THE MONTH'S REMINDER, AUGUST, 1918 



The turpose of the Reminder is to call to your attention the things which should be thought about or done 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 contents is prepared 

 for each completed volume, and is sent gratis on request. Check off with a pencil, in the square Q provided for that purpose the items that apply 

 to your own case, and use the page as a reference list. 



A UGUST tries the soul of the gardener. 

 f\ He is likely to feel that if anybody 

 / \ is entitled to a vacation, he is. He 

 may feel inclined to listen to the 

 suggestion that the garden is now far enough 

 along to look after itself — that crops are so 

 nearly mature that it won't make any dif- 

 ference whether anything else is done to them 

 or not. Do not be caught by any such prop- 

 aganda as that! 



The garden which is neglected toward 

 the end of the season this year, will be a 

 troublesome one at the beginning of the season 

 next year! Every weed you allow to get a 

 foothold now and produce seed will return 

 a thousand strong to plague you next April 

 and May. 



Last Call for Succession Sowing 



TF ONE acts promptly, there is still time to 

 -*- plant a few things such as □ early bush 

 beans, D beets, □ corn-salad, □ endive, 



□ kohl-rabi, D lettuce, □ peas, D "Chinese" 

 cabbage or Petsai D radish □ spinach, 



□ turnips. When a few hours will suffice for 

 putting in all these things, why let the end of 

 the season find the vegetable garden barren? 



Keep cultivated all late planted crops. Un- 

 like spring planted crops, these late planted 

 crops have not "got all summer ahead of 

 them." Their maturity is a race against 

 the first frost — and only by the gardener's 

 constant help can the crops win out. Culti- 

 vate frequently; D give top dressings of 

 nitrate of soda or some other quick acting 

 fertilizer to get a sound early growth. A few 

 days' delay may mean a lost crop. 



Keep the garden cleaned up. Remove at 

 once any vegetables that may have gone to 

 seed or have become too old to use. Don't 

 let weedy rows, here and there through your 

 garden, sap its fertility and spread seeds for 

 next year's crop of trouble. Keep the corners 

 and fence rows clean. One neglected corner 

 will produce enough seed to give trouble for 

 the next two years. It is not necessary to 

 pull all these weeds. The use of the sickle 

 or scythe will keep them cut down and pre- 

 vent seeding. The best way, however, is to 

 spade them up, and put in Sunflowers or 

 some other rank growing thing which will 

 keep down the weeds as well as be ornamental. 

 tST' D As each row is cleaned out, if you have 

 not got something else to put in its place, put in 

 rye or vetch to get the- winter cover crop started. 



Don't neglect the watering. Remember that 

 the limiting factor of growth is WATER. If 

 you want to get your crops on time (and 

 big crops), remember that they must have 

 plenty of water. If it isn't sent down from 

 the sky, you must supply it from the hose 

 or by irrigation pipe. If you are experienc- 

 ing the usual August "drought," by all means 

 get a portable irrigating outfit from your 

 local dealer, and put it to work at once! In 

 a garden of any size, it will actually pay for 

 itself in the balance of this season. 

 X^' Crops that never want for water yield 

 two to three hundred per cent, more than those 

 that depend upon the weather alone. 



Seeds for Next Year 



O EST assured that seeds are going to be 

 ■^*- scarce again. Are you saving any for 

 yourself? This is not difficult to do with some 

 things. Surplus bush beans, sweet corn, peas, 

 summer squash and so forth can be saved read- 

 ily. Of course, they will not come through 

 "true to name" if they have had a chance to 



mix with other varieties blooming at the same 

 time. Of the root crops, such as □ beets, 

 D carrot, □ turnips and so forth, select a few 

 each of the finest roots to keep over carefully 

 and grow some for seed next year. (See article 

 in July Garden Magazine.) 



Among the Small Fruits 



*~pO GET a full crop of the best straw- 

 -*■ berries you ever had for next June, D 

 set out potted plants, not later than the ear- 

 liest possible moment you can do it! Potted 

 plants set out now in thoroughly fertilized 

 land, and carefully tended, will have good, 

 big bushy crowns by freezing weather; and a 

 full crop of fruit next season ! If you set out 

 runners, or wait until much later before setting 

 pot plants, it will generally be too late for get- 

 ting a crop of fruit before the year after next! 



Have you yet tried an "Ever-Bearing" 

 variety such as Superb, Progressive and so 

 forth ? If not, □ set out a few dozen plants 

 to surprise yourself with next summer and fall. 

 They are a real addition to the garden, giving 

 berries of excellent size and flavor, and literally 

 ripening until hard freezing weather. 

 □ Get the old canes out of the berry patches. 

 All canes that have fruited this year must be 

 cut clear back to the ground. □ Also thin 

 out the new growth, leaving only four or 

 five canes to the plant. They will then grow 

 much stronger and will make a bigger crop 

 of larger fruit than if all are allowed to 

 grow. The cane fruits are making their growth 

 now for next year's crops. JSfow is the time 

 to be sure that they do not lack for plant food 

 and cultivation. 



Keep bush fruits in good healthy growth. 

 Bushes that are poor, starved and neglected 

 now cannot bear full crops of good berries 

 next season. Work in bone meal and tank- 

 age about the roots, and keep the foliage and 

 the ground cultivated just as carefully as if 

 you were going to have a crop this fall. 



Flowers for the Prize Table 



PLAN to take part in your local flower 

 ' exhibition, but do not wait until the 

 last minute to "gather up what you can, just 

 to help on!" Make up your mind to the 

 things that you want to exhibit and to have 

 the best in your vicinity. You can make 

 your flowers respond wonderfully by going at 

 the work now and by keeping the two follow- 

 ing principles in mind. 



First; plenty of water. Absence of water 

 is the universal cause of small blooms and 

 premature flowering. Cultivation, of course, 

 will help; but where that alone is not enough, 

 water or irrigate and mulching with grass 

 clippings, fallen leaves, old vegetable tops, or 

 anything that will cover the soil and help 

 keep in the moisture. 



Second; plenty of plant food. Most flowers 

 at this time of the year require a little plant 

 food, in addition to what may have been given 

 at planting, to continue rapid growth and 

 make full development. For immediate re- 

 sults, where growth seems lagging top dress 

 with nitrate of soda or nitrapo — the latter 

 also contains a high percentage of available 

 potash. For a general strengthening, to last 

 through the season, work bone meal and 

 tankage about the roots. 



Third; not too many blossoms. For prize- 

 winning blooms the strength of the plants 

 must be conserved and concentrated on a few 

 flowers. Prune back heavily, and dis-bud. 

 If you have never done this, you will be 



9 



astonished at the difference in the size and 

 substance of the flowers obtained. 



Fourth; keep well sprayed. Don't let in- 

 sects get a start, either to sap the strength of 

 plants, or injure buds and blooms. Re- 

 member; one squirt of prevention (combina- 

 tion spray including, arsenate of lead, bordeaux 

 mixture, and nicotine extract), is worth a 

 quart of cure! 



Fifth; Keep welt supported! Plant stakes, 

 wire supports, small branches stuck into 

 the ground — whatever may be required ac- 

 cording to the nature of the plant — will not 

 only keep the blooms from being beaten down 

 and spattered with mud, but help save the 

 strength and vitality of the plant, to be spent 

 in producing perfect flowers instead of in 

 repeated efforts to stand against the wind or 

 straighten up after storms. 



These hints apply especially to Dahlias, 

 Gladiolus, Monthly Roses, Hardy Chrysan- 

 themums and Annual Sunflowers, Tritomas, 

 and the like. 



Keep the Seedlings Strong 



DLANTS started during the last few weeks, 

 *• either for fall or winter flowers, or 

 perennials or biennials for next year, will soon 

 begin to crowd if left to themselves. \3Thin 

 them out early! Better still, transplant just 

 as soon as they are big enough to handle. 

 Delay in transplanting is often the cause of 

 failure with the beginner who is attempting 

 home-grown perennials for the first time. 



Envy Your Neighbor's Evergreen Hedge? 



npHIS is the time to put in Evergreens 

 ■*■ if you want to have something better 

 than the ordinary. Probably no other single 

 feature will add more to the comfort, attract- 

 iveness, and market value of a place than a 

 nicely started, well kept evergreen hedge, or 

 a suitable planting of evergreen trees. If you 

 don't know just what to select, refer to the 

 information given in previous issues. DPlant 

 evergreensthis year,and live happily ever after! 

 Plenty of other things you can plant or 

 order now to plant later: shade trees, decor- 

 ative shrubs, etc., that there never seems to 

 be time for in the spring when one is "making 

 garden." And here's an inside tip — this is the 

 year to buy nursery stock. Owing to abnor- 

 mal conditions, decorative trees and shrubs 

 have been moving slowly; and the present 

 buyer therefore gets the benefit of a larger 

 and better selection than usual. 



Start a Little Nursery of Your Own! 



' I *HE way to have all the evergreens, etc., 

 *■ that you want, at least expense, is to buy 

 a dozen to a hundred (according to probable 

 requirements) of seedling trees of the things 

 you may want. They will take little space, 

 and still littler time, for the next two or three 

 years. 



And How About Your Lawn? 



If the lawn isn't as smooth and green and 

 "springy" to the step as you would like to 

 have it, why not utilize some of your "day- 

 light saving" account with the time bank to 

 put it into shape, or to make a new one? 



Now is a good time to get that attended to 

 right. Especially if you have water avail- 

 able. There is nothing that makes or un- 

 makes the appearance of a place so surely as 

 the lawn. Have yours the envy and not the 

 pity of your neighbors. Good seed, sown/ 



