THE MONTH'S REMINDER, JULY, 1918 



The purpose of the Reminder is to call to your attention the things which should be thought about or done during the next few weeks For full 

 details as to how to do the different things suggested, see the current or back issues o/ThE Garden Magazine. {An index of contents is prepared for 

 each completed volume, and is sent gratis on request. The Readers' Service Department will also cite references on any special topic if asked.) 



KEEP the succession crops growing, 

 remember, that one batch of beans 

 or sweet corn that you can eat is 

 worth more than three that get so 

 old that they can't be used on the table. 

 Sow little — just enough — and sow often! 

 No need to wait 'til the ground is cleared. 

 When things are in good shape for planting, 

 after a rain, loosen up the soil between the 

 rows of vegetables that are nearly through 

 and start the new. crop in the furrows. 



July is the month for transplanting for fall 

 and winter. Cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, 

 cauliflower, celery and so forth, started last 

 month should be put out now. Watch your 

 chance to get them in just after a good rain — 

 unless you have irrigation and are independent 

 of the weather. 



Firm plants in well. Transplanting at this 

 time of the year is, of course, much harder on 

 the plants than when done in the spring, 

 unless the greatest care is used. If ground 

 is very dry, put water in the hole, before insert- 

 ing the plant (not on top after setting plants). 

 Let water soak away, put plant in place, 

 cover with the lightest soil available, and 

 firm down hard. Remove two thirds or so of 

 the large outside leaves. Transplant on late 

 afternoons or on a cloudy day. 



Keep Up the Mulch 



"p*VEN if you have got the best of the weeds 

 ■*- J in your garden, don't stop cultivating. 

 Keep the rake or the rake attachment on your 

 wheel hoe going frequently enough to prevent 

 the formation of a crust. Have you looked 

 into the possibilities of some of the newer 

 tools for weeding and cultivating? They 

 are really worth while— we have tried them 

 and we know. 



The dryer you keep your soil on the surface, 

 the moister it will keep the seed below ! Re- 

 member, the amount of moisture in the soil 

 determines the size of your crops. Mulch 

 with manure and grass where possible. Spent, 

 old manure from the hot beds, or the remains 

 of the winter mulch for the flowers or shrub- 

 bery, grass clippings and so forth may be 

 used around egg-plants, cauliflowers, or other 

 vegetables which are most particular about 

 the amount of water they require. 



Keep 'em Picked Clean! 



r\ON'T let any maturing vegetables get 

 *-* away from you. Pick everything as 

 soon as it is ready even if you cannot use it at 

 the table. If you are ready to can or de- 

 hydrate these small surplus quantities can 

 be saved. [See Garden Magazine for June 

 for full details.] Even if they can't be, it is 

 better to pick them and to give them away 

 than to let them stay on the vines. This is 

 particularly true of such things as cucumbers, 

 summer squash, beans and other vegetables 

 which will cease producing as soon as they are 

 allowed to mature seed. 



Spray — Spray — Spray ! 



' I ''HIS is the time of the year when insects 

 ■*■ and diseases do most damage. It is 

 bad enough to lose a crop when it is just start- 

 ing, but much worse to lose it after you have 

 got it three quarters grown I Protect your plants 

 by ample and timely spraying. Don't wait 

 for the trouble to get a start. Watch your gar- 



den daily and be prepared to spray within ten 

 minutes after you see the first sign of trouble. 

 Delay is not only dangerous but fatal. Re- 

 member the standard remedies — 40 per cent, 

 nicotine, ("Black Leaf 40") for sucking insects 

 — arsenate of lead for chewing insects — bor- 

 deaux mixture for fungous plant diseases — 

 special dust on preparatives for food crops 

 eaten in bulk. Keep them all on hand, ready 

 for use. 



Next Year's Asparagus 



A/TAKE sure of next year's asparagus now. 

 x The treatment your bed receives this 

 summer and fall will determine what kind of a 

 crop you will have next year — make no mis- 

 take about that! After the last cutting 

 let the tops grow and thoroughly spray with 

 arsenate of lead to control the asparagus beetle 

 and with bordeaux mixture to ward ofF any 

 attacks of rust. A dressing of bone dust or 

 manure after you stop cutting will help the 

 development of the crowns. 



Get Your Fall Salads Started Now 



TYEMEMBER that there will be several 

 *^- weeks of cool weather in the fall, when 

 lettuce, endive and other salad plants will 

 thrive well if they have been sown early 

 enough. Started in a frame or in a moist 

 shady seed bed early in July, they will be big 

 enough to transplant when the hot weather 

 is beginning to wane. It is a little bit early 

 just yet to start the fall varieties, but it is 

 time to order the seed now. For present 

 planting use Salamander or some other 

 summer heat resisting variety. 



In the Flower Garden 



T~~\ON'T stop spraying when you reach the 

 *~* flower garden! Examine all the flower 

 beds for any sign of trouble just as thoroughly 

 as you do the vegetable garden, and get on 

 the job with fungicide or insecticide just as 

 quick. The special "package goods" offered 

 by the trade will be found very serviceable 

 here. They are convenient and effectual. 



Mulch where possible. A summer mulch in 

 the flower garden, especially where there are 



SUGAR FOR CANNING 



Although the Food Administration hopes 

 that there will be sufficient sugar to meet all 

 needs, it is guarding against avoidable hard- 

 ships that would follow a sudden curtailment 

 of Cuban shipments. 



In order to meet the canning demand, dis- 

 tribution will be under a modified certificate 

 system insuring those having a surplus of 

 vegetables and fruits that they will be able 

 to conserve them, and at the same time pre- 

 venting others from using fictitious canning 

 demands as an excuse for hoarding 



Retail dealers will be provided with cer- 

 tificates which must be signed by all who 

 wish to purchase in quantities greater than 

 are needed to meet normal household needs. 

 The signatures are virtually pledges that all 

 sugar so obtained will be used only to pre- 

 serve perishable foodstuffs. The pledges 

 must be returned within a week to the Fed- 

 eral Food Administrator for the state in 

 which the sugar is purchased, thus enabling 

 the Food Administration to keep a close 

 check upon distribution and in many cases 

 to detect falsification. 



The restrictions are not taken with a view 

 to curtailing home canning, but rather to en- 

 courage the greatest possible preservation of 

 foods which otherwise would be wasted. 



late flowering things, is often the difference 

 between success and failure. Most flowers 

 will bloom, after a fashion, even ii? a dry soil — 

 but for really fine big blooms, and plenty of 

 them, plenty of moisture is imperative. So 

 mulch between the plants wherever you can. 



By that same token, the dust mulch is just 

 as important for Geraniums and Balsams as 

 for beets and garden sass! Get a modern 

 cultivating hoe or rake, with adjustable teeth, 

 and work the soil between the plants. 



Top dress the things that are still to flower. 

 Without a lusty growth of vine and leaf, the 

 blooms will not be at their best. A very light 

 application of nitrate of soda, or better still 

 the new nitrate potash combination (that has 

 15 per cent, of potash in addition to as much 

 nitrogen as nitrate of soda) will do wonders for 

 lagging plants. Use with judgment of course; 

 it is possible to get such a rank leaf growth that 

 flowers will be few and poor. Many people 

 feed too rich for Nasturtiums and for Lupins, 

 for instance — more blooms and better colors 

 if nitrogen is a little shy. 



Ply the hose freely, as well as apply the 

 hoes. When in doubt, or when ever there is 

 time, water. Better still, get a small portable 

 irrigation outfit. Then you can do the water 

 business right; until you do, you can't. Don't 

 merely sprinkle the surface occasionally; that 

 is worse than not watering at all; what you 

 can get at with the hose, soak thoroughly. 



Keep picked clean. Do not let the fading 

 and dead blooms stay on the plants. If 

 seed pods form the flowering season is cut 

 short. Use the shears, even if you cannot use 

 the flowers. 



Start perennials. The earlier the better 

 and the stronger they will be to go through 

 the winter. And — if anything goes wrong 

 with the first sowing, you have time to try 

 again. 



Prune Rambler and' Climbing Roses that are 

 just through flowering. Cut back old canes 

 and form the framework for the rest of the 

 season's growth; keep trained carefully. 

 On this new wood next year's blossoms will be 

 borne. 



Small Fruits 



T-JIGH time now to think about starting 

 the new strawberry bed. Order your 

 plants early from the dealer; or grow your own. 

 Pick out the best in your present bed, or in 

 your neighbor's old bed. Secure three inch 

 pots. Spade up soil. Bury pots to rim as 

 runners start, and hold in place over pot with 

 clothes pin or small stone. Or buy potted 

 plants. Make the bed now, three or four 

 weeks in advance of planting time. Enrich 

 thoroughly. Prune cane fruits as soon as 

 harvest is over. Cut old canes back to ground 

 to give room to the new growth. Leave only 

 three to five of new canes. 



Spray gooseberries and currants, especially 

 former. If you have not had success with 

 former, make note to try mildew-resistant 

 varieties next year. Order now for early fall 

 delivery. 



Don't let sod grow around currant and goose- 

 berry bushes. To get good fruit, you must 

 give cultivation. So also with cane fruits 

 and rhubarb. Clean the beds out now, if 

 they have begun to get "wild." The sod 

 will be valuable in your compost heap, or in a 

 sod pile for greenhouse soil. 



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