54 
House & Garden 
July THE GARDENER’S CALENDAR Seventh Month 
A regular edging tool 
is the best for trim¬ 
ming and straight¬ 
ening turf borders 
When the strawberry 
plants are in flower, 
apply additional fer¬ 
tilizer 
Summer clipping of 
the privet hedge is 
needed to keep it 
neat 
SUNDAY 
MONDAY 
TUESDAY 
WEDNESDAY 
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. 
4 Select 
three or four of 
the best shoots 
on the tomato 
plants and sup¬ 
port them by 
some means. 
Remove all 
other shoots 
and keep the 
lateral shoots 
reduced by oc¬ 
casional pinch- 
i n g . This 
makes larger 
fruit. 
11. Reduce 
the stems on 
the dahlia 
plants to three 
or four. Keep 
the lateral 
shoots pinched 
out on the 
flowering 
stems. Some 
sort of support 
should be ap¬ 
plied now, to 
prevent break- 
age during 
storms. 
18 . Most 
soils are par¬ 
tially deficient 
in humus. 
Cover crops of 
clover, vetch 
and rye are in¬ 
valuable for re¬ 
storing this ele¬ 
ment to the 
soil. Sow them 
now in the 
orchard and 
any vacant 
ground re¬ 
maining. 
25.] Practice 
summer prun¬ 
ing on the fruit 
trees. Pinch 
back the most 
vigorous shoots 
and remove all 
thin, we a k 
interior 
branches. This 
applies to trees 
of fruiting age. 
Others o f 
smaller size 
need different 
treatment. 
5. To insure 
plenty of fresh 
vegetables, 
you should sow 
now, lettuce, 
beets, carrots, 
beans, cucum¬ 
bers, kohlrabi, 
corn, radishes, 
turnips and 
endive. Use 
early corn and 
saturate the 
drill before 
sowing, if the 
soil is dry. 
12. Be very 
careful about 
artificial water¬ 
ing. Remem¬ 
ber that the 
natural soil 
moisture is 
preferred if 
you can save 
it. If you must 
water, soak the 
ground thor¬ 
oughly and 
after the sur¬ 
face has dried, 
cultivate. 
19. Spray 
the roses with 
arsenate of 
lead if they are 
infested with 
rose beetles. 
These drill 
holes in the 
leaves and, of 
course, weaken 
the plant. Top- 
dress the bed 
with bone meal 
if you want 
quality flowers 
this autumn. 
26. Straw¬ 
berries planted 
now will fruit 
abundantly 
next season. 
Be sure you 
order both 
staminate and 
pistillate vari¬ 
eties to assure 
fertilization. 
Prepare the 
bed by double 
digging, using 
well rotted ma¬ 
nure. 
6. A heavy 
mulch should 
be applied to 
the sweet peas. 
Any rough lit- 
ter may be 
used for this 
purpose. 
Spray with a 
tobacco prep¬ 
aration if aphis 
appear. A little 
shade at mid¬ 
day will main¬ 
tain the flower 
quality. 
13. This is 
an excellent 
time to look 
over all trees 
for bark scars 
which should 
be cut back to 
live bark and 
thoroughly 
painted. Re¬ 
move any 
stubs where 
branches have 
been improper¬ 
ly cut. Watch 
for fire blight. 
20. Onions 
can be im¬ 
proved in size 
by partially 
breaking the 
tops down just 
above the 
bulb. This is 
best done by 
bending the 
tops over with 
the hand until 
the stem 
doubles. Do 
not loosen the 
roots. 
27. Weeds 
in the lawn are 
very conspicu¬ 
ous now and 
can be readily 
removed. A 
good method is 
to have some 
weed killer or 
gasoline in an 
oil can, drop- 
ing a little in 
the center of 
the weed. This 
is easier than 
pulling them. 
7. Take 
some chry¬ 
santhemum 
cuttings for 
flowering in 
small pots in 
the green¬ 
house. Don’t 
neglect the 
carnation 
plants out of 
doors. The 
ground should 
be cultivated 
frequently and 
regularly. 
14. Soaking 
seed to hasten 
germination is 
wrong in prin¬ 
ciple. Before 
sowing at this 
time of the 
year, soak the 
drill by letting 
a hose run into 
it. The mois¬ 
ture then pene- 
trates and 
encourages 
downward root 
growth. 
21. This is 
an excellent 
time to sow 
rutabagas for 
next winter’s 
use. New 
ground is pre¬ 
ferred for this 
crop and the 
plants must 
never be al¬ 
lowed to suffer 
for want of 
water. Sow in 
drills and thin 
out to about 1'. 
28. Are you 
getting full 
value from 
your garden? 
Do you gather 
the crops dai¬ 
ly, using those 
you require 
and putting 
the balance 
away in glass 
for next win¬ 
ter’s use? If 
not, there is 
still time to do 
THURSDAY 
1. There is 
no cure for 
potato blight. 
It can be pre¬ 
vented, how¬ 
ever, by spray¬ 
ing about once 
in three weeks 
with Bordeaux 
mixture, it is 
a good plan to 
put arsenate of 
lead in the mix¬ 
ture to destroy 
the destructive 
potato bug. 
8 . Late 
cabbage, cauli¬ 
flower, celery, 
kale and Brus¬ 
sels sprouts 
should now be 
planted out. 
Use plenty of 
water when 
planting, and a 
little fertilizer 
worked into 
the soil will 
start, the plants 
growing vigor¬ 
ously. 
15. There is 
still time to 
start a few 
flowers for fall. 
Sow in a frame 
or sheltered 
bed early as¬ 
ters, poppies, 
stocks, calliop- 
sis, larkspur 
and candytuft. 
Use water free¬ 
ly when setting 
out, and have 
the ground 
rich. 
22 . After 
they have 
finished flower¬ 
ing, the climb¬ 
ing roses should 
be thoroughly 
pruned by re¬ 
moving a few 
of the old 
shoots and 
training the 
younger and 
more vigorous 
shoots in their 
place. Keep 
theminbounds. 
29. Make 
preparations 
to move ever¬ 
greens now. 
The bed 
should be 
marked and 
the plantings 
prepared be¬ 
forehand, as 
the trees 
should never 
be allowed to 
lie around in 
the hot, drying 
sun. 
FRIDAY 
2 . Don’t 
neglect to pro¬ 
tect the straw¬ 
berries from 
the birds. An 
old tennis net 
properly 
spread will an¬ 
swer for small 
beds; special 
nets can be 
secured for 
protecting 
large plantings. 
Scarecrows 
may be helpful. 
9. Blight is 
a very de¬ 
structive dis¬ 
ease to many 
garden crops. 
Cucumbers, 
muskmelons, 
celery and 
tomatoes are 
particularly 
susceptible. 
They should 
be sprayed 
with Bordeaux 
mixture every 
three weeks. 
16. Lettuce 
runs to seed 
considerably at 
this season. A 
board placed 
over the row, 
supported so it 
will be a few 
inches above 
the tops, will 
reduce the 
losses. The 
boards should 
be taken off 
during rainy 
weather. 
23. The late 
potatoes 
should be swell¬ 
ing fast at this 
time. An ap¬ 
plication of 
fertilizer 
worked into 
the soil will in¬ 
crease the size 
of the crop and 
the quality of 
the tubers. 
Potatoes 
require atten¬ 
tion. 
30. Don’t 
allow any new- 
1y s e t out 
plants to suffer 
for lack of 
water. All new 
stock should be 
saturated with 
water when 
dry, and a 
mulch of rough 
litter will help 
to retain the 
moisture. 
Artificial 
shade helps. 
SATURDAY 
3. Peach 
curl develops 
about this 
time of the 
year. It is well 
to checkmate 
it by spraying 
with a combi¬ 
nation of Bor¬ 
deaux mixture 
and arsenate of 
lead. Pick off 
and burn im¬ 
mediately any 
leaves which 
are infected. 
10. This is a 
critical time in 
the garden. 
The ground 
bakes, and 
weeds are very 
persistent. 
The only reme¬ 
dy is frequent 
and deep culti¬ 
vation. Don’t 
believe the 
theory about 
deep cultiva¬ 
tion destroying 
surface roots. 
17. Hot, 
dry weather 
encourages the 
propagation of 
all kinds of 
plant lice. All 
plants are sub¬ 
ject to attack, 
but more par¬ 
ticularly soft 
foliage types. 
Inspect fre¬ 
quently, spray 
with tobacco 
or kerosene 
preparation. 
24. Beets 
and carrots for 
winter use are 
always desir¬ 
able. Sow sev¬ 
eral rows of 
each, and if 
using ground 
that has been 
previously 
cropped, spade 
under some 
fertilizer. You 
can also start 
peas now for 
fall use. 
31. It is now 
safe to sow 
peas for fall 
use. Other 
cool crops such 
as spinach, rad¬ 
ishes and the 
large heading 
types of lettuce 
and endive 
may now be 
planted. This 
is the last call 
for beets, car¬ 
rots and winter 
radishes. 
much. 
T HERE’S one thing I ain’t never been able to understand rightly in gardenin’, 
<in’ that’s why jus’ as soon as ye begins to make yer place purty with flowers an’ 
trees an’ things a whole gang o’ bugs comes around, like they’d been watchin’ 
an’ layin’ fer a chance to git in their dirty work an’ spoil it all. It don’t seem 
right, when ye ain’t never had no trouble with ’em afore, fer the rose-bugs to show 
up an’ chaw the blossoms an’ leaves o’ the first rose bushes ye ever planted. Aphis 
on the sweet peas, too—dum their hides, why in thunder do they do all they can 
to kill off the vines? It can’t be that the Lord don’t want us to plant flowers an’ 
help ’em grow, ’cause I can’t see no harm in doin’ that. They mus’ be some good 
reason, though, fer Nature gen’rally knows what she’s about, an’ if ye give her a. 
fair chance she’ll come out right in the end. St ill-an’-all, I got to be shown ’fore 
I'll believe in the pra’tical usefulness o’ rose-bugs an’ sich varmints. 
—OLD DOC LEMMON 
Here at the fountain’s sliding foot. 
Or at some fruit-tree’s mossy root, 
Casting the body’s vest aside. 
My soul into the bows does glide; 
There, like a bird, it sits and 
sings. 
Then whets and combs its silver 
wing 8, 
And, till prepared for longer flight. 
Waves in its plumes the various 
light. 
—ANDREW MARVELL 
Cultivate, cultivate 
—and then cultivate 
more during hot 
weather 
A hand cultivator or 
“claw” will keep the 
soil loose close to 
plants 
Onion and other 
vegetable rows 
should be kept 
thinned 
Climbing roses are coming to be better 
understood and appreciated. They are 
adapted to many garden purposes, espe¬ 
cially screens and hedges 
A separate bed of fine soil is useful for 
sowing perennial seed. Here plants may 
be started for bloom next year in the 
garden borders 
Lacking an overhead irrigation system, 
you may fall back on the old-fashioned 
hose. Set the nozzle for a fine spray, not 
a pelting deluge 
