"Come with me, then, behind the scenes, where we are concerned only with the joys of plant increase and rejuvenation" 



The Reminder is to "suggest" what may be done during the next few weeks. Details of 

 bow to do each item are given in the current or the back issues of The Garden Magazine — it 

 is manifestly impossible to give all the details of all the work in anyone issue of a magazine. 

 References to back numbers may be looked up in the index to each completed volume (sent 

 gratis on request), and the Service Department will also be glad to cite references to any spe- 

 cial topic if asked by mail. 



When referring to the time for out-door work of any sort New York City at sea level in a nor- 

 mal season is taken as standard ; but at best dates can only be approximate. Roughly, the sea- 

 son advances northward fifteen miles a day. Thus Albany, which is one hundred and fifty 

 miles from New York, would be about ten days later, and Philadelphia, which is ninety miles 

 southwest, about a week earlier. Also allow four days for each degree of latitude, for 

 each five degrees of longitude, and for each four hundred feet of altitude. 



FEBRUARY — WELL BEGUN IS HALF DONE! 



BTAKES, trellises, row markers, tree protectors, wire fencing 

 for trellises, tomato stakes or racks, paper pots or dirt bands 

 for transplanting, plant-forcers, and all accessories of this 

 character are to be made ready or purchased this month. 

 Labels should be lettered with the names of crops to be 

 planted and essential data about each — the planting date, depth to 

 plant, width between rows and distance between seeds or plants. 



General 



Cut well budded branches of Willow, Red Maple, Peach, Cherry, 

 Forsythia, Japan Quince, Red-bud, and Spice-bush, and place 

 in water to force into bloom at once. Change water daily. 



Get birdhouses ready for placing by St. Valentine's Day. 



Plant Dutch bulbs (that were forced) in an obscure place in the 

 garden where they may be allowed two years to recover. 



Sort and cull vegetables in the root cellar. Open outside doors when 

 the thermometer is above freezing. 



Frost leaves the ground slowly under a dressing. Do not spread 

 manure therefore until time to piow or spade. 



Force rhubarb in the garden at the end of the month. 



Greenhouse and Frames 



Flave a general clean-up. Remove soil from benches, spray every- 

 where inside with extra strong bordeaux mixture and nicotine 

 sulphate combined. Whitewash before refilling. Sterilize the 

 soil with steam; by baking; or with a drench of formalin. 



Provide space under benches on sunny side of house for things that 

 will not require head room for a few weeks. Fumigate just 

 before new stock comes in. 



Repot and start Calla, Amaryllis, Gloxinia, and Tuberous Begonia. 



Start Cannas, Dahlias and Gladiolus in pots. 



Bring in the last of the potted Dutch bulbs. 



Sow seeds of hardy annuals. Start Sweet Peas in pots. 



Cut back and feed up old plants to produce cutting material for 

 next month. 



Make first hotbeds by the middle of the month, others at two inter- 

 vals of two weeks thus securing a succession of high, medium 

 and low temperature. 



Lacking greenhouse or hotbed, start Cockscomb, China Aster, 

 Verbena, Marguerite, Carnation, Sweet Sultan, Periwinkle and 

 Vernon Begonia in the dwelling now. Start also Oxalis, Glad- 

 iolus, Amaryllis and other bulbs for late spring bloom. Prune 

 back house plants wherever necessary; repot if necessary; give 

 a little bone meal; water carefully. No other tonic is needed. 



Repot cucumbers, tomatoes and melons started last month for 

 growth inside. If to be grown in solid beds give bottom heat. 



Sow radishes, carrots, beets, lettuce, dwarf peas, beans and all 

 salads for greenhouse and frames crop. 



Sow beets, onions, lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, 

 kohl rabi, leek and parsley at once; sow tomatoes, peppers and 

 celery the middle of the month; sow lima beans, melons, corn, 

 and squash the end of the month — all for outdoors later. 



Force roots of asparagus, rhubarb, Witloof chicory and seakale. 



Sow parsley, thyme, sage, summer savory, marjoram and any other 

 culinary herbs desired, this month. 



Plant fair sized potato tubers with the end showing the greatest 

 number of eyes up, in flats of sand until sprouted, then pot 

 singly in eight inch pots half full of soil. Fill in as they grow. 



Fruits 



Secure "whips" or "buds" of new varieties of apples for grafting. 



Keep cool and moist in sand in cellar, or sawdust in icehouse. 

 Prune grapes, raspberries, blackberries, dewberries, currants and 



gooseberries. 

 Take cuttings of currants and gooseberries, using the one-year 



prunings. Tie in bundles and bury in a cold place. 



MAKING A HOTBED. 



SELECT a spot sheltered from the north if possible. Spread 

 the manure, which has been previously turned daily for three 

 days with one third its quantity of leaves mixed in, to a depth of 

 two feet on the ground and two feet beyond the limits of the frame 

 all around. Pack it down in layers laid 6 inches deep at a time. 

 When it is packed thus to the requisite depth, set the frames upon 

 it. Add more manure outside of these, banking up two feet on to 

 the frame. Add another foot within the frame, and it is ready for 

 the soil, which should be 8 inches deep. Sift this through a half- 

 inch sieve, and spread the rough material first on to the manure, 

 then the fine; put on the sash and let the bed heat up. 



The manure should be obtained within the fortnight preceding 

 its use, and must be from the stables of grain-fed horses, bedded 

 with straw. One ordinary load of manure to each sash of the regula- 

 tion size — 3 by 6 feet — is sufficient. If it fails to heat properly dur- 

 ing the interval it is piled to allow for this, wet it down — preferabb" 



with hot water — and firm it by tramping and allow a further week for 

 reheating following this. The proportion of straw should be one- 

 third to one-half but leaves may make up a deficiency if there is one. 

 Fork it over to secure uniform heating and prevent burning. 



A hotbed means four to six weeks' gain over outdoor planting; 

 which with a crop like radishes means actual mature vegetables on 

 the table at the time that the first seeds can be planted outdoors 

 and with vegetables like tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, cucumbers 

 and melons, a season six weeks longer than the garden affords. 

 The same is true of flowers of course. To make a pit bed take out 

 two feet of earth over a space just large enough to admit the frames, 

 set these into the excavation, fill in with manure to the ground level 

 and bank up 18 inches around on the outside. This does awav 

 with so large a mass of material above the ground. There is no 

 advantage particularly in this style of hotbed except the appearance; 

 and of course the pit cannot be dug when the ground is frozen. 



286 



