Conducted by The EditoK will be glad to answer subscribers’ queries fertaining to individual problems connected with the 
F. F. Rockwell garden and grounds. When a direct personal reply is desired please enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope 
June 
UXE is the month that proves garden¬ 
ers, and weeds the make-believes out 
from the real ones. Anyone can get the 
planting spirit in x\pril and Alay — indeed 
who can help getting it? But whoever 
can stick right to the job through the blis¬ 
tering dusty days of late June, and show 
a clean record and clean rows July ist, 
is entitled to a certificate of membership 
in the gardeners’ union. 
One reason so many of those with good 
intentions back-slide during the summer 
is because the work grows less interesting 
to the amateur. Nothing to do but weed 
and hoe and rake, in place of all the ex¬ 
citement of watching seeds come up, and 
setting out attractive looking rows of 
plants. So it seems, sometimes, but of 
course the good gardener takes a delight 
in keeping his rows. free not only of 
weeds, but of crusty surfaces, and he 
knows that the hot June days are making 
the various things jump toward maturity, 
if he will only do his share in giving them 
the right conditions under which to grow. 
Just as sowing and planting are the or¬ 
der of the day for the early months. 
cultivation is the order of the day for 
June; and just as, time after time, the es¬ 
sential garden operations have to be gone 
through with, so we have to urge their im¬ 
portance upon our garden readers. It is 
not half so interesting as to read about 
beautiful new flowers, or novel effects to 
be had by this or that method of arrange¬ 
ment, but more important. All this rou¬ 
tine work is the foundation upon which 
successful gardens must be built. 
Cultivate Frequently 
Let us repeat, then, that frequent culti¬ 
vation is the keynote of success. And it is 
as essential to the flower garden as to the 
vegetable garden — a fact quite frequently 
overlooked. Blow many times one sees a 
garden of flowers where the surface of the 
soil is not disturbed from one month’s end 
to another, and where, simply because the 
weeds cannot get big enough to threaten 
the life of the plants, a solid crust is al¬ 
lowed to form, making an open channel of 
escape for all the moisture which nature 
has stored up in the soil during the spring 
rains. Such careless gardening cannot 
bring the best results, and a half hour in¬ 
vested every other week or so in working 
among the flowers, going over the beds, 
cutting off any broken branches, or top- 
heavy growth, will bring very greatly en¬ 
hanced results. A little commercial fer¬ 
tilizer worked into the soil, or a mulching 
of fine manure, applied at the same time, 
will also prove of great benefit. 
In the vegetable garden the task is not 
such a simple one. On the other hand, be¬ 
cause of the straight, regular rows, and 
the comparatively large amounts of each 
thing planted, more labor-saving methods 
can be employed. 
The first thing to do, if you do not al¬ 
ready possess one, is to get a wheel hoe. 
Don’t attempt to get along without it. 
Even if your garden is small — one that you 
can look out for with antiquated imple¬ 
ments — you will look out for it twice as 
efficiently with an ’ up-to-date tool, doing 
several times the work of the old hand hoe, 
and doing it with half the energy em¬ 
ployed. 
I'he two attachments which we use most 
frequently are the flat hoe blades, which 
Melons are among the latest of the regular 
crops to set out 
can be adjusted to cut as near to the row 
as desirable, and the perpendicular culti¬ 
vating teeth. The former are so set that 
they will skim along just below the sur¬ 
face — an inch is enough — and they cut off 
everything in their path. The continued 
use of the hoes alone, however, tends to 
leave the ground in a packed condition 
which is undesirable, so the cultivating 
teeth are put on for every second or third 
working. The best type is so constructed 
that the teeth can be set to cut deeper in 
the middle of the row, where they will not 
cut off roots. This keeps the surface mulch 
in condition, and also keeps the soil so 
loosened up that air and water can per¬ 
meate it readily. The double wheel is the 
best form to get, but with either style one 
can go through rows of all sowed crops, 
such as beets, carrots, onions, and even 
corn, peppers, cabbages, etc. 
The Late Garden Crops 
There are a few belated crops to go 
into the ground in June — and just be¬ 
cause they can be left until late they are 
often left until too late, and either fail to 
mature altogether, or come along so 
poorly that they are practically a failure. 
So be just as particular to get your last 
planting done on time as you were the 
first. 
There are several things of which you 
ought to make a final sowing or planting 
for late crops to be started for fall and 
winter use — beet, carrot, cabbage and 
cauliflower (seed about June i. to trans¬ 
plant later) ; cucumbers and tomatoes. 
Then there are the succession crops to 
be taken care of, for real garden efficiency 
— beans, peas, lettuce, spinach, kohlrabi, 
lettuce and corn. 
The latest regular crops to be put in the 
garden will be melons and winter squash, 
pepper and eggplant and celery. June i 
to 15 will be about right for these, but 
aim to have the plants s strong and fully 
developed as. possible before setting out. 
In starting the late cabbage and cauli¬ 
flower seed, sow in rows six inches or so 
apart, in a finely prepared seed bed. and 
after the plants get several inches high 
cut them back once or twice, quite se¬ 
verely, to make stocky little plants. Thin 
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