JanuKi'v 1914 



THK GARDEN AND FIELD. 



3:17 



The Open Garden. 



— Short Reminders for January. — 



Plant seed of pansy, stock, prim- 

 ula, cineraria, cyclamen. Wait for 

 a cool, cloudv dav, and then plant 

 out seedlinQ;s readv in the boxes for 

 all \-on are worth. Water them as 

 soon as planted and a little mulch. 



Take cutting's of daphne and 

 other eversTreen shrubs, verbenas, 

 pelargoniums, and carnations. 



Keep rosies clear of withered 

 bloom. Don't be afraid when cut- 

 tins: flowers off your rose trees to 

 cut a eood lontT stalk with each — 

 a useful summer nruning;-. Look to 

 the watearinp-. hoeing', mannrinsj, 

 staking^, and t\dng of dahlia 

 nlants, which are just beginn ncr to 

 make their jump forward. 



Find room for at least one Mina 

 lobata — that f^rand annual creeper. 



Di? up and store in a drv p.nd 

 cool nlace late bulbs whose foli- 

 aje has withered. 



Keen paths and beds free from 

 rubbish, drv leaves, and weeds. 

 These not onlv make the p^arden 

 look untidv, but are a harbour for 

 ship's and snaHs. 



Use the liquid manure can 

 amonest those vounor and vig-or- 

 ous seedlinors which are iust beiin- 

 nin? to present their flower buds. 



Remove old flowers Irom zonale 

 nelarToniums, and keen the soil 

 b'3tween them well stirred up with 

 the hoe. 



Chrvsanthemums. — Many of the 

 nlants will have reached a fair 

 hei<rht, and will now reouire stak- 

 inp-. Stakes made of a good 

 stout fencino--wire can be used, 

 but iron stakes are the best, but 



as thev are pretty costly, thev are 

 not within the reach of all srrow- 

 ers. A good neat stake is a small 

 bamboo. Give a stake 'to each 

 ^ stem of the r1 'nt. In putting in 

 stakes leave them longer than the 

 heig-ht to which the stalk is calcu- 

 lated to grow, as a piece can he 

 cut off readily, but not so readily 

 added if required. Som.e growers 

 do not stake the plants so earlv, 

 but doing so has the advantap-e in 

 assistinpr to train the leaders 

 strai^hter, than if left to a later 

 period. 



Collect seed of sweet pea, freesia, 

 hunnemannia, ranunculus, antirr- 

 hinum, drfphinium, carnation, and 

 others as it becomes ripe. Onlv 

 le.ct from flowers of good size, cor- 

 rect form and bright coIouts. 



Look out for caterpillars on 

 asters and other seedlines. When 

 you find the centre leaf of a young 

 aster adher ng to the one below it, 

 vou may be certain that a friend 

 is awaitinpr ynur hand clasn, and 

 delay not in giving it to him. 



Mulch and water your roses to 

 induce a fresh crop of bloom. 



That old Eng-lish favourite, the 

 hollyhock, is well worth ero'vvino', 

 especialh^ if you take the trouble 

 to raise some good double ones. 

 The seed is chean, the cultixre 

 easy, and the result eond. They 

 are most effective and tellinor when 

 planted in bold groups in the back 

 lines of a bed. 



Keep on addin?- to the compost 

 hean all vegetable refuse from the 

 prarden except hard wood, which 

 should be burnt first. X careful 

 gardener is careful of everything 

 that is likely to add to the pro- 

 ductiveness of his little plot, and 

 will have a collection of manures, 

 as ■w'ell as a collection of roses. 

 The soot from the chimney sweep- 

 ing, the fo'wls' droppiu'-s. the cltean- 

 inp-s from the pigeon^house, the 

 compost heap, the leaf mould 

 nit, should all be ready at hand 

 for use when wanted. 



FRAMES. 



These require more attention 

 now on account of the extreme 

 weather we are likely to encounter 

 — the hot, long days and the 

 scarcely less hot, close niij'hts — and 

 one's forsretfulness with regard to 

 them is . likely to be visited on 

 one's head by the destruction of 

 the voung stuff which is to beauti- 

 ly our glasshouses and our open 

 garden in the near future. A preat 

 number of the young seedlings 

 shonld be now ready to prick off 

 either singly into small pots cxr 

 several into small boxes or pans 

 filled with a nice rich loose soil, 

 well drained. 



Amongst the foremost of these is 

 the cineraria. Keep them o-rowinp' 

 from the very moment they are 

 above the ground. They must on 

 no aocount receive a check, or else 

 both their foliaee and the quality 

 of the bloom will assuredly suffer. 

 Keep them well watered and -well 

 lighted, hut do not let the direct 

 rays of the sun fall upon them. 



Seedling cyclamen must not be 

 allowed to rest, for you want 

 th'em to flower as soon as pos- 

 sible to find out their quality ariH if 

 the-i^ are wo^th^^ of further cultiva- 

 tion. Pansies that were sown early 

 must he pricked out into boxes or 

 prepared beds in a shady situation, 

 to be ready for transnlantine into 

 the border later on. Five or six 

 inches between the plants is suffi- 

 cient space for this. 



Make further sowines of ciner- 

 aria, primulas, cyclamen, pansies, 

 nhlox, stock, polyanthus, carna- 

 tions, antirrhinums, asters, fox- 

 ploves, columbines, and calliopsis. 



Cuttincs of -various kinds of 

 Perennials may be nut in. Fuch- 

 sias, coleus, petunias, and (if 

 ready"! show and cecral pelarconi- 

 ums. The shadin? and watering of 

 these must not be neglected. 



It is time that aU amaranthus 

 plants were placed out in the bor- 

 ders. A great variety of these can 



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