THE MONTH'S REMINDER— FEBRJJHRY 
Copyright, 1924, Doubleday, Page £r 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. 
IH IS is the last chance to get fully caught 
up with or a little ahead of your work, 
and anything done now will be a won¬ 
derful help during the rush periods of 
the next two or three months. Make a 
list of the various things that apply to your work, 
and check off as attended to. 
New seed catalogues are now at hand and it is well to decide what 
we want and to send in orders promptly; it means quicker service and 
perhaps better plants, for if stocks are limited (all too often the case 
nowadays with Quarantine 37 tying things up so tight) the forehanded 
man is the winner. 
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 persona! replies to 
specific questions; a stamped, addressed envelope being 
enclosed. 
in the bench will soon throw up cuttings for 
propagating purposes. Sow Canterbury-bells to 
transplant when large enough and set out in 
May for flowering next season. Sow Cobaea 
scandens. Sow Pennisetum longistylum for 
edging semi-tropical beds, and after potting off, 
grow cool. 
Asparagus Sprengeri, Smilax, and Fibrous Begonias may still be sown. 
Sow Annuals for spring planting, to be followed by another sowing 
later. 
Vegetables To be Sown Now 
With the first mild days oftentimes enjoyed in February we feel 
the urge to be actively at work out-of-doors. Here is our chance for 
any necessary pruning and spraying and for a survey of the garden, 
notebook in hand, making jottings of things to be done in advance of 
the real spring drive. 
Early Tomatoes will give strong plants for setting outdoors at the end 
of May. 
Cucumbers, Melons, Tomatoes, Cauliflower, etc., for forcing indoors. 
Cabbage, Lettuce, Beets, and Onions for later transplanting to cold- 
frames. 
Making Ready for New Seedlings 
Mix up soil for sowing seeds now. If it be at all heavy, use plenty of 
leaf soil and some sand to make it porous. If very dry, give it 
water and then store away in large boxes or barrels ready for use 
when needed. Get flats ready; repair old ones; make new. Wash 
old pots; order new supplies. Soak new pots in water before 
using. For sowing seeds impatient of transplanting use paper 
pots or bands. 
Complete repairs and glazing of old sash as soon as possible, and 
give another coat of paint to any new sash soon to be used. Don’t 
attempt to struggle along with too few sash. It is very convenient 
to have extra frames to accommodate the little seedlings from the 
hotbed. 
Put sash on frames that have not been in use during winter so that the 
ground will get warmed up. 
An Early Supply of Flowers 
Hardy Herbaceous Perennials sown now will make large plants by fall 
that will winter outdoors. 
For cutting during April. May, and June sow Candytuft, Calendulas, 
Stocks, Sweet-peas, Cornflowers, Gladiolus, and African Daisies. 
Annual Larkspur sown now will flower at the end of May, 
early Asters in June. Sow Dahlias now; last year’s roots set 
Making a Hotbed 
As a hotbed is indispensable for an early garden, get manure for it as 
soon as possible. Turn a few times to allow the rank heat to 
escape. For a gentler and more prolonged heat add a few leaves. 
With no equipment on hand a hotbed may be had this spring. Secure 
manure as early as possible, and as soon as it is actively heating, 
pack in a low pile two feet longer and wider than the actual size 
of the frame, and from two to three feet deep. When the frame 
is placed in position on this, bank up to the top with leaves and 
manure. Frozen lumps of soil put into the frame will soon thaw; 
or flats of soil, with the seed sown in them, may be set on top of 
the manure inside the frame. It is well to place a covering of soil 
over the manure in any case. 
Planting must not be done until the heat (as shown by a thermometer 
plunged in the soil) has reached 8o° to 85°, on the decline. Lettuce, 
Beets, Cabbage, Cauliflower, and Carrots interplanted with Small- 
top Radishes may be sown during the month. 
The hotbed thermometer is only one of several appliances that are 
real aids to early gardening. Double-glazed sash and protectors 
of various types used on cold nights permit planting outdoors 
one or two weeks earlier than would otherwise be safe and, used 
as forcers during the day, will hurry up crops verging on maturity 
while others left to themselves are just breaking ground. 
CURRENT ACTIVITIES IN THE GREENHOUSE 
April twentieth is Easter Day, and any bulbs wanted for that date 
should be brought in accordingly. 
Shrubs intended for Easter holiday display should be in a temperature 
of 50°. Start Tuberous Begonias in a temperature of 55 0 . 
Lilium formosum intended to be in flower for Easter should have the 
buds well set by the end of the month and will come on nicely in a 
temperature of 55 0 . Any that have not arrived at this state of 
development may be hurried along with more heat. 
Roses will take more water now and feeding may be done more liberally 
as growth is more active. With the sun heat and the fire heat, 
conditions are favorable to red spider. Don’t allow too great a 
difference between the night and day temperatures. Don’t 
allow the temperature at midday to reach 90° or more and then 
have it drop to 6o° late in the afternoon. Keep up the tempera¬ 
ture in the afternoon and maintain 6o° throughout the night. 
A General Spring Clean-Up 
With the lengthening days and increase of sun, plants are awakening to 
new life and it’s time for a general spring scrub-down or clean-up. 
Proceed with annual re-potting of such foliage plants as Palms’ 
Crotons, Pandanus, Marantas, etc. 
Cut up clumps of Cannas preparatory to starting into growth, and dust 
sulphur over the cut surfaces. 
Pelargoniums in small pots will make by spring fine plants well covered 
with buds and flowers if potted into four-inch pots now. 
Propagation of Crotons and similar foliage plants can be done in a close 
propagating frame with brisk bottom heat. 
The bulbs of Calanthes to be rested after flowering in a dry place where 
the temperature does not go below 50°. 
Give stock plants of Chrysanthemums a light position in a temperature 
of 48°. Take early cuttings. 
Start Elephant-ears (Caladium esculentum) into growth in .gentle 
heat. 
Cinerarias require a cool temperature; 40° to 45 0 suits them best. 
Repot any plants that are pot bound to keep them growing, for the 
flowers require a setting of well-developed foliage. 
Calceolarias for early spring flowering to have a position with northern 
exposure. They cannot stand direct sunlight, and arc most im- 
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