28 
T H E G A R D E N M A GAZIN E 
February, 1915 
available cuttings should be taken and potted now and they can 
be topped again next month. 
D ECORATIVE plants of various kinds that have lost their 
lower leaves and are unsightly, or which you desire to propa- 
gate, should be attended to at this time. It is very interesting 
work. A cut is made about half way through where the new plant 
T in Tall * s f ^ es * re< ^ to start from; the stem, this is bound 
Plants around with sphagnum moss and raffia. A 
flower pot which has been cut in two lengthwise 
is placed around the moss so that when the roots start out they 
will be in the flower pot. Fill the pot with good soil. The cut 
must be kept well moistened until the plant is well rooted in the 
pot. The plant of course, must be thoroughly staked or the top 
will break off; after it is well rooted the stem can be sawed off 
just below the flower pot. Rubber plants, dracaena, aralia, 
dieffenbachia or anything of a like nature can be handled this way. 
W HILE the ground is still frozen have the manure spread over 
both flower and vegetable gardens. The usual procedure 
is to leave this until you actually must have it and then the ground 
is soft and paths and borders get cut up. Late this month you 
Garden and can s ^ art pruning fruit trees. This refers to 
Grounds young stock that requires spring pruning or the 
removal of all dead or superfluous wood on the trees 
that are bearing. 
C ANE fruits such as blackberries, and raspberries can be gone 
over and pruned back late this month. 
Grapes that were not pruned last fall should be attended to at 
p . once. The grape fruits on new growth from last 
Fruits y ears canes. Any wood older than that is useless. 
This is a good time to give a good cleaning to 
the ornamental trees and shrubs on your place. All the foliage 
plants can be pruned now with the exception of the maple. 
Flowering shrubs that flower on new wood should be pruned now, 
such as hydrangea, roses, Bumalda type of spirea, also all young 
stock that is wanted to produce growth rather than flower. 
M AKE a resolution this year, at all events, if you have never 
done it before, to do all your gardening on definite plans. 
It will pay finally to carefully plan out on paper even the very 
smallest of Gardens. 
The various blue prints given elsewhere in this issue will help 
Garden y° u to U P ideas that will suit your particular 
Plans requirements. You may be able to adopt them bodily 
but more likely you will be able to use only a small 
portion of some one or other of the plans, perhaps modifying that 
somewhat to suit. 
There is an interesting little toy which has miniature gardens 
and standup plants, movable blocks and cutouts of trees, shrubs, 
etc., with model houses. These are instructive in helping you 
to group and visualize the planting ideas. 
Growing Exhibition Quality Sweet Peas 
• By William Gray, S 
THE WINNER OF THE CHALLENGE CUP AND OF “THE GARDEN MAGAZINE” ACHIEVEMENT 
MEDAL AT THE SWEET PEA SOCIETY’S SHOW LAST YEAR TELLS SIMPLY AND PLAINLY 
JUST HOW HE PRODUCED THE SENSATIONAL FLOWERS THAT WON THOSE HIGH HONORS 
S OW seed the early part of Febru- 
ary or even in the latter part of 
January — the flowers shown by 
me and which won the challenge 
cup at the Sweet Pea Society’s show in 
New York last year were from seed sown 
January 25th. I sow the seed in pans or 
flats in a light compost com- 
posed of loam, leafmold and 
sand making the compost quite 
moist so that very little water- 
ing is neccessary until after 
germination has taken place. 
The pans or flats are plac- 
ed in a frame which has 
a hot water pipe running 
around it, keeping the tem- 
perature about 40 degrees 
on cold nights. As soon 
as the seedlings have 
pushed above ground and 
before the tap-root gets to be 
more than an inch to an inch 
and a half long the seedlings 
are dibbled off into 35-inch 
pots, one plant in a pot, in a 
much richer compost than that 
in which they were sown, com- 
posed of two parts loam, one 
part well- rotted cow manure 
with the addition of a sprink- 
ling of bone meal. A piece of 
crock is placed in the bottom 
of each pot to provide drainage 
and prevent the tap-root from coming 
through. 
The pots are placed in the frame and 
carefully watered for a week or so. As they 
become established in the pots watering can 
be done freely and air given gener- 
ously on all favorable occasions, 
and as the season advances the sash is re- 
moved entirely during mild spells, the aim 
being to have the plants as hardy as possible 
to insure early planting to the open ground. 
Codfiling is fatal to success as it results in 
prematurely starting the 
i„~ *■ base growths and making the 
plants weak. A little heat, 
however, is beneficial in the 
first stage to assist germin- 
ation, especially in the case 
of white seeded varieties 
which are inclined to rot 
under too damp and cold 
conditions. 
If you do not happen 
to have a heated frame 
or a greenhouse, you 
could make up a mild 
hotbed to carry the 
plants through this stage; but, 
once the seedlings are potted 
off, a well protected coldframe 
from which frost can be ex- 
cluded is ideal. Even should 
frost penetrate on a cold night 
no harm will result if the young 
plants are kept shaded until 
thawed out. 
I prefer the method of sow- 
ing in pans to sowing directly 
in the pot, as in the subsequent 
handling all inferior looking 
seedlings can be discarded and 
Mr. Gray’s champion display of out-door grown sweet peas shown at the New York 
Exhibition of the American Sweet Pea Society. New York, 1914. The flowers are exception- 
ally large and the stems long and stout. 
