Conducted by 
F. F. Rockwell 
The Editor will he glad to answer subscribers’ queries pertaining to individual problems connected with the 
gardens and grounds. When a direct personal reply is desired please enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope 
August 
\X 7 HAT between visitors from the city, 
* ' hot weather, weeds and the wear- 
O 
ing off of the garden fever, it is a great 
temptation during late July or August to 
let up on the garden work and take things 
easier. But the gardener who sticks to his 
guns and keeps things cleaned up and his 
late planting attended to, until the cooler 
nights and growing weather of late Au¬ 
gust are again with us, will find himself 
amply repaid. He will, however, find that 
he has not nearly as many companions as 
when he started out in the spring. As a 
matter of fact, a good deal of the best of 
both flower and vegetable garden remains 
still to be developed and the attention and 
care given them now practically decide 
their fate. 
Hot, dry Augusts seem to be the rule 
nowadays, and such dry weather tactics as 
maintaining the surface mulch and water¬ 
ing copiously and thoroughly where water¬ 
ing needs to be done and can be done, 
should be attended to. 
Next Year’s Fight With Weeds 
HIS is the month when the most effect¬ 
ive destruction of next year’s crop of 
weeds may be accomplished. In spite of 
all our work with wheel hoe, hand hoe and 
scuffle hoe, here and there in the garden 
and especially around the edge of the gar¬ 
den, one of these persistent enemies will 
have reared its head again and be prepar¬ 
ing to establish an army for next season's 
campaign. Make it your rule that not one , 
of these shall get by yqu! A-^ood way,fo : 
destroy them is to use a t regular pruning 
hook, operated by a, wife, at the end of a 
stout stick about four, or' five feet long — 
you can have two handles for the blade, 
thus using it both for trees and weeds., If 
you have not one of these, take an old hfiF/ 
and have it hammered out straight', or 
nearly so, and cut down to three or four 
inches. With this homemade weeding 
“spud” kept well sharpened, you can de¬ 
stroy large weeds much more rapidly and 
with much less backache than by pulling 
by hand. And the elimination of even a 
single good-sized weed before it can seed 
is decidedly important. 
In the Vegetable Garden 
NE of the causes of the failure to se¬ 
cure a good “stand” from July and 
August sowings of seed is that we do not 
take pains to have a fresh seed bed. Some 
spot in the garden that has not been turned 
over or thoroughly broken up since April 
is “raked over” and the seed drill put into 
operation. Very likely it is a strip where 
some early crop, such as peas or early cab¬ 
bage, has been removed. A plow is not 
available, so we “fit” it carelessly and 
guess that will be good enough. If we 
would take the trouble to fork it up, turn¬ 
ing under all old roots and weeds and 
bringing clean, fresh, moist soil to the 
surface, our chances of having a supply of 
late fall and winter vegetables would be 
much greater. Moreover, the crops sown 
may be kept clean so much more easily 
that the extra work involved will much 
more than pay for itself. Where a horse 
cultivator is to be had, a thorough work¬ 
ing with this machine set as deep as it 
will run, and quite narrow, will be almost 
as good as replowing ; but the surface must 
first he cleared of all trash, or if one does 
not mind doing real work in the garden, 
To obtain good late celery the soil must be 
rich and mellow 
the wheel hoe, with cultivator teeth at¬ 
tached, will tear things up quite practical¬ 
ly. If the soil is dry, what we have so 
frequently said about the necessity of 
firming the seed in the soil must be kept 
in mind, or rather put into practice. 
Seeds to Sow Now 
PINACH, turnips, rutabagas, early va¬ 
rieties of beans and peas, lettuce and 
radishes should all be sown for the late fall 
garden. There are several weeks of good 
growing weather yet, usually assisted by 
the first fall rains, and if you will get these 
things in on time your fall garden will be 
not only a very pleasant surprise but help 
materially to stem that ever-rising tide, 
the high cost of living. Late celery also 
may still be set out, but the soil must be 
rich and in good mellow condition, to 
provide immediate and rapid growth. The 
late crops set out last month, such as cab¬ 
bage, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, etc., 
should be kept well cultivated and receive 
a top-dressing of nitrate of soda to hasten 
growth : if they develop too slowly an early 
freeze may entirely spoil the results of 
your labor. 
A Mulch for Strawberries 
HE most satisfactory mulch from any 
point of view is one that will protect 
the plants in winter, keep the berries clean 
in spring and one that can be put on thick 
without smothering the plants. I have 
used wheat straw, which answers very well 
if clean but is difficult to put on evenly, so 
that none of the plants will be smothered. 
Perhaps the very best mulch is oats and 
sorghum sown between the berry rows in 
August or the first part of September. If 
there is plenty of rain the oats will get 
knee high before killing frost, and if it 
should be dry the cane will make a good 
growth. These crops will not interfere 
with the growth of the berries and will 
stand up till a killing frost, when the oats 
or cane will fall and protect the plants. 
By spring the mulch will all be lying flat 
on the ground keeping the berries clean. 
In addition to making a more desirable 
mulch, this is more easily and quickly ap¬ 
plied than straw or leaves and will give no 
trouble whatever from weed seed. 
(i°6) 
