7<S 



T HE GARDEN M A G A Z I N E 



March, 1918 



into rlu- ground in the spring) adding humus Considerable saving in the cost of seed was 



and helping to lighten the heavy soil. effected by combining with a neighbor who 



plants practically the same area and the same 



THE cost of the garden, exclusive of our varieties. Peas were bought by the quart, 



labor, was as follows: beans by the pint or half-pint, some seeds by 



the ounce. 1 hese were divided, thus secur- 



'50 lbs.' bone meal „ ... £1.25 ing better prices and halving the express 



100 lbs. complete fertilizer 1.65 charges. In the case of many seeds, such as 



Seed potatoes, .; pks 2.3S 11 • 1 .. 



Small seeds 2.52 tomato, turnip, cabbage, onion, lettuce, en- 

 Onion sets, i qt. 25 dive, etc., one packet furnished ample seed 



IVpptr plants, I doz .25 c II J t-l ■ J 



Insecticides 85 for two small gardens. I here is no advan- 



Wiatet rve, } pk - 8o tage, and much waste, in sowing seed too 



£9.92 thickly. If the ground is well prepared and 



cultivated, and the seed purchased from a 

 reliable firm, practically every seed germin- 

 ates, and one may spare himself much useless 

 thinning. 



No outside labor wasemployed in the garden, 

 which was spaded, a small portion at a time, 

 and cared for in our spare hours during the day. 



This year it is simply a patriotic duty to 

 make every single seed count becauseof the act- 

 ual scarcity of supply. The unusual demands 

 on stocks last year and causes beyond the seeds- 

 man's control that limited production have 

 made care in present handling a real necessity. 



Pruning For Fruit This Tear m. g. kains 



The quince is a class by itself producing blossoms at the tips 

 ol short shoots. Pruning consists largely of thinning 



SUPPOSE you have fruit trees already 

 growing — perhaps neglected — how shall 

 those plants be handled to make fruit 

 less a matter of chance and more one 

 of certainty this very year, when the need 

 for production and conservation of home sup- 

 plies is more imperative than ever before? 



If the plants have become choked with 

 dead wood, the most casual reflection will 

 suggest that this, being worthless or even 

 harmful, must be removed for the freer ad- 

 mission of light and better circulation of air, 

 thus giving the living wood a greater chance 

 to do more than merely eke out a miserable 

 existence. 



The removal of dead wood from fruit bushes 

 such as raspberries and gooseberries presents 

 no problem. All that is necessary is to make 

 cuts close to the ground and pull out the thus 

 loosened brush as gently as possible so as not 

 to injure the living canes. So also with the 

 grape. More care, however, is necessary 

 because neglected and even well managed 

 vines interlace considerably and there is 

 greater difficulty in getting out the trash. 

 But it must be done, so take your time and 

 don't worry about living wood accidentally 

 broken. Remember that a lot, perhaps a tre- 

 mendous lot, of such wood must also be 

 removed. In fact when the pruning has 

 been properly done more than three quarters 

 of all the growth will be in the brush pile. 



When removing large dead or undesirable 

 branches from trees, be sure to exercise care 

 not to break the living parts any more than 

 can be avoided nor tear or split the main 

 limbs or the trunks through improper ways 

 of cutting. The correct way to cut off large 



limbs is to make three cuts, the first on the 

 under side of the branch to be removed and 

 a foot or so away from the crotch with the 

 part that is to remain. When the saw sticks 

 or "binds" withdraw it and start the second 

 cut on the upper side of the branch at about 

 the point where the lower cut would have 

 come if the saw could have been made to 

 work through. Pretty soon the branch will 

 break off leaving a stub. But stubs must 

 never be left in trees because in time they 

 decay and carry infection to the heart wood, 

 thus dooming the tree. They must be cut 

 off so close to the branch from which they 

 have grown that there will be the least pos- 

 sible shoulder or hump left. The wound 

 should be parallel and continuous with the 

 branch. Making the third cut in this way 

 will often leave a far bigger wound than if a 

 "good sized" stub or shoulder is left; but 

 remember that a "good sized shoulder" is a 

 bad sized wound because healing over will 

 take far longer and thus danger of decay will 

 be all the greater. 



Where the diameters are less than \\ inches 

 and the cuts have been as just recommended 

 no painting will be necessary, because the tree 

 will heal over the bare spot in a year or two 

 — before decay would enter. But where the 

 cuts are much larger they may be painted. 



The cherry (also apple and pear) flowers develop from win- 

 ter cluster buds on spurs. Prune very little 



Fruit growers and 

 investigators are not 

 agreed as to the best 

 dressing for tree 

 wounds. Until re- 

 cently pure white 

 lead mixed with pure 

 linseed oil has been 

 most favored. A 

 little lamp black or 

 sienna to make a 

 gray color will 

 make the wounds 

 inconspicuous. It 

 must be said, how- 

 ever, that in a few 

 years, even in spite 

 of annual dressings, 

 decay often forces 

 its 'way through 

 cracks in the paint 

 and the trees die 

 sooner or later. 

 Personally, I favor 

 creosote but with 

 this reservation: it 

 must not touch the 

 young wood, the 

 living bark nor the 

 cambium. 



In using the 

 creosote the brush 

 must contain only 

 a little and must 

 be applied by an 

 oscillating move- 

 ment beginning at tree open 

 the centre and 

 leaving an untouched rim of fully half an inch 

 all around the edge of the wound. 



In order to prune intelligently for fruit pro- 

 duction it is essential to know how and where 

 the fruit is borne. No one rule will cover 

 all kinds of fruits. 



qpHE RASPBERRY, "dewberry and black- 

 -*■ berry patches are full of canes even after 

 the dead stuff has been cut out. The first 

 thing now is to cut all the puny growths close 

 to the ground. Next reduce the number of 

 canes to three or four of the sturdiest to the 

 hill — if the hills can be recognized — otherwise 

 have them stand six or eight or more inches 

 apart in the row and keep this as narrow as 

 possible. Now shorten the main canes to 

 30 or 40 inches and the branches to about 15 

 inches. These lengths are unusually long 

 but if we don't know what varieties we have 

 we must leave them perhaps longer than is 

 necessary so as not to destroy the fruit- 

 bearing parts. For varieties differ more or 



Peaches flower in a way all 

 their own. Prjune to keep the 



