20^2 
THE GARDEN :\I A G A Z I N E 
January, 1917 
Apr. I, 2 r.. May, i, 2 r. — June l, 4 to 10 r., for fall and winter. — 
Cauliflower, .Apr. 15. 12 plants, .May 15, 12 p.. July i, 20 to 50 
p. for fall and frames. — Celery, June I, 50 to 100 plants; July 
10, 100 to 200 for fall and winter. — Cucumber, May 1, 4 to 
6 hills. July i. 4 to 6 h. — Egg plant, June i, 6 to 12 plants. — 
Endive, June 15, J r.; July 15, i to 2 r. — Lettuce. .Apr. i, 
iHj loose-head, 18 early butterhead, 18 late butterhead, 
and one-third r. each of same from seed. — May i, i r. late 
butterhead, | r. crisp head; June } r. each late butterhead, 
crisphead. and Cos. July 15, ^ r. looseleaf, ^ r. early butter- 
head. — Muskmelon, May 15, 4 to 10 h. (if space is ver>’ limited, 
use bush type). — Onion, .Apr. i. i r. sets, 4 to 10 r. seed, for fall 
and winter. — Peas, .Apr. i single or double r. early smooth; 
.Apr. 15, 2 to 4 r. early and main crop wrinkled; June i, 2 to 
4 r. early and main crop wrinkled; July 20, l or 2 r. early wrin- 
kled. — Parsnip. Apr. 15, 2 to 4 r. — Pepper, May 20, 6 to 18 
plants.— Radish, 15 to 25 ft. every week or ten days as a mark- 
ing crop or an inter-crop when other vegetables arc sown or 
planted. — Spinach, .Apr. i, i r. long standing; May i, i r. 
New Zealand. — Squash. May lO, 4 to 6 h. summer sorts; May 
20, 5 to 10 h. winter (if space is limited, bush varieties may 
be used.) — Tomato. May 15, 6 early, 12 main crop; July i, 
6 to 12 for late fall, pickling, and ripening in frames. — Turnip, 
Apr. I, J to I r. early, J to I r. main; May 15, J to i r. main; 
July 20, I to 5 r. for fall and winter. — Watermelon, May 15, 
2 to 4 h. early, 3 to 6 h. late. 
I he dates here given are approximate, and 
the amounts may be varied to suit conditions 
and taste. But remember that succession 
*tlantings are just as essential to the success 
if your garden as the first plantings, and in 
making out your plan provide for them just 
as carefully. The number of plantings sug- 
gested above is about the minimum with 
which a continuous supply may be main- 
tained. 
HOW TO GROUP THE CROPS 
' I 'HESE plants require only part of the 
season to mature, and can be removed 
m time to be followed by others: early beans, 
beets, cabbage, cauliflower, carrot, kohl- 
rabi, lettuce, onion sets, peas, radish, summer 
squash, and turnip. 
Fall and winter crops, which may be 
planted where early crops have been removed, 
include: beans, beets, cabbage, cauliflower, 
celery, cucumber, endive, leek, lettuce, late 
sweet corn, peas, radish, spinach, and turnip. 
I he crops that take a whole season, or 
nearly all of it, to mature, are pole-beans, 
cucumber, egg-plant, sweet corn, musk melon, 
onion, oyster plant, parsnip, pumpkin, winter 
squash, tomato, and watermelon. It is 
therefore well to keep these things together 
m one or two sections in the garden, so they 
will not interfere with companion and suc- 
cession plantings. 
GETTING A LE.AD ON THE NEIGHBORS 
FEW gardeners fully realize how many 
^ things may be put into the garden at 
the opening of the season nearly half grown 
— if they have been planned for, and are ready. 
I'o get the full benefit of this ready-made 
garden business, the plants, even cabbages 
and lettuce, should be grown in individual 
paper pots or dirt bands: arrange for them in 
your garden plan NOW. By starting the 
plants in the greenhouse or frames — or (if 
you lack both), by ordering them in advance 
from your local plantsman — all of the follomng 
can be had well started by the time you could 
plant the corresponding seed outdoors: beets, 
pole beans, pole limas, Brussels sprouts, 
cabbage, cauliflower, celerjq corn, cucumber, 
egg-plant, koKl rabi, leek, lettuce, melons, 
okra, onions, parsley, pepper, potato, squash, 
Swiss chard, tomato, and watermelon. See 
how many of these you can surprise the 
neighbors with this year! 
A WORD ABOUT VARIETIES 
you begin to fill the details in 
the first rough sketch of your garden 
plan, you will naturally begin to think of 
varieties. Make your selections by type, 
rather than by names. This method is de- 
pendable; whereas you are likely to be led 
astray by mere catalogue names. When you 
try new things, be certain that they are 
not only good of their kind, but that they are 
of the kind you want for the particular purpose 
in hand. By far the best way is never to 
substitute any new variety for one you have 
used, even if the latter has not been wholly 
satisfactory, until you have tried out the 
new kind at least one season on a small scale, 
and under the same conditions. 
SEEDS AND VIT.ALITY 
' 1 'EST all old seeds at once, so you will 
know definitely what is good and what 
isn’t by the time you are ready to send in 
your seed order. It will take only a few days 
now to tiy’ them out. If you can, by far, 
the best way is to test the seeds by actually 
planting them in soil. Take a seed flat, 
or pan, prepare it just as you would for sow- 
ing seed, give it the best conditions possible, 
and carefully label each test, marking date, 
number of seed tried, and letter or number 
indicating the packet they are from. This 
will give you a clear idea of what to expect 
when the seed is used. 
If you can’t use a soil test, you can at least 
PLANT THIS MONTH 
Vegetables; for groii'ing under glass'. Succes- 
sion sowings of beiis. b^ts, carrots, cauliflower, 
radish, and spinach. Cucumbers, melons, and to- 
matoes, for transplanting later. 
For forcing indoors roots of asparagus, rhubarb, 
sea kale, and Witloof chicory. 
For outdoors: cabbage, beets, and lettuce, for 
extra early plants, sow in heat toward the end of 
the month. 
Flowers; for next fall and winter: from seed, 
Abutilon, Asparagus, Ardisia, Begonia. Cyclamen. 
Cineraria, Dracaena, Fuchsia, Grevillea, Gloxinia, 
Primula, Smilax, Planum (Jerusalem cherry). 
From cuttings, carnations, chrysanthemums, cro- 
tons, etc. 
For spring plants: from seed,, for extra early 
plants. Pansies. Begonias, English Daisies, etc. 
From cuttings: Geraniums, Begonias, Heliotrope, 
Paris Daisies, etc. 
from the dealer or grower,: new and expensive varie- 
ties in small plants (two or three inch pots), for 
growing on. 
Bulbs; for late spring flowers under glass: Dutch 
and Cape bulbs for forcing: Lily-of-the-valley 
(pips); Gladiolus. Oxalis; freesias. 
Trees: If ground is not frozen too hard, move and 
plant large trees by digging around them gradually, 
allowing the root-ball to freeze hard. 
DO THIS MONTH 
Send for catalogues. 
Look oner all tools and equipment. 
Examine and test any old seeds. 
Get ready materials and equipments to start seeds. 
Overhaul and repot stock plants, to get good ma- 
terial for cuttings ready. 
Order manure for hot-beds to be made next month 
Make definite plans for this seasons’ gardens and 
planting. 
Read Carefully the text and the “ads.” in this 
copy of Garden Magazine, to make sure you get 
your money’s worth of good garden pointers. 
make a “blotter test,” and while that will 
not be as valuable as the former, it will at 
least give you a line on what to expect. Take 
a saucer or a plate, and on this place a sheet 
or two of thick blotting paper. Keep this 
saturated enough so that it is constantly 
moist, but not flooded, and count out the 
seeds, twenty-five to a hundred and label 
carefully. Place where the temperature is 
•suitable for the kind or kinds being tested, 
keep covered, preferably by a glass top, and 
note results carefully. 
ARE YOUR TOOLS FIT? 
W HILE you will have plenty of work 
for your indoor garden hours in study- 
ing catalogues and making out your plans 
and orders this month, there is no dearth 
of things to occupy the limited number of 
hours of daylight you can get for outside. 
Go over all your tools and equipment. When 
I say “go over,” I don’t mean merely investi- 
gate to see if they are on hand and in place. 
Use them, or see that they are in usable order. 
If there are attachments, and nuts and bolts 
and screws, which must be changed in actual 
use, tiy them now, making the actual changes, 
and leaving nothing to supposition: other- 
wise you are likely to find, in the middle of a 
busy April afternoon, that some little thing 
that had looked all right won’t work or is 
partly missing, and your plans are all thrown 
out of gear. This work is important enough 
to pay for several afternoons work, if necessary 
Take one tool at a time, and put it in A No. 
I condition. Often a tool that has been 
used for several seasons has worn considerably 
at one or two points, causing the entire ma- 
chine to do poor work, or to be much more 
difficult to operate, when the expenditure of a 
few cents for repair parts would make it 
practically as good as new. 
RE.ADY FOR THE START? 
13 Y THE end of this month you should 
have your preparations for starting 
seeds well along. This includes, first of all. 
of course, a suitable place in which to start 
the plants. Of course, a hot-bed is desir- 
able, but even without it, one may get good 
results. The little seedlings necessary to 
produce enough plants for a small garden 
need occupy but three or four square feet 
of room during the first few weeks of their 
existence; and by that time room in the 
frames will be available. Fix an old table or 
frame to hold three or four flats, or half a 
dozen seed-pans; if this is movable, so it 
can be set over a register or near a radiator 
until the seeds are up, and then moved to a 
sunny window, so much the better. Or two 
medium size packing boxes on end, with inch 
boards across, will do for a temporary “ bench.” 
For seed boxes, or flats, saw a cracker box 
or a soap box into two-inch sections. Put 
the bottoms on so that they are not quite 
tight, leaving drainage for surplus water. 
Get a bushel of soil from some greenhouse 
man or market gardener; or if you have any 
on hand yourself that isn’t frozen solid, sift 
it and mix it, about half and half, with leaf- 
mould or “humus.” Order labels, and paper 
pots or dirt bands. Of the latter get three 
sizes, two, three, and four inch, d hey “come 
in the flat,” and can be folded up quickly, 
and when in use they are held in place in a 
plant box or flat, so that a number of plants 
may be handled at a time. 
“ STOCK ” PLANTS 
CTOCK plants of bedding or flowering 
^ plants, such as Geraniums, Heliotrope, 
and Begonias, either in the house or the green- 
house, should be “renovated” now by re- 
potting, or liquid manuring, giving more 
water and light, and stimulating into more 
active growth. If there is much old, hard 
wood, they may be pruned back severely to 
advantage. All this serves to stimulate 
new growth, which will make the best of 
material for cuttings in a few weeks. Weak 
or spindling growth however, is next to 
worthless; so be sure that the plants for this 
purpose have abundance of sunshine and 
fresh air, and plenty of room, so that short- 
jointed, firm cuttings may be procured. 
Order well in advance any manure you may 
need next month for making your hot-beds. 
It should be horse manure, comparatively 
free from bedding, and preferably from horses 
in active use, getting plenty of grain. 
