142 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



April, 1913 



APRIL IN THE GARDEN Box edgings can be set out early in the month and also vari- 

 ous other hedge shrubs. Trees should be looked over and 



HE poets have almost made us forget that the decaying cavities scraped out and filled up with cement 



April seldom finds the world thawed out, to check further decline. Asparagus beds and patches of 



that snowflakes and icicles have not been Rhubarb will respond to fertilizing with nitrate of soda in a 



as rare in the fourth month as pleasant manner worth the trouble if this is done in April, 



poesie would make believe. Nevertheless, r ~n , HE matter of having cold-frames in readiness for seed- 

 we can make friends with the weather-man, _| lings to be transplanted from hotbeds the latter part 



and having won his confidence can hope to plan according of the month (or earlier, if the season permits) must not 



to his light and our own experience, finding that April in be overlooked. Connas can now be started in hotbeds, and 



the garden is a busy month after all, rhymsters or none. as soon as the ground can be worked Sweet Peas and Love- 



DECIDUOUS trees should be planted this month, also in-a-Mist seed can be sown. Seeds of Perennials sown now 



shrubs, vines, fruit and nut trees, and the various small in cold-frames may be expected to blossom this Summer, 



fruits. These last should not be pruned now, though grape- laaag^aggiawwgKi^^ 



vines and fruit trees look to April pruning and should not ROSES AND HOW TO GROW THEM 



be allowed to be passed unattended to. All Evergreens (Continued from page 116) 



may be planted in April. There is also spraying to be done HEBBHUBBiElBiEBBIgB^^BBB^BBlBHa^BBB^I^B^BHl 



in April, and with these be- 

 ginnings one comes to re- 

 alize that the month is in no 

 sense one for inaction and 

 mere contemplation on the 

 part of the garden-maker. 



THE February number of 

 American Homes con- 

 tained an article on "Making 

 Friends with the Birds," 

 which Mr. Nesbit illustrated 

 with interesting photographs 

 of attractive bird-houses. 

 This suggests that April is 

 an especially convenient and 

 appropriate month for the 

 building and setting up of 

 bird-houses in order that the 

 little winged harbingers of 

 Spring may set up their 

 housekeeping without delay 

 when they arrive from the 

 South to assure us of the 

 fulfilment of the season's 

 promise. 



THE Winter mulch 

 should soon be removed 

 from strawberry-beds, hardy 

 Perennials may be taken 

 from the borders towards 

 the end of the month for di- 

 vision of roots, and late in 

 April there will be pruning 

 of tender Roses to be at- 

 tended to and spraying them 

 with whale-oil soap also. 



A goodly patch of rows of fine, sleek cabbages is a noble sight in the 

 eyes of a skilful gardener, an attainment that may crown one's ripe 



experience 



failures in getting Roses to 

 start. Plant deep enough so 

 that the "union" (that is 

 where the "stock" and the 

 "graft" unite) should be 

 about 2^ inches below the 

 soil level. If the soil is dry, 

 water copiously when the 

 hole is half filled up, let it 

 soak away, and then fill up 

 the rest, packing the soil 

 down firmly with the hands; 

 then go over the bed, and 

 placing a foot on either side 

 of each plant, firm the soil 

 about it with the full weight 

 of the body. When planting 

 is finished, go over the bed 

 carefully with a rake, leaving 

 a fine, loose surface; and 

 from then on, never let a 

 crust form on the surface. 

 This is an important warning 

 for every gardener to heed. 

 This can be prevented by 

 raking the beds over every 

 ten days or more frequently 

 in very dry weather — and 

 after every rain. If a mulch- 

 ing of very old manure, or 

 light litter, is put on all over 

 the beds in late June, it will 

 help very much in carrying 

 the Rose safely through any 

 protracted season of drouth. 



