July, 1917 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
315 
★ There’s no question that the var- 
ious irrigation systems are wonderful 
adjuncts in gardening. No home garden 
should be without one. But where one 
has not been installed the next best thing 
is the garden rake! With this the surface 
can easily be kept loose so that moisture 
cannot escape as rapidly from the soil as if 
there were a crust. It 
is important to go over 
the ground every week 
to maintain this dust 
mulch and to break up 
every crust that re- 
sults from each rain 
shower if enough to puddle 
the immediate surface. 
The time to do this latter 
work is just when the sur- 
face begins to lose that 
wet condition which if 
handled would result in 
pasty lumps that would 
bake hard in the sun. 
★ Lawn clippings are 
fine for making a mulch 
in the garden. Never 
waste these by putting 
them on the compost pile. 
They are excellent for 
scattering between fhe 
rows of any of the taller 
growing vegetables, espec- 
ially those that cannot be 
The efficient way of conveniently worked with 
growing tomatoes: three wheelhoes and the garden 
stalks trained to a stake 
★ You want lots of cucumbers and 
summer squashes, eh? Try this method: As 
soon as each fruit has reached ediblesize, gather 
it. If you can’t use it give it away or even 
throw it away! At any rate, don’t let it ripen 
— unless you want the vine to stop producing 
because of itsmaking seed. Yousee,theplant’s 
one aim is seed production. So, as soon as it 
has made a good advance toward maturing a 
fruit it draws all its energies from other flowers 
and little fruits which may drop off or if they 
do continue to develop they are either late or 
He Also Fights Who Helps a Fighter 
Fight ” — Herbert C. Hoover 
inferior. This same rule would apply to many 
other plants — eggplant, pepper, okra, etc. — 
w’hose fruits we use in the immature state, but 
usually these plants are killed by frost in 
northern parts of the country. 
★ Figure ahead! The middle of July will 
see the early sowings of beets, lettuce, radish, 
onions from sets, spinach and many other 
extra early “short season” crops exhausted. 
Therefore the first part of July is the proper 
time to provide succession crops for the space 
that will become available. Sow between the 
“old” rows, or set out additional plants. In 
the case of rows which are nearly exhausted, 
it pays well to pull up the old plants and re- 
plant the rows at once to vegetables not akin 
to those which grew in the same row before. 
★ There’s no question about it! The 
wheelhoes with their various attachments 
do reduce the amount of work necessary in the 
garden. With the wrench furnished with each 
machine a few minutes will suffice to make any 
adjustments necessary to change the style of 
work from raking the centres between rows to 
cutting on each sideof a rowwhich the machine 
is made to straddle. By using the machine 
each week the work is kept light and effective 
all season, or at least as long as any cultivation 
is necessary or desirable. The work thus 
accomplished will be greater in extent and 
superior in quality to that done by hand with 
ordinary garden rakes and hoes, necessary 
though these are. 
★ Liquid manure! Certainly it is good — 
provided it is properly made and applied. It 
is especially useful in growing all the leafy 
crops — lettuce, swiss chard, collards, cress, 
spinach, etc., in warm weather. One of the 
best ways to make it is to use a leaky barrel 
placed on a slightly tilted platform so the liquid 
that trickles through may flow into a tub or a 
big crock placed to catch it. The manure 
placed in the barrel should be packed 
firmly around the sides, best left rather 
loose in the centre so the water may 
work down and out from centre to bottom 
and sides. Well rotted manure is better 
than fresh for this purpose. The first 
leachings are sure to be stronger than later 
ones, so may be diluted more or less. In ap- 
plying the liquid the best 
plan is to fill small holes, 
say, four to six inches 
deep several inches away 
from the stems of the 
plants. Sprinkling the 
surface is not a desirable 
way because it will form 
a crust. 
★ Now that the 
STRAWBERRIES HAVE 
done fruiting it’s time 
to plan for next year’s 
crop. If the bed is two or 
more years old and fail- 
ing perhaps, better dig it up and plant celery, 
cabbage or some other late crop. If still in 
good condition mow off the tops, let dry a day 
or two, and then set fire to the mulch pre- 
viously lifted and loosened. It is well to start 
at the windward side or corner so as to have 
the thing done quickly. The dreary look of 
the burnt bed will disappear in a week or two 
and beautiful, lush green leaves will push up. 
The advantages of this plan are to kill insects 
and diseases and to give the plants a fresh clean 
start. Of course, a cultivation and replace- 
ment of the old mulch with a new one are 
desirable. 
The efficient utility garden may be just as attractive to the eye as is the flower border, and with a little forethought can be made a decorative feature 
