DECEMBER CALENDAK. 509 



The farmer's garden is not complete without a hotbed for grow- 

 ing radishes and lettuce and starting- early plants of cabbage, caul- 

 iflower, tomato, etc. The pit for next spring's hotbed should be 

 dug out this fall and suitably covered to keep out the snow, and the 

 frames and everything else got ready for use at the proper time, and 

 some rich, mellow soil for placing over the manure in it, should 

 be secured and housed, or covered to keep it dry and from freezing. 



Most of our orchards need an occasional manuring; winter is the 

 very best time to apply this, and if there is snow upon the ground, 

 so that the hauling can be done on sleds, all the better. Always 

 spread manure in the orchard as it is hauled, and be careful and not 

 pile it around the trunks of trees. 



Every one who possibly- can should plan to attend some of the 

 horticultural meetings and farmers' institutes that are held during 

 the winter, and the meeting of the State Horticultural Society, if pos- 

 sible. If it is out of the question to attend the meeting, the next 

 best thing to do is to secure a membership in the society, or.if already 

 a member whose time is just out, renen- promptly, and get the most 

 of the benefit of the meetiuglater in the monthly magazine and other 

 publications of the society. There is room on the roll of the society 

 for your name and the names of all your neighbors that you can get 

 interested in the work. 



Enterprising nurserj-men will now have their agents out canvas- 

 sing for orders for trees to be delivered for spring planting. 

 Snide concerns and foreign jobbers also have their agents out on 

 the same errand. We should never be hasty about placing our or- 

 ders, but remember that the home nursery is always the safest to 

 deal with, and that in the nurseries located within the state or near 

 its borders the best adapted varieties are most likely to be grown, 

 and that they are able to supply all our wants; also that the local 

 nurserj'man knows better than do strangers what varieties will 

 succeed best here. Take time before you order to make sure that 

 the agent j'ou propose to patronize represents a reliable home nur- 

 sery located near by, or else correspond with and order direct from 

 the nursery. We believe in ordering early, but you will not get 

 left even if you take time to make all necessary investigations. 



VARIOUS MATTERS. 



The early caught rabbit makes the best pot-pie. 



Cellars where vegetables are stored need to be kept cool, else 

 roots will shrivel or start into growth; but they must also be guarded 

 against frost. 



Scions are better for being cut early. 



Root-grafting maj- be done any time between now and March. As 

 soon as grafted, the roots should be placed in boxes of earth and 

 kept in the cellar until spring. Everj' variety should be correctly 

 labeled. 



When walking through the orchard on sunshiny days, if the eggs 

 of tent caterpillars are seen on the end of twigs, destroy them at 

 once. 



