August, 1918 
45 
For gathering up the lawn grass 
after cutting, a wooden rake is 
better than an iron one because 
it tears less 
THE WAR GARDEN DEPARTMENT 
This Department plans to touch upon the more important food garden topics as they become timely from month to 
month. It is obviously impossible adequately to cover an entire four weeks’ work on these pages, but our Information 
Service stands ready to answer the individual questions which may arise in your particidar case. Address your inquiry 
to the Information Service, House & Garden, 19 West 44th Street, New York. 
ROBERT STELL 
I N our zeal to produce our quota of the more staple 
garden crops such as onions, spinach, carrots and 
others whose value is universally recognized, there 
is no necessity for those of us who have the space 
and time to overlook certain kinds which approach 
the delicacy class. A dozen bushes of raspberries or 
currants, for instance, may not be essential to the 
preservation of life, yet they will more than repay the 
attention and ground devoted to them. A few hills 
of muskmelons, too, are justified if conditions are 
right for their proper development. None of these 
things is expensive to grow, and the yield is reason¬ 
ably certain under correct treatment. 
It is of course too late to plant melons now, but if 
you already have a patch of them you should by no 
means make the mistake of thinking that after the 
fruit is fairly on the road to ripeness the plants need 
no further care. On the contrary, attention now has 
a very definite bearing on the quantity and size of the 
crop. Should the vines show signs of weakening 
The best ears of 
corn may be kept for 
seed, letting them 
ripen on the stalk 
If you are going to 
operate your green¬ 
house next winter, 
overhaul it now 
• Canning and 
Preserving for August 
Vegetables 
Fruits 
String beans 
Peaches (Michigan) 
Pears 
Beet greens 
Plums 
Tomatoes (early) 
Nectarines 
Cauliflower 
Apricots 
Lima beans 
Possible Vegetable 
Carrots 
Combinations 
Lima beans and corn 
Brussels sprouts 
Corn and tomatoes 
Beets 
Carrots and peas 
Vegetable soup mixture 
vigor, water the hills thoroughly with weak manure 
water. Keep the soil as well cultivated as the growth 
of the plants permits, and be careful in working 
around them not to step on or otherwise injure the 
stems. As the melons begin to mature, place a board 
or a small flower pot under each, to raise it from the 
ground and enable it to ripen evenly. 
The vegetable planting season is not by any means 
over, however, as you can still put in peas, spinach, 
beans, lettuce and endive for the fall crops. The last 
two had best be started in a seed bed and transplanted 
later to their permanent garden positions. 
As August is apt to be rather dry, the ground 
should be well watered before planting. This applies 
to seed sowing as well as transplanting operations, 
and should on no account be omitted. Soak the drills 
thoroughly, for plenty of moisture is essential to good 
germination and root growth. It is perhaps needless 
to add that the surface, throughout the garden, must 
be kept well stirred to preserve the soil moisture. 
It is also time to start tomatoes and other vege¬ 
tables for forcing in the greenhouse. Do not make 
the mistake of thinking that the greenhouse must of 
necessity be closed entirely as a fuel saving measure. 
Many vegetables can be successfully grown in a tem¬ 
perature of 55° or so, which is considerably lower 
than that required by hothouse flowers. Such a tem¬ 
perature not only produces crops of genuine economic 
value, but also protects the glass of the house from 
damage from winter snows. Experiments have been 
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