SATURDAY FRIDAY THURSDAY WEDNESDAY TUESDAY MONDAY SUNDAY 
This Kalendar of the 
gardener’s labor 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 re¬ 
membered 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 op¬ 
erations. The dates 
given are, of course, 
for an average season. 
3. There are numer¬ 
ous garden flowers that 
are greatly improved by 
starting now. Asters, 
pansies, salvia, scabiosa, 
ageratum, antirrhinum, 
begonia (tuberous root¬ 
ed), celosia, heliotrope, 
lavatera and petunia are 
among them. 
10. If yon have a 
small piece of frame that 
is heated, you should 
try some kidney pota¬ 
toes. These will be 
ready by the end of 
April if started now. 
They are rich yellow in 
color and have a won¬ 
derful flavor. 
17. Why not use the 
greenhouse for an early 
crop of tomatoes, which 
if started now will fruit 
in May and yield abun¬ 
dantly until the outside 
crop is ready? Use 
forcing varieties like 
Carter’s Sunrise, the 
Don, Winter Beauty. 
24. You can spray 
the deciduous trees and 
shrubs now for San Jose 
scale. Lime salt sul¬ 
phur mixture or any of 
the prepared miscible 
oils can be used. Fruit 
trees, roses, evonymus 
and other smooth bark 
sorts are susceptible. 
4. All kinds of bed¬ 
ding plants that are 
propagated from cut¬ 
tings, such as coleus, 
geraniums, ageratum, 
heliotrope, etc., should 
be started into growth 
and the cuttings taken 
as soon as they are 
large enough. 
11. Have you or¬ 
dered your new varie¬ 
ties of dahlias? Get 
the new stock as early 
as you can and start 
them into growth in the 
greenhouse or window. 
Cuttings can be taken 
from them, and your 
supply increased. 
18. Gloxinias are one 
of the best summer 
greenhouse plants. They 
should be started from 
seed now. The seeds 
are very small and care 
must be used in sow¬ 
ing; don’t cover them, 
but simply press them 
into the surface. 
25. Fruit trees can 
be pruned now. Bear¬ 
ing trees should not be 
cut heavily; remove all 
weak interior branches. 
Young trees should be 
cut hard to start a vig¬ 
orous growth. Cane 
fruits should be re¬ 
duced about one-third. 
Early in the morning, 
zvhen the dawn is on 
the roofs, 
You hear his udheels 
come rolling, you 
hear his horse’s hoofs; 
You hear the bottles 
clinking, and then he 
drives away; 
You yawn in bed, turn 
over, and begin an¬ 
other day! 
The old-time dairy 
m aids are dear to 
every poet’s heart — 
I’d rather be the dairy 
man and drive a little 
cart, 
And bustle ’round the 
village in the early 
morning blue, 
And hang my reins 
upon a hook, as I’ve 
seen Casey do. 
—Christopher Morley 
5. Vegetables stored 
out of doors should have 
some attention; contin¬ 
ued freezing weather 
will penetrate if extra 
protection is not applied. 
Beets, carrots, celery, 
turnip, parsnip, salsify 
and leek should be well 
covered. 
12. If you want large 
flowers from your chrys¬ 
anthemums, you should 
start the cuttings now. 
Take stocky cuttings, 
keep them cool, don’t 
force them and don’t 
let them get pot bound 
if you want first-class 
stock. 
19. Show me the am¬ 
bitious gardener who 
doesn’t want to grow 
good muskmelons. To 
raise them you must 
have melon frames, 
which can be built eas¬ 
ily. The frames should 
be 2' square, 12" high 
in front, 15" at back. 
26. Climbing roses 
that were not pruned 
after flowering last sum¬ 
mer should be attended 
to now, cutting out at 
the base any very old 
shoots. This should be 
done yearly in order to 
keep a supply of young, 
productive wood. 
6. The different types 
of primula make very 
fine pot plants for dec¬ 
oration in the house. 
Both the obconica and 
Chinese sorts should be 
sown now in order to 
have good sized plants 
which will bloom next 
winter. 
13. Early flowering 
shrubs such as lilacs, 
wistaria, Deutzia gra¬ 
cilis, rhododendrons, 
climbing roses, etc., can 
be forced in the green¬ 
house now. Well bud¬ 
ded plants can be lifted 
from outside and forced 
in the dwelling. 
20. Next to a green¬ 
house stands the hotbed 
as a friend of the gar¬ 
den. This is the time 
to start one, using plenty 
of good live manure 
thoroughly tramped 
down. Don’t have the , 
manure too dry, and I 
cover it with 4" of soil. 
27. Seeds of early 
vegetables and flowers 
can be sown indoors. If 
you have a bay window 
it makes an ideal place 
for this work. The 
seeds should be sown 
thinly and the seed¬ 
lings transplanted while 
they are small. 
7. Mushrooms are 
easy to grow. Start a 
bed now in your cellar 
or under one of the 
benches in the green¬ 
house. Fresh stable 
manure should be put 
in 12" deep. After 
spawning, cover with 1" 
of soil and keep dark. 
14. Geraniums stored 
in the cellar over win¬ 
ter should be looked 
over, and if the wood 
is shriveling they should 
be moistened occasion¬ 
ally. Bulbs such as 
dahlia, canna, gladiolus, 
etc., should be covered 
with sand if too dry. 
21. You can sow in 
the hotbeds now all the 
vegetables and flower 
seeds recommended for 
sowing in the green- 
house early in the 
month. Sow the seeds 
in rows about 6" apart. 
Of course, they must 
be transplanted later. 
28. Sun rises 6:23 
A. M.; Sun sets 5:32 
P. M. Have you ever 
had a test made of your 
garden soil to find what 
elements are lacking? 
Your State Agricultural 
College will do this for 
you. Better write them 
for particulars. 
1. Sun rises 6:58 
A. M.; Sun sets 4:57 
P. M. February is seed 
sowing month in the 
greenhouse, hotbed and 
dwelling. Order now 
the seed pans, pots and 
labels; get sand, leaf 
mold and sifted cinders 
for drainage. 
8. There are a num¬ 
ber of early flowering 
perennials such as 
bleeding heart, incar- 
villea, doronicum, etc., 
that can be forced in 
the greenhouse now. 
Good sized plants may 
be lifted, carefully pot¬ 
ted and brought inside. 
15. Don’t neglect to 
burn all the caterpillar 
nests you see, also all 
the innocent looking co¬ 
coons you see on the 
ends of the fruit tree 
twigs. Place some suet 
or bones in the orchard 
trees to attract insectiv¬ 
orous birds. 
22. George Washing¬ 
ton born, 1732. The 
sweet pea is still our 
most popular annual. It 
should be sown now in 
4" pots in the cool 
greenhouse or frames, 
three seeds to a pot, 
thinning out to one 
later on. 
The “raise your bit” 
slogan should not be 
limited to actual W 9 rk 
with seeds and soils; 
every available aid to> 
more and better crops 
should be enlisted. 
Among the invaluable 
aids which practically 
every gardener has 
working with him are 
the birds. See to it, then, 
that the desirable spe¬ 
cies about your grounds 
—the nuthatches, wood¬ 
peckers, juncos, tree 
and song sparrows—do 
not lack food during 
the severe winter 
weather. Suet, mixed 
grain and sunflower 
| seed are best. 
2. Candlemas Day. 
You can sow in the 
greenhouse now cab¬ 
bage, cauliflower, celery, 
tomato, onions, leek, 
lettuce and artichoke. 
These plants should be 
grown slowly to result 
in stocky, healthy plants 
for setting out. 
9. The tuberous root¬ 
ed begonias make very 
showy pot plants. They 
are also useful as bed¬ 
ding plants, for they 
are a mass of color at 
all times. They should 
be ordered now and 
started slowly any time 
that is convenient. 
16. Carnations in the 
greenhouse should be 
kept well disbudded. 
They ought to be 
sprayed weekly with a 
weak solution of cop- 
perdine to prevent rust. 
The benches should be 
top dressed with bone 
meal or sheep manure. 
23. Have you made 
any attempt to get pea 
brush or bean poles 
for your garden? Cedar 
makes the best bean 
poles, but oak will last 
three years and be quite 
satisfactory for the pur¬ 
pose. Birch is the best 
pea brush. 
February THE GARDENER’S KALENDAR_ Second^ Month 
Inspect the roots of 
potted plants to 
remedy crowding 
For t all growing, 
slender things 
stakes are needed 
Transplant pot 
started vegetables 
before hardening off 
If the floor 
is concrete 
or flagged, 
the hose is 
the best 
and quick¬ 
est way to 
clean it 
In moving 
the larger 
tubbed 
plants care 
should be 
taken not 
to break 
their stalks 
The under¬ 
cut in prun- 
in g makes 
for a clean 
job and less 
injury to 
the bark of 
the tree 
Old - fash¬ 
ioned pea 
brush is 
still a gar¬ 
den favorite 
Do not 
neglect to 
prune cur¬ 
rants and 
other cane 
fruits 
Greenhouse 
work of all 
sorts must 
be attended 
to promptly 
to avoid 
complica¬ 
tions 
