Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 12.djvu/305

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CALENDAR.] HORTICULTURE 293 they require it ; cut down pelargoniums past flowering, and plant the cuttings. F/ourr Garden and Shrubbery. Take up the remaining tuber ous roots, such as anemones, ranunculuses, &c., by the end of the tirst 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. Pro pagate 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 in creased by cuttings. Increase roses and American shrubs, by layer ing, 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 whiter and spring spinach in the begin ning and about the end of the month ; parsley and winter onions, lor a full crop, in the first week ; cabbages about the middle of the in mth, 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 in sects, and destroy wasp nests. Gather fruits as they ripen. Forcing. The routine of cultivation in hotbeds and pits may be continued. Sow, and propagate by cuttings, in the beginning of the month, cucumbers, to be afterwards grown in hot-water pits, or in boxes in the front of the pine-stove, for a winter crop. Make up mushroom beds for winter crop. In the pinery most of the sum mer fruit will be cut by the middle of the month, when a general shifting of succession plants will take place ; as also a potting of suckers ; but these will be strengthened by being allowed to remain on the old plants until the end of the month. 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 green house 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, S^hizanthus, Rhodanthe, &c., to flower during winter. Flower Garden a/id Shrulbcry. Sow in the second and the last week, on a warm border of a light sandy soil, with an east as pect, any free-flowering hardy annuals as Silene 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 ; 1 iver chrysanthemums ; take off layers of carnations, picotees, and pansies. Plant cuttings of bedding plants, and of bedding pelar goniums 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 pro pagate them by layers and cuttings. Pot Neapolitan violets for forcing ; or plant out on a niild 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 i 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 I crop. Repot orchard-house trees, disrooting if necessary. Forcing. Take care that late melons and cucumbers be not in- | jured by getting too much water, and too little air. Sow a few kidney beans for an early forced crop. In the pinery at once take, off and pot all strong suckers not done last month ; the remainder may be taken off at the end of the month, and planted in old tan in a frame or pit. 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 j stove, and merely repel frosts in the greenhouse, guarding against damp, by ventilation and by the cautious use of water. Pot hya cinths, tulips, and other bulbs for forcing; and propagate half-hardy plants by cuttings. 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 ex posed 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 chrysanthemuns, by the end of the month ; choice carnations and picotees may be potteri 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 CALENDAR FOR THE UNITED STATES Continued. Vegetable Garden. Hoe deeply such crops as cabbage, cauliflower, and celery. The earthing up of celery this mouth is not to be recommended. Onions in many sections can be harvested. The proper condition is wheu 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 sowu. 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, <ftc. Fruit Garden. Strawberry plants that have been layered in pots may yet be planted, or in southern districts the ordinary ground layers can be planted. The sooner in the month both are planted the better crop they will give next season ; and, as these plants soon make 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. Vegetable Garden. If cabbage, cauliflower, and lettuce are wanted to plant in cold frames, the seed should be sown from about the tenth to the twentieth of this month ; but judgment should be exercised, for, if sown too early, C&bbage and cauliflower are apt to run to seed. The best date for latitude of New York is September l;">th. 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 mouth must now be attended to. Turnips of the early or flat sorts may yet be sown the first week of this mouth 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 winter. 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 inches with straw, leaves, or rough manure, as a protection against frost. Vegetable Garden. Celery will now be in full growth, and will require close attention to earthing tip, 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, itc. 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 lie planted in the greenhouse or cold frame, and will be ready fi>r 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.