Suggestions for the Month 
a bad place in summer. If one knows how, it can 
be made quite agreeable. 
Have the windows fitted with awnings, screens and 
cool green shades, as well as muslin curtains freshly 
laundered and drawn back. Hang head and bam¬ 
boo portiH'es where curtains are needed a/iid where 
the wind can rustle them. Have the floors hare, 
waxed and polished, with a few light rugs attractively 
placed. Let the furniture be covered with pretty 
light colored slips, and keep bowls of flowers m the 
living-room and on the dining table. What rational 
being would exchange such a house ecjuipped with a 
modern, tiled bath-room, for the crowded, conven¬ 
tional low-priced summer hotel or seaside hoarding 
house ? 
And a still more radical suggestion. If there is 
no porch or balcony, go up on the roof and see what 
that will offer in the way of midsummer comfort. 
.Consult an architect and if it is possible convert it into 
an outdoor living-room. Put up an awning, lay 
down a rug, set some plants near-by, and with the 
usual porch furniture you will have a delightful 
retreat for hot summer evenings—a splendid place 
to view the sunsets and profit by the chance breeze. 
To be sure some provision must be made for rain, but 
the plan has been found feasible by many who have 
tried it. 
THE GARDEN 
/^EADIOLI and other summer-flowering bulbs 
may be planted till the first of July. Bulbs 
planted now will come in bloom after those of the 
first plantings have faded. 
This is a good time to set geranium cuttings de¬ 
spite the fact that most florists suggest August. 
Slipping now will insure early winter blooming while 
in August the conditions must be exactly right for 
rapid growth. After rooting set them in pots of 
rich earth and whenever a bud appears snip it off'. 
When midsummer arrives give them plenty of good 
air, sunshine and water; they will grow strong and 
healthy. In early autumn they are ready for the 
window, and in early winter will bloom. 
Azaleas placed out doors, tbe pots buried in the 
earth, will do well in semi-shaded places. If a 
light bed of ashes is placed directly under the pots, 
the plants will not be disturbed by worms working 
up into them. In times of drouth keep them well 
watered and you will have good buds for winter 
flowering. 
If you desire a quick growing screen to bide any 
unsightly object, try the plume poppy (Bocconia 
cord at a). Its utility is amplified by tbe fact that 
it will do as well in the shade as when fully exposed 
to the sun. The foliage is beautiful, the leaves being 
light green on top with a sdvery white on the under¬ 
side. Elowers of the poppy are pleasing, being 
creamy white and come as plume-like spikes. Its 
usual growth is from six to eight feet and it does well 
in any soil. 
The most important and the actual work for the 
month will be found in cultivating, tbinning, and 
watering. Elowers should be cut lavishly to prevent 
the formation of seed-pods which stop growth. Soil 
kept loose and mellow by cultivation, especially with 
the rake, retains moisture much longer than that 
which is allowed to crust over after rams or wetting 
artificially. There is ample foundation for the obser¬ 
vation that the best watering pot is the hoe or rake. 
The plants must also be fed. Manure well, using 
pulverized or chemical manures. Mix charcoal with 
the fertilizer and rake it in. This will sweeten the 
soil and keep away snails and injurious insects. 
The charcoal will give an added rich dark color to 
the plants, and bring out the richness of color in 
the blooms. 
The gardener begins this month to realize on the 
pleasures had in anticipation. If the preliminary 
work has been well done, flowers can now be cut. 
They should be cut and with generous stems. Do 
not conceive the idea that you have more flowers than 
you can utilize or that they will look well on the 
plants; if there is more than is desired for the house 
remember your friends, the hospitals, and the chari¬ 
table institutions. The cutting of the flowers is 
better for the shrubs and plants if viewed only from 
the practical side. 
If the June blooming of hardy hybrid roses are 
cut with long stems, the usual July pruning will be 
much lessened. Then again a vigorous cutting of the 
branches, or pruning after the first blooming is over, 
will cause to start from the roots of the hybrid perpet¬ 
ual rose many strong young shoots which will bloom 
in the fall, having nice long stems. 
For the proper development of the buds and per¬ 
fect blooms attention should be given to watering 
rose plants. Usually during this month the rains are 
ample but should anything like a drouth approach, 
the plants should be well watered. Give some food 
and plenty of air to the roots. I'he former may be 
given in either pulverized or liquid manure while 
the latter can be supplied by stirring tbe ground and 
raking-in the manure. The fertilizer will be imme¬ 
diately taken up by the plants and shown in the bloom 
results. 
Canterbury bells, Gaillardui granJiflora, holly¬ 
hocks, and Pyrethrum should now be transplanted. 
In doing this have some regard to the selection of 
(Continued on page l6, Advertising Section.) 
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