THE MONTH’S REMINDER 
SOWING AND PLANTING CONTINUED 
ARL'l this month finish up planting or 
transplanting held over from April. 
Early vegetables, except those that 
are tender to frost, must be started at 
once, and frost will now only be likely^ in the 
Northern states. Succession sowings of rad- 
ishes, lettuce, beets, carrots, and other short 
season vegetables can be made now. Allow a 
week to ten days after the first planting for 
most of these. Let “ short rows often” be your 
rule. 
May is also the flower planting month for 
both seeds and plants. Here, too, with the 
hardy and semi-hardv sorts, early planting 
is one of the big factors in getting results. 
Get the ground ready as soon as possible to 
give it all a chance to thoroughly warm up 
before planting. Do not plant too deep ! 
Most flower seeds are very small, and need 
barely be covered. 1 he use of humus in 
covering them generally insures satisfactory 
results. Press humus down lightly. 
SUMMER BULBS IN RICH SOIL 
C UCCESS with summer-flowering bulbs 
depends largely upon their getting a 
quick, strong start. Most of them are ten- 
der and should not be set out until the ground 
is warm. They prefer rich, mellow soil. 
1 uberous-rooted Begonias, Caladiums, Cal- 
las, and other particularly tender bulbs are 
greatly benefited by the use of individual 
forcers. In dividing Dahlia clumps, be sure 
to have an “eye” remain with each root. 
Dahlias do not send out sprouts like a potato, 
hence do not look for any when planting. 
PLANT A “SUCCESSION CROP” OF GLADIOLUS 
' I 'HESE sure and beautiful flowers, which 
have forged to the front rank of general 
popularity within the last few years have but 
one drawback, you cannot get flowers right 
up to frost from one early planting. For suc- 
cession of bloom, succession of planting is 
essential. Planting at different depths, put- 
ting the larger ones down four or five inches, 
will give a second lot of blooms when those 
from the preceding month’s planting are 
going by. 
NEXT WINTER’S WINDOW GARDEN 
TN 1 HE bustle of getting the summer plants 
A started, do not overlook the present op- 
portunity of starting plants for blooming 
indoors next winter. Set aside a few square 
feet of ground for the starting of Heliotrope, 
Fuchsias, everblooming Carnations, Silk Oak 
(Grevilla robusta) and other good house 
plants of similar character. All these grow 
readily from seed, will provide a plentiful 
supply of pot plants little later on, and prove 
ideal for bloom in the winter window garden. 
PLANT NOW FOR ROSES NEXT JUNE 
I 1 IS not too late to have a Rose garden this 
A year! If you act promptly, you can enjoy 
an abundance of blooms next month! Good 
strong, field-grown plants, potted during 
last fall and winter, are obtainable at reason- 
able prices. 1 hey will be in full growth when 
you get them, and ready to go right ahead and 
flower freely this season if transplanted with 
reasonable care. One of the great advantages 
of using this style of plants is that it practically 
receives no check in transplanting. In planting 
grafted or budded Roses, be sure to get the 
“collar or “union,” where the bud was joined 
to the stock, two inches below the soil, and be 
very sure to firmly press the soil about the 
roots. ’I ou can use your feet to help pack the 
soil without any danger of getting it too com- 
pact. After planting, rake surface loose and 
fine, to leave a soil mulch about the plant. 
DO THIS MONTH 
Finish planting, vegetables — succession crops, and 
late or tender things. 
Make a second planting of Gladiolus. 
Make ground ready for flower seeds and plant 
as soon as conditions are favorable. 
Plant summer bulbs as soon as soil is warm enough. 
Plant potted Roses for bloom this year. 
*[ Promptly thin out all vegetable and flower seed- 
lings. 
^1 Get all early weeding done on time. 
*[ Put in plant supports for vegetables and flowers. 
•[Make ready for warfare on garden pests and dis- 
eases. 
* T Attend promptly and thoroughly to spraying 
of all fruit trees. 
*[ Give plenty of air and water to all plants under 
1 glass. 
PLANT THIS MONTH 
Vegetables Under Glass; for forcing: beans, cucum- 
bers, melons (seed); tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, 
melons (plants). 
For transplanting later: pole and lima beans, 
corn, cucumbers, muskmelons, watermelons, sum- 
mer and winter squash (in paper pots). 
Vegetables Out-of-doors; succession plantings: 
beets, parrots, lettuce, peas, radish, spinach, turnips, 
and also late potatoes. 
After danger of frost: first plantings; beans, sweet 
corn, cucumbers, martynia, melons, okra, pump- 
kins, from seed; and egg plants, peppers, and 
melons, and other plants started in paper pots, 
from the frames. 
In Seedbed; for transplanting later : cabbage, cauli- 
flower, brussel sprouts, late celery, leeks, and to- 
matoes for late crops to mature just before frost. 
For Plants; for transplanting in the fall or for forc- 
ing: French artichoke, asparagus, rhubarb, sea 
kale, witloof chicory. 
Flowers; under glass if not already started: Be- 
gonias, Daisies. Fuchsias, Geraniums, Lantana, 
Lemon Verbenas, Petunias, Streptocarpus, and 
others for next winter's bloom. 
Out-of-doors: bedding plants such as: Geraniums, 
Ageratum, Alternanthera, Abutilon, Alyssum, 
Asters, Lobelias, Petunias, Phlox Drummondi, 
Verbenas, Vincas, Japanese Ivy, German Ivy. 
After danger from late frost: Begonias, Coleus, 
Heliotrope, Salvias, Coboea scandens, Moonflower, 
and Kudzu vine. 
From seed: to remain where sown: annuals and 
biennials; the above, and also: Balsams, Calden- 
dula. Candytuft, Castor beans, Celosia, Coxcomb, 
variegated corn. Cosmos, Pinks, Gypsophila (re- 
peated sowings), Annual Larkspur, Marigold, 
Mignonette, Morning glory. Nasturtiums, Poppies, 
Salpiglossis, Annual Sunflowers, Zinnias, etc. 
Bulbs Outdoors; Bulbous Anemones, Gladiolus, 
Zephyranthes; and (after danger from frost): 
Tuberous Begonias, Caladiums, Callas, Cannas, 
Dahlias, Tuberoses, Madeira vine and Cinnamon 
vine, etc. 
Shrubs Out-of-Doors; Potted Roses; and early in 
the month, all ornamental shrubs as mentioned in 
last month’s Reminder. 
Fruits Out-of-Doors; if planted at once: fruits and 
small fruits mentioned in last month’s Reminder. 
SPARE THE PLANTS AND SPOIL THE CROP 
/"''’ROWDF.D rows often result in inferior 
1 1 vegetables. This is just as true of 
corn, peas, and beans as of root crops. Do 
your thinning early — the earlier the better. 
Every day’s delay after the plants have 
made a good start, not only adds to the work 
but also to the injury or the set-back which 
the remaining plants sustain. I he exception 
to this rule is onions, which are likely to be 
thinned out more or less by the attack’ of the 
onion root maggot. Even these, however, 
should be thinned before they get larger 
224 
than 5 inches tall. Onions will stand over- 
crowding better than almost any other vege- 
table, but careful records prove that even 
onions, judiciously thinned, produce con- 
siderably increased yields. 
SPEEDING UP EARLY GROWTH 
TL ST after thinning or after the second 
cultivating will be a good time to give a 
top dressing of nitrate of soda to root crops, 
and other vegetables which are well enough 
established to be benefited. It always pays 
to pulverize and sift the nitrate before apply- 
ing it. If it is coarse and lumpy, it is not 
only more difficult to apply, but a good deal 
will be wasted, and if some of the larger 
lumps fall near the plants it is apt to injure 
them. 
THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST WEEDS 
r)ON’T let the weeds get ahead of you. 
Even if you have to get some one to 
help out for a few days, it will be much cheaper 
in the long run — for weeds not only multiply, 
but they grow while you wait. Hoeing or 
weeding that could be done in thirty minutes 
to-day may require two hours by next week! 
Keep your wheelhoe going so that no weeds 
will ever have a chance to start between the 
rows. If you go over the ground once a week, 
you can wheelhoe as rapidly as you can walk. 
This will reduce the work of hand weeding 
and hoeing to a minimum. 
Another often neglected matter is the timely 
providing of supports for such plants as tall 
peas, Sweet Peas, beans, tomatoes, annuals, 
and perennial flowers. Any that may need 
support should be taken care of before they 
ha\ 4 e begun to climb or to lean over. If they 
once go down, it is next to impossible to 
handle them satisfactorily. I he best time 
to put in supports is when planting. 
A CRITICAL TIME FOR THE FRUIT CROP 
tjT ARLY spraying saves the first crop. A 
general spraying is due “before the buds 
open.” Another “after the petals fall and 
before calyx closes.” Get ready well in ad- 
vance. A few warm days may open out the 
foliage, begin to swell the buds, so quickly 
that you will be taken off your guard. Where 
you have a number of different varieties, 
spraying will have to be something of a 
perpetual performance every two or three 
weeks, as by the time the later things would 
be ready, it will be too late to catch the early 
ones just right, and vice versa. 1 Ins spray- 
ing means not a little extra work, but you 
cannot be sure of good fruit without it. 
BE PREPARED FOR GARDEN PESTS 
T'VDN’T repeat last year’s experience, and 
wait until the enemy is within your 
(garden) gates before you get ready to fight. 
You may find yourself needing some special 
things later, but by all means have ready in 
advance, a general purpose spray, such as 
combined arsenate of lead, bordeaux mixture, 
and nicotine sulphate, which is effective against 
both chewing and sucking insects and fungus 
diseases. Spraying in the vegetable garden 
is not a difficult thing if done systematically; 
it is a hundred times more work to dislodge 
the enemy when he is once established than 
to keep him out in the first place. 
