Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 12.djvu/304

292 292 HORTICULTURE [CALENDAR. sional washings with the engine to keep down insects. Pick cater pillars 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, and some basil, 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. Continue the routine culture of the pirery, shifting those intended for autumn and winter fruiting ; give abundance of heat and water, keeping down insects. 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. Flomr 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 cal ceolarias, 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, ?3tunia, nierembergia, salvia, verbena, bouvardia, and lobelia, rotect 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 salaxling 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 Mnnich and Yellow Fin land 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, German greens, 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 capsi cums on a warm border (south of England), also tomatoes along the bottom of a south wall. 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 and cucumbers raised from seeds and cuttings, for late crops. Keep up the necessary temperatures for the ripening of the various fruits. Continue the routine operations in the pinery ; but, if very large-sized fruit is desired, remove the suckers from the stem, and apply heat and water in abundance. Shift suckers and succession plants in the beginning and middle of the month, as the state of the plants may require. The other forcing-houses must still have the necessary heat, but little water and abundance of air must be given to those wherein the fruit is beginning to ripen, and those in which the fruit is pa^t ought to be constantly under a system of thorough ventilation. Plant Houses. These will now be occupied with tender green house 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. Flower Garden. Plant out dahlias and other tender subjects if risk of frost is past. Take up bulbs and tuberous routs, 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 depart ment, if the weather is hot and dry. In the first week, sow peas for the last crop of the season ; also Dutch Longpod beans, and French beans. In the last week, sow Yellow Finland turnip for a full winter crop, spinach for an enrly winter supply, and Enfield Market or Winnigstadt 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 succes sional 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 medi cinal and pot 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. Plant straw berries in pots 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 pinery, but withhold water when the fruit begins to ripen ; push on the growth of the suckers on old plants, which will materially advance the fruiting period. The forcing-houses ought to have abundance of fresh air and moisture, along with the necessary heat. Plant Houses. Ventilation will be necessary to keep down exces sive heat ; and attention must be paid to potting, shifting, and platting in cuttings, and giving abundance of water to the potted plants, both indoors and out. Sow calceolarias ; shift heaths, if CALENDAR FOR THE UNITED STATES Continued. Fruit Garden. The hay or leaf mulching on the strawberry beds should be removed and the ground deeply hoed, 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 nume rous kinds of slugs, caterpillars, or worms that make their appearance on the young shoots of vines or trees. Vegetable Garden. Attention should be given to new sowings and plantings for succession. Crops sown last month will have to he 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, &amp;lt;fec., can be planted out. Seeds of Lima beans, sweet corn, melon, okra, cucumbers, &amp;lt;tc., 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 he used to fill up the greenhouse during the summer months. It should be well shaded, and fine specimens of fancy caladiums, draccenas, coleus, crotons, palms, ferns, and such plants as are grown for the beauty of their foliage, will make a very attractive show. The &quot; moss culture &quot; will be found particularly valuable for these plants. Hyacinths, tulips, and other spring bulbs may be ilus? 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. Fruit Garden. The small fruits should be mulched about the roots, if this has not yet been done. Grape vines outside as well as in should be dis budded. 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. Floioer 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 re potting. 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 inches 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. Where apples, pears, peaches, grapes, etc., 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 he time enough to sow sweet corn, beets, lettuce, beans, cucumbers, and ruta-baga turnips. Such vegetables as cabbage, cauliflower, celery, &c., wanted forfall 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. ArGUST. Flower Garden and Greenhouse. ~Bi little deviation is required in those departments from the instructions for July. Fruit Garden. Strawberries that have fruited will now be making &quot;runners&quot; 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 &quot;crowns &quot; 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 should be layered in pots as recommended in July. The old stems of raspberries and black berries 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 feet high, they will form three or four branches on a cane, and will make stronger fruiting plants for next year.