New Britain herald., 1928-03-01
SEASON HERE FOR PLANNING GARDEN
Housewives Should Get HuS-
 bands Interested Now
BY ARTHUR N. PACK President, American Nature
 Association

Association The garden army goes into ac- tion in March. The shooting irons" of this army should be taken out ! right away and everything put in ship shape order for the summer ! campaign.
 Take look at your bird houses, too. Birds are useful in the gar den for their help keeps down the insect population.
 March is the month for grating over trees to new varieties. Split grating Is generally practiced on large branches, saddle grating on small twigs about the size of lead pencil.
 In grating. new wood is chosen from the top of bearing trees, top wood making best scions. This is cut into pieces. about six inches long, and cut wedge-shaped at one end. so that when the cleft is opened with the grating knife, the wedge fits tightly into 1t. To be successful, the bark of stock dLl sNloil IS PAt.ItO III tultldtI anu then waxed over.
 New lawns can now he made and old ones novat.d. Go over the lawn with rake, scratch up the soil. then give a dressing of bone dust. or soot and wood ashes. mixed with fine soil. After the first rain, go over the lawn with a roller and if any r.seeding is nee essary attend to l, now.
 Start Lily Pond
 Soon the water lilies will be starting up. If any of the old roots are to be divided. this is the best time to do it. A small piece of root, planted in pot or rough wire basket Tn rich soil, will give 1 quite a quantity of flowers during the summer. Make small lily | pool with a half cask sunk into | the ground. and stones placed around the edges. Behind these | plant cerastum. arabis, or nepeta. 1 SO that they grcw over the edge { and create a pretty effect. {
 Hotbeds can be started for all l kinds of half hardy flowers and ! vegetables Asters, stocks. zinnias. l petunias and other bedding plants 1 are now sown in the hotbed 70 make strong plants for setting out | in May. Any house plants that 1 require repottlng should now be 1 attended to. For foliage plants. 1 such as ferns and begonias. a soil | composed of half peat, half loam. { is best Most Towering plants do 1 best in plain loam. and should be , potted firmly. Soot will improve | ferns. |
 In northern states early peas, parsnips. radishcs. spinach and | early turnips car be sown. In the ! south. tender vegetables, such as melon. okra. eggplant and sweet potatoes. On the Pacific coast in 1 Washington and Oregon all kinds of vegetables win be planted in March. and new plantations made of rhubarb, asparagus and straw berries.
 Time for Cuttings
 SuttiHGS ol all hIHuS IOOL easily now. Many cuttings root best in water. Camellia cuttings can be rooted this way. taken from the new wood.
 Root cuttings Of roses in the window gardens or hotbed. 4 good garden is to supply bottom heat by placing a small electric bulb in d flower pot. This is covered with small pot. cenented firmly to the bottom of the cutting pot, and when the heat is turned on the sand becomes warm. so that the cuttings root quickly.
 Leaf cuttings of begonias and gioNinias root easily when treated thls way. Phlox can be propa- gated from cuttings on a mild hot. bed. Primulas for the window garden next winter are sown this month. Ii Is a good plan 10 cover the seed with a light sprinking of dried sphagnum moss passed through a fine sieve, as this holds and helps Sermination.
 Sphagnum moss is also useful when transplanting the seedlings. They lift with little mats of roots and soon get over the transplant ing.
 In planning 3 garden and con i' s!deriny the flow1rS 70 be planted in ii. color should be carefully r. Nature Magazine at D. C., will send you q color- date chart for two cent stamp for postage. The chart will show you what the combination of colors will be in your garden.