April, 1917 
55 
April THE GARDENER’S KALENDAR Fourth Month 
Palm Sunday. 
1. Lawns must be 
attended to, any new 
pieces seeded down and 
necessary sodding done. 
Don’t neglect to roll 
the lawn. A little bone 
meal applied now will 
work wonders in a good 
stand later on. 
2. Seeds can now be 
sown of all the hardy 
types of vegetables, 
such as onions, spinach, 
salsify, turnip, radish, 
parsley, peas, beets, car- 
r 0 t s, parsnip, lettuce 
and Swiss chard. Keep 
all those that last all 
season to one side. 
3. New plants of 
rhubarb, horseradish, 
asparagus, Jerusalem 
artichoke, chives, etc., 
can be set out. Old 
beds of rhubarb should 
be lifted and divided, 
the ground thoroughly 
enriched with manure 
and the plants reset. 
4. Start hardening 
oft in the greenhouse or 
cold-frame all the vege¬ 
table seedlings which 
were started indoors, 
such as lettuce, cabbage, 
cauliflower, etc.; also 
all the flower seedlings, 
like asters, balsams and 
sweet peas. 
S. All hardy hard- 
wooded forcing plants 
that have been forced in 
the greenhouse can be 
planted out in a good, 
rich, well prepared bor¬ 
der. These plants can 
be forced again after 
two seasons out-of- 
doors. 
6. Good Friday. Sir 
Henry Irving born, 1838. 
All planting of new 
stock and the trans¬ 
planting of trees and 
shrubs must be finished. 
Don’t neglect to plant 
some peaches, apples, 
pears, raspberries, etc. 
7. Set out a straw¬ 
berry bed now. Use 
plenty of manure, dig 
the ground deep, plant 
good varieties, cultivate 
frequently, and keep 
the runners picked. 
Thus you will have 
good fruit. See page 52 
of this issue. 
Easter Sunday. 
8. By planting pota¬ 
toes early, you can 
usually avoid damage 
from the summer 
drought. Use good fer¬ 
tilizer, soak the seed in 
formaldehyde, and keep 
the soil well cultivated 
with a harrow until the 
sprouts show. 
9. All borders should 
be dug by this time. 
Rose beds, perennial 
borders, shrubbery 
plantings, etc., should 
have the mulch turned 
under. Put a liberal 
top-dressing of bone 
meal on the roses for 
best results. 
10. It is safe to sow 
in the garden now all 
the more hardy types of 
flowers, such as sca- 
biosa, pansies, sweet 
peas, etc. This is for 
those who have not a 
greenhouse where the 
plants can be started 
early. 
General Booth born, 
1829. 
11. All perennial 
plantings that are to 
be changed must be at¬ 
tended to at once. 
Don’t be afraid to dig 
up and divide those 
that are advanced in 
growth; frequent water¬ 
ing will help them. 
12. It is advisable 
to shade flowers in the 
greenhouse at this sea¬ 
son of the year in 
order to prevent their 
bleaching out — a slat 
trellis will answer. 
Colored flowers, par¬ 
ticularly carnations, 
require this shading. 
13. This is positively 
the last call for spray¬ 
ing: very shortly the 
buds will burst, and it 
will then be too late. 
Carefully look over 
your fruit trees, roses, 
Japan quince, evonymus 
and other plants. 
President Lincoln shot, 
1865. 
14. Place in frames 
for the summer all the 
plants in pots that you 
are preparing for next 
winter in the green¬ 
house, such as cycla¬ 
men, primula, antirrhi¬ 
num, etc. 
Titanic disaster, 1912. 
15. Cuttings of all 
types of chrysanthe¬ 
mums should be made 
now._ Don’t neglect to 
put in quantities of the 
single types, as they are 
very useful for cut 
flower work. Pot the 
cuttings as soon as 
rooted. 
16. Start to get the 
ground ready for farm 
crops. It should be 
ploughed and manure 
turned under. If the 
soil is hard use a sub¬ 
soil plow. Bear in 
mind that the deeper 
you work the better the 
results. 
Benjamin Franklin 
died, 1790. 
17. Start using weed 
killer on walks and 
gutters and in other 
places where it is not 
practical to scuffle. All 
ground that cannot be 
dug up should also be 
scuffled. 
San Francisco Earth¬ 
quake, 1906. 
18. Don’t neglect to 
stake and wire all new¬ 
ly set out trees to pre¬ 
vent swaying and loos¬ 
ening the roots. Cov¬ 
ering the trunks with 
straw or burlap will 
also help them recover 
from transplanting. 
19. Start .planting 
hardy bulbous plants 
such as gladioli, tri- 
toma, montbretia, lily- 
of-the-valley, etc. Glad¬ 
ioli and montbretias 
should be set out at in¬ 
tervals so that they will 
give continuous flowers. 
20. If you haven’t 
any melon frames, 
order some now. Make 
good, rich holes, using 
plenty of sod and man¬ 
ure, and set the frames 
over the hill in order 
to warm the soil thor¬ 
oughly before sowing. 
21. If your root 
crops such as onion, 
radish and turnips are 
bothered with inaggots, 
grubs, etc;, give the 
ground a good top¬ 
dressing with soot or 
air slacked lime. Scat¬ 
ter it directly on the 
seed drills. 
22. Start cutting 
grass early; there is 
nothing gained by put¬ 
ting it off. Don’t let it 
grow until it is so long 
that you have to rake 
the cut grass off the 
lawn; make a practice 
of cutting once a week, 
for the sake of appear¬ 
ance and success. 
23. Successive sow¬ 
ings must be made of 
peas, beets, carrots, 
radishes, turnips, let¬ 
tuce and spinach. It is 
advisable to sow these 
vegetables in small 
quantities at frequent 
intervals. 
24. If properly 
“hardened off,” the 
more hardy types of 
vegetable seedlings 
started inside _ can be 
set out now, including 
cabbage, cauliflower, 
lettuce, etc. If you 
have no greenhouse, 
you can buy plants. 
25. Carnations can 
now be planted out in 
the field if the season is 
advanced. Be sure that 
the soil is well pre¬ 
pared and cultivate fre¬ 
quently. Keep the 
plants well pinched and 
spray occasionally with 
Bordeaux mixture. 
26. Make arrange¬ 
ments to spray the 
fruit trees in flower 
with arsenate of lead. 
Do this as soon as the 
petals fall; if you spray 
when in full flower you 
may kill some bees 
which are a great aid 
to fruit. 
27. It is now safe to 
plant seeds of any kind 
of flowers. We rarely 
have frost after this 
date, and in most cases 
it takes from a week to 
ten days for the seed to 
germinate. An early 
start is worth consider¬ 
ing. 
28. Don’t put off 
thinning out those vege¬ 
tables that require it. 
Hill the peas before 
they are damaged and 
stake them, and culti¬ 
vate the ground be¬ 
tween the rows at least 
once a week to prevent 
its baking. 
29. If your aspara¬ 
gus is short the crowns 
are too near the sur¬ 
face. Hill up the_ row, 
covering with six or 
eight inches of earth. 
If the grubs are botn- 
ering the shoots, turn 
your chickens in the 
bed; they will clean the 
grubs out. 
30. Warm vegetables 
such as p u m p k i n , 
squash, cucumber, lima 
beans, string beans, 
okra, corn, water mel¬ 
ons, etc., may be sown 
now. _ If you have a 
continual wet spell, 
postpone sowing this 
class of plants for a day 
or two. 
For winter’s rains and 
ruins are over. 
And all the season of 
snows and sins; 
The days dividing lover 
and lover. 
The light that loses, 
the night that wins; 
And _ time remember’d 
is grief forgotten. 
And frosts are slain 
and dowers begot¬ 
ten. 
And in green tinder- 
wood and cover 
Blossom by blossom 
the spring begins. 
The full streams feed 
on dower of rushes. 
Ripe grasses trammel 
a decting foot. 
The faint fresh flame 
of the young year 
dushes 
From leaf to flower 
and flower to fruit; 
And fruit and leaf are 
as gold and fire. 
And the oat is heard 
above the lyre. 
And the hoofed heel of 
a satyr crushes 
The chestnut-husk at 
the chestnut-root. 
— Swinburne. 
This Kalendar of the 
gardener’s labors is 
aimed as a reminder 
for undertaking all his 
tasks in season. It is 
fitted tO' the latitude of 
the Middle States, but 
its service should be 
available for the whole 
country if it be re¬ 
membered 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. The dates 
given are, of course, 
for an average season. 
When setting shrubs, 
firm the soil down well 
ivith your heel and wa¬ 
ter if dry 
Keep your fruit 
trees headed 
low, so that 
you can work 
them comfort¬ 
ably loithout 
having to climb 
about 
On wet days 
the tree trunks 
can be cleaned 
with a stiff 
bristle bru.sh 
Neivly planted 
trees should 
have their 
trunks covered 
ivith burlap or 
straw 
Just as the buds begin 
to swell is the time to 
graft fruit trees 
Wide drills are 
best made loith 
a dr mo hoe, 
the blade be¬ 
ing held flat 
One operation 
covers the 
seeds and firms 
the soil prop¬ 
erly over them 
For medium 
size seeds, use 
the edge of a 
dr ato hoe to 
make the roio 
Hand work is 
the loay to keep 
the roivs free 
from the per¬ 
sistent loeeds 
