September, 1917 
49 
September THE GARDENER’S KALENDAR Ninth Month 
Peach baskets 
inverted over 
newly trans- 
plantedt kings 
will protect 
the m from 
hot sun 
Keep the 
g r o 11 7t d 
loose around 
trees, e s p e- 
cially during 
dry weather 
Y o u n g 
hedges 
should be 
kept well clip¬ 
ped to start 
them right 
30. Keep the culti¬ 
vator working if your 
garden needs it. Al¬ 
though weed growth is 
not rank at this season, 
it is very rapid, and it 
is best to keep the soil 
stirred on the surface 
to overcome this. 
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. 
2. On light soils the 
nitrogen gathering crops 
are superior, such as 
crimson clover, red 
clover, soy beans and 
vetches. On heavier 
soils you will do well 
to use rye, buckwheat, 
oats and rape. 
3. Onions should be 
about ripe. This can 
be determined by the 
tops turning brown. 
They should be pulled 
up and laid on their 
sides for several days, 
the tops twisted off and 
the bulbs stored. 
4. There is no ad¬ 
vantage in leaving your 
potatoes in the ground 
after they have finished 
their growth. Excessive 
rain may cause damage 
to the tubers. Get them 
dug and stored now, af¬ 
ter drying. 
9. Don’t neglect to 
get cuttings of sue h 
plants for bedding pur¬ 
poses as geranium, col¬ 
eus, alyssum, \erbena, 
heliotrope, age ra turn, 
etc., before an early 
frost happens along and 
spoils your chances. 
10. Keep the growth 
of the dahlias checked 
somewhat by pinching 
the laterals. Light ap¬ 
plications of liquid ma¬ 
nure also are advisable. 
If they are going to 
grass, cut the roots 
slightly. 
11. What about rais¬ 
ing some seedling dah¬ 
lias next year? This is 
a good time to select the 
best formed seed pods, 
labelling them carefully 
so that you will know 
from which varieties 
your seeds come. 
16. It is now time to 
think of making use of 
your coldframes for the 
winter. Lettuce, water¬ 
cress, parsley, spinach 
and radishes should be 
started now for use in 
the protected frames 
through the cold 
weather. 
17. The ground 
should be properly pre¬ 
pared for any new 
plantings to be made 
this fall. Remember 
that w h e n permanent 
plantings are contem¬ 
plated the ground, must 
be thoroughly enriched. 
18. There are a num¬ 
ber of pretty annuals 
for the greenhouse 
which may be sown now. 
Stocks, nicotiana, clar- 
kia, gypsophila, mignon¬ 
ette and calendula 
planted successionally, 
will bloom all winter. 
23. It is advisable to 
give the grounds a thor¬ 
ough cleaning. Walks 
edged up, weeds de¬ 
stroyed and a general 
clean-up now will keep 
your place looking well 
through the -balance of 
the season. 
24. Bouvardia, ste- 
via, lilacs, climbing roses 
and other forcing plants 
which were planted in a 
border for the summer 
and intended for forc¬ 
ing should now be pot¬ 
ted and the tender ones 
brought inside. 
25. Pansies intended 
for wintering outdoors 
should be planted now 
so as to be established 
before extreme cold 
weather. Some kind of 
protection, of course, 
must be applied later; 
salt hay is good. 
In the highlands, in the 
country places, 
Where the old plain men 
have rosy faces, 
And the young fair 
maidens 
Quiet eyes; 
Where essential silence 
chills and blesses, 
And for ever in the hill- 
recesses 
Her more lovely music 
Broods and dies— 
O to mount again where 
erst I haunted; 
Where the old red hills 
are bird-enchanted, 
And the low green 
meadows 
Bright with sward; 
And when even dies, 
the million-tinted. 
And the night has come, 
and planets glinted, 
Lo, the valley hollow 
Lamp-bestarr’d! 
—Stevenson 
1. There are many 
reasons why you should 
sow a cover crop of 
some kind around your 
orchard fruit trees. It 
prevents winter killing, 
keeps down weeds and 
is an excellent fertilizer 
into the bargain. 
5. If you have the 
means to protect it, a 
large patch of lettuce 
sown now and planted 
in bed form, with pro¬ 
tection from early frost, 
will give you a fine sup¬ 
ply during the early 
part of the winter. 
President McKinley 
shot, 1901. 
6. If you have not 
already sown what new 
lawns you are consider¬ 
ing, attend to it now. 
You must get a stand 
by fall in order to carry 
through the winter. 
Chinese Revolution be¬ 
gan, 1911. 
7. It is advisable to 
keep all celery sprayed 
with Bordeaux mixture 
in order to prevent 
blight. It is also a good 
plan to apply liquid 
feeding in the custo¬ 
mary manner. 
Galveston Tornado 
1900. 
8. When bulbs are 
received for forcing in 
the greenhouse they 
should be immediately 
planted in boxes and 
buried out-of-doors for 
the time being. 
12. Any indication 
of asparagus beetle is 
reason enough to keep 
the plants well dusted 
with hellebore. A top¬ 
dressing of salt will 
keep the weeds down 
and save a great deal of 
work later on. 
13. Some people stop 
cutting their grass now, 
which causes it to turn 
unsightly for winter 
and makes extra work 
in the spring. Continue 
cutting as long as there 
is any growth, and re¬ 
sults will be better. 
Duke of Wellington 
died, 1852. 
14. This is the time 
to transplant peonies. 
All plants that have 
been growing undis¬ 
turbed for years and 
have gotten a little 
seedy should be re¬ 
moved ahd divided. 
15. It is time to move 
violets into the green¬ 
house or be d. They 
must have rich, heavy 
soil. All diseased leaves 
should be picked off 
and the benches given a 
top-dressing of lime to 
sanitate them. 
President Garfield died, 
1881. 
19. Cover crops of 
various kinds should be 
sown in any bare space 
in the garden. A good 
stand of one of these 
crops will do more good 
than manure. 
20. Beans, cauli¬ 
flower, radishes, carrots, 
beets, lettuce and spin¬ 
ach are all valuable for 
forcing in the green¬ 
house. They should be 
sown at intervals of two 
to four weeks. Start 
sowing now. 
21. Two sowings of 
peas should be made 
out-of-doors this month. 
Now is the last date at 
which it is safe to do 
this. The drills should 
be watered to hasten 
germination if the 
ground is dry when sow¬ 
ing. 
22. Chrysanthemums 
in the greenhouse will 
stand heavy feeding just 
now. Give them a va¬ 
riety of foods and spray 
to keep them free from 
black fly. Keep the ven¬ 
tilators wide open dur¬ 
ing clear weather. 
26. At this time of 
the year it is often ad¬ 
visable to give the gar¬ 
den crops stimulant such 
as nitrate of soda or 
muriate of potash. 
Vegetables, of course, 
must grow rapidly to be 
of high quality. 
27. Hardy bulbs of 
all kinds should be 
planted outdoors. There 
is nothing gained by 
postponing this. While 
bulbs will do moderate¬ 
ly well in poor soils, 
they repay fully any 
good treatment. 
28. You must keep a 
sharp lookout for the 
green fly on the peas, 
beans, etc. The pres¬ 
ence of this pest is no 
doubt due to dry 
weather. Frequent 
spraying with tobacco 
emulsion will destroy 
them satisfactorily. 
29. Don’t let any 
vegetables in your gar¬ 
den go to waste. Green 
beans, tomatoes and 
like vegetables can be 
canned. Beets, carrots 
and other crops can be 
kept for winter use by 
storing in a cool cellar. 
When the po- 
t at o e s are 
dug, let them 
lie in the sun 
for an hour 
to dry on the 
outside 
You can now 
start t o in a- 
toes in the 
greenhouse 
for the win¬ 
ter table 
By digging 
down with 
your fingers 
you can tell 
when sweet 
potatoes are 
ready 
If you want 
lettuce to use 
this fall you 
will have to 
set it out now. 
Water well. 
