March , 1916 
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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 Mid¬ 
dle States, but should be 
available for the whole 
country if five to seven 
days, later or earlier, are 
allowed for every 100 
miles north or south. 
1. St. David’s Day. 
Sun rises 6.34 A. M. Sun 
sets at 5.53 P. M. 
March is p 1 a nting 
month; all sorts of hardy 
trees, shrubs, vines and 
herbaceous plants can be 
transplanted; the earlier 
this is done, the better. 
2. Perennials require 
dividing up every few 
years; simply lift the 
large clumps and cut 
them in four with a 
sharp spade; this will 
start the plants off with 
renewed vigor. 
3. Sow seeds of all the 
more hardy vegetables 
that it is practical to 
start inside, either in 
greenhouse or hotbed: 
cabbage, cauliflower, cel¬ 
ery, parsley, lettuce, to¬ 
matoes, egg plant, pep¬ 
pers. leek and onions. 
4. Who will be inaugu 
rated this day, 1917 ? 
There are but four 
cardinal points to suc¬ 
cessful planting: dig the 
tree or shrub carefully, 
have new location well 
enriched, pack the earth 
carefully, and water. 
5. Shrove Sunday. 
Boston Massacre, 1770. 
Pea brush is much eas¬ 
ier to cut before the sap 
starts to run in the 
plants. Poles for the 
lima beans should be 
gathered at this time. 
6. This is an excellent 
time to prune climbing 
roses. Remove all old 
hard shoots and preserve 
the younger and more 
vigorous, as they are the 
ones that produce results 
7. Shrove Tuesday. 
Sow in the greenhouse 
or hotbed, asters, celosia, 
cock’s comb, balsams, 
chrysanthemums, annual 
gaillardia, marigold, pan¬ 
sies, petunias, salpiglos- 
sis, salvia, scabiosa, snap¬ 
dragon, stocks, verbena. 
8. Ash Wednesday. 
Beginning of Lent. 
A sowing now of gold¬ 
en bantam corn in the 
greenhouse can be set out 
when the weather is fav¬ 
orable and will mature 
fully two weeks before 
the outside sown corn. 
9. If you had a mulch 
of manure on your roses, 
dig it under now; get it 
down deep. It won’t 
matter if you cut a few 
roots. A top dressing of 
coarse crushed bone is 
also beneficial; tramp the 
soil firm after digging. 
10. Water lilies are 
very easy to raise from 
seed; sow the seeds in 
pans and place in tubs of 
water in the greenhouse ; 
have the seeds just cov¬ 
ered with water. When 
large enough pot the 
plants; keep immersed. 
11 . When pruning the 
roses don’t be afraid to 
cut them, particularly the 
hybrid perpetuals; roses 
flower on the terminal of 
new _ growth and heavy 
pruning gives quality 
flowers; don’t prune the 
hybrid teas so severely. 
12. Quadrigesima. 
With the exception of 
wistaria all the hardy 
vines should be pruned 
now. Don’t allow vines 
to crowd; keep them 
thinned out well; see 
that the vines are prop¬ 
erly fastened to supports. 
13. Get sweet peas in 
the ground. If you 
haven’t sown them in¬ 
side, make a trench two 
feet deep and fill with 
equal quantities of 
chopped sod and well- 
rotted manure; sow the 
seed about 2" deep. 
14. The asparagus bed 
needs attention. The 
mulch should be dug or 
plowed under; if you 
want your asparagus 
white, hill up the rows; 
if you prefer it green, 
leave the bed flat. 
15. Ember Day. An¬ 
drew Jackson born, 1767. 
The earlier new lawns 
are sowed down the bet¬ 
ter it will be. Use plenty 
of manure and plow it 
under just as deep as 
possible; in clayey soils 
use a subsoil plow. 
16. Start now to work 
up stock of all bedding 
plants such as geraniums, 
coleus, etc. Don’t grow 
the stock plants too 
warm or the cuttings will 
be soft and won’t root 
well. 
17. St. Patrick’s Day. 
Fruits that bear on 
new wood, such as the 
peach, will stand much 
harder pruning than 
those that fruit on spurs 
such as the apple or pear. 
The latter are best prun¬ 
ed in summer. 
18. Grover Cleveland 
born, 1837. 
Why not graft some 
good varieties on to some 
of your old fruit trees:* 
Gather the scions now 
and store in a trench 
out-of-doors until the 
proper time to graft. 
19. Second Sunday in 
Lent. Full moon. 
It will soon be time to 
sow some of the early 
vegetables out-of-doors. 
The ground should be 
well prepared ; use plenty 
of manure and have it 
well turned under. 
20. All sorts of sum¬ 
mer flowering bulbs 
should be started in the 
greenhouse; these bulbs 
should be potted up and 
started gradually. Glox¬ 
inias, achimenes, cala- 
diums, tuberous begonias 
are plants of this class. 
21. First day of spring. 
Start drying off all 
winter flowering bulbous 
plants that have been 
forced in the green¬ 
houses, such as calla lil¬ 
ies, cyclamen, freesias, 
gladioli, oxalis, etc. 
22. Goethe died, 1882. 
A batch of chrysanthe¬ 
mum cuttings made now 
and properly handled 
should produce first qual¬ 
ity flowers. Use good 
sharp sand when propa¬ 
gating, and keep the 
plants potted freely. 
23. Place your dahlia 
roots in sand in a heated 
frame or greenhouse and 
they will soon produce 
numerous shoots which 
can be taken off and 
rooted. This is a good 
way to increase your 
best varieties. 
24. Id. W. Longfellow 
died, 1882. 
Bone and wood ashes 
in equal quantities make 
an excellent top dressing 
for the lawn; it is advis¬ 
able to put this on dur¬ 
ing dull, rainy weather. 
25. Annunciation Day. 
It is advisable to dig 
under the winter mulch 
on shrubbery borders and 
flower beds where pos¬ 
sible; elsewhere, as in 
bulb beds and like places, 
rake the mulch off be¬ 
fore active growth starts. 
26. Third Sunday in 
Lent. 
Rhubarb, asparagus 
and horse-radish roots 
are all available now; 
have your ground all 
ready to receive them so 
the roots won’t lie 
around and lose vitality. 
27. If you want good 
fruit you must spray; 
start now to spray all 
trees infected with bark 
pests; if it rains within 
two days of applying, the 
work must be done over 
again. 
28. Prune now all or¬ 
namental foliage shrubs 
and those that flower on 
new wood; don’t prune 
azaleas, cercis, calycan- 
thus,cytisus, dogwood, ha- 
lesia, deutzia, exochordia, 
forsythia, magnolia, lo- 
nicera, prunis, viburnum. 
29. Start to prepare 
the ground for an early 
batch of potatoes. On 
very light sandy soils use 
manure; on heavy soils a 
commercial fertilizer is 
better ; plow your ground 
deep and work it thor¬ 
oughly. 
30. It is now time to 
remove the covering 
from all protected ever¬ 
greens and other plants; 
if this is left too long it 
softens the plants. Se¬ 
lect a dark, cloudy day 
for this work. 
31. Sun rises 5.47 A. M. 
Sun sets 6.24 P. M. 
Peas, beets, carrots, 
cabbage, cauliflower, let¬ 
tuce, kohlrabi, leek, on¬ 
ions, parsley, parsnips, 
radish, salsify, Swiss 
chard, spinach, turnip 
can be sown outdoors. 
Who' welcomed in the 
maiden spring? 
Who heard her footfalls, 
sun ft and light 
As fairies stepping 
through the night? 
Henry Van Dyke. 
“When the hounds of spring are on winter’s 
traces, 
The mother of month in meadow and 
plain. 
Fills the shadows and windy places 
With the lisp of leaves and patter of rain.” 
7 
Should March’s early days he wild. 
Its end will be both clear and mild. 
The year 1916 is marked by five eclipses, 
three of the sun and two of the moon. In 
any one year there can never be less than 
two eclipses nor more than seven. 
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