THE .MONTH'S REMINDER—J A NUA RY 
Copyright, 1923 , Doubleday, Page Sr Company 
How to Use This Guide. When referring to the time for out 
door work of any sort latitude 40 at sea level (i. e. New York 
City) in a normal season is taken as standard; but at best 
dates can only be approximate. Roughly, the season ad¬ 
vances or recedes fifteen miles a day. Thus Albany, 
which is one hundred and fifty miles from New York, 
would be about ten days later, and Philadelphia, 
which is ninety miles southwest, about a week earlier. 
Also allow four days for each degree of latitude, for 
each five degrees of longitude, and for each four hun¬ 
dred feet of altitude. 
M’J^ANUARY—the month of plans—is 
really one of the most crucial in the 
whole gardening year, for upon well 
considered plans does the success of 
the coming season depend. Don’t pro¬ 
crastinate, but avail yourself to the full of these long, quiet, fireside 
evenings to mull over your garden schemes. Jot down in a notebook 
all the things to be remembered, sketch out new beds and borders, 
make lists of any new plants and seeds and tools that are needed. 
Spring comes swiftly—let’s be ready for her! 
New Year Resolutions 
What would you like to accomplish? Any number of answers may 
be made and something still be left out. The personal equation, 
however, largely affects what will be done; ask yourself if your 
enthusiasm is of the kind that urges you actually to do things, or 
is it of the flash-in-the-pan kind that makes a lot of fuss but 
doesn’t start anything; or, having started, fails to finish. 
If your enthusiasm is genuine, and your plans for improvements am¬ 
bitious, don’t let that enthusiasm die hard by attempting too 
much. It is so much easier to wield a pencil beside a comfortable 
fire than to wield a hoe outdoors. Results are your goal. 
Have some phase of gardening as a special hobby. This does not mean 
leaving out other interests, but specializing in some kind of work 
or some flower that particularly appeals to you. Such flower 
favorites, accessible and intimate, will give an added zest and 
personal interest to your garden at all times. 
Do Your Ordering Early 
It will soon be time to get off your orders for all kinds of things. Read 
carefully the dealers’ announcements in the advertising pages and 
send requests for catalogues of whatever interests you. 
Bird baths, bird houses, new fencing, a pool for the goldfish, new seats, 
vases, and baskets for summer-flowering plants need to be con¬ 
sidered now. 
All required nursery stock, perennials, seeds of annuals and vegetables 
should be ordered as soon as the lists can be made up after study¬ 
ing the catalogues and getting a line on any novelties. But re¬ 
member to rely on established varieties for the main crops. 
Good tools are essential to a successful garden. Check up those you 
have and make a list of new ones needed. 
Getting the Vegetable Garden Ready 
Very little can be done in the North Atlantic states during this month 
save to prepare manure, and when weather permits, get it upon 
the ground. Check up the supply of bean poles, brush, tools, 
sash, etc., and order to replenish stock. 
In milder sections of the country, where there is but little or no frost, 
the hardier kinds of vegetables may be sown outdoors, such as 
Asparagus, Beets, Carrots, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Leeks, Lettuce, 
Onions, Turnips, etc. I n localities so favored that these vegetables 
can be sown outdoors it is not too soon tothinkof preparing a hotbed 
to start such tender subjects as Tomatoes, Eggplants, and Peppers. 
It is generally preferable, however, to wait until February 1st for the 
earliest hotbed; in the meantime the manure for it can be collected. 
Time is not infrequently lost during the actual planting season bv plan¬ 
ning the vegetable garden for convenience in planting, whereas 
convenience in cultivation is more essential. Planting is done but 
once, while cultivation is done several times during the life of the 
crops. Arrange the various rows as far as possible to a uniform 
width so that you do not have to change the width of the cultivator 
every few rows. On each occasion this has to be done time is 
Details of how to do each item may be found in the current 
or back issues of The Garden Magazine —it is manifestly 
impossible to make each number of the magazine a complete 
manual of practice. References to back numbers may 
be looked up in the index to each completed volume 
(sent gratis upon request); and to further help the 
reader we have a “Service Department” which will be 
glad to cite references to any special topic, if asked 
for by mail, and also to send personal replies to 
specific questions; a stamped, addressed envelope being 
enclosed. 
lost. Moreover, plan to hill up several rows at 
one time and save taking off the hilling accessories 
too frequently. Get the necessary tools and im¬ 
plements, including wheel hoes, seed drills, etc. 
Look over glass in the sash for coldframe and 
Rebuild, or order new ready-made ones. 
hotbed. 
Where cover crops are grown systematically, satisfactory results may 
be obtained by the use of commercial fertilizers, but if the soil 
“lacks body,” i. e. “is deficient in organic material,” don’t depend 
upon fertilizers alone. Get some barnyard manure, if possible. The 
commercial fertilizer requirement is not great, better purchase it 
ready mixed. Get some nitrate of soda; it is a fine plant stimulant 
when used with discretion as soon as needed on crops that appear 
to be standing still instead of growing. 
Double Cropping for Double Results 
Plan all your first plantings—except, of course, the full season crops 
like Salsify, Parsnips, etc.—with a definite idea of what is to 
follow them when they mature and are removed, so that from 
start to finish there will be no idle rows in the garden. For in¬ 
stance, follow earliest Peas with Eggplants and Peppers; inter¬ 
mediate Peas may be followed with Endive, a second planting of 
Bush Beans, Beets, etc.; and the late Peas with Cabbage, Cauli¬ 
flower or Brussels Sprouts. The first planting of Corn should be 
out of the way in time for setting the fall Celery and the next one 
•—about a week or ten days later—in time for the Celeriac. 
Getting two crops where you got one before—like chess—is “a great 
game.” But whether or not it is for your garden depends on cir¬ 
cumstances—double cropping is not necessarily an economy when 
there is ample space to expand. The goal is product for labor, 
not product for area. There are some good textbooks on the 
subject of vegetable garden management discussing all crops in 
detail. Better read at least one of them. 
What to Do About the Lawn 
Plan to improve the lawn; don’t be content with a worn-out, patchy, 
moth-eaten appearance. Make definite plans for improving it. 
Having the material on hand when the time comes is half the game. 
First of all you want good seed; cheap lawn seed is dear at any 
price. Figure on about a quarter pound to every hundred square 
feet. A fairly good sod will not require this amount when renovat¬ 
ing in the spring. 
And the fertilizer; there are many special brands on the market, but in 
our experience a top-dressing of bonemeal one season, and hard¬ 
wood ashes another is well worth while. Mix the bonemeal with 
very fine-screened loam, in the ratio of 1 part bone to 5 of loam, 
and top-dress the lawn with this about two weeks before seeding. 
If bone is applied at the same time as the seeding is done it molds 
and the young grass damps off easily. 
There is a busy month ahead preparing for the early vegetables which 
are to mature in frames. Early Cabbage, Cauliflower, and 
Lettuce may be sown now with this end in view. Also Onions and 
Leeks for exhibition purposes. 
Seeds of any kind left over from last year should be given a germination 
test before sowing in quantity. 
New Plantings and Propagation 
Large trees may be conveniently moved when the wall of earth about 
the roots is frozen solid. Do the digging while the ground is open, 
and make the move when sufficiently frozen. 
Include in your lists, when planning improvements about the grounds, 
plants with persistent foliage, i. e., that does not fall until late in 
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