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The Carden Magazine 
Before 
Starting 
D URING this month all 
planting of hardy shrubs, 
trees, flowers and vegetable 
seeds may be made. The 
first step to successful planting is 
making the soil right. The elements 
of fertility must be there 
before the plants them- 
selves are set out. 
Most people realize the propriety 
of this for vegetables and other crops 
that are treated as annuals, but may overlook the greater necessity 
of putting in a proper foundation for permanent crops, such as 
shrubbery borders, hedges, trees, etc., generally, and even the her- 
baceous border, all of which things are now calling for attention. 
A poor soil is the cause of more failures than all other likely causes 
combined. And remember that a poor start results in a weak 
growth which renders the plant susceptible to every bug and disease. 
Most soils need humus. This is retentive of moisture. Sandy 
soils particularly respond to manure, heavier soils will produce 
good results with commercial fertilizers. A clayey or heavy loam 
soil will sometimes sour; lime will correct this condition, besides 
being a mild fertilizer. 
T HE garden should be so laid out that on one side of it will be 
all the crops that are to be in the garden the entire summer, 
such as: Swiss chard, chicory, cardoon, artichoke, celeriac, parsley, 
parsnip, salsify, and New Zealand spinach. These can all be sown 
with the exception of the artichoke, of which you want 
to get plants. Space should also be left for tomato, egg- 
plant, and peppers, as they are all-season crops. 
The following can also be sown at this time: beets, carrots, 
endive, kohlrabi, leek, lettuce, peas, radish, spinach, and turnip. 
All root crops are liable to scab or the attack of maggots, and 
these and other underground pests also attack onions and leeks. 
When sowing any of these vegetables, soot, lime, and tobacco 
worked into the soil are excellent preventives. I prefer the soot; 
use about a quart to twenty feet of drill, and work it into the soil 
when sowing the seed. 
A garden should have a herb border — at least a small place 
should be set aside for this class of plants. 
T HIS is an excellent time to set out a fruit border; have in it 
surely raspberries, blackberries, currants, and gooseberries. 
How about a row or two of trained fruit trees along the garden 
walk? This is an English idea and is becoming more popular 
Am n the than the usual flower border. 
Fruits 8 Uncover the strawberry bed and dig under the 
mulch. A good coating of lime is beneficial; dig 
this right under with the mulch. New strawberry beds can also 
be set out at this time. 
Don’t neglect to examine your fruit trees for scale; spray all 
that have scale, and any that you are in doubt about. 
Don’t be afraid to cut hard any newly set, young fruit trees. 
They require heavy pruning to form a strong growth, which will 
THE MONTH'S 
REMINDER 
COMPILED WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE HOME GARDEN, FROM 
THE TEN YEARS’ DIARIES OF A PRACTICAL EXPERT GARDENER 
For reckoning dates, the latitude of New York City is generally taken as a 
standard. In applying the directions to other localities, allow six 
days’ difference for every hundred miles of latitude 
Seeds 
To Sow 
Tools 
act as the foundation of the plant. 
Fruit trees that have reached the 
fruiting stage do not require heavy 
spring pruning; some of these make 
interior shoots which should be re- 
moved which, with and an occasional 
trimming back of the bearing shoots, 
will be all the attention necessary. 
How about covering the old iron 
fence with trained fruit trees? They 
are attractive and also profitable. 
Why not set out a small orchard, properly planted, etc., and 
from it you should get returns from three years on. 
If you did not sow any cover crops last fall, attend to it right 
away. Do not put it off; do it just as soon as the ground can be 
worked. Rye, corn, peas, crimson clover and vetch are the best 
cover crop for orchards, for plowing under later on. 
Look out for the currant worm; have some arsenate of lead to 
spray on the foliage as soon as it appears. Gooseberries are also 
attacked by this worm. 
A RE the garden tools ready? Some of the essentials are a 
measuring stick, plant labels, a garden line, a dibbler, a hoe, 
iron and wooden rakes, digging and manure forks, a spade, an 
asparagus knife, a trowel, a cultivating tool or Dutch hoe, some 
raffia for tying, a watering can, a wheelbarrow and a 
spray pump. This is a complete outfit, and the cost for 
everything will not exceed $15. 
T HE more hardy vegetable plants that were started early 
(cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, etc.) can be hardened off in a 
coldframe early this month, as any of these vegetables can be 
planted out some time after the middle of the month. Lime the 
soil for cabbage and cauliflower as this is the 
best preventive against club root. 
If you have neither greenhouse nor frame for 
raising early vegetable seedlings, it is better to purchase these 
plants from some one who has started them early, rather than wait 
for seed sown now. Make arrangements early for such plants as 
cabbage, cauliflower, celery, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, and 
French globe artichoke. 
F THE weather is near normal, sowings can be made of the more 
hardy vegetables as early in the month as the soil gets in 
proper condition to be worked. Lay out all rows with a measuring 
stick and get them straight; use a line when making a drill for the 
seeds. Label everything you sow, giving the date, 
from whom purchased, etc., interesting data for 
other seasons. 
Are you going to make any tomato trellises for your garden? 
The customary triangular affair is satisfactory and very easy to 
make. Get bean poles ready, if you haven’t already done so. 
Don’t try to make yourself believe the bush limas are just as good 
for they are not. They are, of course, much earlier and are a 
necessity in every garden, but the pole bean is just as necessary. 
The ground should be prepared and the first planting of potatoes 
Early Started 
Plants 
Vegetable 
Garden 
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