60 
House & Garde. 
March 
THE GARDENER’S CALENDAR 
Third Month 
Spring pruning of 
the hardy roses 
should be done be¬ 
fore growth starts 
The sweet pea 
trench can be pre¬ 
pared as soon as the 
frost is out 
The cold frame helps 
gain several weeks 
on the producing 
season of plants 
SUNDAY 
MONDAY 
Worn is the winter rug of white. 
And in the snow-bare spots once 
more. 
Glimpses of faint green grass in 
sight ,— 
Spring's footprints on the floor. 
Spring here—by what magician's 
touch ? 
’Turns winter scarce an hour ago. 
And yet I should have guessed as 
much ,— 
Those footprints in the snowl 
—Frank Dempster Sherman. 
6. Changes 
of all kinds 
where the mov¬ 
ing of plants, 
sod, hedges, 
etc., is involved 
must be carried 
into execution 
at once. This 
also applies to 
garden walks 
which,if altered 
in early spring, 
settle by sum¬ 
mer, becoming 
permanent. 
13. Make a 
habit of heel¬ 
ing in your nur¬ 
sery stock the 
instant it ar¬ 
rives. Stock 
that is allowed 
to lie around in 
the wind and 
sun is certain 
to show heavy 
losses, because 
its roots will be 
dried out and 
the smaller 
ones will die. 
7. All the 
exotic plants, 
such as kentias, 
dracaenas, 
cocos, arecas, 
etc., should be 
re-potted at 
this time. Use 
pots about 1 
inch larger 
than the plants 
now occupy. 
The soil must 
be light, con¬ 
taining plenty 
of lear mold. 
20. This is 
the time to 
think of flowers 
for next winter 
in the green¬ 
house. Primula 
of the Chinese 
or Obconica 
type, cyclamen 
and antirrhin¬ 
um are three of 
the best sorts. 
They should be 
started from 
seed now under 
glass. 
14. Sowing of 
all the more 
common types 
of annual flow¬ 
ers should be 
attended to 
now. Asters, 
zinnias, calen¬ 
dula, balsams, 
salvia, mari¬ 
gold, scabiosa, 
pansies, stocks, 
etc., are some 
of the many 
varieties that 
maybeplanted. 
27. Most of 
the diseases to 
which potatoes 
are heir are 
caused by dry, 
hot weather. 
Potatoes like 
cool, moist soil. 
Prepare a piece 
of ground and 
plant them 
now, or as soon 
as the soil can 
be worked. An 
early start 
makes success. 
21. All the 
various garden 
tools will soon 
be in use regu¬ 
larly. Are they 
in proper con¬ 
dition? Good 
work is impos¬ 
sible with poor 
or dull tools. 
Go over all the 
implements, 
removing any 
rust and sharp¬ 
ening the cut¬ 
ting edges. 
28. All trees 
and shrubs 
that are sub¬ 
ject to attacks 
of San Jose 
scale should be 
sprayed with 
one ot the sol¬ 
uble oil mix¬ 
tures before 
the buds swell. 
At least forty- 
eight hours are 
needed to 
smother these 
pests. 
TUESDAY 
1. Chrysan¬ 
themums for 
next fall must 
be propagated 
now. If the 
space is avail¬ 
able it is a good 
practice to put 
in a batch of 
cuttings every 
four weeks un¬ 
til June to as¬ 
sure a long 
period of bloom 
well into the 
autumn. 
8. Where ab¬ 
solutely neces¬ 
sary, bay trees, 
hydrangeas 
and other orna¬ 
mental plants 
should be re¬ 
tubbed. Others 
can be re-ferti¬ 
lized by digging 
out some of the 
old soil with a 
trowel and fill¬ 
ing in with a 
rich, fresh 
mixture. 
15. Any 
changes in old 
plantings or 
new plants con¬ 
templated lor 
the perennial 
border should 
be finished up 
at the earliest 
moment. Those 
which are 
planted early 
in the season 
will flower late 
this coming 
summer. 
22. The top 
protection on 
the rose bushes 
can now be re¬ 
moved; dig the 
winter mulch of 
manure well 
under. A liberal 
application of 
bone meal to 
the soil will 
produceworth- 
while results 
during the flow¬ 
ering season 
this year. 
29. Manure 
applied to 
lawns last lall 
must now be 
raked up. All 
lawns should 
be raked clean 
and rolled or 
tamped. A top 
dressing of 
wood ashes and 
bone meal will 
help to produce 
a good vigor¬ 
ous growth of 
grass. 
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 ser¬ 
vice 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 performing garden 
operations. The dates given are, of course, 
for an average season. 
WEDNESDAY 
9. Have you 
everything in 
readiness for 
the opening of 
the big garden 
drive next 
month? Seeds, 
garden line, 
plant labels, 
measuring 
stick, pea 
brush, bean 
poles and to¬ 
mato supports 
are a few essen¬ 
tials. 
16. Specimen 
trees of all 
types that are 
not growing 
satisfactorily 
can be invigor¬ 
ated by cutting 
a trench en¬ 
tirely around 
the tree about 
lour feet from 
the trunk and 
filling it in with 
good rich earth 
well tamped 
down. 
23. If you 
are considering 
new lawns this 
spring get the 
ground ready 
for seeding just 
as soon as it 
can be worked. 
Early sowings 
will prove to be 
much freer of 
weeds than 
those which are 
made during 
the summer 
months. 
30. Boards, 
straw, burlap, 
cornstalks and 
other winter 
covering ma¬ 
terials for box¬ 
wood and such 
tender plants 
must be re¬ 
moved now. If 
possible, select 
dull, cloudy 
weather for 
carrying on 
this important 
operation. 
THURSDAY 
2. All the 
necessary 
pruning must 
be attended to 
now. Foliage 
trees and 
shrubs, all the 
flowering types 
that blossom 
on the termi¬ 
nals of the new 
growth, such as 
roses and fruits 
of all kinds re¬ 
quire atten¬ 
tion. 
3. Asparagus 
is one vege¬ 
table that 
starts growth 
very early, so 
dig the winter 
mulch under 
now, hill up the 
rows on the old 
plantings, and 
apply salt liber¬ 
ally to the bed. 
New plantings 
should be start¬ 
ed now from 
good roots. 
10. Better 
make arrange¬ 
ments now to 
use your green¬ 
house for some 
useful purpose 
this summer. 
Potted fruits, 
chrysanthe¬ 
mums, melons, 
English forcing 
cucumbers, 
etc., are some 
of the many 
possible prod¬ 
ucts. 
17. Small 
fruits of the dif¬ 
ferent types 
can be planted 
now. Grapes 
raspberries, 
blackberries, 
etc., can be 
trained on wire 
trellises, or 
stakes may be 
used. The lat¬ 
ter are neater 
and more eco- 
n om i c al of 
space. 
24. All the 
best varieties 
of dahlia roots 
should be 
started into 
growth so that 
cuttings can be 
made of those 
desired. If the 
roots are laid 
upon a few 
inches of sand 
and watered 
freely they will 
soon start into 
growth. 
31. Rhubarb 
should now be 
showing some 
growth. Bar¬ 
rels placed over 
the plants will 
give earlier and 
better stalks. 
Beds that were 
not mulched 
should have a 
good applica¬ 
tion of manure 
dug into them 
at about this 
time. 
FRIDAY 
SATURDAY 
4. I f you 
have not al¬ 
ready planted 
them, seeds of 
cabbage, cauli¬ 
flower, celery, 
parsley, let¬ 
tuce, tomatoes, 
egg-plant, pep¬ 
pers, leek and 
onions should 
be sown. See 
page 49 for de¬ 
tailed informa¬ 
tion on this 
work. 
11. Gannas, 
especially the 
newer or better 
types, should 
be divided by 
cutting theeyes 
separately. 
They can then 
be rooted by 
placingin sharp 
sand, or they 
may be potted 
up in a very 
light soil mix¬ 
ture if you pre¬ 
fer. 
5. All new 
plantings of 
hardy stock 
must beset out. 
The earlier in 
the planting 
season this is 
done the less 
losses you will 
have. Just as 
soon as the 
frost leaves the 
ground is the 
proper time for 
work of this 
sort. 
18. Before the 
buds burst on 
the deciduous 
trees and 
shrubs, the 
whole growth 
should be 
looked over 
carefully for 
any caterpillar 
nests, which 
can easily be 
destroyed by 
burning with¬ 
out injuring the 
plants. 
25. Sweet 
peas may be 
sown out of 
doors now. Dig 
trenches about 
two feet deep 
and the width 
of a spade. Fill 
the trench with 
good top soil 
and manure 
well mixed and 
sow the seed 
about two 
inches below 
the surface. 
12. Cuttings 
of all the vari¬ 
ous types of 
bedding plants 
should be start¬ 
ed in sand in 
the greenhouse 
early this 
month. Coleus, 
geraniums, lan- 
tana, helio¬ 
trope, agerat- 
um, etc., are 
some which 
come under 
this beading. 
19. The cov¬ 
ering on the 
strawberries 
should be re- 
moved and 
burned and the 
manure mulch 
can be dug un¬ 
der. In cases 
where for some 
reason no fall 
mulch was ap¬ 
plied the bed 
should be well 
manured and 
dug in. 
26. Mulches 
of all kinds ap¬ 
plied to shrub¬ 
bery borders, 
perennial 
plantings, flow¬ 
er beds, etc., 
should be dug 
under. In doing 
this, get the 
manure as deep 
as possible and 
see that it is 
thoroughly in¬ 
corporated 
with the soil. 
He must go — go — go 
away from here! 
On the other side the 
world he's overdue. 
*Send your road be clear 
before you when the 
old Spring-fret comes 
o'er you. 
And the Red Gods call 
for you! 
— Kipling. 
I 
SEE In the paperwhere oneo' these here commuter cusses down 
Pennsylvany way's ben puttin' eelectric lights in his chicken 
coop SO S the hens'd think it was daylight all the time an' 
keep on layin accordin'ly. Seems he had to let 'em have some 
sleep, but twarn't only a few hours a night. 
Durn mean trick, I call it, to fool them poor hens thataway But 
they got onto him puny quick an’ wouldn't wake up when he 
switched on the lights al three A. M. Then he goes an' gits him a 
whalin _ big alarm clock, sets it fer Gord knows how early in the 
mcrnin , an puts it on a shelf in the coop. 'Cordin' to the paver 
it worked fine, an’ the hens git to scratchin' 'round an' lavin' 
two-three hours afore sun-up. 
Don't it beat all how ornery mean some folks'll git Jus' fer the 
sake of a few more eggst 
—OLD DOC LEM MO N. 
For early flowering, 
start antirrhinums 
indoors this month. 
Courtesy of Dreer 
Thorough cultiva¬ 
tion with a rake is 
a necessary prelimi¬ 
nary to good crops 
Shells or broken 
crocks over the hole 
in the pot bottom 
prevent clogging 
Before the seedlings begin to crowd they 
should be transplanted to other pots or boxes 
where they will have room to develop properly 
before setting out 
The improved large-flowering dwarf zinnias 
come in a wide range of colors — canary, 
orange, scarlet, white, etc. Courtesy of Henry 
A. Dreer 
A new double dahlia-flowered 
zinnia grows 3 ' tall, with 
flowers _ 6 " across. It is to be 
had in many colors. Dreer 
