The Garden Magazine 



Vol. XIII— No. 3 



Published Monthly 



APRIL, 1911 



j One dollar Fifty Cents a Year 

 I Fifteen Cents a Copy 



[For the purpose of reckoning dates, New York is 

 generally taken as a standard. Allow six days' difference 

 for every hundred miles of latitude.] 



Getting Down to Business 



DURING April you must give your 

 garden a proper start, if you 

 mean to get the most out of it this season. 

 But do not be in any unreasonable haste. 

 There is no arbitrary date for starting 

 the garden. You can begin earlier on 

 light soils than you can on heavy, unless 

 the heavy ones are well underdrained. If 

 you want the best result from your garden 

 and have not made a plan before, it will 

 pay you to follow one of the charts given 

 in this month's Garden Magazine, or in 

 one of the April numbers of former years. 



Good vegetable gardening rests on good 

 cultivation. You must fertilize the soil 

 with barnyard manure. 



Before actual work begins, look through 

 the back numbers of The Garden Maga- 

 zine and refresh your memory on points 

 that most interest you. Send for seed 

 catalogues before the real work begins. 



For the last time we urge you to make 

 a complete plan to scale for your garden 

 'Try a few of the season's novelties, by 

 all means; even if they are not better 

 than the older ones, you will have a great 

 deal of satisfaction from the trial. 



Also, plant a few dwarf fruit trees if 

 you have only a very small plot. They 

 are beautiful as well as useful and occupy 

 hardly any space. 



Plant your flower garden for harmony 

 of color and succession of bloom. Read 

 the articles in the April and May, 1910, 

 Garden Magazine. 



Buy the best seeds the trade offers. 

 The difference in money between the best 

 and the common grades is infinitesimal 

 compared with the results. 



Buy any tools, machinery and other 

 garden sundries that you will need. Have 

 everything ready for immediate use. 



Write all labels. The proper way is to 

 smear a piece of wood with thin white 

 lead paint and write on it with pencil 

 before the paint is quite dry. 



Give your last spraying to fruit trees 

 before the buds open. 



Look to stored roots and bulbs in the 

 cellar. Throw out any that are rotted. 



Do not plant the dahlias in a hurry. 

 Wait for the May Garden Magazine if 

 you wish to know the latest about them. 



Resolve this year to keep an accurate 

 diary of your work. Some of your ex- 

 periences will be worth telling about, 

 and we will pay for anything that we can 

 use, even though failures, which will help 

 other people to avoid trouble. Of course, 

 we want a photograph if possible. 



Actual Planting 



AS EARLY as the ground will permit 

 ** — that is, when peaches bloom — 

 plant trees, shrubs, vines, including all 

 fruits and nuts. 



Before April 1st, plant out roses for 

 immediate effect. Sow sweet peas; and 

 if the fall-sown peas do not appear, resow 

 at once. The secret of good sweet peas 

 is to sow as early as possible. 



Try, at the risk of the seed, a few extra 

 early rows of peas, beans and corn, but 

 be ready to cover if frost threatens. 



Prune only autumn-flowering shrubs. 

 Leave the spring-bloomers alone except 

 roses newly planted. 



Make lawns. You cannot have the 

 soil too deep. If possible, give at least 

 two feet, with plenty of fertilizer down at 



the bottom. Repair holes in old lawns 

 by filling in with top soil and reseeding. 

 If the turf is old, raise it with a spade and 

 fill in with soil underneath. 



All construction work should be done 

 before April 1st. This includes grading, 

 draining, making paths, roads and walks. 

 Be sure that poultry wire or brush for 

 peas and beans is all ready. 



Do not forget to start seeds in coldframes 

 and plant early potatoes — the earlier 

 the better. It is only early potatoes that 

 are worth while growing on the small 

 home plot. 



Sow the Seeds 



/ 



A T the open ground without transplanting: 

 Jerusalem artichoke, asparagus, bush 

 bean, carrots, chickory, field and pop-corn, 

 corn salad, mangel, mustard, parsnip, parsley, 

 potatoes, radish, salsify, seakale, spinach; 

 hardy annuals, half hardy annuals, annual 

 larkspur, mignonette, poppy, snapdragon, 

 sweet peas, zinnia. 



On seed bed indoors to transplant: French 

 artichoke, broccoli, cabbage, cardoon, cauli- 

 flower, celeriac, celery, eggplant, endive, 

 kohlrabi, leek, lettuce, onion, tomato, 

 cosmos, morning glory, nasturtium, pe- 

 tunia, salvia, verbena. 



Twice during the month in the open 

 ground: Sweet corn, peas, spinach. 



Indoors, to be transplanted as soon as the 

 ground can be worked: Beets, cucumber, 

 okra, melon, pepper, squash; hardy lilies, 

 peony, hardy perennials. Sow cress every 

 week in greenhouse or frame to have 

 succession. 



If it is the most productive 

 and the best managed plot 

 during the season of 1911. 



We want the actual records 

 of a well-managed home gar- 

 den — its plan, its operation, 

 yield, successions, etc., because 

 we believe that besides better 

 living, there is actual money to 

 be made or saved in making 

 the garden work for you. 



This award will be made for 

 the best account of a well- 

 managed garden of a half- 

 acre or less in the year 1911, 

 provided the account really 

 tells how the greatest pro- 

 ductiveness may be achieved. 

 This competition is open to 

 all, whether present subscrib- 

 ers or not. 



We'll Pay 

 $500.00 



FOR THE 



BEST HOME 

 GARDEN 



OF 



Half an Acre 



OR LESS 



The only conditions are: — 



I. Notice of intention to com- 

 pete to be given not later than 

 May 20th, 1 pi 1. 



2 A complete record of work to 

 be submitted at the end of the 

 season, with names of varieties 

 grown, yields, etc., and an exact 

 record, in detail, of all labor and 

 expense, with bills and vouchers. 



3. All entries must be accom- 

 panied by a plan of the garden 

 and its succession plantings. 



4. All contestants must submit 

 their manuscripts not later than 

 October 31st, ign. 



5. The prize winning manu- 

 script, with photographs, etc., to be- 

 come the property of THE GAR- 

 DEN MA GA ZINE. The right 

 is reserved to purchase any other 

 MSS. at our regular rates, or not 

 to award the prize at all, if the 

 MSS. submitted are not suf- 

 ficiently worthy. 



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