52 
House & Garden 
First Month 
THE GARDENER’S CALENDAR 
January 
THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY 
SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY 
One of the exhibits of the Fall Show of 
the New York Horticultural Society was a 
magnificent red chrysanthemum trained 
fan-shaped on a metal frame 
Q UEER, how right in the middle of a hitter cold, old-fashioned winter—-they still do f<>me thtnawayup 
breath The sky gits whitish-like, the stars look uncommon close. An afore momn ye waJ V 
an’know by the gray ness o' the room and the deadened way the wind whines round the winder ledge mat 
another blizzard's come. old DOC LEMMON. 
1. Start the 
year right by 
making an in¬ 
ventory of your 
garden sup¬ 
plies. Tools, 
fertilizers 
seeds and other 
necessities 
should be list¬ 
ed and orders 
placed early 
where new ones 
are required 
Be sure your 
list is complete. 
5. It is quite 
safe now to 
force any of the 
bulbous plants 
that have been 
buried long 
enough to have 
built up a sub¬ 
stantial rooting 
system. Most 
of these bulb¬ 
ous plants call 
for low tem¬ 
perature and 
plenty of wa¬ 
ter. 
12. Why not 
buy some 
houses for the 
birds, those 
never - tiring 
friends of the 
gardener. 
Rustic ones are 
practical and 
ornamental. 
and there are 
other good 
styles. They 
should be put 
up before 
spring opens. 
19. The soil 
on top of the 
benches and 
pots in the 
greenhouse 
should be kept 
stiired con¬ 
stantly. Plants 
that are being 
forced suffer 
because of lack 
of air, the sup¬ 
ply of which 
can be in¬ 
creased by 
cultivation. 
6. In case of 
severe freezing 
weather, don’t 
fail to pile 
plenty of leaves 
on the vege¬ 
table trenches 
to protect them 
from the frost. 
Always keep 
tar-paper over 
the leaves, to 
keep out the 
water. If any 
gets In the frost 
will follow. 
13. Specimen 
trees of all 
kinds can be 
easily trans¬ 
planted if they 
are cut out 
with fair-sized 
balls of earth 
and allowed to 
freeze before 
handling. This 
is a very safe 
method of 
handling sub¬ 
jects of this 
class. 
20. Rhubarb 
may be grown 
success l ally 
under the 
benches in the 
greenhouse, or 
in t.ne cellar of 
the dwelling. 
Lift good-sized 
clumps from 
the garden and 
plant them in 
light soil, keep¬ 
ing the tops 
dark until they 
develop. 
7. The soil 
In the house- 
plant pots 
should be top- 
dressed with 
sheep manure 
or some of the 
regular plant 
foods that 
come for the 
purpose. And 
do not forget 
to sponge the 
foliage fre¬ 
quently with 
insecticide. 
14. The green¬ 
house plants 
must be 
sprayed fre¬ 
quently with a 
strong force of 
water to keep 
the red spider 
in check. This 
is one of our 
worst green¬ 
house pests if 
neglected, yet 
the easiest of 
all to keep un¬ 
der control. 
21. Trees 
that are cov¬ 
ered with moss 
can be easily 
cleaned by 
scrubbing with 
wire brushes, 
or spraying 
with a light so¬ 
lution of caus¬ 
tic soda. Damp 
weather is the 
best time for 
the former 
method of 
treatment. 
28. Now is 
the time to or¬ 
der garden fur¬ 
nishings — a 
settee, an 
arched arbor, a 
sundial or urn. 
Somewhere on 
your grounds 
there is a point 
which can be 
made more at¬ 
tractive, more 
inteiesting by 
adding one of 
these. 
8. Have you 
ever thought 
seriously of the 
advantages of 
an orchard? 
Don’t reason 
that it takes 
too long to 
grow a produc¬ 
tive orchard— 
if our forefath¬ 
ers had felt 
that way about 
it, we should be 
the losers. Start 
one this year. 
15. What 
about the per¬ 
gola you have 
been consider¬ 
ing so long? 
You might as 
well order the 
arbor and vines 
at the same 
time which 
means now. 
Bear in mind 
that goods will 
be scarce, and 
that orders are 
filled in turn. 
22. Pea brush, 
beanpoles, etc., 
may be gath¬ 
ered any time 
now and 
stacked away 
for use at the 
proper time. 
Their butts 
should be prop- 
erly pointed 
with an axe to 
save work later 
on in the sea¬ 
son when time 
presses. 
29. Why not 
order or build 
some forcing 
frames to help 
the garden 
along this sea¬ 
son. You will 
be surprised to 
find how easily 
they can be 
constructed 
and how much 
better garden 
you will have 
by using them 
consistently. 
30. Prepara¬ 
tion should be 
made to re-pot 
all exotic 
plants, as they 
will soon begin 
active growth. 
Use plenty of 
drainage in the 
bottom of the 
pot and have 
the soil so that 
it will not be¬ 
come sodden 
if over-watered 
by mistake. 
31. Cut 
branches of any 
of the early 
flowering 
shrubs such as 
puas> - willow, 
fire bush, gold¬ 
en bell, etc., 
will flower if 
placed in jars 
of water in a 
warm room. A 
little later, 
cherry and ap¬ 
ple can be 
forced. 
This Calendar 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 remembered that 
for every one hundred miles north or 
south there is a difference of from five 
to seven days later or earlier in per¬ 
forming garden operations. The dates 
given are, of course, for an average 
season. 
The brown ricks, snow-thatched 
by the storm in play, 
Show pearly breakers comb¬ 
ing o'er their lee , 
White crests as of some just 
enchanted sea. 
Checked in their maddest leap 
and hanging poised mid¬ 
way. 
— LOWELL. 
The outdoor trench 
protected with 
leaves keeps endive 
in good condition 
The first of the year 
is not too early to 
start making hot¬ 
bed frames 
The New York Horticultural Society ex¬ 
hibition contained striking vegetable group¬ 
ings. The first-prize winner is shown here. 
It included all the well-known crops 
Another of the prize chrysanthemum plants, 
a yellow, was trained in mushroom shape. 
Both plants were exhibited by Miss Alice 
DeLamar, of Glen Cove, L. I. 
During the dormant 
winter season is the 
time to use strong 
sprays 
Pruning the fruit 
trees is one of the 
few outdoor winter 
garden operations 
2. The soil 
in the growing 
beds in the 
greenhouse 
should be top- 
dressed with a 
mixture of 
equal parts of 
turfy loam and 
sheep manure. 
This should be 
scratched into 
surface with 
rake or claw 
then thorough¬ 
ly watered. 
3. Make a 
blue - print of 
your garden 
and lay out 
the crops in 
proper rota¬ 
tion. A plant¬ 
ing plan that 
has been well 
studied out will 
save time and 
space, and cer¬ 
tainly increase 
the yield of the 
garden the 
coming season. 
9. The gar¬ 
den furniture 
should be 
painted while 
it is stored for 
the winter. All 
tools that are 
lett out during 
the growing 
season should 
also be painted. 
This is much 
better than fre¬ 
quently buying 
new ones as 
replacements. 
16. All hardy, 
hard - wooded 
plants such as 
lilacs, wistaria, 
deutzia, etc., 
may now be 
brought into 
the warm 
greenhouse. 
R eep the wood 
well moistened 
by frequent 
sprayings until 
the buds start 
to open along 
the stems. 
23. Why not 
get the manure 
carted into the 
garden while 
the ground is 
still frozen? 
This is some¬ 
times left until 
spring, and 
then the paths 
and borders 
are torn up un¬ 
necessarily by 
the wagons and 
horses going 
back and forth. 
10. Do not 
postpone the 
ordering of 
your garden 
seeds — make 
the order out 
now. If you 
have made the 
proper garden 
notes this will 
be an easy task. 
Our advice to 
expert as well 
as beginner is 
to buy the best 
quality. 
4. Nitrate of 
soda is one of 
the best plant 
invigorators 
that we have. 
It must not be 
used exclusive¬ 
ly, as it is not 
a balanced 
food; but to 
hasten growth 
and increase 
root action it 
is indispens¬ 
able if used 
properly. 
17. Roses and 
carnations 
must be kept 
disbudded if 
you want high 
quality flowers. 
It is impoitant 
that this be at¬ 
tended to when 
the buds are 
small, in order 
to conserve the 
strength of the 
plants and con¬ 
centrate it in 
the blossoms. 
24. Destroy 
all caterpillar 
nests on the 
trees. An as¬ 
bestos torch is 
a good tool for 
the work, al¬ 
though one 
made of burlap 
and soaked in 
kerosene so as 
to burn will 
ajnswer every 
practical re¬ 
quirement of 
use. 
11. This is 
the logical rime 
to plan a small 
fruit garden 
comprising 
blackberries, 
raspberries, 
dewberries, 
currants, 
gooseberries 
and strawbei- 
ries. It may be 
located at one 
side of the gar¬ 
den or entirely 
separated. 
18. Do not 
scrape loose 
bark irom trees 
with a scraper; 
it is impossible 
to get into all 
the crevices, 
and much live 
bark is re¬ 
moved in the 
operation. In 
this way more 
harm than 
good will be the 
probable final 
result. 
25. Seed sow¬ 
ing time will 
soon be here. 
Have you all 
the material 
ready — soil 
which has been 
screened, sand, 
stones or brok¬ 
en flower pots 
for drainage, 
moss, boxes, 
seed pans, label 
sticks, etc? If 
not, better get 
them at once. 
26. One of 
our finest salad 
vegetables is 
what we call 
chicory or 
French endive. 
From mature 
roots this plant 
is easily forced 
in any warm 
house cellar or 
under the 
benches in the 
greenhouse. It 
yields abund¬ 
antly. 
27. All edged 
tools should be 
gone over and 
sliarpened lor 
the coming 
season. New 
handles should 
be placed in 
tools that re¬ 
quire them, and 
the lawn- 
mowers should 
be overhauled 
while you have 
ample time to 
do it right. 
Store root crops — 1 
parsnips, carrots, 
rutabagas, etc. — in 
a trench 
Disbudding the 
greenhouse carna¬ 
tions results in larger 
blossoms 
s 
