The Garden Magazine 



Vol. XVI— No. 6 



Published Monthly 



JANUARY, 1913 



i One Dollar Fifty Cents a Year 

 ' Fifteen Cents a Copy 



[For the purpose of reckoning dates, New York is 

 generally taken as a standard. Allow six days' differ- 

 ence for every hundred miles of latitude.] 



A New Year's Resolution 



Whereas : the gardener's season of 1913 



is approaching, and 



Whereas : I have learned, by reading of 



the experiences of others, that a well cared 



for garden yields both pleasure and profit; 



Therefore by me — a member of the 



United Brotherhood of Garden Magazine 



Readers, be it 



" Resolved : That I have a garden 

 this coming year, which shall be the 

 best I have ever had; that to that end 

 I shall give it the care it needs when it 

 needs it; and, finally, that I shall keep 

 a detailed record of my work, my suc- 

 cesses, and my failures to aid myself 

 and others in future years." 

 Anyone who will make such a resolution 



and stick to it faithfully is very, very likely 



to enjoy these things: 



( 1 ) Vegetables that are beyond a shadow 

 of a doubt, pure food. 



(2) Vegetables that are fresh, crisp, with 

 a quality that no store-bought produce 

 ever possesses. 



(3) Food not only for summer consump- 

 tion, but to be canned and used all winter. 



(4) Abundant flowers for indoor and 

 outdoor decoration and for gifts. 



(s)Health, strength, a good appetite, 

 •contentment, and the satisfaction that 

 comes from a knowledge of profitable work 

 well done. 



We have yet to hear of the person who 

 contends that it doesn't pay to have a gar- 

 den. The successful plot is its own commen- 

 dation and reward; the average failure 

 merely stimulates one to another attempt 

 and improved methods. 



But for all these results you must get to 

 work right away. Too many people de- 



cide in all sincerity to have a garden but 

 fail to do anything about it until they see 

 their neighbor sowing his seeds in April or 

 May. Here, for instance, are some of the 

 things that you can and should do now: 



Write to half a dozen reliable seedsmen 

 for catalogues. If you are a satisfied 

 customer of any one firm, you will prob- 

 ably stick to it for the bulk of your order. 

 The others may however offer certain 

 novelties that you will care to try out in 

 limited amounts. 



For your own sake, as well as that of the 

 dealer, begin preparations so that you can 

 make out your seed order and send it as 

 soon as possible after receiving the catalog. 

 It will mean better quality seed and no 

 danger of the particular variety that you 

 want being out of stock; better care and 

 attention in the filling of the order; less 

 congestion in the offices and packing rooms 

 of the seedsman; and, by no means of least 

 importance, more prompt delivery. Ex- 

 press companies handle tremendous ship- 

 ments of seeds and plants. The more that 

 can be delivered in January and February, 

 the easier the task in the rush months of 

 March, April, and May. 



Draw a good sized plan of your garden 

 to scale (measuring the ground carefully if 

 you have not already done so), and begin 

 to work out a planting system. "Begin 

 to, " for the best results come through 

 numerous revisions and after careful prepar- 

 ation. 



Find out from neighbors what varieties 

 have always succeeded in your locality. 



If you are a newcomer, study up the con- 

 dition and needs of your soil. 



Write to your Agricultural Experiment 

 Station for their latest bulletins on garden 

 making. Some of the stations publish com- 

 plete descriptive lists of tried and tested 

 varieties for the state. 



If there is any chance of water shortage, 

 try to devise an irrigation system adapted 

 to your circumstances. 



For the new orchard another plan will be 

 needed, in which each tree is located by 

 letter or number. This method of identi- 

 fication does away with labels to be hung or 

 the branches, half of which generally girdle 

 the tree because they cannot expand, while 

 the rest, being loosely attached, get blown 

 or knocked off. 



Place an order with some nearby livery 

 stable for fresh, unfermented horse manure 

 to be delivered as soon as you are ready to 

 build hotbeds — say February 10th. Even 

 then you will not have the temperature 

 right for seed sowing until about the 25th 

 of the month, which is quite late enough for 



231 



the earliest crops in the latitude of New 

 York. 



Make plenty of wooden labels for the 

 garden rows, filling in variety names as soon 

 as you decide what you are to grow. 

 Make some straw hotbed mats, too. These 

 will be needed most when the beds are first 

 made. 



Spread well decayed manure over the 

 garden if it is level; have it plowed if a 

 temporary thaw peimits; and harrow in 

 lime after plowing if there is any tendency 

 toward sourness in the soil. 



Continue testing any old seed on hand 

 so as to determine just how much you will 

 have to include in your new order. Some- 

 what elaborate seed testers can be bought 

 very reasonably, or a satisfactory apparatus 

 can be made from two plates and a piece of 

 blotting paper. But do not bother with 

 small quantities — good seed is the least 

 expense in gardening anyhow. 



Have you ordered those parts with which 

 to repair the lawn mower ; the seeder and the 

 other tools? These are the days for such 

 indoor work. 



Where the Garden is Not New 



TV /TULCHING can be done as long as 

 ■I » A snow holds off. Its most important 

 duty is of course to hold the frost in the 

 ground and prevent alternate thawing and 

 freezing. 



Complete all pruning, trimming and 

 spraying. This is a part of the 191 2 work 

 and you will be full of regret if you have to 

 do it in the early spring of 1913. 



Get out into the woods whenever possible 

 to become acquainted with Nature in her 

 winter aspects. Plenty of people know the 

 more common trees and shrubs when in 

 leaf, but comparatively few can tell them 

 apart by means of twigs and berries. Such 

 knowledge is an earmark of the real gardener 

 who takes an interest in his botany as well 

 as his practical gardening operations. It 

 is of practical value, too, as you will find 

 when you plan winter effects in shrubbery 

 and border. 



While on one of these trips, gather some 

 bayberries, take them home, and make 

 some old-fashioned bayberry candles. 

 Many people whose olfactory senses are 

 well developed, derive pleasure from burn- 

 ing them. How to make them is told in 

 not more than half a column in The Gar- 

 den Magazine for January, 1908. A few 

 home made candles tucked into every 

 Christmas package you send away will add 

 a little of the same sort of spirit that holly 

 and mistletoe infuse. 



