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THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



June, 1907 



Tools that Help in June 



HpHE two big jobs of June in the vege- 

 *- table garden are thinning and cultivat- 

 ing. It is a waste of time, strength and temper 

 to do these things in the heat of the day with 

 the old-fashioned tools — hoe and hand- 

 weeder. Both operations are best per- 

 formed at dusk or in the cool of the morning 

 by the wheel hoe, which does away with 

 stooping and backache, and transforms work 

 into play. There are many farm imple- 

 ments, but only one garden implement, that 

 can be called revolutionary. The best 

 wheel hoe I know of costs $7. This may 

 seem a lot of money, but I believe the im- 

 plement pays for itself the first season. If 

 you have a wheel hoe, you need never bother 

 about the dozens of specialized hoes, rakes, 

 cultivators, weeders and curious combina- 

 tion implements, for buying a wheel hoe is 

 like buying all your garden tools at once. 



This $7 wheel hoe has two wheels. The 

 single wheel hoe costs only $5.85, but it is 

 worth more than $1.15 extra to have two 

 wheels, because they run steadier and enable 

 you to straddle a row so that you can get 

 closer to the plants. They tell me that the 

 $9 size is the favorite, but I consider the 

 extra $2 for additional rakes and hoes a 

 waste of money for the ordinary home garden. 

 The costliest attachment of all is the drill, 

 which is only for market gardeners. I find 

 the fine rakes of little use. The most use- 

 ful feature in my opinion is the scuffle hoe 

 and the large cultivator teeth come next 

 These are the ones that enable you to main- 

 tain the all important soil mulch in your 

 garden with the least effort. The former 

 simply cuts under like a hoe but with a 

 continuous motion so that it furnishes the 

 quickest and easiest way to cultivate your 

 garden. The teeth, however, do a more 

 thorough and lasting job because they 

 scratch, like a rake. They require more 

 muscle and you go "steady by jerks." 



If you think you cannot afford a wheel hoe, 

 you should get cheap hand tools that are 

 better adapted to making and maintaining 

 the surface mulch than are the common hoe 

 and rake. You can get an 8-inch scuffle 

 hoe, with a handle and a V-shaped blade 

 which has the sides turned up to prevent 

 cutting off plants, for seventy-five cents. 

 It is not as quick as the wheel hoe, but it is 

 twice as fast as the English scuffle hoe 

 because it cuts both ways and perhaps four 

 times as fast as the common, or draw hoe. 



If you want something that is faster than 

 a rake, you can get a "garden cultivator," 



for a dollar which will enable you to cultivate 

 a 50 x 100 ft. garden after every rain in 

 about half an hour, while a common rake 

 will take you an hour. 



June is the great time for pruning hedges. 

 There is a new kind of shears with one edge 

 serrated, which prevents slipping and enables 

 one to cut wood twice as thick as ordinary 

 shears do. They are said to be self- 

 sharpening. The 8-inch size costs about 

 $1.80. 



Everybody ought to protect his street trees 

 from horses and wagons. Unfortunately some 

 cheap tree guards are vulgarly ornate, but 

 there are plenty of good ones to be had, and 

 there is an expanded metal tree guard cost- 

 ing $2.25 which has some simplicity and 

 dignity. Those made to order often cost $15. 



June is the time to study trellises and 

 training devices of all kinds, in which notable 

 progress has been made of late years. Cu- 

 cumbers and other vines require eight feet 

 square, if allowed to lie flat, and this is too 

 much for a small garden. Train them on 

 poultry wire. Keep your tomatoes off the 

 ground or they will rot. If you need stakes 

 for dahlias, gladioli, etc., get strong ones 

 that will be as inconspicuous as possible. It 

 is sad to see one's loveliest peonies spattered 

 with dirt by the rains. There is a kind of 

 adjustable iron frame that holds up the 

 drooping varieties, without being conspicuous. 

 New Jersey. Thomas McAdam. 



Home-canned Red Raspberries 



USE "Lightning" quart cans. Fill the 

 cans with firm fresh fruit, shaking 

 down, not pressing it. Make a syrup of 

 one quart of water and three pounds of sugar. 

 Place the cans in a deep pan or kettle of 

 water, bringing it gradually to boiling heat; 

 then fill them to the brim with the boiling 

 syrup, fasten the covers securely, using new 

 rubbers. Put several thicknesses of paper 

 in the washboilers and place the cans on the 

 paper, being careful that they do not touch, 

 cover them with boiling water and cover the 

 boiler. Leave them on the kitchen table 

 until morning, then put them in the cellar. 



Raspberries canned in this way retain 

 their color, form, flavor, and fragrance, and 

 as they have escaped the boiling process, 

 every seed remains in its own little cell. 



My method of preserving pieplant is as 

 follows: Peel the stems, cut them in inch 

 lengths, and fill the cans. Pour in cold 

 water to the brim, secure the covers, using 

 new rubbers, and put the cans in the cellar. 

 It will be found good even after the next 

 year's crops. 



Geneva, N. Y. Elizabeth S. Miller. 



OTAMHENE 



■» r % -,, •• *» a«P » # * 



The Californian's Reminder 



ALL plants that are natives of tropical 

 ■**■ or semi-tropical countries may now be 

 planted or transplanted. 



Inspect such plants as papyrus, Cyperus 

 Antiquorum and other rhizomatous plants; 

 if the ends of the rhizomes are lifting out of 

 the soil, dig under them and sink them down 

 until they are just beneath the surface. 



Give cannas, calocasia, Hedychium coron- 

 arium (commonly called ginger plant), 

 crinums and other tender bulbs an extra 

 watering and feeding. The following for- 

 mula is clean and does away with any objec- 

 tionable odor providing it is used at the time 

 of making: Phosphate of ammonia, two 

 ounces ; nitrate of soda, one and three-quarters 

 ounces; nitrate of potash, one and three- 

 quarters ounces; sulphate of ammonia* one 

 and three-quarters ounces; water, fifty gal- 

 lons. Use one gallon to each large plant 

 twice a month or add fifty gallons more 

 water and use it every week. 



All palms do well if planted this month 

 for the plants have the summer months in 

 which to form new roots and to establish 

 themselves. Specimen palms will need to 

 have their dead or disfigured leaves sawed 

 off. Do not remove the base of the leaf 

 stalk that clasps the trunk, as that will injure 

 the trunk. Cocos plumosa and others that 

 have trunks like it are easily damaged by 

 removing the base of the leaf stalk too soon. 

 The trunk will split and never heal, causing 

 permanent disfigurement. Trachycarpus 

 excelsus and Livistona auslralis should never 

 have the fibre removed from their trunks; 

 allow it to decay and fall off. Never allow 

 anyone to drive a nail into a palm trunk. I 

 have seen a Washingtonia ten feet in circum- 

 ference and eighteen feet high in the clear 

 killed by driving a spike into its trunk. 



Many of the annuals that were sown in 

 March and April will now begin to show 

 flowers, and any lack of water at this time 

 tells seriously in the number of the flowers 

 although it may not show so much on the 

 plants. A mulch of old manure spread 

 over the surface of the ground will prevent 

 evaporation, causing me soil to retain the 

 moisture which is of great benefit to the 

 plants. With a mulch on the surface, half 

 the quantity of water will be sufficient. 



Dahlias are injured very easily by allowing 

 the soil to become dry. If these plants are 

 not mulched, lose no time in putting one on. 

 Keep the flowers cut and do not allow any 

 flowers to ripen seed, or any dead flowers 

 to stay on the plants. An occasional appli- 

 cation of liquid manure will help the plants. 



Santa Barbara, Cal. W. H. Morse. 



