58 
House & Card e.n 
March THE GARDENER’S KALENDAR Third Month 
The asparagus bed 
should be trenched 3' 
deep, using plenty of 
manure 
Set the plants about 12" 
apart, with 3' between 
the different rows 
Bell glasses are excel¬ 
lent for hurrying vege¬ 
table growth outdoors 
A general 
clean-up of 
the shrub¬ 
bery bor¬ 
ders, re¬ 
moving all 
winter 
m ul c h, is 
in order 
this month 
War gar¬ 
dens are vi¬ 
tally impor¬ 
tant this 
year. Y ou 
should 
have one of 
your own if 
possible 
SATURDAY FRIDAY THURSDAY WEDNESDAY TUESDAY MONDAY SUNDAY 
31. Sun rises 5:29 
A. M. Sun sets 6:08 
P. M. Remove the cov¬ 
ering now from tender 
evergreens of all types. 
If you let this go tiro 
long the plants will 
surely scald when you 
do uncover them to the 
warm sun. 
3. Vegetable a n-d 
flower seedlings started 
last month in the green¬ 
house or dwelling will 
need transplanting. 
Shallow boxes called 
“flats” are best for this. 
Use good soil and set 
the little plants about 
2" to 4" apart. 
10. Don’t you want 
to start a crop of genu¬ 
inely high quality musk- 
melons in your green¬ 
house now? They are 
wonderful when well 
grown. Use forcing va¬ 
rieties such as King 
George, Blenheim, 
Orange, etc. 
17. Sow sweet peas 
outdoors just as soon as 
you can dig a trench. 
Make the trench 2' deep 
and 1' wide, use plenty 
of manure, chopped sod 
and leaf mold if you 
can get it, and sow the 
seed 4" deep. (See 
page 44 for details.) 
24. The winter 
mulch on shrubbery 
borders should be dug 
under. Leaves that 
have gathered in bor¬ 
ders should also be 
buried there. There is 
fertilizing value in them 
which should not be 
wasted. 
This Kalendar 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 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. 
4. Cannas should be 
started into growth in 
the greenhouse. Lay 
the bulbs on the bench 
and cover with about 1" 
of sand. When root 
action starts, separate 
and plant them, using 
good, rich compost. 
11. A high death 
rate among newly 
planted stock is often 
caused by having al¬ 
lowed the stock to lie 
around where the sun 
and wind destroyed the 
root fibers, or by insuf¬ 
ficient food in the soil. 
18. The mulch on 
perennial borders 
should be dug in. If 
none was applied, get 
some good manure now 
and dig it under. All 
planting or dividing of 
perennials should be at¬ 
tended to at once. 
25. Are you going 
to set out a bed of tea 
roses this year? You 
will have flowers from 
June to Thanksgiving if 
you give the bushes a 
chance. Use plenty of 
manure and trench 3' 
deep. 
5. Hybrid perpetual 
roses can be started in¬ 
doors. They should be 
pruned, as they flower 
on the terminals of new 
wood. Keep well 
sprayed and feed freely 
with liquid manure 
after buds disappear. 
12. You can start a 
crop of Golden Bantam 
corn in pots now. Use 
7" pots and leave three 
plants to a pot. These 
plants can be set out in 
May and will be ready 
to yield a crop early in 
June. 
19. Prune now all 
shrubs that flower on 
terminals of new wood, 
such as hydrangeas. Do 
not prune azaleas, cer- 
cis, cytissus, dogwood, 
deutzia, golden bell and 
others that bloom on 
old wood. 
26. All types of gar¬ 
den roses should be 
pruned now. Don’t be 
afraid to cut: in the 
case of the perpetuals, 
leave three eyes on last 
year’s wood; and about 
five or six on the tea 
roses. 
I knew the spring was 
come. 1 knew it 
even 
Better than all by 
this, that through 
my chase 
In bush and stone and 
hill and sea and 
heaven 
I seem’d to see and 
follow still your 
face. 
Your face my\ quarry 
was. For it I rode. 
My horse a thing of 
wings, myself a 
god. 
—Blunt 
6. Grapes should be 
pruned in fall, but in 
cases where this was not 
possible the work should 
be done at once. Cut 
severely if you want 
fruit. Paint or burn 
the wounds to prevent 
bleeding. 
13. All summer 
flowering and foliage 
bulbous plants for the 
greenhouse or conser¬ 
vatory should be started 
now. Yellow cannas, 
achimene, gloxinia, be¬ 
gonia and caladium are 
important sorts. 
20. Bay trees, hy¬ 
drangeas, oleanders, 
oranges and other large 
decorative plants should 
be looked over, and 
those requiring new 
tubs or large quarters 
should be transferred 
at once. 
27. The mulch 
should be removed now 
from bulb plantings. If 
the bulb leaves show 
through, the mulch can 
be dug under with a 
hand fork. _ Use care, 
when removing, not to 
break any of the shoots. 
7. If you want a 
showy hedge try some 
of the Lord Penzance 
sweetbrier roses. These 
large, showy roses are 
too little known. The 
wichuraiana roses are 
ideal for small build¬ 
ings, boulders, etc. 
14. Are you going 
to set out a bed of as¬ 
paragus? If so, do it 
right. Trench the 
ground 3' deep, using 
plenty of manure. 
Make the rows 3' apart 
and set the plants 12" 
apart in the row. 
21. Pruning of all 
foliage trees or shrubs 
with the exception of 
the maples should be 
done now. The maple 
will bleed severely if 
cut now. Make clean 
cuts always and paint 
over large wounds. 
28. The lawn should 
be rolled now with as 
heavy a roller as you 
can get. Rake the sur¬ 
face thoroughly before 
rolling. Small lawns 
can be gone over with 
a pounder to repair the 
effects of freezing. 
1. Sun rises 6:21 
A. M. Sun sets 5:34 
P. M. If you have not 
started cabbage, cauli¬ 
flower, lettuce, onion, 
leek, tomatoes and 
celery in the greenhouse 
or hotbed, they should 
be attended to at once. 
8. Most winter kill¬ 
ing of cane fruits is 
caused by summer star¬ 
vation. Dig under a lib¬ 
eral quantity of manure. 
The canes should be 
tied and pruned so as 
to reduce them about 
one-third. 
15. Vegetable and 
flower seedlings started 
in February should be 
ready for hardening off 
before setting them out. 
A cold-frame is the best 
place for this, as the 
hardening process 
should be very gradual. 
22. The old aspara¬ 
gus bed will produce 
more and better shoots 
if you dig in a liberal 
quantity of manure this 
spring. Dig the manure 
well under and don’t 
worry if you cut a few 
roots. 
29. This is the last 
call for spraying! All 
trees subject to San 
Jose scale should be 
sprayed as a preventive. 
Infested trees should be 
sprayed very carefully 
so as to be sure to cover 
all parts. 
2. Maple trees some¬ 
times split on the south 
side. This is caused by 
the hot sun attracting 
the sap and the latter 
freezing. When it oc¬ 
curs, split the bark on 
the north side with a 
sharp knife. 
9. Vines of all kinds 
should be pruned care¬ 
fully* removing all weak 
interior shoots. Ivy 
growing about windows 
should he cut back. The 
supports of trellis-work 
should be looked over 
for needed repairs. 
16. Did you top- 
dress your lawn with 
manure last winter? If 
so you should remove 
the material now with a 
wooden rake. In case 
this winter treatment 
was omitted, top-dress 
now with good fertilizer. 
23. Just as soon as 
the ground is workable 
start plowing or digging 
your garden. Work the 
ground as thoroughly as 
you can, digging two 
spades deep. JJse a 
subsoil plow in the 
heldo. 
30. All plantings of 
trees and shrubs should 
be finished up as early 
as possible. Keep the 
plants supplied with 
water, stake the tall 
trees, and keep the 
ground around them all 
well cultivated. 
All types of 
garden roses 
should be 
pruned this 
month. Do 
not be afraid 
to cut them 
severely 
S eedlings 
started in 
the green¬ 
house last 
month will 
need trans¬ 
planting in¬ 
to flats 
Early plants 
started un¬ 
der glass 
must be 
hardened 
off before 
setting out 
In replant¬ 
ing shrubs 
do not give 
the roots a 
chance to 
dry out in 
the air 
