February, ipi7 
51 
February THE GARDENER’S KALENDAR Second Month 
Heavy snow 
should he 
knocked off 
the ever¬ 
greens b e - 
fore they 
break 
Propagating 
time ^or the 
bedding 
plants is at 
hand 
As the days 
I e 11 g then 
you must 
spray more 
often for 
red spider 
and green fly 
rl 
SATURDAY FRIDAY THURSDAY WEDNESDAY TUESDAY MONDAY SUNDAY 
1 dream’d that, as I 
wander’d by the 
xvay, 
Bare Winter suddenly 
was changed to 
Spring; 
And gentle odours led 
my steps astray, 
Mix’d with a sound of 
-waters murmuring 
Along a shelving bank 
of turf, which lay 
Under a copse, and 
hardly dared to 
fling 
Its green arms round 
the bosom of the 
stream. 
But kiss’d it and then 
fled, as thou might- 
est in dream. 
—Shelley. 
4. Place plenty of 
drainage in seed pans 
when sowing, and cover 
tliis with moss or fibre. 
Next add rough soil and 
then sifted soil; firm 
well and sow thinly or 
in shallow drills. 
11. Thomas A. Edi¬ 
son born, 1847. 
Better order the 
manure for your garden 
and have it carted there 
while the roads are still 
frozen. Do not figure 
too closely on quantity. 
18. Tender plants that 
are fleshly rooted, such 
as incarvilleas, should 
be looked over to see 
that the mulch is not 
matted down. This sea¬ 
son of the year is hard 
on them. 
25. Thomas Moore 
died, 1852. 
Cuttings of spring 
bedding plants such as 
coleus, alternanthus, 
etc., should be started 
now. These plants are 
too frequently left until 
the last minute. 
5. Thomas Carlyle 
died, 1881. 
What about a hot¬ 
bed? A few sash is all 
you need buy; the bot¬ 
tom or framework you 
can easily make your¬ 
self if you wish. 
12. Abraham Lincoln 
born, 1809. 
Have you ordered 
what trees and shrubs 
you are going to plant 
this spring? The nurs¬ 
eryman will hold your 
order till you want them. 
19. Have you all the 
carnation cuttings you 
will want for next year? 
Put in plenty of them. 
Keep carnations dis¬ 
budded and the roses 
staked and free from 
mildew. 
26. Early vegetables 
should be sown now in 
the greenhouse, such as 
cauliflower, cabbage, 
celery, lettuce, etc. 
Flower seedlings such 
as asters and salvia are 
also timely. 
This Kalendar of the 
gardener’s labors is 
aimed as a reminder 
for undertaking a 1 1 
his tasks in season. 
It is fitted to the lati¬ 
tude of the Middle 
States, but its service 
should be available for 
the whole country if it 
be remembered that 
for every one hundred 
miles north or south 
there is a difference of 
from five to seven 
days later or earlier in 
performing garden op¬ 
erations. 
6. When preparing a 
hotbed, dig out the 
earth for 2’ or 3' and 
fill with live manure; 
cover this with about 1' 
of soil and sow the seed 
directly on top when 
the temperature mod¬ 
erates. 
13. If you have the 
space you owe it to 
yourself to plant a few 
small fruit trees, and 
don’t forget the cane 
fruits like' raspberries, 
blackberries, currants, 
gooseberries, etc. 
20. Panama Exposi¬ 
tion opened, 1915. 
Cups that have been 
growing all winter in 
the greenhouse need 
plenty of feed. Use 
liquid manures and con¬ 
centrated plant food 
scratched into the soil. 
27. If you want extra 
fine sweet peas this 
summer sow the seeds 
in pots now and carry 
them along in a cold- 
frame or cool green¬ 
house until it is time to 
set them out. 
7. Charles Dickens 
born, 1812. 
If any small bush 
plants such as chrysan¬ 
themums are wanted to 
use for house decora¬ 
tion, the cuttings should 
be struck now. 
14. Saint Valentine's. 
Sow indoors seeds of 
greenhouse plants such 
as primula, cyclamen, 
gloxinia, begonia, etc. 
These are carried along 
in pots and placed in 
cold-frames for the 
summer. 
21. Early flowering 
shrubs, if cut and 
placed in a_ warm 
window in jars of 
water, will open in ten 
days or _ two weeks. 
Forcing in a green¬ 
house IS quicker. 
28. Sun rises, 6:40; 
sun sets, 5 :48. 
Bay trees, hydrangeas 
and other plants in tubs 
should be overhauled. 
Those that need it 
should be retuhbed and 
others top dressed with 
rich mixture. 
1. Sun rises, 7:15; 
sun sets, 5:13. 
If you have not 
ordered your seeds, 
they should be attended 
to at once. Early orders 
mean better attention 
and fewer substitutions. 
8. If you haven’t al¬ 
ready overhauled the 
palms, ferns and other 
decorative plants, they 
should be attended to at 
once. Repot those that 
require it, and clean off 
all scale. 
15. Battleship Maine 
destroyed^ 1898. 
On fine days from 
now ^ on you can start 
pruning. Fruit trees 
should be gone over 
first, as they are very 
hardy. 
22. George Washing¬ 
ton born, 1732. 
What about changes 
in the perennial border ? 
Make arrangements to 
lift and divide the old 
clumps that are not 
doing well; this will im¬ 
prove them. 
When you plan the 
crop rotation remember 
that a short rotation 
helps to control daisies 
and other weeds. 
-Alfilfa produdes more 
hay Li.d, under condi- 
vons favorable to its 
growth, tea,ves a- larger . 
ar.iou'ii't of organic' 'mat-' 
’’ter in the soil than any.- 
other New York forage 
crop. 
Each fy that finds a 
■1 efuge indoors this 
'winie,' may have cibcul 
two billicn descendant.- 
next year. 
2. If you have a 
greenhouse you can get 
your garden off to a 
flying start. Seeds of 
various flowers and 
vegetables can be sown 
now and grown along 
slowly. 
9. Have you thought 
of any pea brush or 
bean poles for next 
summer? The pea brush 
can be found almost 
anywhere, even though 
cedar poles for the 
beans may be scarce. 
16. Don’t prune at 
this season of the year 
any of the early flower¬ 
ing shrubs such as 
spirea, lilac, etc. These 
should be pruned only 
immediately after flow¬ 
ering is over. 
23. Italy “anneSrei 
Tripoli, 1912. „ 1, 
Better have a "dose 
look over all trees and 
shrubs that are subject 
to scale, and m'hke ar¬ 
rangements to s pir a y 
them with one of the oil 
preparations. 
3. Have everything in 
readiness before start¬ 
ing to sow; sand, leaf 
mold, cinders or crocks 
for drainage, labels, 
seed pans, flats, sifted 
soil, tamp and moss are 
the main requirements. 
10. Why not decide 
on some form of irriga¬ 
tion for your garden? 
By taking this matter 
up now you will have 
plenty of time to study 
methods and avoid er¬ 
rors in calculation. 
17. If you have 
heated frames or hot¬ 
beds you can sow early 
vegetables such as cab¬ 
bage, cauliflower, let¬ 
tuce, etc. Have room 
to transplant the seed¬ 
lings 2" apart. 
24. Canna roots can 
now be brought out of 
storage and placed in 
the greenhouse to start 
some growth. When the 
eyes show plainly, 
divide the roots and 
pot up. 
The loss of humus is 
usually the most potent 
factor in the so-called 
exhaustion of soils. 
Improving the wood- 
lot is a winter^ occupa¬ 
tion that pays dividends. 
Spray now for San Jose 
scale on fruit trees, li¬ 
lacs. J apanese quince,etc. 
Move the seedlings into 
boxes as soon as they 
•make their third leaves 
On fine days 
pruning can 
be done, 
thus reliev¬ 
ing the rush 
later on 
Requisites 
for seed 
pans: soil, 
drainage 
mat erial, 
pans, sifter, 
glass for 
tamping 
If you have 
a heated 
frame, put 
the bulbs in 
it before 
moving to 
the green¬ 
house 
Seed pans 
set in a sun¬ 
ny window 
make for 
early g ar- 
den results 
