48 
House & Garden 
SUNDAY 
MONDAY 
TUESDAY 
WEDNESDAY 
THURSDAY 
FRIDAY 
SATURDAY 
Over the shoul¬ 
ders and 
slopes of the 
dune 
I saw the 
white daisies 
go down to 
the sea, 
A host In the 
sunshine, an 
army in 
June, 
The people 
God sends us 
to set our 
hearts Jree. 
—BlissCarman 
1 . 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 are 
sometimes ef¬ 
fective. 
2. 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 potato bug 
which may be 
in evidence. 
3. 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, espe¬ 
cially if the soil 
is dry. 
4. 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 
may be in¬ 
fected. 
5. 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¬ 
ing. This 
makes larger 
and better 
fruit. 
6. 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 
pinching prac¬ 
ticed regularly. 
7. A heavy 
mulch should 
be applied to 
the sweet peas. 
Any rough lit¬ 
ter may be 
used for this 
purpose. 
Spray with a 
tobacco 
preparation if 
aphis appear. 
A little shade 
at midday will 
maintain the 
flower quality. 
8. r Blight is 
a very de¬ 
structive dis¬ 
ease to many 
garden crops. 
Cue umbers, 
muskmelons, 
celery and 
tomatoes are 
particularly 
susceptible. 
They should 
be sprayed 
with Bordeaux 
mixture «every 
three weeks. 
9. 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. 
10. 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 
vigorously. 
11. This is 
an excellent 
time to look 
over all trees 
for bark scars 
which should 
be cut back to 
live bark and 
thorougbly 
painted. Re¬ 
mo v e any 
stubs where 
branches have 
been improper¬ 
ly cut. Watch 
for fire blight. 
12. Reduce 
the stems on 
the dahlia 
plants to three 
or four. Keep 
the 1 ateral 
shoots pinched 
out on the 
flowering 
stems. Some 
sort of support 
should be ap¬ 
plied now, to 
prevent break¬ 
age during 
storms. 
13. Be very 
careful about 
artificial water¬ 
ing. Remem¬ 
ber that the 
natural soil 
moisture is 
preferred if 
you can save 
it. Jf you must 
water, soak the 
ground thor¬ 
oughly and 
after the sur¬ 
face has dried, 
cultivate. 
14. 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. 
15. 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 en- 
courages 
downward root 
growth. 
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. 
17. 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. 
18. 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. 
19. 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. 
20. 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'. 
21. 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. Be 
sure not to 
loosen the 
roots. 
22. After 
they have 
finished flower¬ 
ing, the climb¬ 
ing rosesshould 
be thoroughly 
pruned by re¬ 
moving a few 
of the old 
shoots and 
training the 
younger and 
more vigorous 
shoots in their 
place. Do not 
let them grow 
hit-or-miss. 
23. 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 
a row or two of 
peas now for 
fall use. 
24. The late 
potatoes 
should beswell- 
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, as well as 
others. 
25. 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 in liberal 
quantities. 
26. Practice 
summer prun¬ 
ing on the fruit 
trees. Pinch 
back the most 
vigorous shoots 
and remove all 
thin, weak in- 
t e r i o r 
branches. This 
applies.to trees 
that have 
reached the 
fruiting stage. 
Smaller trees 
need different 
treatment. 
27. Make 
preparations 
to move ever¬ 
greens now. 
The bed 
should be 
marked and 
the plantings 
prepared be¬ 
forehand, a s 
the trees 
should never 
be allowed to 
lie around in 
the hot sun 
which will dry 
the root fibers. 
28. 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¬ 
ping a little in 
the center of 
the weed. This 
is easier than 
pulling them 
by hand. 
29. 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 
accomplish 
much. 
30. Don’t 
allow any new¬ 
ly set 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, too, is 
beneficial. 
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, rutabagas 
and winter rad¬ 
ishes. 
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 perform¬ 
ing garden operations. The dates given 
are, of course, for an average season. 
r T'HE cussedest mean man I ever knew was a feller who used to hang around when an old blind 
1 rooster he had was scratching for worms in the garden and pick ’em all up, big and little, to 
use for bait the next time he went fishing. But he never did catch much except bullheads and once 
in. a while a sucker. Now, I don t claim that the Lord was directly responsible for this old skin¬ 
flint s poor luck, but 1 ll bet He didn f cr t y much over it. If that bait had beefi dug fair and honest 
with a spade, stead of making the poor old rooster do all the work and then robbing him that away, 
tnebbe the feller would have caught some real fish. Ornery meanness nez'er did get anybody very 
far in the long run, I calculate. 
—Old Doc Lemmon 
July 
THE GARDENER’S CALENDAR 
Seventh Month 
Shears are the thing 
for trimming the 
grass around bor¬ 
ders and shrubbery 
Watch for fire blight 
among the pear 
trees and destroy the 
infected branches 
Cos lettuce may be 
blanched, like en¬ 
dive, by tying up the 
outside leaves 
Evergreens may be 
sheared almost any 
tune. Summer trim¬ 
ming does no harm 
When the petals fall, 
and afterward, prune 
the spring flowering 
shrubs 
Breaking down the 
onion tops makes 
larger bulbs. Do not 
loosen the roots 
Where they go di¬ 
rect from bush to 
table, the softer 
berries are best 
Overhead irrigation is the best way of 
watering the garden. It is the closest ap¬ 
proximation of natural rain. The system 
was described in the June issue 
Do not allow the melon vines to run at 
random. They should be trained out evenly 
as they develop, fastening the shoots in 
place with bent birch twigs 
Even in a wartime 
summer, the well 
cared for grape 
house is justified 
