46 
House & Garden 
August THE GARDENER’S KALENDAR Eighth Month 
King of Norway born, 
1872. 
3. Early celery 
should be ready for 
blanching with paper 
collars or boards. 
Whichever are used, ar¬ 
range them so they will 
exclude water. 
England declared war 
on Germany, 1914. 
4. This is absolutely 
the last call to set out 
cabbage, cauliflower and 
kale so they will mature 
before frost. Do not 
neglect this. 
10. Usually at this 
season of rhe year we 
have hot, dry weather. 
All late plants should be 
kept watered. When 
doing this, soak the 
ground thoroughly and 
then cultivate immedi¬ 
ately afterward. 
11. Seed sowing is 
in order for the green¬ 
house. Stocks, migno¬ 
nette, nicotiana, calceo¬ 
laria and cineraria are 
timely, as are also wa¬ 
tercress, New Zealand 
spinach, tomatoes and 
cauliflower. 
17. If you want good 
muskmelons you must 
keep the vines sprayed 
with Bordeaux mixture. 
Small boards or flower 
pots placed under the 
fruit will insure fast 
ripening and better 
quality fruit. 
Emperor Franc Joseph 
born, 1830. 
18. Make another 
sowing of peas. Onions 
which are ripening can 
be pulled up and laid 
on their sides to dry a 
little before being 
stored. 
24. Summer flower 
bulbs such as gloxinias, 
achimine, yellow callas, 
begonias, etc., should 
now be dried out to af¬ 
ford them the proper 
rest. Water should be 
withheld until the bulb 
is properly ripened. 
25. This is a good 
time to think of sowing 
new lawns. By seeding 
now, you avoid a crop 
of weeds. Rye or other 
heavy rooting grasses 
are sometimes sown to 
protect the grass for the 
winter. 
31. Any changes con¬ 
templated in the flower 
gardens or shrubbery 
borders should be 
planned now and new 
plants ordered so they 
will be on hand at the 
proper time. Make the 
fall plantings early. 
The gardener who fails 
to kill all potato beetles 
on sight takes upon him¬ 
self a serious responsi¬ 
bility. A single pair of 
these pests may have 
60,000,000 descendants 
in one season. 
Lettuce like 
this, sown now. 
can be kept un¬ 
til Christmas 
if mulched 
This is the 
time to move 
evergreens and 
give the final 
trim m i n g 
to those that 
need it 
Dahlias can be 
crossed by 
bringing the 
flowers into 
contact so 
their pollen is 
transposed 
Cane fruits 
should be tied 
up and old 
fruiting icood 
cut aivay 
26. Hedges have 
about completed their 
growth and should be 
gone over and clipped 
before fall. This will 
be the final clipping, 
which applies also to all 
kinds of formal ever¬ 
greens. 
27. Keep the flower 
stalks removed from the 
flower garden, the 
ground well cultivated 
and the walks straight. 
Fall flowering plants 
should be given a top¬ 
dressing of sheep ma¬ 
nure or other fertilizer. 
Montenegro became a 
kingdom, 1910. 
28. It is time to 
gather dahlia seeds or 
to cross the flowers for 
new types. This is in¬ 
teresting work and 
should appeal to those 
interested in flowers. 
29. Roses will now 
be growing rapidly pre¬ 
paratory to their fall 
flowering. Bone meal 
and a thorough water¬ 
ing when the weather is 
dry will help them. 
Spray the foliage with 
poison if there are any 
rose slugs present. 
After setting out late 
celery in a well enriched 
trench , water it at once 
2. It is advisable to 
sow several rows of 
beans close together so 
that if an early frost 
comes along it will be 
an easy matter to pro¬ 
tect them. Water the 
drills to hasten germi¬ 
nation. 
9. What about some 
sweet peas for your 
greenhouse? See that 
they are planted where 
they will have plenty of 
head room. Sow forc¬ 
ing varieties now and 
you will have flowers 
for Christmas. 
16. Hot days and 
cold nights cause blight, 
a disease which is in¬ 
curable but preventable. 
Frequent sprayings with 
Bordeaux mixture or 
other fungicide will pre¬ 
vent it. Cut out and 
destroy parts affected. 
23. Carnations should 
now be planted in the 
greenhouse. Use good 
soil and keep the plants 
well sprayed and damp 
around the roots until 
root action is started. 
Diseased leaves should 
be picked off. 
30. There is nothing 
which will give greater 
returns in your green¬ 
house next winter than 
bulbs like narcissus, tu¬ 
lips, lilies, Spanish iris, 
and hyacinths, both 
Dutch and Roma n. 
Order these now. 
8 o iv i n g and 
“scratching in” 
grass seed in 
bare places is 
timely now 
A board shade 
will keep the 
sun from new¬ 
ly transplanted 
things 
If it is kept 
sharp, a sickle 
can be used to 
keep the bor¬ 
ders neat 
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. 
5 k m m e r set lip to 
earth’s bosom bare, 
And left the flushed 
print in a poppy 
there; 
Like a yawn of fire from 
the grass it came, ■ 
And the fanning wind 
puff'd it to flapping 
flame. 
—Francis Thompson 
1. Start sowing peas 
again for fall. With a 
favorable season you 
will get good returns 
and high quality peas. 
Use early varieties and 
keep a sharp lookout 
for aphis during dry 
weather. When water¬ 
ing, do the job thor¬ 
oughly. 
Emperor Ferdinand 
died, 1901. 
5. What about straw¬ 
berries for your garden 
next year? Good healthy 
plants, set out now, will 
fruit . next season if 
planted in a well pre¬ 
pared bed. 
6. Evergreens can be 
transplanted now. Use 
plenty of water; in fact, 
the plants should be 
puddled and kept 
sprayed constantly until 
root action is started. If 
you can’t water them, 
use a mulch. 
7. Spinach, turnips, 
radishes, cress and let¬ 
tuce can now be sown. 
In case of a dry spell of 
weather, these plants 
should be kept well wa¬ 
tered in order to stimu¬ 
late root action and 
hasten them along. 
8. Don’t neglect cul¬ 
tivation at this time— 
you must get rid of the 
weeds. Use the culti¬ 
vator to keep the 
ground thoroughly 
stirred, and have it dug 
around specimen trees. 
This will help them ma¬ 
terially. 
England declared war 
on Austria, 1914. 
12. This is a good 
time to give the aspara¬ 
gus bed a good top¬ 
dressing cf soil. If 
there are any slugs 
around, dust the plants 
with hellebore. 
Manila surrendered to 
the Americans, 1898. 
13. Evergreens suf¬ 
fer from red spiders 
during hot weather. Oc¬ 
casional spraying with 
insecticides such as to¬ 
bacco or kerosene emul¬ 
sions will check them 
Relief of Pekin, 1900. 
14. Don’t neglect to 
get cuttings of gerani¬ 
ums, coleus and o.her 
bedding plants. If taken 
judiciously, the beds 
should not show the ef¬ 
fects of it. Root in 
sand in the greenhouse. 
Panama Canal opened, 
1915. 
15. You must keep 
the runners removed 
from your strawberries. 
It is also a good prac¬ 
tice to give the old bed 
a top-dressing with ni¬ 
trate of soda. 
19. Start now col¬ 
lecting heavy wrapping 
paper, burlap and other 
covering materials. 
These can be used to 
advantage later on to 
protect the tender 
plants from early frosts, 
and prolong their life. 
Pope Pius died, 1914. 
20. Growth is about 
terminated on various 
plants, and it is well to 
go over and tie up 
the vines to prevent 
breakage. This applies 
particularly to climbing 
roses. 
21. Sow lettuce now. 
Plants of previous sow¬ 
ings of lettuce should 
also be set out. It is 
best to make a bed about 
3' wide which can be 
easily protected from 
early frosts with a 
light covered frame¬ 
work. 
22. It is again time 
to think of planting 
bulbs which increase, 
such as scilla, fritillaria, 
narcissus, crocus, grape 
hyacinths, snowdrops, 
etc. These should be 
ordered now to be on 
hand at the proper time. 
A spading fork is good 
for loosening the soil 
around newly set trees 
