130 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



April, 1919 



ii 



Gils on 



STANDS FOR 



>> 



Garden Tools 



^ . . . - ""^""'iiiiiiiiiiiiii 



Yes, a tool for every purpose! Whether you ! 

 cultivate a flower bed on your front lawn or a 

 patriotic acre food garden, there are several 

 tools among the many we make, that will help 

 you do the work better, in less time. Our 

 business has doubled and trebled the last few 

 years, because our labor savers have made J 

 many friends. ■ 



"You Can't Say Too Much 

 About The Gilson Weeder" 



says the Editor of The Garden 



Magazine, and thousands of Home 

 gardeners agree with him. A dou- 

 ble edged, oscillating blade, a set 

 of strong teeth, and a stout six foot ash handle 

 make the Gilson Weeder the most formidable 

 foe to weeds anyone may wish. And it's just 

 as safe to let the children use it as though you 

 use it yourself. Three and one-half, five, six, 

 and eight inch blades for flower beds, light soils 

 and wide rows, at moderate prices from $1.00 

 up. Gilson Weeders shorten garden hours. 



The Same Holds Good of 



The Liberty Cul- 

 tivator Weeder 



It stands 

 for Liberty i 

 from garden 

 drudgery. 

 As shown 

 alongside 

 with seven 

 speci ally 

 constructed 

 teeth, it 

 breaks up 

 soil, pulverizes and up-roots weeds from four 

 to ten inches wide. Furnished with five foot 

 ash handle or with special wheel frame, as a 

 wheelhoe. Special size for gardeners, who 

 mean business, nine teeth covering fourteen 

 inches in one operation. 



Hand Weeders and 



Dandelion Diggers, Too 



For the sake of your garden and results from it, investi- 

 gate the really complete Gilson line of garden tools. Most 

 good dealers handle them. If not, send to us for descrip- 

 tive pamphlets and prices. 



J. E. GILSON COMPANY 



Port Washington Wisconsin 



OUR HEIGHT ADJUSTMENTS 



N92 SPECIAL 9 TOOTH 



In the Vegetable Garden 



Are these tasks done and out of the way: 

 Spreading manure on the garden; spad- 

 ing up of most of it; the first plantings 

 of hardy crops — radishes, beets, par- 

 snips, onions, spinach, etc. The second 

 planting should include most of the above 

 group for succession, and also wrinkled peas and pota- 

 toes, and lettuce, caulifl6wer, and cabbage plants. 



Start in paper pots or old berry boxes in the hotbed, 

 lima beans, cucumbers, melons, squash, etc. These 

 must not have their roots disturbed in transplanting. 



Prevent overcrowding in flats, frames, and hotbeds by 

 frequent transplanting. Give all the ventilation that is 

 safe; that is, close the hotbeds only when cold threatens. 



As the hardy material goes from frames to the garden, 

 and the tender plants are shifted from the hotbeds to the 

 frames, start cucumbers, melons, tomatoes in the va- 

 cated hotbeds to mature there. 



Uncover the parsley rows that are to supply you until 

 this spring's sowing comes along. A little liquid manure 

 or nitrate of soda in solution will hasten the develop- 

 ment offender, crisp foliage. 



Within two or three days after planting potatoes go 

 over the entire surface of the bed with a wooden rake. 

 Repeat the treatment in a week, and again a week later 

 after which the shoots should be well in view and permit 

 regular cultivation of the rows. 



Whenever you plant a row of an all-season crop, see 

 if you cannot put in alongside it some quick grower that 

 will be ready for use in four or six weeks and that during 

 that period will be living off" otherwise unutilized land. 



Remember, onions do themselves justice only in the 

 richest, finest, most mellow of soils. 



Just before April ends plant a row of some short 

 season variety of corn — say a dozen hills. The seeds 

 may never germinate, or the plants may be nipped by a 

 frost; but the outlay won't be much and 2/ the season is 

 kind, you may get an unprecedentedly early crop. 



Sprinkle bits of poisoned bran mash on newly dug 

 soil to destroy cutworm. 



After the small, non-usable asparagus shoots have 

 grown about four inches high, cut and burn them to 

 destroy the eggs that the adult asparagus beetles may 

 have laid upon them. 



Onions sown late this month in soil that did not grow 

 the same crop last year, and forced along rapidly, often 

 escape injury by maggots. 



Pick and burn the leaves of young beets and spinach 

 that show the irregular translucent tracks of leaf miners. 



Fighting for Finer Fruit 



umice or rabbits girdled any of your fruit 

 trees, save them by "bridge grafting" as 

 described in any standard book on plant 

 propagation and on page 120 of this issue. 

 Finish regular grafting, or "top work- 

 ing" within a week after the buds of the 

 fruit trees swell. 



Strawberries can be planted any time this month, but 

 the earlier the better. Rake the mulch from the estab- 

 lished strawberry bed into the space between the rows, 

 unless you grow the plants by the matted row system 

 in which case it had better be removed altogether. 



It is really too late for best results from grape pruning, 

 but if you have been absolutely prevented from attend- 

 ing to it, do it now. However, make each cut several 

 inches above a bud and sear the end with a red hot iron 

 or blow torch to check the bleeding. 



Look overthe currants and gooseberries, especially near 

 the ground, as soon as the plants begin to leaf out, for 

 the unpleasantly familiar currant worms. When they 

 begin to appear, spray with arsenate of lead (in water 

 or bordeaux mixture if you prefer) directing the spray 

 from below upward so as to wet the under side of the 

 leaves. 



Scrape away six inches of soil from around the peach 

 trees and if sawdust and gum are found, look closely for 

 the openings of the burrows of borers that caused the 

 trouble. When located open up a little with a sharp 

 knife and insert a flexible wire to crush the grubs within. 

 Better repeat the examination a week or so later. 



Orape vines on which the leaves are just opening may 

 be found to be infested with tiny steely blue beetles; 

 pick them off" or knock them off" into a pan of kerosene. 



SPIT" To make these reminder notes useful, check 

 off each task as you do it and put the date alongside, so 

 the pages will serve as a permanent record. In addition, 

 start a garden journal or diary for your ideas and dis- 

 coveries as well as your accomplishments. 



NEW 

 EVERGREEN 

 LONICERAS 



(L. pileata and L. nitida) 



discovered by E. H. Wilson 

 now offered for sale by us. 



In 4" pots $1.25 each 

 In 2§" pots .60 each 



We offer, also, for Spring 

 1919 delivery, pot-grown 

 plants of Cotonea|sters, 

 Hardy Heathers, 'B earberry , 

 and many other hardy 

 ground-covers, as well as 

 our usual Hardy Trees, 

 Shrubs and Herbaceous 

 Plants. 



EASTERN NURSERIES, Inc. 



Henry S. Dawson, Mgr. 



Holliston Mass. 



/ / mmmmzsmmm}0m^/ / M'//M 



% 



Dahlia Bargain Extraordinary ! 



Diana, Crimson, reverse Violet, Peony flowered (Retail value 

 $1.50), Mrs. Dickens, Silky Yellow, Decorative; Perle de Lyon, 

 Pure White Hybrid Cactus and Cuban Giant, Crimson Ball; 

 — all four for $i.oo, prepaid! 



1000 other varieties of Dahlias; and other collections in catalogue. 

 INDIANA DAHLIA FARM New Albany, Ind. 



Gladioli 

 Phlox 



Dahlias Lilies 

 Iris Peonies 



and other Summer Flowering Bulbs and 

 Hardy Perennials 



VIGOROUS HOME-GROWN STOCK 

 OF THE CHOICEST VARIETIES 



Send for Spring List now ready and receive our Fall 

 Catalogue later 



FRANKEN BROTHERS 



Box 450 Deerneld, Illinois 



A Perpetual Spinach 



A real spinach that you can cut, and recut; and it 

 will come, and come again. 



Not a Swiss chard but a big leafed, quick growing. 

 Summer and Fall spinach. 



Takes the place of all other varieties 



10c. a package. 30c. an ounce. \ lb. for $1. 

 Send for Garden Lover's Book. Free. 



I $eKlii\g$ Seeds 



M MAX 



H| 24 West S9t 



MAX SCHLING, Inc. 



24 West 59th Street New York 



Advertiser! will appreciate your mentioning The Garden Magazine in writing — and we will, loo 



