February 15, 1908. 
TUB GARDENING WORLD. 
111 
The Flower Garden. 
The middle of February has come, and 
already Snowdrops are flowering in shel¬ 
tered places, and other kinds of bulbs are 
making satisfactory progress. The birds 
are busy singing, and betimes devouring 
fruit buds and the tender blades of the 
Crocus; and the gardener, too, must be busy 
and check the depredations of the songsters, 
and push forward the work in the garden 
generally. Dry soot scattered on the Crocus 
leaves will render them distasteful to the 
birds, but care must be taken not to mar the 
purity of the blossoms with the soot. Spar¬ 
rows, especially, are fond of eating the 
“ grass ” of Carnations, and to prevent them 
soot may he used. 
Cutting Grass Edges. 
It is never advisable to cut the edges of 
the lawns in the autumn, because the frosts 
during the winter will loosen and pulverise 
the exposed soil, causing it to crumble away 
and have a bad appearance throughout the 
summer, unless it be cut again in the spring, 
and when this is done the paths are widened 
unduly, or the flower beds are enlarged too 
much, as the case may be. But when the 
Fig. 1.—This sketch shows how to cut the 
edges of lawns. 
trimming is done, after all danger from 
severe frosts is past, the edgings remain 
firm and appear neat all through the 
summer. 
Fig. 1 shows a portion of a grass verge- 
ment at A, and neatly trimmed at B. The 
edging tool should be very sharp, then it 
will do its work well. Use the garden 
line as a guide to cut by. Straight edges 
near paths, and the sides of square-shaped 
flower' beds, are easily managed, but curves 
should be very carefully dealt with. Do 
not spare the number of pegs when cutting 
round curves, the pegs will keep the line 
in position and give you a very good idea 
as to the varying quantities to be cut off to 
make the curve, or circle, a true one. 
Herbaceous Borders. 
Continue to lift, and divide, clumps of 
Diants which are too large during open 
weather; and to plant fresh stock. The 
planting of new borders, and the entire 
overhauling of old ones, may still be done. 
Indeed, this is a very good time to do the 
work. 
Dahlias. 
Place a few roots of different varieties in 
a gentle heat to induce new growth for the 
purpose of propagation. Do not start the 
Dahlias under a stage, or in any other par¬ 
tially darkened place, as the resultant 
growths will be too weakly, drawn up un¬ 
duly, with long-jointed stems, which are not 
the best for cuttings. ' Put the roots in 
boxes and surround them with loam, leaf- 
soil and sand, mixed, and expose them to 
full light, then sturdy cuttings will be ob¬ 
tained. 
Pansy Cuttings. 
Cuttings taken from named varieties and 
inserted in sandy soil in pans placed in a 
warm frame, or under a hand-light in a 
greenhouse, will soon form roots and make 
mice plants for summer bedding purposes. 
All flower buds which show should be 
pinched off as soon as they are large enough 
to handle. 
Liliums. 
Both new and old bulbs which are in¬ 
tended for bedding-out should be kept firm 
Fig. 2.—Fix stakes and wires 
as shown in the sketch for the 
-protection of fruit blossom by 
scrim. 
by placing them in pots or boxes and sur¬ 
rounding them with a light mixture of leaf- 
soil, peat,'loam, and sand. These bulbs 
should be grown in a cool structure, on a 
greenhouse shelf or in a frame. Dilium 
Auratum, L. speciosum album, L. speoiosum 
Kraetzeri, L. speciosum rubrum, and L. Mel¬ 
pomene are suitable for bedding purposes. 
The Fruit Garden. 
Protecting Fruit Trees. 
Pears, Peaches, Nectarines, Apricots 
trained on walls should be guarded against 
frosts while they are in bloom. We can 
always give such trees protection at this 
critical period, and thus do much to ensure 
a full crop. While in bloom heavy rains 
should also be kept off, as the frost does 
more harm when the flowers are wet than 
when dry. 
Fig. 2 shows how you can erect a simple 
shelter. Drive in some strong stakes A, and 
fasten wires B to them and to the top of 
the wall. The stakes should be three feet 
from the wall and five feet apart. Then 
fasten some scrim to the wires and under 
the coping of the wall, and unfold it, mak¬ 
ing it secure to the stakes also, every night. 
In fine weather, during the day time, roll 
up the scrim, or canvas. 
Staking Newly-Planted Trees. 
Complete this work forthwith. If yo..ng 
trees are allowed to be blown to and fro c,y 
the winds, the soil around their roots will 
quickly turn to a puddle in showery weather 
and the formation of new roots be hindered. 
Keep the trees steady, then they will make 
satisfactory progress. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
Digging Vacant Ground. 
All vacant plots of ground should be dug, 
or trenched, forthwith. 
Fig. 3 shows how the work should be 
done. A narrow strip of ground about nine 
feet wide need not be divided into two parts, 
as is shown in Fig. 3. But wider plots 
should be so divided for the purpose of 
digging or trenching. First remove some 
soil from A to B, then commence to dig the 
ground from A to D ; having reached this 
point, fill in the trench D with soil from 
C, and continue the work back from C to E. 
The loose soil B will be available for filling 
up the trench at E. A large plot of ground 
may be divided into strips in this manner, 
Fig. j.—Mark out ground like this when 
digging a large plot. 
and dug, or trenched, without the necessity 
of wheeling large quantities of soil long dis¬ 
tances when opening and filling trenches. 
Peas for Succession. 
Another sowing of Peas may now be made. 
Fortnightly sowings are already useful, as 
then there is a true succession secured if 
the proper varieties be sown. Early, Round- 
Seeded sorts should be sown first, then 
second early, and finally, late varieties. But 
for very' late use the early sorts may be 
sown, as the pods fill more satisfactorily 
than the late ones when the latter are sown 
very late. 
Potatos. 
More sets may be planted both on shel¬ 
tered borders and also in the open quarters. 
At this season the young sprouts grow 
rapidly on the seed tubers in the stores. All 
should be examined and the coverings re¬ 
moved, and all the air and light possible 
admitted. 
