70 
House & Garden 
May 
THE GARDENER’S CALENDAR Fifth Month 
With a scuffle-hog 
you can kill the 
weeds between the 
vegetable rows 
Deep digging and 
enriching of the soil 
are needed for roses 
and asparagus 
Seedlings need thin¬ 
ning out and trans¬ 
planting as soon as 
they begin to crowd 
SUNDAY 
MONDAY 
TUESDAY 
WEDNESDAY 
THURSDAY 
FRIDAY 
SATURDAY 
1. The early 
sowings of 
vegetables 
must be prop¬ 
erly thinned 
out; plants that 
are unduly 
crowded be¬ 
come thin and 
spindly and 
never develop 
into healthy 
vigorous speci- 
mens. Thin 
the plants when 
small. 
2. I f t h e 
weather condi¬ 
tions are set¬ 
tled the warm 
vegetable crops 
may be sown 
at this time. 
Beans, limas, 
corn, squash, 
pumpkins, 
okra, melons, 
etc., are all 
considered 
warm crops. 
Sow them out¬ 
doors now. 
3. It is un¬ 
wise to post¬ 
pone potato 
planting any 
longer if you 
want good re¬ 
sults. Potatoes 
are a cool crop 
and late plant¬ 
ings of them, 
however well 
cared for, are 
rarely success- 
f u 1 . Use a 
fertilizer with 
1 % potash. 
4. Do not 
stop sowing 
those crops 
that mature 
quickly, such as 
spinach, peas, 
radishes, let¬ 
tuce, etc. Fre¬ 
quent sowings 
in usable quan¬ 
tities are the 
first step to¬ 
ward success. 
If there is any 
surplus it can 
be canned. 
5. Tubbed 
plants of all 
kinds used 
around the 
grounds for 
decoration may 
be taken from 
their winter 
quarters and 
moved into 
place now. To 
maintain 
growth, these 
plants should 
be given liquid 
manure. 
6. Most of 
the more com¬ 
mon annual 
flowers may be 
started out of 
doors now. 
Have the soil 
in which they 
are to go well 
prepared far 
enough ahead 
so that it will 
pulverize when 
being worked. 
Sow the seed 
thinly in drills. 
7. Crops that 
are more or less 
inactive and 
are not grow¬ 
ing well should 
be stimulated 
with an appli¬ 
cation of ni¬ 
trate of soda 
or some other 
strong fertiliz¬ 
ing element 
used in liquid 
form to bring 
about quick 
results. 
8. All the 
summer flower¬ 
ing bulbous 
plants may be 
set out now. 
To assure a 
continuous 
supply of gladi¬ 
oli, they can be 
planted at bi¬ 
weekly inter¬ 
vals. The rule 
is to plant all 
bulbs twice as 
deep as their 
diameter. 
9. Maple 
trees should be 
pruned just as 
the buds are 
bursting; there 
is no danger of 
their bleeding. 
Any large scars 
which may re¬ 
sult should be 
painted with 
proper tree 
paint to pre¬ 
serve the wood 
until the cuts 
heal. 
10. Carna¬ 
tions intended 
for forcing in 
the greenhouse 
next winter 
can now be 
planted out in 
the garden. 
Have the 
ground well 
fertilized, keep 
them pinched 
back, and see 
that the soil 
between them 
is cultivated. 
11. The edges 
of walks, flow¬ 
er beds, shrub¬ 
bery borders, 
etc., should be 
trimmed clean¬ 
ly and neatly 
with a turfing 
iron every few 
weeks through 
the season. 
This finishing 
touch is neces¬ 
sary to com¬ 
plete your 
grounds. 
12. Do not 
delay cutting 
the lawn until 
the grass is so 
long as to ne¬ 
cessitate rak- 
i n g. Good 
lawns are the 
result of liberal 
fertilization 
and frequent 
mowing, the 
latter in some 
cases twice a 
week in grow¬ 
ing weather. 
13. Weed 
killers are very 
necessary in 
stone gutters, 
blue stone 
walks and 
drives, and 
other places 
where it is un¬ 
wise to use a 
hoe. One ap¬ 
plication now 
will destroy all 
undesirable 
growth for the 
season. 
14. Now that 
the garden 
work is in full 
swing, invite 
yourself to get 
acquainted 
with the use of 
a wheel - hoe. 
These imple¬ 
ments do the 
necessary work 
of cultivation 
moreefflcie-ntly 
and with less 
effort than any 
other. 
15. Roses for 
flowering in the 
greenhouse 
next winter 
should be 
planted in the 
benches now. 
Use a rich, 
heavy soil for 
them, firm the 
beds thorough¬ 
ly after plant¬ 
ing, and top- 
dress occasion¬ 
ally with raw 
bone meal. 
16. Make a 
small seed bed 
for the accom¬ 
modation of 
late cabbage, 
cauliflower, 
kale. Brussels 
sprouts, etc. 
These should 
be sown now. 
Keep the 
young plants 
in separate 
beds until it is 
time to plant 
them out. 
17. Just be¬ 
fore the general 
flowering sea¬ 
son begins in 
the perennial 
garden it is a 
good practice 
to top - dress 
the beds with 
bone meal or 
other concen¬ 
trated ferti¬ 
lizer. Scatter it 
on the surface 
and rake it into 
the soil. 
18. A barrel 
of liquid ma¬ 
nure in some 
convenient 
corner of the 
garden will be 
a valuable ac¬ 
cessory for 
treating plants 
that are not 
doing well. Al¬ 
ternate appli¬ 
cations of this 
with solutions 
of nitrate of 
soda. 
19. Leaf-eat¬ 
ing insects will 
also soon be 
working in the 
garden. For 
them a poison 
spray on the 
foliage is the 
thing to use. 
Cover the 
squash vines 
with nets made 
out of mosquito 
bar, to protect 
from squash 
bugs. 
20. Leaf 
beetles of vari¬ 
ous types will 
soon be at their 
destructive 
work. Spray 
the currant 
bushes, goose¬ 
berries, elms, 
cherries, etc., 
using arsenate 
of lead as the 
most adhesive 
of any of the 
regular poison 
sprays. 
21. It is un¬ 
wise to post¬ 
pone the sow¬ 
ing of farm 
crops any 
longer. Man¬ 
gels, sugar 
beets, carrots, 
turnips, etc., 
should be 
sown. As size is 
the important 
factor with 
these crops, 
early sowing 
is needed. 
22. Do not 
neglect to keep 
up succession 
sowings in the 
garden, as ad¬ 
vised elsewhere 
in this issue. 
Corn, beans, 
spinach, peas, 
radishes, let¬ 
tuce, beets, 
carrots, chervil, 
cucumber, 
cress, kohlrabi 
and turnip are 
all timely. 
23. A few 
dead flower 
stalks will 
make an other¬ 
wise good gar- 
den appear 
very ordinary. 
Keep the tall 
flowers sup¬ 
ported with 
individual 
stakes, the 
grass edges 
clipped, and 
remove old 
stalks. 
24. If the 
weather is dry 
you will be 
troubled with 
the attacks of 
green fly and 
other plant 
lice. Peas, let¬ 
tuce, egg-plant 
and other soft 
foliage plants 
are especially 
susceptible. 
Spray with 
strong tobacco 
solution. 
25. Dahlias 
may be planted 
out now. Make 
deep holes for 
them, setting 
the plants sev¬ 
eral inches be¬ 
low the grade 
to allow for 
filling in the 
soil as they 
grow. Use a 
little sheep 
manure or 
bone meal in 
the bottom. 
26. Winter 
celery may be 
sown now. 
Make a seed 
bed for it and 
sow broadcast. 
When large 
enough to 
handle, dibble 
the little plants 
off into well 
prepared soil. 
When they are 
4 inches tall 
you can plant 
them out. 
27. When 
the various 
fruit trees are 
in bloom they 
8 h o u1d be 
sprayed with a 
combination of 
Bordeaux mix¬ 
ture and arse- 
n ate of lead. 
This will de¬ 
stroy the vari¬ 
ous insects that 
ruin the fruit, 
catching them 
as they hatch. 
28. After 
they have fin¬ 
ished flower¬ 
ing, but not be¬ 
fore, the lilacs, 
syringas, deut- 
zia, forsythia, 
spirea, snow¬ 
ball, pearl bush 
and other eaily 
flowering 
shrubs should 
be pruned. Cut 
out the old, un¬ 
productive 
wood. 
29. If the 
weather ap¬ 
peals settled, 
the bedding 
out of gera¬ 
niums. cannas, 
salvia, coleus 
and other bed- 
pi ants may 
be started. If 
a delayed cold 
spell should 
come along, 
cover the 
plantings with 
old sheets. 
30. Formal 
evergreens and 
hedges should 
now be clipped. 
Hedge shears 
are the best 
tool to prevent 
any voids in 
the trees. 
Branches and 
tips that have 
been burned 
by the sun can 
be removed 
with the piun- 
ing shears. 
31. Keep the 
ground be¬ 
tween the 
potatoes con¬ 
stantly stirred, 
and look out 
for the potato 
beetles. If any 
are in evidence, 
spray with ar¬ 
senate of lead. 
Bordeaux mix¬ 
ture along with 
the lead will 
prevent at¬ 
tacks of blight. 
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 
performing garden operations. The 
dates given are, of course, for an 
average season. 
Then weary is 
the street 
parade , 
And weary 
books, and 
weary trade; 
I'm only wish¬ 
ing to go a- 
fishing — 
For this the 
month ofMay 
was made. 
— Henry 
Van Dyke. 
T HESE here business men as writes to the magizines all ’bout what whalin’ big successes they’ve made, 
can say what they like ’bout the biggest joy in life bein’ hard work without no let-up, but they’ll 
never be able to convince me. "Drive yerself," they holler. "Don't never let up! Fix your mind 
on the goal an’ keep after it. Use yer zvill-power all the time!" 
Shucks! What’s the use o’ workin’ if ye can’t be lazy once in a while, er o’ havin' will-power if 
ye can’t delib'rately not use it? I cal'late I’ve seen purty near as much o’ life as mos’ men o’ my 
age — I’m shadin’ seventy-six, ye know—and I want to tell ye that the real fun ain’t in drivin', drivin’ 
away at the job eternally, but rather in stoppin’ fer a spell an’ loafin' after ye’ve ’eomplishcd somethin’. 
A man oughter give himself a chance to ketch his breath, an’ rest up, an’ look back an’ see if what 
lie’s done is really worth while, after all. 
I ain't claimin’ that hard work an’ plenty of it ain’t needed to git ahead, ’cause mos’ gener’ly it is. 
What I do mean, though, is that ye owe it to yerself to set back now an’ ag'in an’ say to yer will¬ 
power: "Here—you run away an’ play fer a while, er go fisliin’, er somethin'. I won’t need ye today; 
an' b’sides, ye’ll feel a blame sight better when ye come back." 
—Uld Doc Lemmon. 
The raspberry canes 
should be tied to 
some support to 
prevent breakage 
Lettuce should be 
transplanted in small 
batches for continu¬ 
ous supply 
The warm-weather 
vegetables that were 
started indoors may 
now be set out 
One of the great advantages of the dwarf 
fruit trees is the ease with which the neces¬ 
sary spraying and pruning can be done 
The spring-flowering shrubs should not be 
pruned until their bloom is over. But the 
work must not be postponed after that time 
The apple trees ought to be sprayed with 
arsenate of lead before the petals fall, to 
destroy the eggs of the coddling moth 
