FESTIVAL OF THE MONTHS. 



Ill 



management of the hot-bed sash and water. Every 

 hot-bed should be provided with some sort of cov- 

 ering which may be laid over the glass at night. 

 Large gardeners have shutters made of wood, or 

 mats braided out of straw. For the beginner 

 pieces of old carpet will answer nicely. In the 

 morning when the sun gets warm, say about ten 

 o'clock, the sash of the bed should be raised a few 

 inches to admit the air, which is one of the requi- 

 sites to the successful growth of plants. The 

 length of time which the sash should be allowed to 

 remain raised and the height it is raised will depend 

 upon the weather entirely. In March and early 

 April, in the vicinity of New York, the sash should 

 rarely be left up later than three o'clock. If the 

 indications are that the night is to be a cold one 

 the sash should be lowered early in the afternoon 

 and the whole covered with the old carpet. Of 

 course, as the weather gets warmer, the sash may 

 be left up longer. The young plants should be 

 faithfully attended and watered each da)'. The 

 manner of seed-sowing and the soil in the hot-bed 

 is the same as for the box in the window. 



We have now reached the point of selecting the 

 seeds and finding out when to sow them. I hope 

 the young reader will follow closely what is said on 

 this subject, for many mistakes are made purely 

 from ignorance on this point. For example, many 

 beginners have an idea that if seed is not sown at a 

 given period it is useless to sow it at all. This is not 

 so, for while it is necessary to sow seed early of 

 some kinds of plants, if we would have the plants 

 early, if sown a month later the result would be 

 simply that the season of bloom would be corres- 

 pondingly late. Of course judgment must be used, 

 for seed of verbenas, for example, sown in July 

 would be of little use that season. Then there are 

 the mistakes made on the other side of the same 

 question. The beginner will sow large quantities of 

 seed in early March and none afterward. With 

 some kinds this course would be all right, but when 

 one desires a succession of flowers or of plants as 

 we generally do, they must be raised at different in- 



FESTIVAL OF 



This little celebration makes a very pleasant devi- 

 ation from the time-worn fair, bazar or parlor sale 

 that usually flourishes through the winter months. 

 Twelve booths are necessary, but the number of at- 

 tendants in each of course may be varied to suit the 

 surroundings. At a recent very successful event of 

 this kind at a large city church, from four to twelve 

 ladies officiated at each booth. 



tervals. This point the commercial gardener must 

 thoroughly understand and work accordingly. For 

 example, the latter part of February we would sow 

 petunia seed in our seed boxes or hot-beds. These 

 would bloom in pots or in the garden in May and 

 June, early enough for your customers who want 

 flowers early and who are willing to take the risks 

 of early, or rather late frosts and cold rains. In 

 March early, and again at the last of the month, 

 and early in April, we would sow seeds for later 

 blooming. The periods are about the same for 

 sowing seed of snap-dragon, verbenas, asters, phlox 

 and other plants ; while with balsams, there is no 

 necessity of sowing the seed under glass or in a 

 warm indoor place at all, unless to sell them in pots, 

 when they may be sown in the pots in April. 



As we are supposed to be in tJiis business to make 

 money, we must aim to supply our customers with 

 such plants as they may desire, so that I would 

 advise the young gardener to obtain the catalogues 

 of the seedsmen and florists, and read over the list 

 of plants which may be grown from seed. Besides 

 these I have already named, the following may all 

 be grown from seed and are in more or less demand 

 by lovers of flowers : Nasturtiums, alyssum, lantana, 

 zinnia, pansy, feverfew, carnations, lobelia, lark- 

 spur, etc. We must be prepared to grow these 

 plants in quantities, to supply the demand. If by 

 any chance we should get a large supply on hand 

 for which we have no sale, we have yet our own 

 garden to look out for, and from which we expect to 

 make money, as will be shown in our next paper, 

 when we will also take up the raising of vegetable 

 plants, and other operations. 



The writer would be glad to answer any questions 

 of interest to the young reader of this series of 

 papers, either by mail or through the columns of 

 The American Garden. I am more than willing to 

 help any who are in earnest in this work, in any 

 way in my power. Any communications addressed 

 to me in care of the publishers of this magazine 

 will reach me. Geo. R. Knapp. 



(TO BE CONTINUED.) 



THE MONTHS. 



January was represented by a profusion of cotton- 

 batting snow, sprinkled with diamond dust, and the 

 articles sold were skates, sleds, mufflers, mittens, gloves, 

 etc. 



February was of course devoted to St. Valentine, and 

 the decorations were composed largely of valentines, 

 which with candies, cake and birthday cards formed 

 the sweet array displayed for sale. 



Japanese kites bedecked the shrine of March, while 



