\IarcH, 1908 
The Month’s Reminder 
Wek is the spring planting season in 
the South, when every amateur com- 
mences his gardening operations. For flowers 
during the summer, seeds of pansy, carna- 
tion, petunia, aster, forget-me-not, dianthus, 
and annual chrysanthemums must be sown 
early in the month; during the latter part of 
the month plant seeds of sweet alyssum, 
abronia, marigold, cosmos, poppy, mignon- 
ette, candytuft, balsam, daisy, lobelia, lark- 
spur, annual phlox, and salvia. 
' Transplant from the hotbeds to the flower 
beds pansies and other hardy plants. The 
former are lovers of cool weather and should 
be planted in a shady place. 
About the last of the month plant in the 
open ground tuberose, gladiolus, begonia, 
oxalis, montbretia, calla, and gloxinia bulbs 
for summer bloom. 
Canna and chrysanthemum roots must 
be planted out now for fall and winter 
blossoms in beds where they can get plenty 
of sunshine. Make the soil for these flowers 
fine and loose by thoroughly digging eight 
to ten inches deep, and fertilize with well- 
rotted manure or Peruvian guano. 
Before the first, or very early in the month, 
prune the rose bushes—those that are not 
in flower. 
Early in the month sow in the open ground 
seeds of cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, mus- 
tard, kale, spinach, parsley, turnip, beet, 
radish, carrot, parsnip, and salsify; about 
the middle of the month sow seeds of early 
bush beans, sweet corn, squash, muskmelon, 
watermelon, and cucumbers. For a succes- 
sion of crops sow seeds every three weeks. 
The average farmer in the South is apt 
to plant too much cotton and not enough 
corn for his own use; therefore be warned 
in time and plant plenty of corn this year. 
Seed for the main crop may be planted the 
latter part of the month. One of the best 
fertilizers for corn is green cotton seed 
combined with commercial fertilizer, at the 
rate of twenty-five bushels of cotton seed 
and 400 or 500 pounds of the fertilizer to an 
acre; for the best results use this in the drill. 
Sow early sorgum cane (for green stock 
food) during the first part of the month, 
and the seed of the large late sorgum cane 
(for syrup) toward the end of the month. 
Sweet potatoes must be bedded now in 
order to have plants to set out in April and 
May. Make the potato bed in a very warm, 
sunny place, digging a trench as wide and as 
long as your potatoes will cover properly, 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
and about six or eight inches deep. Fill 
the trench with stable manure to the level 
of the soil, spread the potatoes on the manure 
and cover them with two inches of rich sand. 
A bushel of potatoes will cover a bed four 
or five feet square. 
This is a very profitable crop to grow even 
if the tubers are only used for hog food, as 
an acre of ground that will produce only 
twenty bushels of corn will yield from sixty 
to a hundred bushels of potatoes. The 
Georgia Yellow yams are the sweetest and 
best to grow, and they will keep through 
the winter better than any other kind. 
Sugar cane is another very profitable 
Southern crop, but as it is a gross feeder it 
requires a very rich, sandy soil that is moist 
throughout the season. It cannot be grown 
on thin soil. Plant about the middle of the 
month in rows four feet apart and thick 
enough to give a good stand, and cover with 
two inches of soil. Do not use stable manure 
for sugar cane as it will cause the syrup to 
have a salty taste. Commercial fertilizer 
and green cotton seed, used at the rate of 
fifty bushels of cotton seed and 1,000 pounds 
of the fertilizer to an acre, will produce the 
best results. 
Deep and frequent cultivation when the 
cane is young also has a very beneficial 
effect, permitting the roots to deeply pene- 
trate the soil. When planting, be careful 
in handling the stalks of cane so that the 
little buds or eyes that are at each joint will 
not be broken off. 
The Best Annual for Southern 
Gardens 
Ae easiest annual flower to grow in 
the South is the nasturtium and the 
plants give a gorgeous and continual display 
of blossoms all through the summer and 
fall. 
The nasturtium will grow in almost any 
soil, but if the ground is very rich a little 
phosphoric acid must be applied before plant- 
ing to induce the plants to flower earlier 
and freely. Very poor soil must be enriched 
by spreading over the surface a dressing of 
well rotted manure. In all cases, spade 
the ground deeply so as to allow the roots 
to penetrate the soil easily. 
For early flowers, plant the seed ina hotbed 
in January, and set out the plants in the open 
ground, when all danger of frost has passed, 
twelve to eighteen inches apart each way. 
Plant seeds in the open ground as soon as 
the trees commence to leaf. Have the rows 
eighteen inches apart and place the seed 
one inch deep. When the plants have 
attained a good size, thin them out to twelve 
inches apart. 
The tall nasturtiums should stand six 
inches apart in rows which are two feet apart, 
provided they are given support; but if 
they are to be allowed to trail at will over 
the ground, the rows must be three feet 
apart and the plants placed from twelve to 
twenty inches apart. 
Netted or woven wire makes the best 
trellis for the tall nasturtiums, but brush 
will do almost as well. No one should miss 
83 
the opportunity to plant a good many tall 
nasturtiums around the yard fence in the 
spring. 
The weeds and grass must be kept cleared 
from around the nasturtiums, and all old 
flowers picked off. If they are allowed to 
make seed, they will stop blooming. A 
rather good plan is to plant a few seeds of 
the bush sort in the hotbed after the young 
plants are all out. These will require 
abundant water on account of the large 
quantity of manure in the bed, and if this 
is given to them they will produce many 
large blossoms. 
All varieties succeed well in the South. 
Among the very prettiest of the bush sorts 
so far as I have seen are the Kaleido- 
scope and Brilliant Beauties; and of the 
tall kinds, the Variegated Queen, California, 
and hybrids of Madam Gunter. There 
are several very distinct novelties being 
introduced now well worth trial. 
Georgia. 
Tuomas J. STEED. 
Lifting Hotbed Sash 
I HAVE a simple device to hold up the 
sash of my coldframe which I believe 
is better than the usual method of propping 
them up with blocks. Two stakes are set 
at each end of the coldframe and a No. 12 
wire—as soft a wire as I can get—is tied 
at one end. Two holes large enough for 
20-penny wire nails are made in one edge 
of the sash near the top and bottom. To 
open the sash lift it, standing it on edge, 
and slip the nail in the hole. Wind the 
wire once around the nail and continue to 
the other end, where, after all the sashes 
have been made fast to the wire, the wire 
is then fastened to the stake. I put two 
wires across and the hardest winds do not 
budge them. 
Towa. 
T. E. Swarts. 
No blocks used here. By stretching a soft wire 
through staples on each sash the whole series is lifted 
at one time 
