Primer , Old-Fashioned Gardening , etc. 
The August Garden 
R UN to seed and overrun with weeds 
— this is all too probably the state 
of the garden before the last month of 
summer is even well on its way. And 
even good care cannot prevent the first 
of these conditions, except to a certain 
degree. For things must go to seed, and 
we must let them — unless we prefer to 
buy fresh seed each .spring, and have no 
special favorites which we wish to propa¬ 
gate. I always find, however, that some 
thing produces, once during the 
summer at least, a flower enough 
unlike its fellows to make it 
worth while marking that stalk 
and saving seed from it, if from 
none of the others, just for the 
sake of gratifying curiosity to 
the extent of seeing whether the 
“sport” will “fix” itself, and actu¬ 
ally reproduce a succeeding gen¬ 
eration. Of course it does not, 
probably, more often than it does 
—but it is fun watching, and 
wondering, and perhaps some¬ 
times a valuable accession is 
made. In this way a number of 
new varieties have been devel¬ 
oped — mere freaks in their in¬ 
ception. 
But generally “gone to seed" 
the garden need not be, even if 
this is the month of fruition. 
Pick off flower heads as fast as 
their petals drop, and keep up 
the bloom throughout August 
and even September by thus forc¬ 
ing the plants to try and try 
again to bear fruit. That is 
what they bear flowers for, of 
course; and they are very per¬ 
sistent, some of them, actually 
blossoming themselves out of ex¬ 
istence in their efforts. If they 
seem to be failing, apply fertil¬ 
izer in the shape of liquid manure 
or bone meal. The latter espec¬ 
ially makes for more flowers. 
The Month’s Planting Work 
Y the middle of August evergreens 
are ready to be moved or to be 
brought from the nursery and planted. 
And this is the time usually preferred 
by experts for handling them, for now 
their growth for the year is over and 
they feel the loss of rootlets less than at 
any other time. Planted thus early, too, 
they have ample time to take hold before 
winter is upon them, and with the arrival 
of another spring they are ready to go 
to growing' again without any loss to 
speak of. 
Never buy evergreens that do not 
come with an earth ball sewed in burlap 
about their roots. I do not know that 
there is a dealer anywhere in the country 
who would think of sending them with¬ 
out this; but there may be, so I speak of 
it. Or there may be department store 
“bargain sales,” just as there are sales 
of roses and other plants during the sum¬ 
mer, where stock minus the earth ball 
may be offered. Money is thrown away 
that is invested in such as this. 
When the plants arrive, each sitting 
tight in its lump of native earth, do not 
open the burlap casings until the holes 
are ready to receive the roots, and water 
is at hand to pour in upon them when 
they are placed and the holes partly filled 
in. Remember that you cannot be too 
careful in handling evergreens, lest the 
rootlets dry out — and drying out is fatal 
almost without exception. The resin in 
the plant fiber hardens when the roots are 
exposed to the air and thus dried, and 
cannot be softened up again—and of 
course unless these tiny roots are soft 
and open, the plant must starve. Exer¬ 
cise every precaution, therefore, to pre¬ 
vent drying, for this is one of the in¬ 
stances where prevention must be used, 
there being no cure. 
Many times the earth wall will have 
become loosened through the jolts and 
jars of shipping, or because the 
earth originally was not as moist 
as it ought to have been when 
the plants were dug — or perhaps 
was too light and loose a soil. 
When this has occurred it is 
usually well to soak the roots 
through the burlap, watering un¬ 
til the earth is again united into 
a sticky mass that will cling to¬ 
gether, provided it is carefully 
handled. It will not, of course, 
unite into as ideal a lump as 
might be desired, but any lump at 
all is better than having the roots 
left quite exposed, as they must 
be if the earth falls away com¬ 
pletely. 
With the hole dug a little 
broader and just as deep as the 
earth ball in which the roots are 
resting, move the plant close up 
beside it before untying the bur¬ 
lap, and decide upon the direc¬ 
tion it shall face; that is, which 
side shall be turned to the north 
or south or in any given direc¬ 
tion. Turn it about until it is ex¬ 
actly in position; then open the 
burlap carefully, lift the plant on 
this, using it as a hammock by 
holding it at the corners — it takes 
two or three men to do this prop¬ 
erly, even though the plant is 
not very heavy — and, keeping the 
trunk upright and steady, carry it 
over the hole and lower it all to¬ 
gether until within perhaps a half 
inch of the bottom of the hole. Then, at a 
given word, let go the burlap on one side 
and pull it quickly out from the other, as 
the earth ball finally comes to rest on the 
bottom of the excavation. This getting 
the burlap out is quite a trick, and requires 
a signal to which all respond instantly, so 
that it is literally whisked out as the tree 
comes down to its final resting place. 
Where it is accomplished just right, the 
earth ball will hardlv be disturbed. 
(to6) 
