The Garden Magazine 



Vol. XVII— No. 1 



Published Monthly 



FEBRUARY, 1913 



i One Dollar Fifty Cents a Year 

 I 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.] 



The "Get Together" Month 



FEBRUARY is the "get together" 

 month for the gardener. Little 

 productive work can be done outdoors 

 (with one exception noted below), but 

 much, indoors in preparation for future 

 events. 



Get together bean poles and pea brush. 

 If you live in the country this means cut- 

 ting them in the woods; if you are a sub- 

 urbanite, build light trellises, racks, and 

 frames to take their places. For a poultry 

 wire support you need only posts, but this 

 sort of trellis may burn the foliage in hot 

 weather. 



Get together lumber, bricks, or the con- 

 stituents of concrete according to the 

 kind of hotbed you are going to build. 



Get together the old hotbed mats; repair 

 what you can and buy new to replace the 

 others. 



Get together all your tools. Give an 

 entire week-end if necessary to a round 

 up and inspection of everything you expect 

 to use in the garden. 



Get together the new season's catalogues. 

 Send for them to-day, for spring is rapidly 

 advancing on the garden. Study the 

 novelty lists and by all means try a few 

 of the new things. 



Get together your seeds; as fast as they 

 reach you, store them in an orderly manner 

 out of reach of mice. A cabinet or small 

 set of drawers is convenient and saves the 

 trouble of going through packet after 

 packet when you want to sow some special 

 variety in a hurry. 



Get together your flats or material for 

 making them. And the soil, too, in which 

 to start the earliest seedlings. 



Get together spray materials enough to 



last ail season. This is real economy. 

 If you use prepared mixtures the more you 

 buy the cheaper they are; otherwise it is 

 well always to have the ingredients on 

 hand in case of sudden need. 



The One Vital Outdoor Task 



FEBRUARY is hotbed month. Build 

 your frames by the ioth, fill them by 

 the 15th, and sow the first seeds not later 

 than the 25 th. 



The greenhouse builders and the larger 

 seed stores sell hotbeds complete in every 

 particular, which you have only to bolt 

 or nail together. They are neat and 

 convenient, but more expensive than home- 

 made articles. 



Some General Pointers 



P\ON'T forget to provide hotbed mats. 

 *-J Both quilted and straw ones can be 

 bought, but the latter can easily be made 

 at home. See The Garden Magazine, 

 Vol. Ill, page 23. Waterproof duck mats 

 last longest, and are the best. 



Don't make all your beds at once. You 

 cannot maintain good heat for more than 

 two months at most, and if spring is late 

 you will need the warmth well into May. 



Plant for the first fresh vegetables: 

 lettuce, radish, beets, and kohlrabi. Plant 

 for later transplanting: French artichoke, 

 broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels 

 sprouts, leek, onion, celery, kale, and 

 parsley. 



Do not plant: crops that will not trans- 

 plant well, yet are all-season crops, such 

 as turnips, chard, salsify, and carrots. 



Do not plant too early : tomatoes, squash, 

 cucumbers, melons, eggplant, and pepper 

 — they cannot be set out until the weather 

 is definitely warm and by being kept in the 

 hotbed too long, they become weak and 

 spindling. 



Bush beans, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, 

 and tomatoes can, however, be started now 

 if you have room and are willing to grow 

 them to maturity under glass. 



Practice the same choice with flowers. 

 Start hardy perennials and hardy annuals 

 for later transplanting; save half-hardy 

 sorts until a little later; and of the 

 tender annuals plant only those that 

 you can keep sheltered even while blos- 

 soming. 



This is a good month to spread manure 

 on the lawn and garden. How much? 

 All you can get for vegetables, and per- 

 haps two 2-horse loads on a lawn 100 feet 

 square. 



9 



Starting Things Agoing 



[~\IG up a couple of frozen rhubarb 

 ■*— ' plants, thaw them out in a cool cellar, 

 then start them into growth in tubs of 

 moist sand. Or, set headless barrels over 

 a few plants where they stand in the 

 garden and pile manure around and 

 against them. 



Have you made a final inspection of the 

 fruit trees for San Jose and oyster shell 

 scale? The most effective spraying must 

 be done while the trees are dormant. The 

 fewer branches there are to cover the less 

 expensive the spraying will be; therefore, 

 complete your pruning first. 



Suckers about the base of stock chrysan- 

 themum plants will now be well developed 

 and ready to be taken as cuttings. Root 

 them in moist sand in a cool cellar. 



Geranium cuttings to supply plants for 

 the outdoor border may now be treated 

 the same way. 



Begonias start easily from leaf cuttings, 

 while bulbs of the tuberous varieties should 

 be potted and plunged in moist sand or 

 ashes to develop a large system of feeding 

 roots. 



Some of the hyacinths and other bulbs 

 started in the fall, must be about ready 

 for forcing. Judge by the root growth; 

 if it does not fill the pot or reach the bottom 

 of the bulb glass wait a little longer. 



Ten Rules for Hotbed Care 



1. Choose a southern exposure, sheltered 

 on the north if possible by a fence, bank, 

 building, or hedge. 



2. Use unrotted horse manure con- 

 taining bedding if excessive heat is not 

 required. 



3. Keep the pile moist and turn it at 

 least twice before packing it in the bed, 

 so as to prevent loss of nitrogen by 

 heating. 



4. As soon as the entire pile steams uni- 

 formly, fill the hotbed. Do not delay ! 



5. Spread the manure evenly but do not 

 pack it down until it has again become 

 warm. 



6. Bank soil around the outside to 

 within four inches of the top of the bed. 



7. When the temperature of the soil falls 

 below 90 degrees sow seeds — not before ! 



8. In watering, spread coarse cloth on 

 the soil to prevent washing. 



9. Keep the bed covered until the seeds 

 germinate; then give gradual ventilation 

 at mid-day. 



10. Remember always to set the low 

 side (front) of the bed toward the south. 



