The Garden Magazine 



Vol. XI— No. 1 



Published Monthly 



FEBRUARY, 1910 



I One Dollar and Fifty Cents a Ykax 

 1 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.] 



Now for the Catalogues 



THE new season's catalogues are now 

 ready for distribution. See that you 

 get them early so as to have plenty of time 

 to study them and make up your seed list 

 after careful consideration. Remember that 

 the seed stores are almost "rushed to death" 

 when the planting season really opens, 

 because so many people never seem to realize 

 that they will need seeds of any sort until the 

 moment for planting is upon them. You 

 can get better service by making up your list 

 as early as possible; you will also have it off 

 your mind and can give more attention to 

 planning. 



Rely on the old standard and tried varie- 

 ties for your main crops. Try novelties by 

 all means — as many as possible — but do 

 not depend upon them to the exclusion of 

 proven kinds. A really important vegetable 

 novelty is a rare thing, and then local adapta- 

 tions govern the case, too. 



In plants and flowers novelties can be 

 indulged in much more freely. In planning 

 the garden try to reserve a small plot in an 

 out-of-the-way place as a sort of testing 

 ground, and there try out everything in which 

 you may feel interested. Half the joys of 

 gardening rest in reaching out into the 

 unknown. 



Orchard and Grounds 



FINISH up all pruning in the orchard 

 and shrubberies. Remember to dis- 

 tinguish in the flowering shrubs between 

 those that flower on the old wood and those 

 that flower on the new wood. At this time 

 cut back only those that flower on the new 

 growth. The only thing that can be done 

 to the other class now is to thin out entire 

 branches where growth is too dense, but 

 do not prune by cutting back because that 



will mean a sacrifice of the flower buds. 

 Look to newly planted trees and shrubs. 

 Keep down weeds that are around them. 



Make hotbeds and prepare for the early 

 starting of seeds in heat for transplanting 

 later. As the weather opens up, look around 

 the grounds and see that culverts, drains and 

 everything of a permanent nature is in 

 serviceable condition. Prevent washouts by 

 being on hand whenever there is a thaw, 

 and see that there are no little torrents cut- 

 ting channels where they should not be. 



Spraying before the buds burst can be 

 done on all days when it is not actually 

 freezing, and it is better to make sure now 

 that spraying has been properly done than 

 to realize the fruits of neglect after the 

 season opens. 



Flower Seeds to Be Sown 



~V7"OU can gain a great deal of time by 

 *■ starting nearly all the commoner 

 flowering plants in heat now. Make a hot- 

 bed, if possible (see page 30). If this is 

 not convenient, by all means adopt some 

 makeshift arrangement such as a seed-box 

 in the window or in the cellar, as suggested 

 on page 34. Take advantage of the heat 

 wherever it can be caught, and start hardy 

 annuals, such as calliopsis, Phlox Drum- 

 mondi, etc., for earliest flowers out-of-doors. 

 The half hardy sorts, such as China aster, 

 gaillardia, salpiglossis, must be sown indoors 

 if they are to give good results at all during 

 the first half of the summer. 



Cannas, castor oil plant, dahlias, pansies — 

 all these are best started during February. 



If you want stock of tender bedding plants 

 begin propagation and pot up rooted cut- 

 tings as fast as you can. 



Starting Early Vegetables 



DURING February you can make a big 

 start in the vegetable garden by 

 starting globe artichokes for planting out 

 later; also broccoli, all kinds of cabbage, 

 including cauliflower, etc., cardoon, celeriac 

 and celery, leek, onions, pepper. Make 

 a sowing of lettuce; just a pinch of seed will 

 give plants for the first outdoor crop. 



Bush beans can be sown if you have room 

 indoors for them to mature their crop. Also 

 carrots, cucumbers, egg plants, kohlrabi, 

 parsley for garnishing and melons, if you 

 have a greenhouse. Sow tomatoes now for 

 indoor crop, too. 



There is still time to make a mushroom 

 bed and get profitable returns before the 

 warm weather comes. Space under the 

 greenhouse bench can be utilized to ad- 

 vantage for this purpose. 



For early salads, sow cress, mustard, 

 radish. Just a pinch of seed every week for 

 succession. The quality of all these depends 

 upon getting them as young and succulent us 

 possible. Make frequent sowings and dis- 

 card any left-overs as soon as the new crop 

 is ready. 



If you want an unusual but easily grown 

 delicacy try forcing potatoes. It is quite 

 easy. About the end of January or the 

 beginning of February, set the tubers on 

 end in flats of sand until the eyes start. 

 Then put them up in pots to finish the crop. 

 Better select a small-tubered variety and 

 one of the early-maturing kinds. Some of 

 the English potatoes are very good for 

 this purpose. The old-fashioned Ash-leaf 

 Kidney has long been a favorite forcing 

 potato. 



Melons sown in heat now will give ripe 

 fruit in May. It is better to sow seeds in 

 pots so that the roots will never be disturbed 

 when putting into the fruiting quarters. 

 Put two or three seeds to a 2-inch pot and 

 thin out to the strongest plant as soon as 

 they are well sprouted 



Personality in Gardens 



LET us try this year to make our gardens 

 characteristic and personal. One gar- 

 den is too much like another because we 

 are afraid to be original. Let us work out 

 plans to try out some one group of plants or 

 make some one feature dominant. If you 

 wish any assistance in deciding what you 

 might do in this way, write to us and we 

 will try to help you. We cannot make plans 

 for individual gardens, but we will gladly help 

 you to work out your own ideas and try to 

 point out where errors may be avoided. If 

 you submit plans you should also send photo- 

 graphs showing the lay of the land and 

 surroundings. 



There are lots of opportunities for the 

 amateur garden to help along American 

 horticulture. Do you know, for instance, 

 what is the very best raspberry in your 

 neighborhood for preserving; what is the 

 best peach for canning; which plum gives 

 the largest returns; what potato is the most 

 prolific and the earliest? 



Plan out experiments during this season 

 to inform yourself and tell us what your 

 results are. Plan to keep exact records and 

 take photographs of interesting experiences. 

 We will gladly pay for up-to-date information 

 that will really help others. 



Work out some color combinations in 

 your flower-beds — how to keep a blue and 

 white effect all the year around, for instance. 

 If you have done it before, tell us about it, 

 anyway. 



