VI.Fruits.
Fruit-Tree Borders.—No pains should be spared, in the preparation of fruit-tree borders, to secure their thorough drainage. In case of adhesive clayey subsoil this can generally be secured by placing over the sloping bottom a good layer of coarse rubbly material, communicating with a drain in front to carry off the water, while earthenware drain tubes may be laid beneath the rubble from 8 to 10 ft. apart, so as to form air drains, and provided with openings both at the side of the walk and also near the base of the wall. Over this rubbly matter, rough turfy soil, grass-side downwards, should be laid, and on this the good prepared soil in which the trees are to be planted.
The borders should consist of 3 parts rich turfy loam, the top spit of a pasture, and 1 part light gritty earth, such as road-grit, with a small portion (one-sixth) of fine brick rubbish. They should not be less than 12 ft. in breadth, and may vary up to 15 or 18 ft., with a fall from the wall of about 1 in. in 3 ft. The border itself should be raised a foot or more above the general level. The bottom of the border as well as thatof the drain must be kept lower than the general level of the subsoil, else the soakage will gather in all the little depressions of its surface. Fruit-tree borders should not be at all cropped with culinary vegetables, or very slightly so, as the process of digging destroys the roots of the trees, and drives them from near the surface, where they ought to be.
Shallow planting, whether of wall trees or standards, is generally to be preferred, a covering of a few inches of soil being sufficient for the roots, but a surface of at least equal size to the surface of the hole should be covered with dung or litter so as to restrain evaporation and preserve moisture. In the case of wall trees, a space of 5 or 6 in. is usually left between the stem at the insertion of the roots and the wall, to allow for increase of girth. Young standard trees should be tied to stakes so as to prevent their roots being ruptured by the wind-waving of the stems and to keep them erect. The best time for planting fruit trees in the open air is from the end of September till the end of November in open weather.
In the selection and distribution of fruit trees regard must of course be had to local situation and climate. The best walls having a south or south-east aspect are devoted to the peach, nectarine, apricot, dessert pears, plums and early cherries. Cherries and the generality of plums succeed very well either on an east or a west aspect. Morello cherries, apples and stewing pears succeed well on a north wall. In Scotland the mulberry requires the protection of a wall, and several of the finer apples and pears do not arrive at perfection without this help and a tolerably good aspect. The wall-trees intended to be permanent are called dwarfs, from their branches springing from near the ground. Between these, trees with tall stems, called riders, are planted as temporary occupants of the upper part of the wall. The riders should have been trained in the nursery into good-sized trees, in order that when planted out they may come into bearing as speedily as possible.
Standard Fruit Treesshould not be planted, if it can be avoided, in the borders of the kitchen garden, but in the outer slips, where they either may be allowed to attain their full size or may be kept dwarfed. Each sort of fruit should be planted by itself, for the sake of orderly arrangement, and in order to facilitate protection when necessary by a covering of nets. Their produce is often superior in flavour to that of the same kind of fruit grown on walls.
Orchard-house Trees.—Peaches, nectarines, apricots, figs and dessert plums, cherries, apples and pears are commonly cultivated in the orchard-house. Peaches and nectarines are generally planted out, while the rest are more commonly cultivated in pots. This allows of the hardier pot plants being removed out of doors while those planted out are in need of the room. The pot plants are overhauled in the autumn, the roots pruned, a layer being cut off to allow new soil to be introduced. Surface dressing and feeding by liquid manure should also be afforded these plants while the fruit is swelling. Every effort should be made to complete the growth of peaches and nectarines while the sun is sufficiently strong to ripen them. Tomatoes are frequently employed to fill gaps in the orchard-house. Should it be provided with a central path, requiring shade, Hambro and Sweet-water grapes serve the purpose well, and in favourable seasons afford excellent crops of fruit.
VII.Vegetables.
Under this head are included those esculents which are largely eaten as “vegetables” or as “salads.” The more important are treated under their individual headings (seeArtichoke,Asparagus,Bean, &c. &c.). The culinary herbs used for flavouring and garnishing are for the most part dwarf perennial plants requiring to be grown on a rich soil in an open sunny aspect, or annuals for which a warm sheltered border is the most suitable place; and they may therefore be conveniently grown together in the same compartment—a herb garden. The perennials should be transplanted either every year or every second year. For winter use the tops of the most useful kinds of herbs should be cut when in flower or full leaf and quite dry, and spread out in an airy but shady place so as to part slowly with the moisture they contain and at the same time retain their aromatic properties. When quite dry they should be put into dry wide-mouthed bottles and kept closely corked. In this way such herbs as basil, marjoram, mint, sage, savory, thyme, balm, chamomile, horehound, hyssop and rue, as well as parsley, may be had throughout the season with almost the full flavour of the fresh herb.
Intensive Cultivation.—This name has been applied to the method of forcing early vegetables and salads during the winter and spring months in the market gardens in the neighbourhood of Paris. The system is now popularly known in England as “French gardening.” Although a few assert that it is an old English one that has been discarded in favour of superior methods, there seems to be little or no evidence in support of this contention. The system itself has been practised for about 300 years in the “marais” gardens round Paris. At one time these gardens were in the centre of the city itself, but owing to modern improvements they have been gradually pushed out beyond the city boundaries farther and farther. Most of these gardens are small—not more than a couple of acres in extent, and the rent paid by themaraîcher, or market gardener, is very high—as much as £30 to £40 per acre.
The Frenchmaraîcherdoes not use hot-water apparatus for forcing his plants into early growth. He relies mainly upon the best stable manure, a few shallow frames about 4½ ft. wide covered with lights, and a number of large bell glasses or “cloches.” The work is carried on from October till the end of March and April, after which, with the exception of melons, the cultures are carried on in the open air.
The chief crops grown for early supplies, or “primeurs” as they are called, are special varieties of cos and cabbage lettuces, short carrots, radishes, turnips, cauliflowers, endives, spinach, onions, corn salad and celery. To these is added a very important crop of melons, a special large-fruited variety known as the Prescott Canteloup being the most favoured.
It is astonishing how much produce is taken off one of these small intensive gardens during the year, and especially during the worst months when prices usually run fairly high. The fact that rents are so heavy around Paris is in itself an indication of the money that is realized by the growers not only in the Paris markets, but also in Covent Garden.
During the winter season narrow beds are made up of manure, either quite fresh or mixed with old manure, according to the amount of heat required. These beds are covered with a few inches of the fine old mould obtained from the decayed manure of previous years. In the early stages seeds of carrots and radishes are sown simultaneously on the same beds, and over them young lettuces that have been raised in advance are planted. In this way three crops are actually on the same beds at the same time. Owing, however, to the difference in their vegetative growth, they mature one after the other instead of simultaneously. Thus with the genial warmth and moisture of the hotbeds, all crops grow rapidly, but the radishes mature first, then the lettuces are taken off in due course, thus leaving the beds to finish up with the carrots by themselves. Later on in the season, perhaps small cauliflowers will be planted along the margins of the beds where the carrots are growing, and will be developing into larger plants requiring more space by the time all the carrots have been picked and marketed. So on throughout the year with other crops, this system of intercropping or overlapping of one crop with another is carried out in a most ingenious manner, not only under glass lights, but also in the open air. Spinach, corn salad, radishes and carrots are the favourite crops for sowing between others such as lettuces and cauliflowers.
Although enormous quantities of water are required during the summer season, great care must be exercised in applying water to the winter crops. When severe frost prevails the lights or cloches are rarely taken off except to gather mature specimens; and no water is given directly overhead to the plants for fear of chilling them and checking growth. They must secure theirsupply of moisture from the rain that falls on the glass, and flows into the narrow pathways from 9 in. to 12 in. wide between each range of frames. As the beds are only about 4½ ft. wide, the water from the pathways is soaked up on each side by capillary attraction, and in this way the roots secure a sufficient supply.
Besides an abundance of water in summer there must also be an enormous quantity of good stable manure available during the winter months. This is necessary not only to make up the required hotbeds in the first place, but also to fill in the pathways between the frames, wherever it is considered advisable to maintain the heat within the frames at a certain point. As it is impossible to use an ordinary wheelbarrow in these narrow pathways, the workman carries a specially made wicker basket called a “hotte” on his shoulders by means of two straps. In this way large quantities of manure are easily transported to any required spot, and although the work looks hard to an English gardener, the Frenchman says he can carry more manure with less fatigue in half a day than an Englishman can transport in a day with a wheelbarrow.
This is merely an outline of the system, which is now being taken up in various parts of the United Kingdom, but not too rapidly. The initial expenses for frames, lights, cloches, mats and water-supply are in many cases prohibitive to men with the necessary gardening experience, while on the other hand those who have the capital lack the practical knowledge so essential to success.
For full details of this system seeFrench Market-Gardening, with details of Intensive Cultivation, by John Weathers (London, 1909).VIII.—Calendar of Garden Operations(A)for Great Britain.JanuaryKitchen Garden.—Wheel out manure and composts during frosty weather; trench vacant ground not turned up roughly in autumn. Sow early peas in a cold frame for transplanting. Sow also first-crop peas, early in the month, and William I. towards the end; Early Seville and Early Longpod beans; and short-topped radish in two or three sowings, at a week’s interval, all on a warm border; also Hardy Green and Brown cos lettuce in a frame or on south border. Plant shallots and Ashleaf potatoes on a warm border. Protect broccoli as it becomes fit for use, or remove to a dry shed or cellar; lettuces and endive, which are best planted in frames; and parsley in frames so as to be accessible.Fruit Garden.—Plant fruit trees in open weather, if not done in autumn, which is the proper season, mulching over the roots to protect them from frost, and from drought which may occur in spring. Prune fruit trees in mild weather or in moderate frosts, nailing only in fine weather. Wash trees infested with insects with one of the many insecticides now obtainable. Take off grafts, and lay them aside in moist earth in a shady place.Forcing.—Prepare manure for making up hotbeds for early cucumbers and melons, where pits heated with hot water are not in use; also for Ashleaf potatoes. Sow also in heat mustard and cress for salads, onions for salads; tomatoes, celery to be pricked out for an early crop; and Early Horn carrot and kidney-beans on slight hotbeds. Force asparagus, sea-kale and rhubarb, in hotbeds, in pits, in the mushroom-house or in the open garden by the use of covers surrounded with warm litter; for cucumbers a top heat of 70°; for vines in leaf and flower a temperature ranging from 65° to 70°. Keep forced strawberries with swelling fruit well watered. Plant vine eyes for propagation in a brisk heat.Plant Houses.—Give abundance of air to the greenhouse, conservatory and alpine frame in mild weather, but use little water. A supply of roses, kalmias, rhododendrons, &c., and of hardy flowers and bulbs, as lily of the valley, hyacinths, tulips, daffodils, &c., should be kept up by forcing.Flower Garden.—Plant out tubers and bulbs of border flowers, where neglected in autumn, deferring the finer florists’ flowers till next month. Transplant herbaceous plants in light soils, if not done in autumn; also deciduous trees, shrubs and hedges. Lay edgings in fine weather. Sow mignonette, stocks, &c., in pots; sow sweet peas and a few hardy annuals on a warm border. Give auriculas and carnations abundance of air, but keep the roots rather dry to prevent damping off.FebruaryKitchen Garden.—Sow successional crops of Early Seville beans, and William I., American Wonder or other peas in the beginning and end of the month; early cabbages to follow the last sowing in August; red cabbages and savoys towards the end. Sow also Early Horn carrot; Early Purple-top Munich turnip; onions for a full crop in light soils, with a few leeks and some parsley. Sow lettuce for succession, with radishes and Round-leaved spinach, twice in the course of the month; and small salads every fortnight. Plant Jerusalem artichokes, shallots, garlic, horse-radish and early potatoes. Transplant to the bottom of a south wall a portion of the peas sown in pots in frames in November and January for the first crop. Sow Brussels sprouts in gentle heat for an early crop.Fruit Garden.—Prune apricots, peaches, nectarines and plums, before the buds are much swelled; finish pruning apples, pears, cherries, gooseberries, currants and raspberries, before the end of the month; also the dressing of vines. Keep the fruit-room free from spoiled fruit, and shut it close. Cut down the double-bearing raspberries to secure strong autumn-fruiting shoots. Head back stocks preparatory to grafting.Forcing.—Sow melons and cucumbers on hotbeds and in pits. Sow carrots, turnips, early celery, also aubergines or egg-plants, capsicums, tomatoes and successional crops of kidney-beans; cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, in gentle heat, to be afterwards planted out. Plant early potatoes on slight hotbeds. Continue the forcing of asparagus, rhubarb and sea-kale. Commence or continue the forcing of the various choice fruits, as vines, peaches, figs, cherries, strawberries, &c. Pot roots of mint and place in heat to produce sprigs for mint sauce. Be careful to protect the stems of vines that are outside the forcing-houses.Plant Houses.—Let the greenhouse and conservatory have plenty of air in mild weather. Pot and start tuberous-rooted begonias and gloxinias. Pot young plants of Hippeastrum, and start the established ones. Propagate chrysanthemums in cool-house or vinery under hand lights or frames. Put plants of fuchsias, petunias, verbenas, heliotropes, salvias and other soft-wooded subjects, into a propagating house to obtain cuttings, &c., for the flower garden. Sow stocks, dahlias and a few tender and half-hardy annuals, on a slight hotbed, or in pots. Propagate old roots of dahlias by cuttings of the young shoots in a hotbed. Sow petunias in heat, and prick out and harden for bedding out; also gloxinias to be grown on in heat till the flowering season.Flower Garden.—In dry open weather plant dried roots, including most of the finer florists’ flowers; continue the transplanting of hardy biennial flowers and herbaceous plants. Sow in the last week mignonette, and hardy annuals, in a warm border, for subsequent transplanting.MarchKitchen Garden.—Sow main crops of wrinkled marrow peas; Longpod and Windsor beans; cabbage, onions, leeks, Early Horn carrots, parsnips, salsafy, scorzonera, Brussels sprouts, borecoles, lettuces and spinach. In the beginning and also at the end of the month sow Early Strap-leaf and Early Snowball turnips and savoys. In the last fortnight sow asparagus, cauliflower and the various sweet and savoury herbs; also sea-kale, radishes, celery, celeriac and parsley. Small salads should be sown every ten days. Make up beds for mushrooms with well-prepared dung towards the end of the month. Plant early potatoes in the first week, and a main crop during the last fortnight. Sea-kale, asparagus and peas raised in frames may now be planted; also garlic and shallots. Full crops of cabbages should be planted out; also cauliflowers under hand-glasses. Propagate by slips, or by earthing up the old stems, the various pot-herbs.Fruit Garden.—Finish the pruning of fruit trees before the middle of the month. Protect those coming into blossom. Begin grafting in the third week; dig and dress between the rows of gooseberries, currants and other fruit trees, if not already done. Kill wasps assiduously as soon as they appear.Forcing.—Continue the forcing of melons, cucumbers, tomatoes and the various fruits. In the vinery and peach-house, attend to the keeping down of insects by syringing; and promote the growth of the young shoots, by damping the walls and paths morning and evening. Sow capsicum and tomato; also in slight heat such tender herbs as basil and marjoram.Plant Houses.—More water may be given than formerly. Sow seeds of greenhouse and hothouse plants; also the different sorts of tender annuals; pot off those sown last month; sow cineraria for the earliest bloom; also Chinese primulas. Shift heaths and other hard-wooded subjects and stove-plants; plant tuberoses in pots for forcing. Begin to propagate greenhouse plants by cuttings; also coleuses by cuttings in heat, potting them off as soon as rooted.Flower Garden and Shrubbery.—In the last week, sow hardy annuals in the borders, with biennials that flower the first season, as also perennials. Plant anemone and ranunculus roots and the corms of gladiolus. Transplant from the nursery to their final sites annuals sown in autumn, with biennials and herbaceous plants. Propagate perennials from root-slips and offsets. Continue to propagate the finer sorts of dahlias, both by cuttings and by division of the roots. Finish the pruning of all deciduous trees and hedges as soon as possible. Attend to the dressing of shrubberies; lay turf-edgings, and regulate the surface of gravel walks.AprilKitchen Garden.—Sow asparagus, sea-kale, Turnip-rooted beet, salsafy, scorzonera, skirret, carrots and onions on heavy soils; also marrow peas, Longpod and Windsor beans, turnips, spinach, celery,cabbage, savoys and Brussels sprouts for succession. Sow broccoli and kidney-beans both in the second and in the last week, and lettuces and small salads twice or thrice during the month; sow all herbs, if not done last month. Sow vegetable marrow. Plant cauliflower, cabbages, sea-kale, lettuce; and finish the planting of the main crops of potatoes; divide and replant globe-artichokes. Propagate all sorts of pot-herbs, and attend to the hoeing and thinning of spinach, onions, turnips, carrots, beet, &c. Earth up cabbages, cauliflower, peas, beans and early potatoes. Stake up peas; blanch sea-kale and rhubarb in the open air by covering with straw or leaves.Fruit Garden.—If vines have been neglected to be pruned, rub off the buds that are not wanted; this is safer than pruning now. Protect the finer sorts of fruit trees on the walls. The hardier orchard-house fruits should now be moved outdoors under temporary awnings, to give the choicer fruits more space,—the roots being protected by plunging the pots. Mulch all newly-planted fruit trees, watering abundantly in dry weather.Forcing.—Continue the preparation of succession beds and pits for cucumbers and melons. Sow; pot tomatoes and capsicums for succession. Pollinate tomatoes by hand to ensure early fruit on plants intended for outdoor culture. In the forcing-houses, from the variable state of the weather, considerable vigilance is required in giving air. Keep down red spider (Acarus) in the more advanced houses by frequent syringings and a well-moistened atmosphere. Continue the usual operations of disbudding and thinning of fruit, and take care to keep up the proper temperatures.Plant Houses.—Still sow tender annuals if required; also cinerarias and primulas. Proceed with all necessary shiftings. Propagate rare and fine plants by cuttings or grafting; increase bouvardias by cuttings, and grow on for winter flowering. Pot off tender annuals, and cuttings of half-hardy greenhouse plants put in during February to get them well established for use in the flower garden. Transfer chrysanthemums to sheltered positions out of doors, and provide means of protecting them from frost and cutting winds.Flower Garden and Shrubbery.—Sow main or successional crops of annuals of all sorts—half-hardy annuals in warm borders, or on slight hotbeds. Biennials and perennials should be sown before the middle of the month. Plant out gladioli, if not done, tigridias and fine stocks. Finish the transplanting of herbaceous plants by the end of the first week. Cuttings of border chrysanthemums may now be dibbled in a warm spot out of doors. Protect stage auriculas and hyacinths from extremes of every description of weather; and tulips from hoar-frosts and heavy rains. Plant out tender deciduous trees and shrubs raised in pots; plant out tea-roses, mulching the roots. Remove part of the coverings of all tender shrubs and plants in the first week, and the remainder at the end of the month. Form and repair lawns and grass walks by laying turf and sowing perennial grass-seeds; mow the lawns frequently; plant evergreens.MayKitchen Garden.—Sow main crop of beet in the first week, small salads every week, radishes and lettuces thrice, spinach once a fortnight, carrots and onions for late drawing, kidney-beans in the first week and together with scarlet runners in the last fortnight; endive for an early crop; also peas and Longpod and Windsor beans, cauliflowers, Early York or Little Pixie cabbages, Brussels sprouts, borecole, broccoli, savoys and kale for late crops. Sow vegetable marrows and hardy cucumbers on a warm border in the last week; sow cardoons in trenches, or (in the north) in pots under glass shelter; sow chicory for salading. Continue hoeing and earthing up the several crops.Fruit Garden.—Disbud peaches, nectarines and other early trees against the walls; also attend to the thinning of fruit. Give occasional washings with the engine to keep down insects. Pick caterpillars from gooseberries and wall trees on their first appearance. Remove from raspberries and strawberries all suckers and runners that are not wanted.Forcing.—Plant melons and cucumbers on the hotbeds prepared for vegetables in February, and now free. Plant out vegetable marrows and pumpkins on dung-ridges, under hand-glasses. Sow late crops of cucumbers and melons.Plant Houses.—Turn out hardy plants about the middle, and the more tender at the latter end of the month. Sow tender annuals for succession, potting and shifting those sown at an earlier period; sow cinerarias for succession; and a few hardy annuals and ten-week stock, &c., for late crops. Pot off all rooted cuttings. Put in cuttings of the different desirable species which are now fit for that purpose. Plant out in rich soil Richardias, to be potted up in autumn for flowering. Bedding plants should be placed to harden in sheltered positions out of doors towards end of month. Towards the end of the month many of the main stock of chrysanthemums will be ready for the final potting.Flower Garden.—Sow annuals for succession in the last week, also biennials and perennials in the nursery compartment, for planting out next year. Propagate plants of which more stock is required either by cuttings or by dividing the roots. Plant out, during the last week, dahlias, hardy pelargoniums, stocks and calceolarias, protecting the dahlias from slight frosts. By the end of the month, masses of the following plants may be formed with safety in warm localities:—pelargonium, heliotropium, fuchsia, petunia, nierembergia, salvia, verbena, bouvardia and lobelia. Protect tulips, ranunculuses and anemones from the mid-day sun, and from rains and winds. Remove the coverings from all tender plants in the open air.Shrubbery.—Transplant all kinds of evergreens, this month and September being the proper seasons. The rarer conifers should be planted now and in June, after they have commenced to grow. Proceed with the laying down of lawns and gravel-walks, and keep the former regularly mown.JuneKitchen Garden.—Sow kidney-beans for succession; also the wrinkled marrow peas and Seville Longpod and Windsor beans for late crops. Sow salading every ten days; also carrots, onions and radishes for drawing young; and chicory for salads; sow endive for a full crop. In the first week sow Early Munich and Golden Ball turnips for succession, and in the third week for a full autumn crop. Sow scarlet and white runner beans for a late crop, and cabbages for coleworts. Make up successional mushroom beds early in the month. Plant full crops of broccoli, Brussels sprouts, savoys, kales, leeks and early celery, with successional crops of cabbage and cauliflower. In the first fortnight of the month, plant hardy cucumbers for pickling, in a warm border, placing hand-glasses over them towards the end of the month. Plant out capsicums and tomatoes in sunny positions, and stake and tie securely. Pull and store winter onions, if ripe.Fruit Garden.—Train and prune the summer shoots of wall and trellis and other trained trees. Mulch and water fruit trees and strawberries in dry weather, desisting when the fruit begins to ripen. Net over cherry-trees. Destroy aphides and other insects by syringing with tobacco water, or by fumigating, or by dusting with tobacco powder.Forcing.—Proceed with planting melons, cucumbers and tomatoes. Keep up the necessary temperatures for the ripening of the various fruits. Ventilation will still require constant care. Tomatoes will now be fruiting freely; thin out judiciously, avoiding excessive pruning at one time. Attend to the gathering of fruit as it ripens.Plant Houses.—These will now be occupied with tender greenhouse plants and annuals, and the more hardy plants from the stove. Shift, repot and propagate all plants that are desirable. Sow fragrant or showy annuals to flower in pots during winter; and grow on a set of decorative plants for the same object. Continue the final potting of chrysanthemums as the plants become ready.Flower Garden.—Plant out dahlias and other tender subjects, if risk of frost is past. Take up bulbs and tuberous roots and dry them in the shade before removing them to the store-room. Fill up with annuals and greenhouse plants those beds from which the bulbs and roots have been raised. After this season, keep always a reserve of annuals in pots, or planted on beds of thin layers of fibrous matter, so as to be readily transplanted. Layer carnations and pipe pinks in the end of the month. Keep the lawns closely mown.JulyKitchen Garden.—Watering will be necessary in each department, if the weather is hot and dry. In the first week, sow peas for the last crop of the season; also Longpod beans and French beans. In the last week, sow red globe or Chirk Castle turnip for a full winter crop, spinach for an early winter supply and Enfield Market cabbage for early summer use. Sow endive, for autumn and winter use, in the beginning and end of the month; also successional crops of lettuce and small salads. Make up successional mushroom beds. Plant full crops of celery, celeriac, endive about the middle and end of the month; late crops of broccoli, cauliflower and coleworts in the last week. Gather and dry herbs; also propagate these by slips and cuttings.Fruit Garden.—Continue the pruning and training of wall and espalier trees, and the destruction of noxious insects. Pot strawberries for forcing next winter, and make new beds out of doors as soon as well-rooted runners can be obtained. Propagate the different sorts of stone fruit trees by budding on other trees or on prepared stocks. Gather fruits of all kinds as they ripen.Forcing.—Prune melons and cucumbers, giving air and water and maintaining heat, &c. Continue the routine treatment in the tomato-houses. Feed the plants artificially as soon as good crops are set; do not wait for signs of distress. The forcing-houses ought to have abundance of fresh air and moisture where required, along with the necessary heat.Plant Houses.—Ventilation will be necessary to keep down excessive heat; and attention must be paid to potting, shifting and putting in cuttings, and giving abundance of water to the potted plants, both indoors and out. Sow seed of herbaceous calceolarias; shift heaths, if they require it; cut down pelargoniums past flowering, and plant the cuttings.Flower Garden and Shrubbery.—Take up the remaining tuberous roots, such as anemones, ranunculuses, &c., by the end of the first week; fill up their places, and any vacancies that may have occurred, with annuals or bedding plants from the reserve ground.Repot auriculas, and sow auricula seed in boxes under glass. Propagate herbaceous and other plants that have gone out of flower, by means of cuttings and slips, especially those required for spring bedding; propagate also the various summer bedding plants increased by cuttings. Increase roses and American shrubs, by layering, budding or cuttings, and go on with the layering of carnations and picotees. Stake and tie up dahlias and strong herbaceous plants.AugustKitchen Garden.—Sow winter and spring spinach in the beginning and about the end of the month; parsley and winter onions, for a full crop, in the first week; cabbages about the middle of the month, for planting out in spring; cauliflower in the first half (Scotland) and in the second half (England) of the month; Hardy Hammersmith and Brown Cos lettuce in the first and last week; small salads occasionally; and Black Spanish radish, for winter crops. Plant out kales and broccoli for late crops; plant celery (earthing up the advancing crops as required), endive for succession, and a few coleworts. Take up shallots, garlic, &c.Fruit Garden.—Proceed in training and regulating the summer shoots of all fruit trees as directed for the last three months. Net up, in dry weather, gooseberry and currant bushes, to preserve the fruit till late in the autumn. Make new strawberry beds if required. Preserve the ripening fruits on the wall and other trees from insects, and destroy wasp nests. Gather fruits as they ripen.Forcing.—The routine of cultivation in hotbeds and pits may be continued. Sow tomatoes and cucumbers for a winter crop. Make up mushroom beds. In the forcing-houses, where the crops are past, part of the sashes may be removed, so as to permit thorough ventilation.Plant Houses.—Attend to the propagation of all sorts of greenhouse plants by cuttings, and to the replacing in the greenhouse and stoves the more tender species, by the end of the month in ordinary seasons, but in wet weather in the second week. Sow half-hardy annuals, as Nemophila, Collinsia, Schizanthus, Rhodanthe, &c., to flower during winter.Flower Garden and Shrubbery.—Sow in the second and the last week, on a warm border of a light sandy soil, with an east aspect, any free-flowering hardy annuals asSilene pendula, Nemophila, &c., for planting in spring; and auricula and primula seeds in pots and boxes. Propagate, all sorts of herbaceous plants by rooted slips or suckers; take off layers of carnations, picotees and pansies. Plant cuttings of bedding plants, and of bedding pelargoniums in boxes for convenience of removal. Layer the tops of chrysanthemums, to obtain dwarf flowering plants. Transplant evergreens in moist weather, about the end of the month; and propagate them by layers and cuttings. Pot Neapolitan violets for forcing; or plant out on a mild hotbed. Clip box edgings.SeptemberKitchen Garden.—Sow small salading for late crops; and lettuce and spinach, if not done last month, for spring crops. Plant endive and lettuce at the foot of a south wall to stand the winter; plant out cabbages from the chief autumn sowing. Plant cauliflowers on a warm border in spaces such as can be protected by hand-lights. Thin the winter spinach, when large enough, that it may have space to grow. If broccoli be too rank or tall to withstand the winter, lift and lay nearly up to the neck in the earth, the heads sloping towards the north. Lift onions, and lay them out to ripen on a dry border or gravel-walk. Lift potatoes and store them.Fruit Garden.—Finish the summer pruning and training. Where the walls are heated, assist the maturing of peaches and nectarines, and the ripening of the young wood for next year, by fires during the day. Gather and lay up in the fruit-room with care the autumnal sorts of apples and pears. Prepare borders and stations for fruit trees during dry weather. Plant strawberries for a main crop. Repot orchard-house trees, disrooting if necessary.Forcing.—Take care that late melons, cucumbers and tomatoes be not injured by getting too much water and too little air. Sow a few kidney beans for an early forced crop. Expel damp, and assist the ripening of late grapes and peaches with fires during the day. Prune early vines and peaches.Plant Houses.—The various pot plants should now be put in their winter quarters. Keep up moderate temperatures in the stove, and merely repel frosts in the greenhouse, guarding against damp, by ventilation and by the cautious use of water. Pot hyacinths, tulips and other bulbs for forcing; and propagate half-hardy plants by cuttings. Begin the housing of the main stock of chrysanthemums.Flower Garden, &c.—Sow in the beginning of this month all half-hardy annuals required for early flowering; also mignonette in pots, thinning the plants at an early stage; the different species of primula; and the seeds of such plants as, if sown in spring, seldom come up the same season, but if sown in September and October, vegetate readily the succeeding spring. Put in cuttings of bedding pelargoniums in boxes, which may stand outdoors exposed to the sun, but should be sheltered from excessive rains. Continue the propagation of herbaceous plants, taking off the layers of carnations, picotees, pansies and chrysanthemums, by the end of the month; choice carnations and picotees may be potted and wintered in cold frames if the season is wet and ungenial. Plant evergreens; lay and put in cuttings of most of the hard-wooded sorts of shrubby plants.OctoberKitchen Garden.—Sow small salading and radishes in the first week, and lettuces in frames on a shallow hotbed for planting out in spring. If the winter prove mild they will be somewhat earlier than those sown next month or in January. Plant parsley in pots or boxes to protect under glass in case very severe weather occurs. Plant cabbages in beds or close rows till wanted in spring; and cauliflowers in the last week, to receive the protection of frames, or a sheltered situation. Store potatoes, beet, salsafy, scorzonera, skirret, carrots and parsnips, by the end of the month. Band and earth up cardoons.Fruit Garden.—Such fruit trees as have dropped their leaves may be transplanted; this is the best season for transplanting (though with care it may be done earlier), whether the leaves have fallen or not. Protect fig-trees, if the weather proves frosty, as soon as they have cast their leaves. Plant out raspberries. The orchard-house trees should be got under glass before the end of the month. Gather and store all sorts of apples and pears, the longest-keeping sorts not before the end of the month, if the weather be mild.Forcing.—Maintain the heat in hotbeds and pits by means of fresh dung linings. Give abundance of air in mild bright weather. Dress vines and peaches. Clean and repair the forcing-houses, and overhaul the heating apparatus to see it is in good working condition. Plant chicory in boxes or on hotbeds for blanching. Sow kidney beans. Make up successional winter mushroom beds.Plant Houses.—Replace all sorts of greenhouse plants. Fill the pits with pots of stocks, mignonette and hardy annuals for planting out in spring, along with many of the hardy sorts of greenhouse plants; the whole ought to be thoroughly ventilated, except in frosty weather. From this time till spring keep succulent plants almost without water. Begin to force roses, hyacinths and a few other bulbs, for winter and early spring decoration. Plant hyacinths in glasses for windows. The last of the pot chrysanthemums should be housed by the end of the first week.Flower Garden.—Sow a few pots of hardy annuals in a frame, or on a sheltered border, for successional spring use if required. Plant the greater part of the common border bulbs, as hyacinths, narcissi, crocuses and early tulips, about the end of the month, with a few anemones for early flowering. Transplant strong plants of biennials and perennials to their final situations; also the select plants used for spring bedding. Protect alpine plants, stage auriculas, and choice carnations and picotees with glass frames; and tea roses and other tender plants with bracken or other protective material. Take up, dry and store dahlias and all tender tubers at the end of the month; pot lobelias and similar half-hardy plants from the open borders. Transplant all sorts of hardy evergreens and shrubs, especially in dry soils, giving abundance of water. Put in cuttings of all sorts of evergreens, &c. Plant out the hardier sorts of roses.NovemberKitchen Garden.—Trench up all vacant ground as soon as cleared of its crops, leaving the surface as rough as possible. Sow early peas and Early Dwarf Prolific beans in the second week, for an early crop; also in frames for transplanting. Protect endive, celery, artichoke and sea-kale with stable-litter or fern, or by planting the former in frames; take up late cauliflower, early broccoli and lettuces, and place them in sheltered pits or lay them in an open shed; earth up celery; manure and dress up asparagus beds.Fruit Garden.—Plant all sorts of fruit trees in fine weather—the earlier in the month the better. Protect fig-trees. Commence pruning and nailing. Gather and store the latest apples and pears. Examine the fruit-room and remove all decayed fruit.Forcing.—Keep up the requisite degree of heat in hotbeds and pits. Cucumbers and tomatoes will require more than ordinary attention. Force asparagus, rhubarb and sea-kale, in the mushroom-house, in pits, or in the open border under boxes or cases surrounded and covered by well-fermented stable dung and leaves. Sow Early Horn carrot; also kidney beans and radishes, on hotbeds. In the forcing-houses prune and train the trees; fork over and dress the borders of such houses as have not been already done.Plant Houses.—The directions for the greenhouse and conservatory in January apply also to this month generally. Continue the forcing of roses, hyacinths, &c. Houses containing large-flowered Japanese chrysanthemums will require to be kept dry, airy and moderately warm to prevent “damping-off” of petals.Flower Garden, &c.—Plant dried tubers of border flowers, but the finer sorts had better be deferred till spring. Plant tulips in the early part of the month. Put in cuttings of bedding calceolarias, choosing the shoots that will not run up to flower. Protect such half-hardy plants as are not already sheltered. Plant deciduous trees and shrubs so long as the weather continues favourable, and before the soil has parted with the solar heat absorbed during summer. Dig and dress such flower borders and shrubberies as may now be cleared of annuals and the stems of herbaceous plants.DecemberKitchen Garden.—Collect and smother-burn all vegetable refuse, and apply it as a dressing to the ground. Sow a few peas and beans, in case of accident to those sown in November, drawing up the soil towards the stems of those which are above ground as a protection; earth up celery; blanch endive with flower-pots; sow radishes in a very sheltered place. Attend to trenching and digging in dry weather.Fruit Garden.—Plant all sorts of fruit trees in mild weather. Proceed with pruning and nailing wall-trees. Examine the fruit-room every week, removing promptly all decaying fruit.Forcing.—The same degree of attention to hotbeds and pits will be necessary as in the last month. Continue the forcing of asparagus, rhubarb and sea-kale, in pits and in the mushroom-house. Proceed with the usual routine of culture commenced last month. Make the necessary preparations to begin forcing early or succession crops by the last week of this or the first of next month.Plant Houses, Frames, &c.—Carnations and picotees in pots must be kept rather dry to prevent damping off. Heaths and Australian plants must be very sparingly watered, and kept with only fire heat enough to repel frost. Cut down plants of chrysanthemums, which should be placed in a cool pit, near the glass, in order to afford hard sturdy cuttings in February. Shy plants should be given gentle bottom heat to induce growth, which should be gently hardened by exposure under cooler conditions.Flower Garden, &c.—Plant shrubs in open weather. Prune shrubs. Sweep and roll the lawns, and put in repair the gravel-walks, keeping the surface frequently rolled.(J. Ws.; W. R. W.)(B)For the United States(chiefly for the latitude of New York).JanuaryFlower Garden and Greenhouse.—Little is to be done in either. In the greenhouse care must be used to protect against frost. Ventilate but little, and with care; raise the ventilating sash only high enough to let the heated air from the greenhouse drive back the outer air so as not to chill the plants. To destroy the red spider, syringe the plants copiously at night, and splash the paths with water. The aphis, or “green fly,” must also be destroyed; tobacco may be used. Various new preparations are coming on the market for the destruction of greenhouse pests. Several new effective preparations of tobacco have been brought into use. The white-fly is now a common pest in greenhouses, the nymphs being greenish scale-like objects on the under sides of the leaves, and adults very small white flies. The remedy is to spray with kerosene emulsion or whale-oil soap; or if on cucumbers or tomatoes, it is best to fumigate with hydrocyanic acid gas, using one ounce of potassium cyanide to each 1000 cubic ft. of space. (This material is very poisonous.) Many greenhouse insects can be kept more or less in check by careful and effective hosing of the plants at proper times. At this season roses, grape vines and other plants are often affected by mildew; an effectual remedy is to paint the hot-water pipes with a mixture of sulphur and lime, put on as thick as ordinary whitewash, once each week until it is checked; but care must be taken not to apply it on any surface at a higher temperature than 212°. Hyacinths and other bulbs that have been kept in a cellar or other dark cool place may now be brought into the light of the greenhouse or sitting-room, provided they have filled the pots with roots. If they are not well rooted, leave them until they are, or select such of them as are best, leaving the others. In the outside flower garden little can be done except that shrubs may be pruned, or new work, such as making walks or grading, performed, if weather permits. See that the ornamental plants and trees are not injured by heavy weights of ice or snow.Fruit Garden.—Pruning, staking up or mulching can be done if the weather is such that the workmen can stand out. In all warm or comfortable days the fruit trees may be pruned.Grapery.—Graperies used for the forcing of foreign grapes may be started, beginning at a temperature of 50° at night, with 10° or 15° higher during the day. The borders must be covered sufficiently deep with leaves or manure to prevent the soil from freezing, as it would be destruction to the vines to start the shoots if the roots were frozen; hence, when forcing is begun in January, the covering should be put on in November, before severe frosts begin.Vegetable Garden.—But little can be done in the northern states except to prepare manure, and get sashes, tools, &c., in working order; but in sections of the country where there is little or no frost the hardier kinds of seeds and plants may be sown and planted, such as asparagus, cabbage, cauliflower, carrot, leek, lettuce, onion, parsnip, peas, spinach, turnip, &c. In any section where these seeds can be sown in open ground, it is an indication that hotbeds may be started for the sowing of such tender vegetables as tomatoes, egg and pepper plants, &c.; though, unless in the extreme southern states, hotbeds should not be started before the beginning or middle of February. Make orders for the spring seeds.FebruaryFlower Garden and Greenhouse.—The directions for January will in the main apply to this month, except that now some of the hardier annuals may be sown in hotbed or greenhouse, and also the propagation of plants by cuttings may be done rather better now than in January, as the greater amount of light gives more vitality to the cutting.Fruit Garden.—But little can be done in most of the northern states as yet, and in sections where there is no frost in the ground it is likely to be too wet to work; but in many southern states this will be the best month for planting fruit trees and plants of all kinds, particularly strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, pear and apple trees, while grape vines will do, though they will also do well quite a month later. Continue the pruning. Fruit trees for spring planting should be ordered, if not already done.Grapery.—The graperies started last month at 50° at night may now be increased to 60°, with a correspondingly higher day temperature. Great care must be taken to syringe the leaves thoroughly at least once a day, and to deluge the paths with water, so as to produce a moist atmosphere. Paint the hot-water pipes with sulphur mixture, as recommended in January.Vegetable Garden.—Leaves from the woods, house manure or refuse hops from breweries may be got together towards the latter part of this month, and mixed and turned to get “sweetened” preparatory to forming hotbeds. Cabbage, lettuce and cauliflower seeds, if sown early this month in hotbed or greenhouse, will make fine plants if transplanted into hotbed in March. This is preferable to the use of fall-sown plants. Manure that is to be used for the crop should be broken up as fine as possible, for the more completely manure of any kind can be mixed with the soil the better the crop will be, and, of course, if it is dug or ploughed in in large unbroken lumps it cannot be properly commingled.MarchFlower Garden and Greenhouse.—The long days and bright sunshine will now begin to tell on the plants under glass. Examine all plants that are vigorous and healthy; if the roots have matted the “ball” of earth they must be shifted into a larger-sized pot. Plants from cuttings struck last month may now be shifted, and the propagation of all plants that are likely to be wanted should be continued. Hardier kinds of annuals may be sown; it is best done in shallow boxes, say 2 in. deep.Lawnscan be raked off and mulched with short manure, or rich garden earth where manure cannot be obtained. Flower-beds on light soils may be dug up so as to forward the work of the coming busy spring season. Lawns may be benefited by a good dressing, in addition to the manure, of some reliable commercial fertilizer. If the lawn is thin in spots, these places may be raked over heavily and new grass seed sown.Fruit Garden.—In many sections, planting may now be done with safety, provided the soil is light and dry, but not otherwise. Although a tree or plant will receive no injury when its roots are undisturbed in the soil should a frost come after planting, the same amount of freezing will, and very often does, greatly injure the plant if the roots are exposed.Grapery.—The grapery started in January will have set its fruit, which should be thinned by one-third. The temperature may now be further advanced to 70° at night, with 15° higher in the daytime. The same precautions must be used against mildew and insects as given in January. Graperies wanted for succession may be started in February or this month.Vegetable Garden.—This is a busy month. In localities where the frost is out of the ground, if it is not wet, seeds of the hardier vegetables can be sown. The list of seeds given for the southern states in January may now be used at the north, while for most of the southern states tender vegetables, such as egg plant, okra, sweet potatoes, melon, squash, potatoes, tomatoes, &c., may be sown and planted. Hotbeds must now be all started. In March flower seeds and vegetable seeds may be sown in boxes or flats in the greenhouse, or in residence windows, or near the kitchen stove. Unless one has space under glass, or in hotbeds, in which the plants may be transplanted before they are set in the open ground, it is well not to start the seeds too early, inasmuch as the plants are likely to become too large or to be pot-bound, or to become drawn.AprilFlower Garden and Greenhouse.—Window and greenhouse plants require more water and ventilation. Due attention must be paid to shifting well-rooted plants into larger pots; and, if space is desired, many kinds of hardier plants can be safely put out in cold frames. Towards the end of the month it may be necessary slightly to shade the glass of the greenhouse. All herbaceous plants and hardy shrubs may be planted in the garden. The covering of leaves or litter should be taken off bulbs and tender plants that were covered up for winter, so that the beds can be lightly forked and raked. Sow tender annual flower seeds in boxes inside.Fruit Garden.—Strawberries that have been covered up with straw or leaves should be relieved around the plants, leaving the covering between them. Special care must be exercised that the mulch be not left on too long; the plants should not become whitened or “drawn.” Raspberries, grape vines, &c., that have been laid down may now be uncovered and tied up to stakes or trellises, and all newplantations of these and other fruits may now be made. Fruit trees may be grafted.Vegetable Garden.—Asparagus, rhubarb, spinach, &c., should be uncovered., and the beds hoed or dug lightly. Hardier sorts of vegetable seeds and plants, such as beets, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, lettuce, onions, parsley, parsnips, peas, potatoes, radishes, spinach, turnip, &c., should all be sown or planted by the middle of the month if the soil is dry and warm, and in all cases, where practicable, before the end of the month. It is essential, in sowing seeds now, that they be well firmed in the soil. Any who expect to get early cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce or radishes, while planting or sowing is delayed until the time of sowing tomato and egg plant in May, are sure to be disappointed of a full crop. Frequent rotation of crops should be practised in the vegetable garden, in order to head off insects and diseases; and also to make the best use of the land. Every three or four years the vegetable garden should be laid out in some new place; but if this cannot be done, the crops should be rotated on different parts of the old garden.MayFlower Garden and Greenhouse.—Window and greenhouse plants should be in their finest bloom. Firing may be entirely dispensed with, though care must still be exercised in ventilating. If weather is cold and backward, however, and in very northern regions, care must be taken not to stop firing too soon, or the plants will mildew and become stunted. Every precaution must be used to keep the air moist. “Moss culture” may be tried, the common sphagnum or moss of the swamps, mixed with one-twentieth of its bulk of bone-dust, being laid as a mulch on the top of the earth of the flower-pots; its effect is to shield the pots from the sun, and at the same time stimulate the roots to come to the surface. By the end of the month all of the plants that are wanted for the summer decoration of the flower border may be planted out, first loosening a little the ball of earth at the roots. If the weather is dry, water freely after planting. When the greenhouse is not to be used during the summer months, camellias, azaleas and plants of that character should be set out of doors under partial shade; but most of the other plants usually grown in the conservatory or window garden in winter may be set in the open border. Flower-beds should be kept well hoed, and raked, to prevent the growth of weeds next month.Pelargoniums, pinks, monthly roses and all the half-hardy kinds of flowering plants should be planted early, but coleus, heliotrope and the more tender plants should be delayed until the end of the month. Annuals that have been sown in the greenhouse or hotbed may be planted out, and seeds of such sorts as mignonette, sweet alyssum, Phlox Drummondii, portulaca, &c., may be sown in the beds or borders. The china aster is now one of the most popular of summer and fall plants. The seed may be sown in the north as late as the middle of May, or even the first of June, with good results for fall blooming. If the plants are started early in the greenhouse, they are likely to spend themselves before fall, and therefore a later sowing should be provided.Lawnsshould be mown, and the edgings trimmed.Fruit Garden.—The hay or leaf mulching on the strawberry beds should be removed and the ground deeply hoed (if not removed in April in the more forward places), after which it may be placed on again to keep the fruit clean and the ground from drying. Where it has not been convenient before, most of the smaller fruits may yet be planted during the first part of the month. Tobacco dust will dislodge most of the numerous kinds of slugs, caterpillars or worms that make their appearance on the young shoots of vines or trees. Fruit trees may be planted this month, if they were not planted in March or April. If they have been kept fresh and dormant, they should still be in good condition. The broken roots should be cut back to fresh wood, and the tops should be headed back in proportion.Vegetable Garden.—Attention should be given to new sowings and plantings for succession. Crops sown last month will have to be thinned out if large enough. Hoe deeply all transplanted crops, such as cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, &c. Tender vegetables, such as tomatoes, egg and pepper plants, sweet potatoes, &c., can be planted out. Seeds of Lima beans, sweet corn, melon, okra, cucumbers, &c., should be sown; and sow for succession peas, spinach, lettuce, beans, radishes, &c., every ten days.JuneFlower Garden and Greenhouse.—Tropical plants can now be used to fill up the greenhouse during the summer months. It should be well shaded, and fine specimens of fancy caladiums, dracaenas, coleus, crotons, palms, ferns and such plants as are grown for the beauty of their foliage, will make a very attractive show. If these cannot be had, common geraniums may be used. The “moss culture” will be found particularly valuable for these plants. Hyacinths, tulips and other spring bulbs may be dug up, dried and placed away for next fall’s planting, and their places filled with bedding plants, such as coleus, achyranthes, pelargoniums, and the various white and coloured leaf plants. It will be necessary to mow the lawn once a week, and sometimes oftener.Fruit Garden.—The small fruits should be mulched about the roots, if this has not yet been done. If the fruit garden is large enough to admit of horse culture, it is best to keep the bush-fruits well cultivated during the season; this tillage conserves the moisture and helps to make a full and plump crop of berries. In small areas the mulching system is sometimes preferable.Vegetable Garden.—Beets, beans, carrots, corn, cucumbers, lettuce, peas and radishes may be sown for succession. This is usually a busy month, as many crops have to be gathered, and, if hoeing is not promptly seen to, weeds are certain to give great trouble. Tomatoes should be tied up to trellises or stakes if fine-flavoured and handsome fruit is desired, for if left to ripen on the ground they are apt to have a gross earthy flavour.JulyFlower Garden and Greenhouse.—Watering, ventilating and fumigating (or the use of tobacco in other forms for destruction of aphides) must be attended to. The atmosphere of the greenhouse must be kept moist. Watch the plants that have been plunged out of doors, and see if any require repotting. All plants that require staking, such as dahlias, roses, gladioli and many herbaceous plants, should now be looked to. Carnations and other plants that are throwing up flower stems, if wanted to flower in winter, should be cut back, that is, the flower stems should be cut off to say 5 in. from the ground.Fruit Garden.—If grape vines show any signs of mildew, dust them over with dry sulphur, selecting a still warm day. The fruit having now been gathered from strawberry plants, if new beds are to be formed, the system of layering the plants in small pots is the best. In general, field strawberries are not grown from potted layers, but from good strong layers that strike naturally in the field. In the north, spring planting of strawberries is generally advised for market conditions; although planting in early fall or late summer is successful when the ground is well prepared and when it does not suffer from drought. Where apples, pears, peaches, grapes, &c., have set fruit thickly, thin out at least one-half to two-thirds of the young fruit.Vegetable Garden.—The first ten days of this month will yet be time enough to sow sweet corn, beets, lettuce, beans, cucumbers and ruta-baga turnips. Such vegetables as cabbage, cauliflower, celery, &c., wanted for fall or winter use, are best planted this month, though in some sections they will do later. Keep sweet potatoes hoed to prevent the vines rooting at the joints.AugustFlower Garden and Greenhouse.—But little deviation is required in these departments from the instructions for July. See that sufficient water is applied; the walks may be wet in the houses.Fruit Garden.—Strawberries that have fruited will now be making “runners,” or young plants. These should be kept cut off close to the old plant, so that the full force of the root is expended in making the “crowns” or fruit buds for next season’s crop. If plants are required for new beds, only the required number should be allowed to grow, and these may be layered in pots as recommended in July. The old stems of raspberries and blackberries that have borne fruit should be cut away, and the young shoots thinned to three or four canes to each hill or plant. If tied to stakes and topped when 4 or 5 ft. high, they will form three or four branches on a cane, and will make stronger fruiting plants for next year.Vegetable Garden.—Hoe deeply such crops as cabbage, cauliflower and celery. The earthing up of celery this month is not to be recommended, unless a little very early supply is wanted. Onions in many sections can be harvested. The proper condition is when the tops are turning yellow and falling down. They are dried best by placing them in a dry shed in thin layers. Sow spinach for fall use, but not yet for the winter crop. Red top, white globe, and yellow Aberdeen turnips should now be sown; ruta-baga turnips sown last month will need thinning, and in extreme southern states they may yet be sown.SeptemberFlower Garden and Greenhouse.—The flower-beds in the lawn should be at their best. If planted in “ribbon lines” or “massing,” strict attention must be given to pinching off the tops, so that the lines or masses will present an even surface. Tender plants will require to be put in the greenhouse or housed in some way towards the end of this month; but be careful to keep them as cool as possible during the day. Cuttings of bedding plants may now be made freely if wanted for next season, as young cuttings rooted in the fall make better plants for next spring’s use than old plants, in the case of such soft-wooded plants as pelargoniums, fuchsias, verbenas, heliotropes, &c.; with roses and plants of a woody nature, however, the old plants usually do best. Dutch bulbs, such as hyacinths, tulips, crocus, &c., and most of the varieties of lilies, may be planted. Violets that are wanted for winter flowering will now be growing freely, and the runners should be trimmed off. Sow seeds of sweet alyssum, candytuft, daisies, mignonette, pansies, &c. Visit the roadsides and woods for interesting plants to put in the hardy borders.Fruit Garden.—Strawberry plants that have been layered in pots may yet be planted, or in southern districts the ordinary ground layers may be planted. The sooner in the month both are planted the better crop they will give next season; and, as these plants soonmake runners, it will be necessary to trim them off. Attend to raspberries and blackberries as advised for last month, if they have not already been attended to. All fruit trees should be gone over for borers before cold weather sets in; they also should have been gone over for the same purpose in May and June.Vegetable Garden.—If cabbage, cauliflower and lettuce are wanted to plant in cold frames, the seed should be sown from about the 10th to the 20th of this month; but judgment should be exercised, for, if sown too early, cabbage and cauliflower are apt to run to seed. The best date for latitude of New York is September 15th. The main crop of spinach or sprouts that is wanted for winter or spring use should be sown about the same date. The earth should be drawn up to celery with a hoe preparatory to earthing up with a spade. Onions that were not harvested and dried last month must now be attended to. Turnips of the early or flat sorts may yet be sown the first week of this month in the northern states, and in the south from two to four weeks later.OctoberFlower Garden and Greenhouse.—In northern sections of the United States, tender plants that are still outside should be got under cover as early as possible. Delay using fire heat as long as possible, unless the nights become so cold as to chill the plants inside the house. Roses, carnations, camellias, azaleas, pelargoniums and the hardier sorts of plants will do better if placed in a cold frame or pit until the middle of November than they would in an ordinary greenhouse. Look out for insects. Fall bulbs of all kinds may be planted. Take up summer-flowering bulbs and tubers, such as dahlias, tuberoses, gladioli, cannas, caladiums, tigridias, and dry them off thoroughly, stowing them away afterwards in some place free from frost and moisture during the winter. Before winter sets in see that the lawn is freely top-dressed. Be careful not to mow the grass too short in fall.Fruit Garden.—Strawberries that have been grown from pot-grown layers may yet be planted in southern states; keep the runners trimmed off. Fruit trees and shrubs may be set out; but, if planting is deferred to the last of the month, the ground around the roots should be mulched to the thickness of 3 or 4 in. with straw, leaves or rough manure, as a protection against frost. The fruit garden must be protected from the ravages of mice in winter. Mice will nest about the plants if there is straw or other litter around them. Before winter, all tall grass and loose litter should be taken away; if this is not done, then the first snow should be tramped heavily around the plants, in order to destroy any nesting-places.Vegetable Garden.—Celery will now be in full growth, and will require close attention to earthing up, and during the last part of the month the first lot may be stored away in trenches for winter. All vegetable roots not designed to be left in the ground during the winter should be dug up, such as beets, carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, &c. The cabbage, cauliflower and lettuce plants grown from seed sown last month should be pricked out in cold frames. If lettuce is wanted for winter use, it may now be planted in the greenhouse or cold frame, and will be ready for use about Christmas. If asparagus or rhubarb is wanted for winter use, it should be taken up and stowed away in pit, frame, shed or cellar for a month or two. It may then be taken into the greenhouse and packed closely together under the stage, and will be fit for use from January to March, according to the temperature of the house. Vegetable gardens often become infested with diseases that are carried over from year to year in the old plants and litter; this is specially true of water-melons and of some diseases of tomatoes. It is well, therefore, to burn the tops of the plants in the fall, rather than to plough them under or to throw them on the compost heap.NovemberFlower Garden and Greenhouse.—Plants intended to be grown inside should now all be indoors. Keep a sharp look-out for cold snaps, as they come very unexpectedly in November, and many plants are lost thereby. In cases where it is not convenient to use fire heat, 5° to 10° of cold can be resisted by covering the plants over with paper, and by using this before frost has struck the plants valuable collections may be saved. When fire heat is freely used, be careful to keep up the proper amount of moisture by sprinkling the paths with water. Little can be done in the flower garden, except to clean off all dead stalks, and straw up tender roses, vines, &c., and, wherever there is time, to dig up and rake the borders, as it will greatly facilitate spring work. Cover up all beds in which there are hyacinths, tulips and other bulbs with a litter of leaves or straw to the depth of 2 or 3 in. If short, thoroughly-decayed manure can be spared, a good sprinkling spread over the lawn will help it to a finer growth next spring.Fruit Garden.—Strawberry beds should be covered (in cold sections) with hay, straw or leaf mulching, to a depth not exceeding 2 in. Fruit trees and grape vines generally should be pruned; and, if the wood of the vine is wanted for cuttings, or scions of fruit trees for grafts, they should be tied in small bundles and buried in the ground until spring. They may be taken in December or January if preferred.Vegetable Garden.—Celery that is to be stored for winter use should be put away before the end of the month in all sections north of Virginia; south of that it may be left in most places where grown throughout the winter if well covered up. The stalks of the asparagus bed should be cut off, and burned if there are berries on them, as the seeds scattered in the soil sometimes produce troublesome weeds. Mulch the beds with 2 or 3 in. of rough manure. All vegetable roots that are yet in the ground, and not designed to be left there over winter, must be dug up in this latitude before the middle of the month or they may be frozen in. Cover up onions, spinach, sprouts, cabbage or lettuce plants with a covering of 2 or 3 in. of leaves, hay, or straw, to protect them during the winter. Cabbages that have headed may usually be preserved against injury by frost until the middle of next month, by simply pulling them up and packing them closely in a dry spot in the open field with the heads down and roots up. On approach of cold weather in December they should be covered up with leaves as high as the tops of the roots, or, if the soil is light, it may be thrown over them, if leaves are not convenient. Cabbages will keep this way until March if the covering has not been put on too early. Plough all empty ground if practicable, and, whenever time will permit, do trenching and subsoiling. Cabbage, cauliflower and lettuce plants that are in frames should be regularly ventilated by lifting the sash on warm days, and on the approach of very cold weather they should be covered with straw mats or shutters. In the colder latitudes, and even in the middle states, it is absolutely necessary to protect cauliflower in this way, as it is much more tender than cabbage and lettuce plants.DecemberFlower Garden and Greenhouse.—Close attention must be paid to protecting all tender plants, for it is not uncommon to have the care of a whole year spoiled by one night’s neglect. Vigilance and extra hot fires will have to be kept up when the thermometer falls to 34° or 35° in the parlour or conservatory. It is well to set the plants under the benches or on the walks of the greenhouses; if they are in the parlour move them away from the cold point and protect them with paper; this will usually save them even if the thermometer falls to 24° or 26°. Another plan in the greenhouse is to dash water on the pipes or flues, which causes steam to rise to the glass and freeze there, stopping up all the crevices. With plants outside that require strawing up or to be mulched, this will have now to be finished.Fruit Garden.—In sections where it is an advantage to protect grape vines, raspberries, &c., from severe frost, these should be laid down as close to the ground as possible, and covered with leaves, straw or hay, or with a few inches of soil. Grapes may be pruned. Fruit trees may be pruned from now till March in the north.Vegetable Garden.—Celery in trenches should receive the final covering for the winter, which is best done by leaves or light stable litter; in the latitude of New York it should not be less than 12 in. thick. Potatoes, beets, turnips or other roots in pits, the spinach crop in the ground, or any other article in need of protection, should be attended to before the end of the month; manure and compost heaps should be forwarded as rapidly as possible, and turned and mixed so as to be in proper condition for spring. Remove the snow that accumulates on cold frames or other glass structures, particularly if the soil which the glass covers was not frozen before the snow fell; it may remain on the sashes longer if the plants are frozen in, since they are dormant, and would not be injured if deprived of light for eight or ten days. If roots have been placed in cellars, attention must be given to ventilation, which can be done by making a wooden box, say 6 by 8 in., to run from the ceiling of the cellar to the eaves of the building above.(L. H. B.; P. H.)Bibliography of Modern Works on Horticulture.—W. Robinson,Alpine Flowers; Lord Redesdale (A. B. Freeman Mitford),The Bamboo Garden; J. Weathers,Bulbous Plants(33 col. plates); H. H. Cousins,Chemistry of the Garden; W. Watson,Cactus Culture for Amateurs; R. P. Brotherston and M. R. Smith,Book of the Carnation; J. Weathers,Cottage and Allotment Gardening; J. Veitch and Sons,Manual of Coniferae; W. Wells,Culture of the Chrysanthemum; Rev. S. E. Bourne,Book of the Daffodil; Geo. Nicholson,Dictionary of Gardening(5 vols.); W. Robinson,The English Flower Garden; Geo. Schneider,Book of Choice Ferns(3 vols.); W. Robinson,Flora and Sylva(3 vols.; col. plates by the late H. G. Moon); J. Weathers,Flowering Trees and Shrubs(33 col. plates); J. Weathers,French Market-Gardening and Intensive Cultivation; T. Smith,French Gardening; Geo. Bunyard and O. Thomas,The Fruit Garden; Josh. Brace, Fruit Trees in Pots; Dr R. Hogg, The Fruit Manual; M. C. Cooke,Fungoid Pests of Cultivated Plants; Thos. H. Mawson,The Art and Craft of Garden-Making; J. Weathers,A Practical Guide to Garden Plants; W. Watson,The Gardeners’ Assistant; C. H. Wright and D. Dewar,The Gardeners’ Dictionary; J. Weathers,Garden Flowers for Town and Country(33 col. plates); Chas. Baltet,The Art of Grafting and Budding; W. Thomson,The Grape Vine; Thos. Baines,Greenhouse and Stove Plants; R. Irwin Lynch,The Book of the Iris; G. Jekyll,Lilies for English Gardens; E. A. Ormerod,Manual of Injurious Insects; Dr A. B. Griffiths,Manures for Fruit and other Trees; F. W. Burbridge and J. G. Baker,The Narcissus(48 col. plates); H. A. Burberry,The Orchid Cultivator’s Handbook; B. S. Williams,The Orchid Grower’s Manual;J. Veitch & Sons,Manual of Orchidaceous Plants; Dr Paul Sorauer and F. E. Weiss,Physiology of Plants; W. Watson,Orchids, their Culture and Management; G. Massee,Plant Diseases; Rev. A. Foster-Melliar,Book of the Rose; Wm. Paul,The Rose Garden(20 col. plates); G. Jekyll and E. Mawley,Roses for English Gardens; J. Weathers,Roses for Garden and Greenhouse(33 col. plates);Nat. Rose Society, Handbook on Pruning Roses; Rev. J. H. Pemberton,Roses, their History, Development and Culture; Very Rev. Dean Hole,A Book about Roses; J. Hoffmann,The Amateur Gardener’s Rose Book(20 col. plates; translated from the German); A. Gaut,Seaside Planting of Trees and Shrubs; E. Beckett,Book of the Strawberry; W. Iggulden,The Tomato; J. Weathers,Trees and Shrubs for English and Irish Gardens(33 col. plates); Vilmorin et Cie.,The Vegetable Garden(Eng. ed. by W. Robinson); A. F. Barron,Vines and Vine Culture; G. Jekyll,Wall and Water Gardens; W. Robinson,The Wild Garden; L. H. Bailey,Practical Garden Book(New York, 1908).
For full details of this system seeFrench Market-Gardening, with details of Intensive Cultivation, by John Weathers (London, 1909).
VIII.—Calendar of Garden Operations(A)for Great Britain.
January
Kitchen Garden.—Wheel out manure and composts during frosty weather; trench vacant ground not turned up roughly in autumn. Sow early peas in a cold frame for transplanting. Sow also first-crop peas, early in the month, and William I. towards the end; Early Seville and Early Longpod beans; and short-topped radish in two or three sowings, at a week’s interval, all on a warm border; also Hardy Green and Brown cos lettuce in a frame or on south border. Plant shallots and Ashleaf potatoes on a warm border. Protect broccoli as it becomes fit for use, or remove to a dry shed or cellar; lettuces and endive, which are best planted in frames; and parsley in frames so as to be accessible.
Fruit Garden.—Plant fruit trees in open weather, if not done in autumn, which is the proper season, mulching over the roots to protect them from frost, and from drought which may occur in spring. Prune fruit trees in mild weather or in moderate frosts, nailing only in fine weather. Wash trees infested with insects with one of the many insecticides now obtainable. Take off grafts, and lay them aside in moist earth in a shady place.
Forcing.—Prepare manure for making up hotbeds for early cucumbers and melons, where pits heated with hot water are not in use; also for Ashleaf potatoes. Sow also in heat mustard and cress for salads, onions for salads; tomatoes, celery to be pricked out for an early crop; and Early Horn carrot and kidney-beans on slight hotbeds. Force asparagus, sea-kale and rhubarb, in hotbeds, in pits, in the mushroom-house or in the open garden by the use of covers surrounded with warm litter; for cucumbers a top heat of 70°; for vines in leaf and flower a temperature ranging from 65° to 70°. Keep forced strawberries with swelling fruit well watered. Plant vine eyes for propagation in a brisk heat.
Plant Houses.—Give abundance of air to the greenhouse, conservatory and alpine frame in mild weather, but use little water. A supply of roses, kalmias, rhododendrons, &c., and of hardy flowers and bulbs, as lily of the valley, hyacinths, tulips, daffodils, &c., should be kept up by forcing.
Flower Garden.—Plant out tubers and bulbs of border flowers, where neglected in autumn, deferring the finer florists’ flowers till next month. Transplant herbaceous plants in light soils, if not done in autumn; also deciduous trees, shrubs and hedges. Lay edgings in fine weather. Sow mignonette, stocks, &c., in pots; sow sweet peas and a few hardy annuals on a warm border. Give auriculas and carnations abundance of air, but keep the roots rather dry to prevent damping off.
February
Kitchen Garden.—Sow successional crops of Early Seville beans, and William I., American Wonder or other peas in the beginning and end of the month; early cabbages to follow the last sowing in August; red cabbages and savoys towards the end. Sow also Early Horn carrot; Early Purple-top Munich turnip; onions for a full crop in light soils, with a few leeks and some parsley. Sow lettuce for succession, with radishes and Round-leaved spinach, twice in the course of the month; and small salads every fortnight. Plant Jerusalem artichokes, shallots, garlic, horse-radish and early potatoes. Transplant to the bottom of a south wall a portion of the peas sown in pots in frames in November and January for the first crop. Sow Brussels sprouts in gentle heat for an early crop.
Fruit Garden.—Prune apricots, peaches, nectarines and plums, before the buds are much swelled; finish pruning apples, pears, cherries, gooseberries, currants and raspberries, before the end of the month; also the dressing of vines. Keep the fruit-room free from spoiled fruit, and shut it close. Cut down the double-bearing raspberries to secure strong autumn-fruiting shoots. Head back stocks preparatory to grafting.
Forcing.—Sow melons and cucumbers on hotbeds and in pits. Sow carrots, turnips, early celery, also aubergines or egg-plants, capsicums, tomatoes and successional crops of kidney-beans; cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, in gentle heat, to be afterwards planted out. Plant early potatoes on slight hotbeds. Continue the forcing of asparagus, rhubarb and sea-kale. Commence or continue the forcing of the various choice fruits, as vines, peaches, figs, cherries, strawberries, &c. Pot roots of mint and place in heat to produce sprigs for mint sauce. Be careful to protect the stems of vines that are outside the forcing-houses.
Plant Houses.—Let the greenhouse and conservatory have plenty of air in mild weather. Pot and start tuberous-rooted begonias and gloxinias. Pot young plants of Hippeastrum, and start the established ones. Propagate chrysanthemums in cool-house or vinery under hand lights or frames. Put plants of fuchsias, petunias, verbenas, heliotropes, salvias and other soft-wooded subjects, into a propagating house to obtain cuttings, &c., for the flower garden. Sow stocks, dahlias and a few tender and half-hardy annuals, on a slight hotbed, or in pots. Propagate old roots of dahlias by cuttings of the young shoots in a hotbed. Sow petunias in heat, and prick out and harden for bedding out; also gloxinias to be grown on in heat till the flowering season.
Flower Garden.—In dry open weather plant dried roots, including most of the finer florists’ flowers; continue the transplanting of hardy biennial flowers and herbaceous plants. Sow in the last week mignonette, and hardy annuals, in a warm border, for subsequent transplanting.
March
Kitchen Garden.—Sow main crops of wrinkled marrow peas; Longpod and Windsor beans; cabbage, onions, leeks, Early Horn carrots, parsnips, salsafy, scorzonera, Brussels sprouts, borecoles, lettuces and spinach. In the beginning and also at the end of the month sow Early Strap-leaf and Early Snowball turnips and savoys. In the last fortnight sow asparagus, cauliflower and the various sweet and savoury herbs; also sea-kale, radishes, celery, celeriac and parsley. Small salads should be sown every ten days. Make up beds for mushrooms with well-prepared dung towards the end of the month. Plant early potatoes in the first week, and a main crop during the last fortnight. Sea-kale, asparagus and peas raised in frames may now be planted; also garlic and shallots. Full crops of cabbages should be planted out; also cauliflowers under hand-glasses. Propagate by slips, or by earthing up the old stems, the various pot-herbs.
Fruit Garden.—Finish the pruning of fruit trees before the middle of the month. Protect those coming into blossom. Begin grafting in the third week; dig and dress between the rows of gooseberries, currants and other fruit trees, if not already done. Kill wasps assiduously as soon as they appear.
Forcing.—Continue the forcing of melons, cucumbers, tomatoes and the various fruits. In the vinery and peach-house, attend to the keeping down of insects by syringing; and promote the growth of the young shoots, by damping the walls and paths morning and evening. Sow capsicum and tomato; also in slight heat such tender herbs as basil and marjoram.
Plant Houses.—More water may be given than formerly. Sow seeds of greenhouse and hothouse plants; also the different sorts of tender annuals; pot off those sown last month; sow cineraria for the earliest bloom; also Chinese primulas. Shift heaths and other hard-wooded subjects and stove-plants; plant tuberoses in pots for forcing. Begin to propagate greenhouse plants by cuttings; also coleuses by cuttings in heat, potting them off as soon as rooted.
Flower Garden and Shrubbery.—In the last week, sow hardy annuals in the borders, with biennials that flower the first season, as also perennials. Plant anemone and ranunculus roots and the corms of gladiolus. Transplant from the nursery to their final sites annuals sown in autumn, with biennials and herbaceous plants. Propagate perennials from root-slips and offsets. Continue to propagate the finer sorts of dahlias, both by cuttings and by division of the roots. Finish the pruning of all deciduous trees and hedges as soon as possible. Attend to the dressing of shrubberies; lay turf-edgings, and regulate the surface of gravel walks.
April
Kitchen Garden.—Sow asparagus, sea-kale, Turnip-rooted beet, salsafy, scorzonera, skirret, carrots and onions on heavy soils; also marrow peas, Longpod and Windsor beans, turnips, spinach, celery,cabbage, savoys and Brussels sprouts for succession. Sow broccoli and kidney-beans both in the second and in the last week, and lettuces and small salads twice or thrice during the month; sow all herbs, if not done last month. Sow vegetable marrow. Plant cauliflower, cabbages, sea-kale, lettuce; and finish the planting of the main crops of potatoes; divide and replant globe-artichokes. Propagate all sorts of pot-herbs, and attend to the hoeing and thinning of spinach, onions, turnips, carrots, beet, &c. Earth up cabbages, cauliflower, peas, beans and early potatoes. Stake up peas; blanch sea-kale and rhubarb in the open air by covering with straw or leaves.
Fruit Garden.—If vines have been neglected to be pruned, rub off the buds that are not wanted; this is safer than pruning now. Protect the finer sorts of fruit trees on the walls. The hardier orchard-house fruits should now be moved outdoors under temporary awnings, to give the choicer fruits more space,—the roots being protected by plunging the pots. Mulch all newly-planted fruit trees, watering abundantly in dry weather.
Forcing.—Continue the preparation of succession beds and pits for cucumbers and melons. Sow; pot tomatoes and capsicums for succession. Pollinate tomatoes by hand to ensure early fruit on plants intended for outdoor culture. In the forcing-houses, from the variable state of the weather, considerable vigilance is required in giving air. Keep down red spider (Acarus) in the more advanced houses by frequent syringings and a well-moistened atmosphere. Continue the usual operations of disbudding and thinning of fruit, and take care to keep up the proper temperatures.
Plant Houses.—Still sow tender annuals if required; also cinerarias and primulas. Proceed with all necessary shiftings. Propagate rare and fine plants by cuttings or grafting; increase bouvardias by cuttings, and grow on for winter flowering. Pot off tender annuals, and cuttings of half-hardy greenhouse plants put in during February to get them well established for use in the flower garden. Transfer chrysanthemums to sheltered positions out of doors, and provide means of protecting them from frost and cutting winds.
Flower Garden and Shrubbery.—Sow main or successional crops of annuals of all sorts—half-hardy annuals in warm borders, or on slight hotbeds. Biennials and perennials should be sown before the middle of the month. Plant out gladioli, if not done, tigridias and fine stocks. Finish the transplanting of herbaceous plants by the end of the first week. Cuttings of border chrysanthemums may now be dibbled in a warm spot out of doors. Protect stage auriculas and hyacinths from extremes of every description of weather; and tulips from hoar-frosts and heavy rains. Plant out tender deciduous trees and shrubs raised in pots; plant out tea-roses, mulching the roots. Remove part of the coverings of all tender shrubs and plants in the first week, and the remainder at the end of the month. Form and repair lawns and grass walks by laying turf and sowing perennial grass-seeds; mow the lawns frequently; plant evergreens.
May
Kitchen Garden.—Sow main crop of beet in the first week, small salads every week, radishes and lettuces thrice, spinach once a fortnight, carrots and onions for late drawing, kidney-beans in the first week and together with scarlet runners in the last fortnight; endive for an early crop; also peas and Longpod and Windsor beans, cauliflowers, Early York or Little Pixie cabbages, Brussels sprouts, borecole, broccoli, savoys and kale for late crops. Sow vegetable marrows and hardy cucumbers on a warm border in the last week; sow cardoons in trenches, or (in the north) in pots under glass shelter; sow chicory for salading. Continue hoeing and earthing up the several crops.
Fruit Garden.—Disbud peaches, nectarines and other early trees against the walls; also attend to the thinning of fruit. Give occasional washings with the engine to keep down insects. Pick caterpillars from gooseberries and wall trees on their first appearance. Remove from raspberries and strawberries all suckers and runners that are not wanted.
Forcing.—Plant melons and cucumbers on the hotbeds prepared for vegetables in February, and now free. Plant out vegetable marrows and pumpkins on dung-ridges, under hand-glasses. Sow late crops of cucumbers and melons.
Plant Houses.—Turn out hardy plants about the middle, and the more tender at the latter end of the month. Sow tender annuals for succession, potting and shifting those sown at an earlier period; sow cinerarias for succession; and a few hardy annuals and ten-week stock, &c., for late crops. Pot off all rooted cuttings. Put in cuttings of the different desirable species which are now fit for that purpose. Plant out in rich soil Richardias, to be potted up in autumn for flowering. Bedding plants should be placed to harden in sheltered positions out of doors towards end of month. Towards the end of the month many of the main stock of chrysanthemums will be ready for the final potting.
Flower Garden.—Sow annuals for succession in the last week, also biennials and perennials in the nursery compartment, for planting out next year. Propagate plants of which more stock is required either by cuttings or by dividing the roots. Plant out, during the last week, dahlias, hardy pelargoniums, stocks and calceolarias, protecting the dahlias from slight frosts. By the end of the month, masses of the following plants may be formed with safety in warm localities:—pelargonium, heliotropium, fuchsia, petunia, nierembergia, salvia, verbena, bouvardia and lobelia. Protect tulips, ranunculuses and anemones from the mid-day sun, and from rains and winds. Remove the coverings from all tender plants in the open air.
Shrubbery.—Transplant all kinds of evergreens, this month and September being the proper seasons. The rarer conifers should be planted now and in June, after they have commenced to grow. Proceed with the laying down of lawns and gravel-walks, and keep the former regularly mown.
June
Kitchen Garden.—Sow kidney-beans for succession; also the wrinkled marrow peas and Seville Longpod and Windsor beans for late crops. Sow salading every ten days; also carrots, onions and radishes for drawing young; and chicory for salads; sow endive for a full crop. In the first week sow Early Munich and Golden Ball turnips for succession, and in the third week for a full autumn crop. Sow scarlet and white runner beans for a late crop, and cabbages for coleworts. Make up successional mushroom beds early in the month. Plant full crops of broccoli, Brussels sprouts, savoys, kales, leeks and early celery, with successional crops of cabbage and cauliflower. In the first fortnight of the month, plant hardy cucumbers for pickling, in a warm border, placing hand-glasses over them towards the end of the month. Plant out capsicums and tomatoes in sunny positions, and stake and tie securely. Pull and store winter onions, if ripe.
Fruit Garden.—Train and prune the summer shoots of wall and trellis and other trained trees. Mulch and water fruit trees and strawberries in dry weather, desisting when the fruit begins to ripen. Net over cherry-trees. Destroy aphides and other insects by syringing with tobacco water, or by fumigating, or by dusting with tobacco powder.
Forcing.—Proceed with planting melons, cucumbers and tomatoes. Keep up the necessary temperatures for the ripening of the various fruits. Ventilation will still require constant care. Tomatoes will now be fruiting freely; thin out judiciously, avoiding excessive pruning at one time. Attend to the gathering of fruit as it ripens.
Plant Houses.—These will now be occupied with tender greenhouse plants and annuals, and the more hardy plants from the stove. Shift, repot and propagate all plants that are desirable. Sow fragrant or showy annuals to flower in pots during winter; and grow on a set of decorative plants for the same object. Continue the final potting of chrysanthemums as the plants become ready.
Flower Garden.—Plant out dahlias and other tender subjects, if risk of frost is past. Take up bulbs and tuberous roots and dry them in the shade before removing them to the store-room. Fill up with annuals and greenhouse plants those beds from which the bulbs and roots have been raised. After this season, keep always a reserve of annuals in pots, or planted on beds of thin layers of fibrous matter, so as to be readily transplanted. Layer carnations and pipe pinks in the end of the month. Keep the lawns closely mown.
July
Kitchen Garden.—Watering will be necessary in each department, if the weather is hot and dry. In the first week, sow peas for the last crop of the season; also Longpod beans and French beans. In the last week, sow red globe or Chirk Castle turnip for a full winter crop, spinach for an early winter supply and Enfield Market cabbage for early summer use. Sow endive, for autumn and winter use, in the beginning and end of the month; also successional crops of lettuce and small salads. Make up successional mushroom beds. Plant full crops of celery, celeriac, endive about the middle and end of the month; late crops of broccoli, cauliflower and coleworts in the last week. Gather and dry herbs; also propagate these by slips and cuttings.
Fruit Garden.—Continue the pruning and training of wall and espalier trees, and the destruction of noxious insects. Pot strawberries for forcing next winter, and make new beds out of doors as soon as well-rooted runners can be obtained. Propagate the different sorts of stone fruit trees by budding on other trees or on prepared stocks. Gather fruits of all kinds as they ripen.
Forcing.—Prune melons and cucumbers, giving air and water and maintaining heat, &c. Continue the routine treatment in the tomato-houses. Feed the plants artificially as soon as good crops are set; do not wait for signs of distress. The forcing-houses ought to have abundance of fresh air and moisture where required, along with the necessary heat.
Plant Houses.—Ventilation will be necessary to keep down excessive heat; and attention must be paid to potting, shifting and putting in cuttings, and giving abundance of water to the potted plants, both indoors and out. Sow seed of herbaceous calceolarias; shift heaths, if they require it; cut down pelargoniums past flowering, and plant the cuttings.
Flower Garden and Shrubbery.—Take up the remaining tuberous roots, such as anemones, ranunculuses, &c., by the end of the first week; fill up their places, and any vacancies that may have occurred, with annuals or bedding plants from the reserve ground.Repot auriculas, and sow auricula seed in boxes under glass. Propagate herbaceous and other plants that have gone out of flower, by means of cuttings and slips, especially those required for spring bedding; propagate also the various summer bedding plants increased by cuttings. Increase roses and American shrubs, by layering, budding or cuttings, and go on with the layering of carnations and picotees. Stake and tie up dahlias and strong herbaceous plants.
August
Kitchen Garden.—Sow winter and spring spinach in the beginning and about the end of the month; parsley and winter onions, for a full crop, in the first week; cabbages about the middle of the month, for planting out in spring; cauliflower in the first half (Scotland) and in the second half (England) of the month; Hardy Hammersmith and Brown Cos lettuce in the first and last week; small salads occasionally; and Black Spanish radish, for winter crops. Plant out kales and broccoli for late crops; plant celery (earthing up the advancing crops as required), endive for succession, and a few coleworts. Take up shallots, garlic, &c.
Fruit Garden.—Proceed in training and regulating the summer shoots of all fruit trees as directed for the last three months. Net up, in dry weather, gooseberry and currant bushes, to preserve the fruit till late in the autumn. Make new strawberry beds if required. Preserve the ripening fruits on the wall and other trees from insects, and destroy wasp nests. Gather fruits as they ripen.
Forcing.—The routine of cultivation in hotbeds and pits may be continued. Sow tomatoes and cucumbers for a winter crop. Make up mushroom beds. In the forcing-houses, where the crops are past, part of the sashes may be removed, so as to permit thorough ventilation.
Plant Houses.—Attend to the propagation of all sorts of greenhouse plants by cuttings, and to the replacing in the greenhouse and stoves the more tender species, by the end of the month in ordinary seasons, but in wet weather in the second week. Sow half-hardy annuals, as Nemophila, Collinsia, Schizanthus, Rhodanthe, &c., to flower during winter.
Flower Garden and Shrubbery.—Sow in the second and the last week, on a warm border of a light sandy soil, with an east aspect, any free-flowering hardy annuals asSilene pendula, Nemophila, &c., for planting in spring; and auricula and primula seeds in pots and boxes. Propagate, all sorts of herbaceous plants by rooted slips or suckers; take off layers of carnations, picotees and pansies. Plant cuttings of bedding plants, and of bedding pelargoniums in boxes for convenience of removal. Layer the tops of chrysanthemums, to obtain dwarf flowering plants. Transplant evergreens in moist weather, about the end of the month; and propagate them by layers and cuttings. Pot Neapolitan violets for forcing; or plant out on a mild hotbed. Clip box edgings.
September
Kitchen Garden.—Sow small salading for late crops; and lettuce and spinach, if not done last month, for spring crops. Plant endive and lettuce at the foot of a south wall to stand the winter; plant out cabbages from the chief autumn sowing. Plant cauliflowers on a warm border in spaces such as can be protected by hand-lights. Thin the winter spinach, when large enough, that it may have space to grow. If broccoli be too rank or tall to withstand the winter, lift and lay nearly up to the neck in the earth, the heads sloping towards the north. Lift onions, and lay them out to ripen on a dry border or gravel-walk. Lift potatoes and store them.
Fruit Garden.—Finish the summer pruning and training. Where the walls are heated, assist the maturing of peaches and nectarines, and the ripening of the young wood for next year, by fires during the day. Gather and lay up in the fruit-room with care the autumnal sorts of apples and pears. Prepare borders and stations for fruit trees during dry weather. Plant strawberries for a main crop. Repot orchard-house trees, disrooting if necessary.
Forcing.—Take care that late melons, cucumbers and tomatoes be not injured by getting too much water and too little air. Sow a few kidney beans for an early forced crop. Expel damp, and assist the ripening of late grapes and peaches with fires during the day. Prune early vines and peaches.
Plant Houses.—The various pot plants should now be put in their winter quarters. Keep up moderate temperatures in the stove, and merely repel frosts in the greenhouse, guarding against damp, by ventilation and by the cautious use of water. Pot hyacinths, tulips and other bulbs for forcing; and propagate half-hardy plants by cuttings. Begin the housing of the main stock of chrysanthemums.
Flower Garden, &c.—Sow in the beginning of this month all half-hardy annuals required for early flowering; also mignonette in pots, thinning the plants at an early stage; the different species of primula; and the seeds of such plants as, if sown in spring, seldom come up the same season, but if sown in September and October, vegetate readily the succeeding spring. Put in cuttings of bedding pelargoniums in boxes, which may stand outdoors exposed to the sun, but should be sheltered from excessive rains. Continue the propagation of herbaceous plants, taking off the layers of carnations, picotees, pansies and chrysanthemums, by the end of the month; choice carnations and picotees may be potted and wintered in cold frames if the season is wet and ungenial. Plant evergreens; lay and put in cuttings of most of the hard-wooded sorts of shrubby plants.
October
Kitchen Garden.—Sow small salading and radishes in the first week, and lettuces in frames on a shallow hotbed for planting out in spring. If the winter prove mild they will be somewhat earlier than those sown next month or in January. Plant parsley in pots or boxes to protect under glass in case very severe weather occurs. Plant cabbages in beds or close rows till wanted in spring; and cauliflowers in the last week, to receive the protection of frames, or a sheltered situation. Store potatoes, beet, salsafy, scorzonera, skirret, carrots and parsnips, by the end of the month. Band and earth up cardoons.
Fruit Garden.—Such fruit trees as have dropped their leaves may be transplanted; this is the best season for transplanting (though with care it may be done earlier), whether the leaves have fallen or not. Protect fig-trees, if the weather proves frosty, as soon as they have cast their leaves. Plant out raspberries. The orchard-house trees should be got under glass before the end of the month. Gather and store all sorts of apples and pears, the longest-keeping sorts not before the end of the month, if the weather be mild.
Forcing.—Maintain the heat in hotbeds and pits by means of fresh dung linings. Give abundance of air in mild bright weather. Dress vines and peaches. Clean and repair the forcing-houses, and overhaul the heating apparatus to see it is in good working condition. Plant chicory in boxes or on hotbeds for blanching. Sow kidney beans. Make up successional winter mushroom beds.
Plant Houses.—Replace all sorts of greenhouse plants. Fill the pits with pots of stocks, mignonette and hardy annuals for planting out in spring, along with many of the hardy sorts of greenhouse plants; the whole ought to be thoroughly ventilated, except in frosty weather. From this time till spring keep succulent plants almost without water. Begin to force roses, hyacinths and a few other bulbs, for winter and early spring decoration. Plant hyacinths in glasses for windows. The last of the pot chrysanthemums should be housed by the end of the first week.
Flower Garden.—Sow a few pots of hardy annuals in a frame, or on a sheltered border, for successional spring use if required. Plant the greater part of the common border bulbs, as hyacinths, narcissi, crocuses and early tulips, about the end of the month, with a few anemones for early flowering. Transplant strong plants of biennials and perennials to their final situations; also the select plants used for spring bedding. Protect alpine plants, stage auriculas, and choice carnations and picotees with glass frames; and tea roses and other tender plants with bracken or other protective material. Take up, dry and store dahlias and all tender tubers at the end of the month; pot lobelias and similar half-hardy plants from the open borders. Transplant all sorts of hardy evergreens and shrubs, especially in dry soils, giving abundance of water. Put in cuttings of all sorts of evergreens, &c. Plant out the hardier sorts of roses.
November
Kitchen Garden.—Trench up all vacant ground as soon as cleared of its crops, leaving the surface as rough as possible. Sow early peas and Early Dwarf Prolific beans in the second week, for an early crop; also in frames for transplanting. Protect endive, celery, artichoke and sea-kale with stable-litter or fern, or by planting the former in frames; take up late cauliflower, early broccoli and lettuces, and place them in sheltered pits or lay them in an open shed; earth up celery; manure and dress up asparagus beds.
Fruit Garden.—Plant all sorts of fruit trees in fine weather—the earlier in the month the better. Protect fig-trees. Commence pruning and nailing. Gather and store the latest apples and pears. Examine the fruit-room and remove all decayed fruit.
Forcing.—Keep up the requisite degree of heat in hotbeds and pits. Cucumbers and tomatoes will require more than ordinary attention. Force asparagus, rhubarb and sea-kale, in the mushroom-house, in pits, or in the open border under boxes or cases surrounded and covered by well-fermented stable dung and leaves. Sow Early Horn carrot; also kidney beans and radishes, on hotbeds. In the forcing-houses prune and train the trees; fork over and dress the borders of such houses as have not been already done.
Plant Houses.—The directions for the greenhouse and conservatory in January apply also to this month generally. Continue the forcing of roses, hyacinths, &c. Houses containing large-flowered Japanese chrysanthemums will require to be kept dry, airy and moderately warm to prevent “damping-off” of petals.
Flower Garden, &c.—Plant dried tubers of border flowers, but the finer sorts had better be deferred till spring. Plant tulips in the early part of the month. Put in cuttings of bedding calceolarias, choosing the shoots that will not run up to flower. Protect such half-hardy plants as are not already sheltered. Plant deciduous trees and shrubs so long as the weather continues favourable, and before the soil has parted with the solar heat absorbed during summer. Dig and dress such flower borders and shrubberies as may now be cleared of annuals and the stems of herbaceous plants.
December
Kitchen Garden.—Collect and smother-burn all vegetable refuse, and apply it as a dressing to the ground. Sow a few peas and beans, in case of accident to those sown in November, drawing up the soil towards the stems of those which are above ground as a protection; earth up celery; blanch endive with flower-pots; sow radishes in a very sheltered place. Attend to trenching and digging in dry weather.
Fruit Garden.—Plant all sorts of fruit trees in mild weather. Proceed with pruning and nailing wall-trees. Examine the fruit-room every week, removing promptly all decaying fruit.
Forcing.—The same degree of attention to hotbeds and pits will be necessary as in the last month. Continue the forcing of asparagus, rhubarb and sea-kale, in pits and in the mushroom-house. Proceed with the usual routine of culture commenced last month. Make the necessary preparations to begin forcing early or succession crops by the last week of this or the first of next month.
Plant Houses, Frames, &c.—Carnations and picotees in pots must be kept rather dry to prevent damping off. Heaths and Australian plants must be very sparingly watered, and kept with only fire heat enough to repel frost. Cut down plants of chrysanthemums, which should be placed in a cool pit, near the glass, in order to afford hard sturdy cuttings in February. Shy plants should be given gentle bottom heat to induce growth, which should be gently hardened by exposure under cooler conditions.
Flower Garden, &c.—Plant shrubs in open weather. Prune shrubs. Sweep and roll the lawns, and put in repair the gravel-walks, keeping the surface frequently rolled.
(J. Ws.; W. R. W.)
(B)For the United States(chiefly for the latitude of New York).
January
Flower Garden and Greenhouse.—Little is to be done in either. In the greenhouse care must be used to protect against frost. Ventilate but little, and with care; raise the ventilating sash only high enough to let the heated air from the greenhouse drive back the outer air so as not to chill the plants. To destroy the red spider, syringe the plants copiously at night, and splash the paths with water. The aphis, or “green fly,” must also be destroyed; tobacco may be used. Various new preparations are coming on the market for the destruction of greenhouse pests. Several new effective preparations of tobacco have been brought into use. The white-fly is now a common pest in greenhouses, the nymphs being greenish scale-like objects on the under sides of the leaves, and adults very small white flies. The remedy is to spray with kerosene emulsion or whale-oil soap; or if on cucumbers or tomatoes, it is best to fumigate with hydrocyanic acid gas, using one ounce of potassium cyanide to each 1000 cubic ft. of space. (This material is very poisonous.) Many greenhouse insects can be kept more or less in check by careful and effective hosing of the plants at proper times. At this season roses, grape vines and other plants are often affected by mildew; an effectual remedy is to paint the hot-water pipes with a mixture of sulphur and lime, put on as thick as ordinary whitewash, once each week until it is checked; but care must be taken not to apply it on any surface at a higher temperature than 212°. Hyacinths and other bulbs that have been kept in a cellar or other dark cool place may now be brought into the light of the greenhouse or sitting-room, provided they have filled the pots with roots. If they are not well rooted, leave them until they are, or select such of them as are best, leaving the others. In the outside flower garden little can be done except that shrubs may be pruned, or new work, such as making walks or grading, performed, if weather permits. See that the ornamental plants and trees are not injured by heavy weights of ice or snow.
Fruit Garden.—Pruning, staking up or mulching can be done if the weather is such that the workmen can stand out. In all warm or comfortable days the fruit trees may be pruned.
Grapery.—Graperies used for the forcing of foreign grapes may be started, beginning at a temperature of 50° at night, with 10° or 15° higher during the day. The borders must be covered sufficiently deep with leaves or manure to prevent the soil from freezing, as it would be destruction to the vines to start the shoots if the roots were frozen; hence, when forcing is begun in January, the covering should be put on in November, before severe frosts begin.
Vegetable Garden.—But little can be done in the northern states except to prepare manure, and get sashes, tools, &c., in working order; but in sections of the country where there is little or no frost the hardier kinds of seeds and plants may be sown and planted, such as asparagus, cabbage, cauliflower, carrot, leek, lettuce, onion, parsnip, peas, spinach, turnip, &c. In any section where these seeds can be sown in open ground, it is an indication that hotbeds may be started for the sowing of such tender vegetables as tomatoes, egg and pepper plants, &c.; though, unless in the extreme southern states, hotbeds should not be started before the beginning or middle of February. Make orders for the spring seeds.
February
Flower Garden and Greenhouse.—The directions for January will in the main apply to this month, except that now some of the hardier annuals may be sown in hotbed or greenhouse, and also the propagation of plants by cuttings may be done rather better now than in January, as the greater amount of light gives more vitality to the cutting.
Fruit Garden.—But little can be done in most of the northern states as yet, and in sections where there is no frost in the ground it is likely to be too wet to work; but in many southern states this will be the best month for planting fruit trees and plants of all kinds, particularly strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, pear and apple trees, while grape vines will do, though they will also do well quite a month later. Continue the pruning. Fruit trees for spring planting should be ordered, if not already done.
Grapery.—The graperies started last month at 50° at night may now be increased to 60°, with a correspondingly higher day temperature. Great care must be taken to syringe the leaves thoroughly at least once a day, and to deluge the paths with water, so as to produce a moist atmosphere. Paint the hot-water pipes with sulphur mixture, as recommended in January.
Vegetable Garden.—Leaves from the woods, house manure or refuse hops from breweries may be got together towards the latter part of this month, and mixed and turned to get “sweetened” preparatory to forming hotbeds. Cabbage, lettuce and cauliflower seeds, if sown early this month in hotbed or greenhouse, will make fine plants if transplanted into hotbed in March. This is preferable to the use of fall-sown plants. Manure that is to be used for the crop should be broken up as fine as possible, for the more completely manure of any kind can be mixed with the soil the better the crop will be, and, of course, if it is dug or ploughed in in large unbroken lumps it cannot be properly commingled.
March
Flower Garden and Greenhouse.—The long days and bright sunshine will now begin to tell on the plants under glass. Examine all plants that are vigorous and healthy; if the roots have matted the “ball” of earth they must be shifted into a larger-sized pot. Plants from cuttings struck last month may now be shifted, and the propagation of all plants that are likely to be wanted should be continued. Hardier kinds of annuals may be sown; it is best done in shallow boxes, say 2 in. deep.
Lawnscan be raked off and mulched with short manure, or rich garden earth where manure cannot be obtained. Flower-beds on light soils may be dug up so as to forward the work of the coming busy spring season. Lawns may be benefited by a good dressing, in addition to the manure, of some reliable commercial fertilizer. If the lawn is thin in spots, these places may be raked over heavily and new grass seed sown.
Fruit Garden.—In many sections, planting may now be done with safety, provided the soil is light and dry, but not otherwise. Although a tree or plant will receive no injury when its roots are undisturbed in the soil should a frost come after planting, the same amount of freezing will, and very often does, greatly injure the plant if the roots are exposed.
Grapery.—The grapery started in January will have set its fruit, which should be thinned by one-third. The temperature may now be further advanced to 70° at night, with 15° higher in the daytime. The same precautions must be used against mildew and insects as given in January. Graperies wanted for succession may be started in February or this month.
Vegetable Garden.—This is a busy month. In localities where the frost is out of the ground, if it is not wet, seeds of the hardier vegetables can be sown. The list of seeds given for the southern states in January may now be used at the north, while for most of the southern states tender vegetables, such as egg plant, okra, sweet potatoes, melon, squash, potatoes, tomatoes, &c., may be sown and planted. Hotbeds must now be all started. In March flower seeds and vegetable seeds may be sown in boxes or flats in the greenhouse, or in residence windows, or near the kitchen stove. Unless one has space under glass, or in hotbeds, in which the plants may be transplanted before they are set in the open ground, it is well not to start the seeds too early, inasmuch as the plants are likely to become too large or to be pot-bound, or to become drawn.
April
Flower Garden and Greenhouse.—Window and greenhouse plants require more water and ventilation. Due attention must be paid to shifting well-rooted plants into larger pots; and, if space is desired, many kinds of hardier plants can be safely put out in cold frames. Towards the end of the month it may be necessary slightly to shade the glass of the greenhouse. All herbaceous plants and hardy shrubs may be planted in the garden. The covering of leaves or litter should be taken off bulbs and tender plants that were covered up for winter, so that the beds can be lightly forked and raked. Sow tender annual flower seeds in boxes inside.
Fruit Garden.—Strawberries that have been covered up with straw or leaves should be relieved around the plants, leaving the covering between them. Special care must be exercised that the mulch be not left on too long; the plants should not become whitened or “drawn.” Raspberries, grape vines, &c., that have been laid down may now be uncovered and tied up to stakes or trellises, and all newplantations of these and other fruits may now be made. Fruit trees may be grafted.
Vegetable Garden.—Asparagus, rhubarb, spinach, &c., should be uncovered., and the beds hoed or dug lightly. Hardier sorts of vegetable seeds and plants, such as beets, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, lettuce, onions, parsley, parsnips, peas, potatoes, radishes, spinach, turnip, &c., should all be sown or planted by the middle of the month if the soil is dry and warm, and in all cases, where practicable, before the end of the month. It is essential, in sowing seeds now, that they be well firmed in the soil. Any who expect to get early cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce or radishes, while planting or sowing is delayed until the time of sowing tomato and egg plant in May, are sure to be disappointed of a full crop. Frequent rotation of crops should be practised in the vegetable garden, in order to head off insects and diseases; and also to make the best use of the land. Every three or four years the vegetable garden should be laid out in some new place; but if this cannot be done, the crops should be rotated on different parts of the old garden.
May
Flower Garden and Greenhouse.—Window and greenhouse plants should be in their finest bloom. Firing may be entirely dispensed with, though care must still be exercised in ventilating. If weather is cold and backward, however, and in very northern regions, care must be taken not to stop firing too soon, or the plants will mildew and become stunted. Every precaution must be used to keep the air moist. “Moss culture” may be tried, the common sphagnum or moss of the swamps, mixed with one-twentieth of its bulk of bone-dust, being laid as a mulch on the top of the earth of the flower-pots; its effect is to shield the pots from the sun, and at the same time stimulate the roots to come to the surface. By the end of the month all of the plants that are wanted for the summer decoration of the flower border may be planted out, first loosening a little the ball of earth at the roots. If the weather is dry, water freely after planting. When the greenhouse is not to be used during the summer months, camellias, azaleas and plants of that character should be set out of doors under partial shade; but most of the other plants usually grown in the conservatory or window garden in winter may be set in the open border. Flower-beds should be kept well hoed, and raked, to prevent the growth of weeds next month.
Pelargoniums, pinks, monthly roses and all the half-hardy kinds of flowering plants should be planted early, but coleus, heliotrope and the more tender plants should be delayed until the end of the month. Annuals that have been sown in the greenhouse or hotbed may be planted out, and seeds of such sorts as mignonette, sweet alyssum, Phlox Drummondii, portulaca, &c., may be sown in the beds or borders. The china aster is now one of the most popular of summer and fall plants. The seed may be sown in the north as late as the middle of May, or even the first of June, with good results for fall blooming. If the plants are started early in the greenhouse, they are likely to spend themselves before fall, and therefore a later sowing should be provided.
Lawnsshould be mown, and the edgings trimmed.
Fruit Garden.—The hay or leaf mulching on the strawberry beds should be removed and the ground deeply hoed (if not removed in April in the more forward places), after which it may be placed on again to keep the fruit clean and the ground from drying. Where it has not been convenient before, most of the smaller fruits may yet be planted during the first part of the month. Tobacco dust will dislodge most of the numerous kinds of slugs, caterpillars or worms that make their appearance on the young shoots of vines or trees. Fruit trees may be planted this month, if they were not planted in March or April. If they have been kept fresh and dormant, they should still be in good condition. The broken roots should be cut back to fresh wood, and the tops should be headed back in proportion.
Vegetable Garden.—Attention should be given to new sowings and plantings for succession. Crops sown last month will have to be thinned out if large enough. Hoe deeply all transplanted crops, such as cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, &c. Tender vegetables, such as tomatoes, egg and pepper plants, sweet potatoes, &c., can be planted out. Seeds of Lima beans, sweet corn, melon, okra, cucumbers, &c., should be sown; and sow for succession peas, spinach, lettuce, beans, radishes, &c., every ten days.
June
Flower Garden and Greenhouse.—Tropical plants can now be used to fill up the greenhouse during the summer months. It should be well shaded, and fine specimens of fancy caladiums, dracaenas, coleus, crotons, palms, ferns and such plants as are grown for the beauty of their foliage, will make a very attractive show. If these cannot be had, common geraniums may be used. The “moss culture” will be found particularly valuable for these plants. Hyacinths, tulips and other spring bulbs may be dug up, dried and placed away for next fall’s planting, and their places filled with bedding plants, such as coleus, achyranthes, pelargoniums, and the various white and coloured leaf plants. It will be necessary to mow the lawn once a week, and sometimes oftener.
Fruit Garden.—The small fruits should be mulched about the roots, if this has not yet been done. If the fruit garden is large enough to admit of horse culture, it is best to keep the bush-fruits well cultivated during the season; this tillage conserves the moisture and helps to make a full and plump crop of berries. In small areas the mulching system is sometimes preferable.
Vegetable Garden.—Beets, beans, carrots, corn, cucumbers, lettuce, peas and radishes may be sown for succession. This is usually a busy month, as many crops have to be gathered, and, if hoeing is not promptly seen to, weeds are certain to give great trouble. Tomatoes should be tied up to trellises or stakes if fine-flavoured and handsome fruit is desired, for if left to ripen on the ground they are apt to have a gross earthy flavour.
July
Flower Garden and Greenhouse.—Watering, ventilating and fumigating (or the use of tobacco in other forms for destruction of aphides) must be attended to. The atmosphere of the greenhouse must be kept moist. Watch the plants that have been plunged out of doors, and see if any require repotting. All plants that require staking, such as dahlias, roses, gladioli and many herbaceous plants, should now be looked to. Carnations and other plants that are throwing up flower stems, if wanted to flower in winter, should be cut back, that is, the flower stems should be cut off to say 5 in. from the ground.
Fruit Garden.—If grape vines show any signs of mildew, dust them over with dry sulphur, selecting a still warm day. The fruit having now been gathered from strawberry plants, if new beds are to be formed, the system of layering the plants in small pots is the best. In general, field strawberries are not grown from potted layers, but from good strong layers that strike naturally in the field. In the north, spring planting of strawberries is generally advised for market conditions; although planting in early fall or late summer is successful when the ground is well prepared and when it does not suffer from drought. Where apples, pears, peaches, grapes, &c., have set fruit thickly, thin out at least one-half to two-thirds of the young fruit.
Vegetable Garden.—The first ten days of this month will yet be time enough to sow sweet corn, beets, lettuce, beans, cucumbers and ruta-baga turnips. Such vegetables as cabbage, cauliflower, celery, &c., wanted for fall or winter use, are best planted this month, though in some sections they will do later. Keep sweet potatoes hoed to prevent the vines rooting at the joints.
August
Flower Garden and Greenhouse.—But little deviation is required in these departments from the instructions for July. See that sufficient water is applied; the walks may be wet in the houses.
Fruit Garden.—Strawberries that have fruited will now be making “runners,” or young plants. These should be kept cut off close to the old plant, so that the full force of the root is expended in making the “crowns” or fruit buds for next season’s crop. If plants are required for new beds, only the required number should be allowed to grow, and these may be layered in pots as recommended in July. The old stems of raspberries and blackberries that have borne fruit should be cut away, and the young shoots thinned to three or four canes to each hill or plant. If tied to stakes and topped when 4 or 5 ft. high, they will form three or four branches on a cane, and will make stronger fruiting plants for next year.
Vegetable Garden.—Hoe deeply such crops as cabbage, cauliflower and celery. The earthing up of celery this month is not to be recommended, unless a little very early supply is wanted. Onions in many sections can be harvested. The proper condition is when the tops are turning yellow and falling down. They are dried best by placing them in a dry shed in thin layers. Sow spinach for fall use, but not yet for the winter crop. Red top, white globe, and yellow Aberdeen turnips should now be sown; ruta-baga turnips sown last month will need thinning, and in extreme southern states they may yet be sown.
September
Flower Garden and Greenhouse.—The flower-beds in the lawn should be at their best. If planted in “ribbon lines” or “massing,” strict attention must be given to pinching off the tops, so that the lines or masses will present an even surface. Tender plants will require to be put in the greenhouse or housed in some way towards the end of this month; but be careful to keep them as cool as possible during the day. Cuttings of bedding plants may now be made freely if wanted for next season, as young cuttings rooted in the fall make better plants for next spring’s use than old plants, in the case of such soft-wooded plants as pelargoniums, fuchsias, verbenas, heliotropes, &c.; with roses and plants of a woody nature, however, the old plants usually do best. Dutch bulbs, such as hyacinths, tulips, crocus, &c., and most of the varieties of lilies, may be planted. Violets that are wanted for winter flowering will now be growing freely, and the runners should be trimmed off. Sow seeds of sweet alyssum, candytuft, daisies, mignonette, pansies, &c. Visit the roadsides and woods for interesting plants to put in the hardy borders.
Fruit Garden.—Strawberry plants that have been layered in pots may yet be planted, or in southern districts the ordinary ground layers may be planted. The sooner in the month both are planted the better crop they will give next season; and, as these plants soonmake runners, it will be necessary to trim them off. Attend to raspberries and blackberries as advised for last month, if they have not already been attended to. All fruit trees should be gone over for borers before cold weather sets in; they also should have been gone over for the same purpose in May and June.
Vegetable Garden.—If cabbage, cauliflower and lettuce are wanted to plant in cold frames, the seed should be sown from about the 10th to the 20th of this month; but judgment should be exercised, for, if sown too early, cabbage and cauliflower are apt to run to seed. The best date for latitude of New York is September 15th. The main crop of spinach or sprouts that is wanted for winter or spring use should be sown about the same date. The earth should be drawn up to celery with a hoe preparatory to earthing up with a spade. Onions that were not harvested and dried last month must now be attended to. Turnips of the early or flat sorts may yet be sown the first week of this month in the northern states, and in the south from two to four weeks later.
October
Flower Garden and Greenhouse.—In northern sections of the United States, tender plants that are still outside should be got under cover as early as possible. Delay using fire heat as long as possible, unless the nights become so cold as to chill the plants inside the house. Roses, carnations, camellias, azaleas, pelargoniums and the hardier sorts of plants will do better if placed in a cold frame or pit until the middle of November than they would in an ordinary greenhouse. Look out for insects. Fall bulbs of all kinds may be planted. Take up summer-flowering bulbs and tubers, such as dahlias, tuberoses, gladioli, cannas, caladiums, tigridias, and dry them off thoroughly, stowing them away afterwards in some place free from frost and moisture during the winter. Before winter sets in see that the lawn is freely top-dressed. Be careful not to mow the grass too short in fall.
Fruit Garden.—Strawberries that have been grown from pot-grown layers may yet be planted in southern states; keep the runners trimmed off. Fruit trees and shrubs may be set out; but, if planting is deferred to the last of the month, the ground around the roots should be mulched to the thickness of 3 or 4 in. with straw, leaves or rough manure, as a protection against frost. The fruit garden must be protected from the ravages of mice in winter. Mice will nest about the plants if there is straw or other litter around them. Before winter, all tall grass and loose litter should be taken away; if this is not done, then the first snow should be tramped heavily around the plants, in order to destroy any nesting-places.
Vegetable Garden.—Celery will now be in full growth, and will require close attention to earthing up, and during the last part of the month the first lot may be stored away in trenches for winter. All vegetable roots not designed to be left in the ground during the winter should be dug up, such as beets, carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, &c. The cabbage, cauliflower and lettuce plants grown from seed sown last month should be pricked out in cold frames. If lettuce is wanted for winter use, it may now be planted in the greenhouse or cold frame, and will be ready for use about Christmas. If asparagus or rhubarb is wanted for winter use, it should be taken up and stowed away in pit, frame, shed or cellar for a month or two. It may then be taken into the greenhouse and packed closely together under the stage, and will be fit for use from January to March, according to the temperature of the house. Vegetable gardens often become infested with diseases that are carried over from year to year in the old plants and litter; this is specially true of water-melons and of some diseases of tomatoes. It is well, therefore, to burn the tops of the plants in the fall, rather than to plough them under or to throw them on the compost heap.
November
Flower Garden and Greenhouse.—Plants intended to be grown inside should now all be indoors. Keep a sharp look-out for cold snaps, as they come very unexpectedly in November, and many plants are lost thereby. In cases where it is not convenient to use fire heat, 5° to 10° of cold can be resisted by covering the plants over with paper, and by using this before frost has struck the plants valuable collections may be saved. When fire heat is freely used, be careful to keep up the proper amount of moisture by sprinkling the paths with water. Little can be done in the flower garden, except to clean off all dead stalks, and straw up tender roses, vines, &c., and, wherever there is time, to dig up and rake the borders, as it will greatly facilitate spring work. Cover up all beds in which there are hyacinths, tulips and other bulbs with a litter of leaves or straw to the depth of 2 or 3 in. If short, thoroughly-decayed manure can be spared, a good sprinkling spread over the lawn will help it to a finer growth next spring.
Fruit Garden.—Strawberry beds should be covered (in cold sections) with hay, straw or leaf mulching, to a depth not exceeding 2 in. Fruit trees and grape vines generally should be pruned; and, if the wood of the vine is wanted for cuttings, or scions of fruit trees for grafts, they should be tied in small bundles and buried in the ground until spring. They may be taken in December or January if preferred.
Vegetable Garden.—Celery that is to be stored for winter use should be put away before the end of the month in all sections north of Virginia; south of that it may be left in most places where grown throughout the winter if well covered up. The stalks of the asparagus bed should be cut off, and burned if there are berries on them, as the seeds scattered in the soil sometimes produce troublesome weeds. Mulch the beds with 2 or 3 in. of rough manure. All vegetable roots that are yet in the ground, and not designed to be left there over winter, must be dug up in this latitude before the middle of the month or they may be frozen in. Cover up onions, spinach, sprouts, cabbage or lettuce plants with a covering of 2 or 3 in. of leaves, hay, or straw, to protect them during the winter. Cabbages that have headed may usually be preserved against injury by frost until the middle of next month, by simply pulling them up and packing them closely in a dry spot in the open field with the heads down and roots up. On approach of cold weather in December they should be covered up with leaves as high as the tops of the roots, or, if the soil is light, it may be thrown over them, if leaves are not convenient. Cabbages will keep this way until March if the covering has not been put on too early. Plough all empty ground if practicable, and, whenever time will permit, do trenching and subsoiling. Cabbage, cauliflower and lettuce plants that are in frames should be regularly ventilated by lifting the sash on warm days, and on the approach of very cold weather they should be covered with straw mats or shutters. In the colder latitudes, and even in the middle states, it is absolutely necessary to protect cauliflower in this way, as it is much more tender than cabbage and lettuce plants.
December
Flower Garden and Greenhouse.—Close attention must be paid to protecting all tender plants, for it is not uncommon to have the care of a whole year spoiled by one night’s neglect. Vigilance and extra hot fires will have to be kept up when the thermometer falls to 34° or 35° in the parlour or conservatory. It is well to set the plants under the benches or on the walks of the greenhouses; if they are in the parlour move them away from the cold point and protect them with paper; this will usually save them even if the thermometer falls to 24° or 26°. Another plan in the greenhouse is to dash water on the pipes or flues, which causes steam to rise to the glass and freeze there, stopping up all the crevices. With plants outside that require strawing up or to be mulched, this will have now to be finished.
Fruit Garden.—In sections where it is an advantage to protect grape vines, raspberries, &c., from severe frost, these should be laid down as close to the ground as possible, and covered with leaves, straw or hay, or with a few inches of soil. Grapes may be pruned. Fruit trees may be pruned from now till March in the north.
Vegetable Garden.—Celery in trenches should receive the final covering for the winter, which is best done by leaves or light stable litter; in the latitude of New York it should not be less than 12 in. thick. Potatoes, beets, turnips or other roots in pits, the spinach crop in the ground, or any other article in need of protection, should be attended to before the end of the month; manure and compost heaps should be forwarded as rapidly as possible, and turned and mixed so as to be in proper condition for spring. Remove the snow that accumulates on cold frames or other glass structures, particularly if the soil which the glass covers was not frozen before the snow fell; it may remain on the sashes longer if the plants are frozen in, since they are dormant, and would not be injured if deprived of light for eight or ten days. If roots have been placed in cellars, attention must be given to ventilation, which can be done by making a wooden box, say 6 by 8 in., to run from the ceiling of the cellar to the eaves of the building above.
(L. H. B.; P. H.)
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