Book of Gardens 
105 
May _ THE GARDENER’S CALENDAR Fifth Month 
Work the fertilizer 
into the ground 
around the roses 
with a steel rake 
Immediately after 
transplanting, water 
copiously to settle 
the soil 
The burned tips of 
the ornamental 
evergreens can be 
cut out with shears 
SUNDAY 
MONDAY 
TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY 
What a garden 
of surprise 
Out beyond my 
window lies! 
Fancy, when the 
night is there. 
Gentle irtes with 
drooping hair 
Hocking, rock¬ 
ing cradle- 
Little 'stars with 
yellow eyes! 
-George Cronyn 
This calendar of the gardener’s labors is 
aimed as a reminder for undertaking all his 
tasks in season. It is fitted to the latitude 
of the Middle States, but its service should 
be available for the whole country if it be 
remembered that for every one hundred 
miles north or south there is a difference of 
from five to seven days later or earlier in 
performing garden operations. The dates 
given are, of course, for an average season. 
4. It is un¬ 
wise to post- 
IJ o n e potato 
planting any 
longer if you 
want good re¬ 
sults. Potatoes 
are a cool crop 
and late plant¬ 
ings of them, 
however well 
cared for, at e 
rarely success- 
f u 1. U s e a 
fertilizer with 
1 % potash. 
5. Most ol 
the more com¬ 
mon annual 
flowers may be 
started out of 
doors now. 
Have the soil 
in which they 
are to go well 
prepared far 
enough ahead 
so that it will 
pulverize when 
being woiked. 
Sow the seed 
thinly in drills. 
6 . Tubbed 
plants of all 
kinds used 
around the 
grounds for 
decorationmay 
be taken irom 
their winter 
quarters and 
moved into 
place now. To 
growth, these 
plants should 
be given liquid 
manure. 
7. All the 
summer flower¬ 
ing bulbous 
plants may be 
set out now. 
To assure a 
continuous 
supply of gladi¬ 
oli, they can be 
' planted at bi¬ 
weekly inter¬ 
vals. The rule 
is to plant all 
bulbs twice as 
deep as their 
diameter. 
11 . Do not 
delay cutting 
the lawn until 
the grass is so 
long as to ne¬ 
cessitate rak- 
1 n g. Good 
lawns are the 
result of liberal 
fertilization 
and frequent 
mowing, the 
latter in some 
cases twice a 
week in grow¬ 
ing weather. 
12. The edges 
of walks, flow¬ 
er beds, shrub¬ 
bery borders, 
etc., should be 
trimmed clean¬ 
ly and neatly 
with a turfing 
iron every few 
weeks through 
the season. 
This finishing 
touch is neces¬ 
sary to com- 
plete your 
grounds. 
13. Now that 
the garden 
work is in full 
swing, invite 
yourself to get 
acquainted 
with the use of 
a wheel - hoe. 
These imple¬ 
ments do the 
necessary work 
of cultivation 
more efficiently 
and with less 
effort than any 
other. 
14. Weed 
killers are very 
necessary in 
stone gutters, 
blue stone 
walks and 
drives, and 
other places 
where it is un¬ 
wise to use a 
hoe. One ap¬ 
plication now 
will destroy all 
growth for the 
season. 
18. Just be¬ 
fore the general 
llowering sea¬ 
son begins in 
the perennial 
garden it is a 
good practice 
to top - dress 
the beds with 
bone meal or 
other concen¬ 
trated fertil¬ 
izer. Scatter it 
on the surface 
and rake it into 
the soil. 
19. Leaf 
beetles of vari¬ 
ous types will 
soon be at their 
destructive 
work. Spray 
the currant 
bushes, goose¬ 
berries, elms, 
cherries, etc., 
using arsenate 
of lead as the 
most adhesive 
of any of the 
regular poison 
sprays. 
20. Leaf eat¬ 
ing insects will 
also soon be 
working in the 
garden. For 
them a poison 
spray on the 
foliage is the 
thing to use. 
Cover the 
squash vines 
with nets, as il- 
lustrated on 
this page, to 
protect from 
squash bugs. 
21. It is un¬ 
wise to post¬ 
pone the sow¬ 
ing of farm 
crops any 
longer. Man¬ 
gels, sugar 
beets, carrots, 
turnips, etc., 
should be 
sown. As size is 
the important 
facto r with 
these crops, 
early sowing 
is needed. 
25. Dahlias 
may be plant ed 
out now. Make 
deep holes for 
them, setting 
the plants sev¬ 
eral inches be¬ 
low the grade 
to allow for 
filling in the 
soil as they 
grow. Use a 
little sheep 
manure or 
bone meal in 
the bottom. 
26. When 
the various 
fruit trees are 
in bloom they 
should be 
sprayed with a 
combination of 
Bordeaux mix¬ 
ture and arsen¬ 
ate of lead. 
This will de¬ 
stroy the vari¬ 
ous insects that 
ruin the fruit, 
catching them 
as they hatch. 
27. Winter 
celery may be 
sown now. 
Make a seed 
bed for it and 
sow broadcast. 
When large 
enough to 
handle, dibble 
the little plants 
off into well 
prepared soil. 
When they are 
4 inches tall 
you can plant 
them out. 
28. If the 
weather ap¬ 
pears settled, 
the bedding 
out of gera¬ 
niums, cannas, 
salvia, coleus 
and other bed- 
plants may 
be started. If 
a delayed cold 
spell should 
come along. 
plantings with 
old sheets. 
THURSDAY 
1. If the 
weather condi¬ 
tions are set¬ 
tled the warm 
vegetable ci ops 
may be sown 
at this time. 
Beans, limas, 
corn, squash, 
pumpkins, 
okra, melons, 
etc., are all 
considered 
warm crops. 
De 
ails 
page 53. 
8 . Crops that 
are more or less 
inactive and 
are not grow¬ 
ing well should 
be stimulated 
with an appli¬ 
cation of ni¬ 
trate of soda 
or some other 
strong fertiliz¬ 
ing element 
used in liquid 
form to bring 
about q u ic k 
results. 
15. Make a 
small seed bed 
for the accom¬ 
modation of 
late cabbage, 
cauliflower, 
kale, Brussels 
sprouts, etc. 
These should 
be sown now. 
Keep the 
young plants 
sepa 
beds until it is 
time to plant 
them out. 
22. Do not 
neglect to keep 
up succession 
sowings in the 
garden, as ad- 
iu this issue 
Corn, beans 
spinach, peas 
radishes, le‘ 
tuce, beet 
carrots, chervil 
cress, kohlrabi 
and turnip are 
all timely. 
29. After 
they have fin¬ 
ished flower¬ 
ing, but not be¬ 
fore, the lilacs, 
syringas, deut- 
zia, forsythia, 
spirea, snow¬ 
ball, pearl bush 
and other early 
f 1 o 
v e r i n 
shrubs should 
be pruned. Cut 
out the old, un- 
FRIDAY 
vings 
must be prop¬ 
erly thinned 
out; plants that 
are unduly 
crowded be¬ 
come thin and 
spindly and 
never develop 
into healthy, 
vigorous speci- 
mens. Thin 
the plants when 
small. 
9. Carna¬ 
tions intended 
for forcing in 
the greenhouse 
- - winter 
can 
be 
planted out in 
the garden. 
Have the 
ground well 
fertilized, keep 
them pinched 
back, and see 
tnat the soil 
between them 
is cultivated. 
next winter 
should be 
planted in tne 
benches now. 
Use a rich, 
heavy soil for 
them, firm the 
beds thorough¬ 
ly after plant¬ 
ing, and top- 
dress occasion¬ 
ally with raw 
bone meal. 
very ordinary. 
Keep the tall 
flowers sup¬ 
ported with in- 
dividual 
stakes, the 
grass edges 
clipped, a n d 
tween the 
potatoes con¬ 
stantly stirred, 
and look out 
for the potato 
beetles. If any 
are in evidence, 
spray with ar¬ 
senate of lead. 
Bordeaux mix¬ 
ture along with 
the lead will 
prevent at¬ 
tacks of blight. 
SATURDAY 
stop sowing 
those crops 
that mature 
quickly,such as 
spinach, peas, 
radishes, let¬ 
tuce, etc. Fre¬ 
quent sowings 
in usable quan¬ 
tities are the 
first step to- 
wai d success. 
It there is any 
surplus it can 
be canned. 
10. Maple 
trees should be 
pruned just as 
the buds aie 
bursting; there 
is no danger of 
their bleeding. 
Any large scars 
which may re¬ 
sult should bo 
painted with 
proper tree 
paint to pre¬ 
serve the wood 
until the cuts 
heal. 
17. A bairel 
oi liquid man¬ 
ure in some 
convenient 
corner of the 
garden will be 
a valuable ac- 
c e s s o r y for 
treating plants 
that are not 
doing well. Al¬ 
ternate appli¬ 
cations ot this 
with solutions 
of nitrate of 
soda. 
24. If the 
weather is dry 
you will be 
troubled with 
the attacks of 
green fly and 
other plant 
lice. Peas, let¬ 
tuce, egg-plant 
and other soft 
foliage plants 
are especially 
susceptible. 
Spr 
ith 
31. Formal 
evergreens and 
hedges should 
now be clipped. 
Hedge shears 
are the best 
tool to prevent 
any voids in 
the trees. 
Branches and 
tips that have 
been burned 
by the sun can 
be removed 
with the prun¬ 
ing shears. 
D ID ye ever stop ter think what a garden’d be like if they warn’t no birds in it? Gosh a’mighty!— 
why it wouldn’t be no garden at all, hardly. I'd hate like thunder ter lose the robins a-huntm 
worms along my paths at sun-up, an’ the thrushes in the afternoon. ’Course, they’s others—song 
sparrers that ye hardly notice ’cept when they’s perched like sentinels on top o the tomato trellis, cr 
mebbe runnin’ ahead of ye between the onion rows when ye’re cultivatin’; an’ wrens that flies oyer 
from their nest in the ol’ box under the piazza roof ter catch currant worms; bluebirds in the spring, 
an’ now an’ then a catbird er brown thrasher, ’specially ’long m the summer. But the thrushes an 
robins is my favorites; they’re the real garden birds—never fergit ter sing a kind o’ cheerful, full- 
hearted mornin’ song from the trees, soon’s they wake up an fore they goes down ter breakfast. 
Pretty good way ter start the day. ringin’. _ 0!i Doc Ummon , 
Good birch brush 
along both sides of 
the pea row is the 
best kind of support 
Young hedges can 
be quickly trimmed 
with a sharp sickle 
instead of shears 
Succession planting 
should be practiced 
so as to maintain 
the vegetable supply 
The tall flowers like dahlias and hollyhocks 
need individual stake supports 
If you have space without sacrificing other 
vegetables, you can now plant potatoes 
Annual flower seed should be sown in the 
open without delay if you want best results 
