August. 1889. 
159 
t 
neighbor who has none, and will be grate- 
ful for the plants you can spare. 
In a former number the Gladiolus was 
recommended not only as a beautiful and 
useful plant for the border, but as particu- 
larly desirable for those who have small 
places and little time to devote to flowers. 
There are many who do not know what a 
really good Gladiolus is, and there are not 
a few who have never seen one. As the 
early planted bulbs will now be in bloom, 
we refer the reader to the illustration pre- 
sented in the May number of Orchard and 
Garden as a very good portrait of a first- 
class flower. It may be used as a standard 
for form, and will be helpful in selecting 
the best, irrespective of color. They are 
all. however, beautiful flowers, and a poor 
one is now seldom seen; but we all have 
our tastes. Those who wish to see what 
the Gladiolus really is in color and form 
should visit the grounds of the Messrs. Hal- 
lock & Son at Queens, N. Y., where it is 
grown by the acre to supply the trade. The 
sight is one of bewildering beauty. 
The Wistarias bloomed with exceptional 
profusion this year. The Japan varieties, 
thus far. do not seem to bloom so freely as 
the old Chinese variety , though the clusters 
are very large. They may bloom more 
abundantly as they grow older. The Wis- 
taria. whether trained or allowed to roam 
as it will, is a magnificent climber, and ex- 
ceedingly tractable in the matter of train- 
ing. We have in view a case where a 
branch from a young plant was allowed to 
run up a Red Cedar, which was about 
twenty feet high and well proportioned. 
Some idea of the power and rapid growth 
of the Wistaria may be gathered from what 
follows. The Wistaria is now seven years 
old. and covers a fence about a hundred 
and fifty feet long. The branch that ran 
up the Cedar has run all through and over 
it to the top, and pulled it to the ground, 
forming a mass of picturesque growth sel- 
dom seen, especially when in bloom. 
The “plant cloth" advertised in Orchard 
and Garden by the U. S. Waterproofing Co. 
is in many ways so useful to the gardener, 
and especially to the amateur, that we 
again call attention to it. It does some 
things that the proprietors do not claim for 
if. and is a good thing to have about the 
place in the fall of the year, on the ap- 
proach of frost. It is an excellent plant 
protector, and for a temporary structure 
for Chrysanthemums in the fall we know 
of nothing better. It is far better than the 
cotton sheeting commonly used for the 
purpose. 
A brilliant plant at this time is the Scar- 
let Clematis (Clematis coccinea) , a native of 
Texas. This is a comparatively new plant, 
and one that is easy to grow. The flowers 
are quite different from the common Clem- 
atis, being somewhat bell-shaped; not 
very large, but borne abundantly. The 
color is a brilliant scarlet. — P. B. Mead. 
General Hints for August. 
Don't allow any vacant spots in the gar- 
den to grow up in weeds and ripen seeds 
for future brow-sweating. If no weed is 
ever allowed to go to seed in the garden and 
all the manure used is piled and heated and 
turned several times before using, the labor 
of keeping it clean is much reduced, but if 
the spaces left by the early crop are allowed 
to lie idle you not only lose what might be 
grown upon them, but add to the cost of 
what you grow next season. To grow veg- 
etables to advantage heavy manuring is 
necessary and the ground must be kept at 
work on some useful crop to make this 
heavy manuring pay. 
Some of the quick growing corn may still 
be planted south of the Potomac with a fair 
chance for table ears, but the chief work now 
is with winter crops. Celery may be plant- 
ed up to the middle of the month for late 
winter and spring use, and will keep better 
than that planted earlier. Flat Dutch and 
Winningstadt Cabbage will still make heads 
in very rich ground. Flat Strap-leaf Tur- 
nips may be sown at any time during the 
month as the space can be had for them. 
The cheapest way to grow these is to plow 
the land and cover on top of the plowing 
with well rotted manure. Then harrow so 
as to mix the manure lightly with the sur- 
face soil. Now sow the seed broadcast as 
thinly and evenly as possible. A good way 
to accomplish this if you have a lot of old 
or unreliable turnip or cabbage seed, is to 
put the old seed in an oven and roast so as 
to be able to kill them; then mix about 
one-third their bulk of good seed with them 
und scatter evenly over the ground. Roll 
as soon as sown so as to pack the loose soil 
about them and no other cover is needed. I 
use the same method in sowing Kale. If old 
seed cannot be had, mix with sand, but as 
the sand is heavier than the seed it is hard 
to keep them evenly mixed. Spinach should 
not be sown broadcast. With this my prac- 
tice is to plow furrows 2*4 to 3 feet 
apart, sow fertilizer in these furrows and 
then lap two furrows together over this, 
making a ridge right over the fertilizer. 
With a hand roller flatten the top of the 
ridge and sow the seed quite thickly in the 
drill. The common practice in seedsmen's 
catalogues is to recommend Prickly-seeded 
Spinach for Fall sowing and Smooth-seeded 
for Spring. I practice exactly the reverse, 
sowing always the Smooth-seeded in the au- 
tumn. 
The latter part of the month the first hill- 
ing of earth and handling of the earlier cel- 
ery should be done, but when once it is got- 
ten into an erect shape, earth up as slowly as 
possible while the weather is warm, except 
a little for Fall use. Celery earthed in 
warm weather will not keep well in winter. 
Therefore defer as late as possible the earth- 
ing of that intended for winter use. 
The last of the month make a sowing of 
Champion Gem Peas to be succeeded by 
another in September. With favorable 
weather they may do well but the chances 
are’’ that mildew may be troublesome on 
those sown in August. I have tried every 
plan for growing tomatoes up off the ground , 
and while some method of training is al- 
ways best in small gardens the only plan in 
the field is to allow them to tumble 
as they please. In small gardens the gal- 
vanized wire netting is the cheapest and 
most convenient support I have ever tried. 
I use it altogether in growing tomatoes un- 
der glass. If it is intended to force toma- 
toes next winter the best plan is to sow the 
seeds in a moderately fertile spot the last 
of August and do not allow them to be 
crowded. Transplant into a cold frame in 
September and stand prepared to put 
sashes over them on frosty nights. Of their 
subsequent treatment I will speak hereaf- 
ter. I have tried the method of growing 
these plants from cuttings in September, 
but I much prefer the seedling plants, if 
transplanted once before removal to the 
forcing house. 
Snap Beans we sow in the latitude of Vir- 
ginia at intervals until September 1st. These 
late beans can be gathered and packed in 
casks with strong brine for winter use. 
Soaked in fresh water over night they are 
almost equal to the fresh article, and we had 
them last winter and spring on the table 
until the new crop arrived. 
Lima Beans should have their tops pinch- 
ed as soon as they reach the top of the poles, 
and the poles should not be over six feet 
high. Keep them picked closely as fast as 
filled and allow none to ripen, and they will 
continue productive much longer. If at 
any time more are gathered than are need- 
ed immediately, shell them and put in the 
sun to dry and they will be much better in 
winter than the ripened ones. 
Cabbage should he cultivated as rapidly 
as possible. Most of our crops are better 
with shallow culture, but winter cabbages 
are better for deep plowing. A one-horse 
subsoil plow run down the centre of the 
rows where the leaves have grown too large 
to admit the cultivator will help them won- 
derfully. In growing cabbages with artifi- 
cial fertilizers I find great advantage frcm 
applying the fertilizer at intervals during 
the cultivation. Nitrate of soda I have used 
very profitably at the final cultivation to 
start them into a rapid growth in order to 
get the best of the worms. In some sections, 
particularly here in Virginia, it is a common 
notion that cabbages will be injured if culti- 
vated during the dog dajs, and it is com- 
mon to see cabbage patches here almost hid- 
den by weed during dog days. Such a prac- 
tice is absurd. The only precaution should 
be to avoid cultivation when they are wet 
with dew or rain. 
Vegetables for winter use, such as Par- 
snips and Salsify, which require the whole 
season's growth, should be kept cultivated 
