56 
House & Garden 
August THE GARDENER’S CALENDAR Eighth Month 
Keep the ground 
working by planting 
another crop as soon 
as one is over 
Before replanting 
evergreens, cut off 
any bruised or 
broken roots 
Tramp in the soil 
firmly about the 
roots after the tree 
is set 
SUNDAY 
MONDAY 
TUESDAY 
WEDNESDAY 
THURSDAY 
FRIDAY 
SATURDAY 
1. Late cel¬ 
ery, cabbage, 
cauliflower and 
kale may still 
be planted. Use 
plenty of water 
when setting 
out these 
plants and 
make a habit 
of watering 
them twice 
daily until the 
plants show 
that the roots 
arc established. 
2. Strawberry 
beds may be 
set out at this 
time, which 
will bear a full 
crop of fruit 
next year. 
Make certain 
that both the 
perfect and im¬ 
perfect types 
are planted. 
This will assure 
proper fertili¬ 
zation of the 
flowers. 
3. Early 
celery should 
now be ready 
for use. Bank¬ 
ing this with 
earth is not ad¬ 
vised on ac¬ 
count of the in¬ 
tense heat. It 
is best to use 
paper bleachers 
or boards for 
this purpose, 
blanching only 
in usable quan¬ 
tities. 
4. Flowers 
intended for 
cultivation in 
the greenhouse 
this winter 
should be 
started now. 
Seeds of vari¬ 
ous annuals 
such as stock, 
mignonette 
and snapdrag- 
o n may be 
sown, or small 
plants may be 
purchased. 
5. Neglected 
ground that is 
intended for 
cultivation 
next year 
should be brok- 
e.n u p. The 
proper forking 
or plowing with 
the subsequent 
harrowing will 
remove large 
quantities of 
the trouble¬ 
some rye and 
twitch grass. 
6. This is the 
time that spe¬ 
cial attention 
should be given 
to cabbage and 
other green 
vegetables on 
account of the 
leaf eating in- 
sects. The 
plants should 
be sprayed 
with arsenate 
of lead to de¬ 
stroy the in¬ 
sects. 
7. Evergreens 
may be planted 
at this time. 
These are 
plants that 
need a great 
deal of water 
so it is advis¬ 
able when re¬ 
setting them to 
saturate the 
soil thorough¬ 
ly to restore 
and encourage 
activity of the 
roots. 
8. Vegetables 
of the different 
forcing types 
may be started 
for greenhouse 
cultivation.To¬ 
matoes, cauli¬ 
flower, lettuce, 
spinach, pars- 
ley, beans 
Swisschardand 
New Zealand 
spinach are 
vegetables of 
easy culture 
under glass. 
9. This is 
the time that 
cuttings should 
be taken of all 
the various 
bedding plants 
such as coleus, 
geraniums and 
alternantheras. 
These plants if 
carried in a 
cool green¬ 
house through¬ 
out the winter 
will make good 
stock plants. 
10. Bay trees, 
palms, hydran¬ 
geas and other 
plants custom¬ 
arily used for 
Piazza decora¬ 
tion are usually 
infested with 
various aphids 
and other in¬ 
sects. It is ad¬ 
visable to use 
tobacco sprays 
regularly as a 
preventive of 
these pests. 
11. New 
lawns can be 
seeded down 
now. Failure 
with lawns is 
often due to 
the improper 
preparation of 
the ground and 
the meagre al- 
lotment of 
seed. Sow grass 
thickly, as this 
will help to 
choke the weed 
growth. 
12. Melons 
ripening now 
should be kept 
sprayed with 
Bordeaux mix¬ 
ture to prevent 
blight. It is a 
good plan to 
place smal 1 
boards under 
the young mel¬ 
ons to assure 
ripening. Allow 
the melon to 
leave the vine 
voluntarily. 
13. Bulbs for 
forcing in the 
greenhouse 
should be or¬ 
dered at this 
time. Boxes, 
pans, soil and 
other necessary 
materials used 
in the forcing 
of these plants 
should be made 
ready, as some 
of these bulbs 
are available 
now. 
14. Crops 
that remain in 
the ground, 
such as Swiss 
chard, par - 
snips, etc., 
should have a 
top dressing oc¬ 
casionally with 
a strong fer¬ 
tilizer to pre- 
vent them 
from becoming 
tough. Soluble 
fertilizers are 
more available. 
15. Hedges 
of all types, 
evergreens that 
have been con¬ 
fined to a form 
and various 
plants that are 
clipped, should 
be gone over 
now as growth 
is about to 
cease. This will 
be the final 
clipping and 
should be done 
carefully. 
16. There is 
still time to 
sow some cool 
crops in the 
garden. Sev¬ 
eral sowings of 
peas should be 
made this 
month, also 
spinach, cress, 
radishes, let¬ 
tuce, turnips, 
etc. If the 
ground is dry, 
water well be¬ 
fore sowing. 
17. Roses 
showing a sub¬ 
stantial growth 
should be en¬ 
couraged by 
top dressings 
of bone meal 
or any good 
fertilizing 
agent. Though 
it does not im¬ 
prove the qual¬ 
ity of the fall 
flowers it gives 
the plant more 
vigor. 
18. If you 
want high- 
grade dahlia 
blooms it will 
be necessary to 
keep the plants 
properly dis¬ 
budded. This 
means a con¬ 
stant and con¬ 
sistent pinch- 
in g of the 
young growth 
in order to re¬ 
duce the num¬ 
ber of buds. 
19. The cane 
fruits should 
be looked over 
at this time. 
Old shoots on 
the raspberries 
and blackber¬ 
ries should be 
cut out en¬ 
tirely as these 
do not bear 
again. Young 
shoots for next 
year should 
now be tied 
firmly in place. 
20. If you 
have a green¬ 
house make up 
a compost heap 
of all plants. 
Use top soil 
with a good sod 
growth adding 
manure and 
bone meal and 
stacking it up 
at a convenient 
point so that 
the green ma¬ 
terial will de¬ 
compose. 
21. Don’t 
let your flower 
garden run 
down. Keep 
the tall flowers 
staked and cut 
out all the dead 
flowering 
stalks. Keep 
the edges trim¬ 
med and stir 
the soil on the 
surface. This is 
as necessary 
now as in the 
spring. 
22. This is 
the time to 
build cold- 
frames for the 
fall and winter. 
Brick or con¬ 
crete is prefer¬ 
red but a sub¬ 
stantial wood¬ 
en frame will 
last some time. 
Next to the 
greenhouse the 
coldframe is 
the gardener’s 
best friend. 
23. This is 
an excellent 
time to go over 
and prune the 
shade trees, as 
it is easy to see 
how the work 
should be done. 
Remove the 
limbs very 
close leaving 
no shoulders 
and paint the 
wounds care¬ 
fully. Make 
cuts clean. 
24. After 
gathering the 
peach crop, 
spiay the trees 
with Bordeaux 
mixture to keep 
the various 
foliage diseases 
in check. Trees 
afflicted with 
the yellows 
should be cut 
down and 
burned to pre¬ 
vent the spread 
of the disease. 
25. It is ad¬ 
visable to have 
a small step- 
ladder or at 
least a box to 
stand on in or¬ 
der to get at 
the top of the 
poles when 
picking limas 
or other types 
of pole beans. 
It is usually at 
the top that 
the greatest 
yield is found. 
26. Newly 
set out plants 
that are not 
growing satis¬ 
factorily can be 
stimulated into 
growth by ap¬ 
plication of ni¬ 
trate of soda, 
sulphate of am¬ 
monia or other 
materials of 
this kind. After 
using these 
good results 
will be noticed. 
27. Gather 
the onion crop 
now. When 
the tops have 
died down the 
onions should 
be pulled and 
left in the sun 
to dry; then the 
tops can be 
twisted off and 
the onions 
them selves 
stored in a dry 
cool place until 
ready for use. 
28. Biennials 
such as fox¬ 
glove and cup- 
and-saucer,can 
be started from 
seed»now. It is 
good practice 
to sow quanti¬ 
ties of peren¬ 
nials now, car- 
rying them 
over the winter 
in the cold- 
frame and set¬ 
ting them out 
in early spring. 
29. Before 
cold weather, 
look over the 
greenhouse, re¬ 
placing broken 
glass, doing 
any necessary 
repair work. 
Be certain the 
boiler is in 
working condi¬ 
tion, particu¬ 
larly in a green¬ 
house that 
was closed last 
year. 
30. Buds 
will be forming 
on most of the 
greenhouse 
chrysanthe¬ 
mums at this 
time and 
strong feedings 
will be neces¬ 
sary if you 
want highest 
quality flowers. 
Also spray oc¬ 
casionally with 
tobacco prep¬ 
aration. 
31. It is just 
as necessary to 
prune vines as 
it is other 
plants. All old 
and unproduc- 
t i v e wood 
should be re¬ 
moved. This 
will give more 
room for the 
younger and 
more vigorous 
shoots. Now is 
the time for 
this work. 
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. 
Hushed with 
broad sun¬ 
light lies the 
hills 
And , minuting 
the long day's 
loss. 
The cedar's 
shadow, slow 
and still, 
Creeps o'er its 
dial of gray 
moss. 
—LOWELL 
7ALD S' 6 ever stop. to think _ how t Nature changes her music, like, from season to season ? In June an’ 
^ early July, fer instance, it's birds a-singin’ from afore sunup to after sundown. Then these sorter quit, 
an’ durin’ the rest o’ the summer an’ inter the fall ye hardly hear one o’ them. ’Stead o’ daylight bein’ the 
singin’ time, it’s night, an’ ten. million crickets an’ sich-like bugs starts a-fiddtin’ an’ a-sawin’ an’ a-scrapin’ 
soon as dark comes. Dinged if I know how they do it, but some o’ them critters don’t seem to stop fer 
breath the whole blamed night. I’ve laid azvake many a time listenin’ to some little cuss jus’ outside my 
window cheepin’ away ev’ry second—thousands an’ thousands o’ times without a hitch or break. Reminds 
me o’ one o’ these here labor agitators what come through our township a while back, tryin’ to tell uis 
farmers hcrw we oughter stand up fer our rights. He talked an’ talked an’ talked, an’ far as I could see he 
only really said about one thing. But he kep’ firin’ that one idee at us so many times that we got durn tired 
o’ bearin’ it, an’ fin’ly run him to hell an’ gone out o’ town. A man hates to be told he’s a deef, dumb an’ 
blind fool—’specially when he ain’t asked fer no advice in the fust place. 
—Old Doc Lemmon. 
A wooden rake is 
good to smooth 
over the ground be¬ 
fore planting 
Hydrangeas may be 
pruned after the 
blooms have passed 
their prime 
T o mat o plants 
should not be ne¬ 
glected. Training and 
pruning are needed 
The time to plan changes in the flower 
garden is during the summer, when existing 
effects are clearly to be seen 
Judicious thinning of the foliage on trained 
dwarf fruit trees is advisable in order that 
the fruit may develop better 
Never let the vegetables remain ungathered 
so long that they become tough. Any sur¬ 
plus from the table can be canned 
