324 



For information regarding railroad and steam- 

 skip lines, write to the Readers' Senice 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



June, 1912 



P- 



j 



Evergreens for August- September Planting 



IF you will send for our Special Evergreen 

 Catalog, you will find in it a very interest- 

 ing explanation of just why August and 

 September have several distinct advantages 

 over any other months for planting evergreens. 

 You know evergreens are comparatively 

 slow growers, and so rather than wait fifteen 

 years or so for trees to get a goodly size, why 

 not buy some of Hicks' splendid specimen 

 trees and cut out that fifteen years' wait? 



A few fine sturdy pines, for instance, cost 

 no more in the end than a number of half 



Isaac Hie 



Westbury, 



grown ones, and the results are immediate. 



However, we have evergreens from three 

 years old up to fifty, costing from three to 

 fifty dollars. 



Come and select just the size and kinds 

 you want. 



Unquestionably Hicks' trees are superior. 

 Every one of them is fully root-pruned and 

 vigorous. Packing them the way we do, they 

 can be shipped one or one thousand miles with 

 equal surety of their thriving when planted. 



And again we say send for the catalog. 



ks & 



Long Island 



Son 



The CLIPPER 



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Clipper Lawn Mower Co. 



DIXON, ILL. 



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Read of the success that other 

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Grow Your Own Vegetables 



Cut down your living expenses. You'll be astonished how healthful it is 

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Planet Jr ^ 



Adapted to more uses than any other implement. 

 Opens furrows, plants, covers, and marks next row 

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"How to Grow Roses"— FREE 



The Fifth Edition of our famous authoritative 

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Conard & Jones Roses 



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AVERY, OHIO 



Starting a Muskmelon Crop 



MUSKMELONS, although the most delicious 

 of all fruit-bearing vegetables, are very 

 frequently not to be found in the home-garden. 

 This is largely due to the fact that they require 

 special care in the way of planting and fertilizing. 



The first step to take is to pick out the warmest 

 and most sheltered spot in the garden. The hills 

 can be planted close together, as near as four feet 

 each way — though five feet is better. Melons 

 love a light, warm, sandy soil, and if a spot with 

 a gentle slope to the south or east can be found 

 it will be the ideal place, for the one thing 

 that melons insist on is good drainage. Water 

 standing in the soil, even if below the surface, 

 will prove fatal. If no ground is to be had save 

 what is clayey in character, it may be remedied 

 to a sufficient extent, at the time of preparing the 

 hills, by digging them out quite deep and mixing 

 sand, leaf-mold, spent manure or any similar 

 "lightening" material with the soil before replac- 

 ing it. The surface of the hills should also be 

 slightly elevated but kept flat on top. 



The manure you use for growing melons should 

 be thoroughly rotted. Mix a good big forkful 

 into the soil at the bottom of each hill, first 

 digging out the hill to a depth of several inches. 

 Cover this over with the earth removed and, to 

 give the plants a quick start, mix into each hill 

 before planting, a handful of cotton-seed meal, 

 bone flour or tankage, or a combination of these. 



For planting in the open, wait until all danger of 

 frost is past — May 15th to June 15th, according 

 to locality. Put not less than ten seeds in a hill; 

 you will want only three or four plants, but some 

 will not come up, and the striped beetle or other 

 pests are pretty sure to get some of them. The 

 seed costs only a few cents an ounce, sufficient to 

 plant 40 or 50 hills. 



One of the reasons why melons are not more 

 commonly found in the home garden in the north- 

 ern states, is that early frosts frequently spoil a 

 big part of the crop. An extra early start, and, 

 incidentally, a much surer one, may be had in one 

 of two ways, both perfectly practical. The first 

 is to start the seed in the house, greenhouse or 

 frame. Melons and cucumbers do not readily 

 stand transplanting, and must be moved without 

 disturbing the roots. For this purpose, I prefer 

 the common square, paper pots, but in lieu of 

 these, however, old quart berry baskets, or sods 

 cut into pieces four or five inches square and 

 turned bottom side up, will do very well. Plant 

 eight to ten seeds to a pot, or box, using dirt made 

 light and rich by the addition of chip-dirt and old 

 manure, and as soon as the plants begin to crowd, 

 thin out to three. Harden off before setting out 

 in the garden. 



The second method is to use "melon-frames," 

 which may be bought at a very reasonable price 

 and will last for years. I have found it satisfactory 

 to make my own, however. I use pine boards 

 about one third of an inch thick and eight inches 

 wide. These are made up into boxes just large 

 enough to be covered by 16 x 24 or 16 x 20 double- 

 thick glass, and held in place on three sides by small 

 nails driven part way in and bent over. This 

 makes it possible to slide the glass out part way 

 on hot days, or when it rains. A still simpler 

 method is to cover the wooden frames with cheese- 

 cloth, but this is not as satisfactory and will not 

 forward them as quickly. 



The most dangerous enemy of the muskmelon 

 is the small striped cucumber beetle. I have tried 

 practically every advertised and home "remedy" 

 for these persistent little pests. Mechanical pro- 

 tection, given by tacking mosquito netting or wire 

 over the frames, or on similar bottomless boxes 

 is after all the only sure way. In this way the 

 intruders can be kept off entirely until the vines 

 begin to run, and after that, if one takes proper 

 carr in giving frequent cultivation, and keeps the 

 vines in good form by pinching out the running 

 ends when a length of eighteen inches or so has 

 been attained, the result should be a good crop of 

 melons. 



For later attacks of the striped beetle — that is. 

 after the vines get so large that the frames must be 

 removed — I have found arsenate of lead and 

 tobacco dust the most effective things to use. 



Connecticut. F. F. Rockwell. 



