salesman couldn't sell a bucket of water 

 to the owner of an impoverished garden. Is 

 it lack of knowledge or lack of interest that 

 causes the trouble? 



' I TIE truth is that too many people get 

 •*■ a wrong start and in consequence are 

 discouraged before they can see the light and 

 so steer out of the sea of trouble. Now then; 

 how goes it with you? More vegetables 

 than you can possibly use in early summer 

 followed by a positive famine? That is a 

 common fault from the time honored practice 

 of starting the entire garden at one time, 

 calmly assuming that the "early", "inter- 

 mediate" and "late" peas will mature true 

 to form without regard to weather or to sort 

 and give a perfect succession from June until 

 frost. But that was last year, and last year's 

 gone. There is time now to get things in 

 order for a proper start this year, time to 

 plan so as to have gardens full of quality 



vegetables at all seasons and all through them, 

 too. 



'M'O ELEVENTH hour inspiration ever 

 -^ made a really good garden; good gardens 

 are planned with care, the crops are allotted 

 with an understanding of their individual re- 

 quirements — quick maturing crops so arranged 

 that they can be succeeded by others, and 

 so on. The whole atmosphere of a really 

 thought out garden is one of business-like 

 calculation applied to gardening, and it is 

 only as they receive thought and study in 

 advance that gardens will be successful. 



Have you ever studied garden strategy, 

 laying out your garden with care and thought, 

 the same way that a General arranges his 

 fighting forces? We are all prone to think 

 ourselves Pershings and Haigs; yet in the 

 garden, our only place to operate, we can get 

 our artillery in front of our infantry and our 

 machine guns in the rear! Introduce a little 

 of this kind of skill into your gardens; it is 

 interesting and constructive garden work and 

 will pay dividends this summer. 



TV/TAKE a sketch of your garden to scale, 

 ■*■'-'; make it large enough so you can have 

 movable cutouts to represent the different 

 crops, which will assist wonderfully in ar- 

 rangement — other articles in The Garden 

 Magazine give the distances apart required 

 for these crops you grow. But bear in mind 



this: crops that are to remain in the ground 

 all summer should be kept to one side of the 

 garden, this is plain practical sense; the 

 balance of the space can be used as a plotting 

 field for you to exercise your strategy. 



What "Exposure" Means 



' I *HE "ideal setting for a garden" as the 

 *■ books always begin is a clear landscape to 

 the south. That is because the sun shines from 

 that direction. If possible trees growing on 

 the south side should be removed; and it is 

 better if the east and west side are clear of 

 tall trees. The only trees that actually belong 

 in the "production garden" are fruit trees 

 and they should be on the north side — unless, 

 of course, they are dwarfs, in which case they 

 may be set out for effect as their roots are 

 small and the tops are not serious shade pro- 

 ducers. All cane fruits can be arranged in an 

 orderly manner around the sides of the garden 

 rather than in rows that cut up the garden 

 area into small plots. Where possible let the 

 rows run north and south to equalize the 

 light; but if this can't be done use a little 

 judgment in planning so that the tall or shade 

 producing crops are confined to the north 

 side of the garden. 



Two "Practical" Groups 



TN ORDER to simplify our planning we con- 

 -"• sider the vegetable crops in two classes: 

 (i) those that are sown but once during the 



