TIMELY TOPICS FOR THE AMATEUR. 



435 



shrivels up badly before ripening. Late 

 pears, such as Winter Nelis, Easter Beurre, 

 and Josephine d'Malines, will be best left 

 hanging on the trees until there is danger 

 from frosts. Apples will keep best if left in 

 open barrels or laid carefully in heaps in a 

 shed or out-building. They can be kept in 

 this way for a week or two, when it is best 

 to cover them up to prevent over drying or 

 perhaps shrivelling. Apples should not be 

 put into the cellar until severe frosts necessi- 

 tate their removal to safer quarters than a 

 shed or out-building provides for. Old 

 canes of raspberries and young useless 

 growth should be cut out. If these are laid 

 by they will come in useful to place on 

 winter spinach beds later in the season. 

 Fine brush wood is a great protection to 

 spinach in winter. Manure, and fork lightly 

 over, the ground amongst small fruit trees 

 and bushes. A mulch of long manure after- 

 wards will benefit them considerably. 



Storing for winter will have to be attended 

 to in the vegetable garden. Roots of all 

 kinds can be pulled and covered up in 

 temporary pits in the garden for a week or 

 two. This will allow the roots to dry 

 before being taken into the cellar. They 

 will keep much better if treaced in this way 

 than if pulled and placed in the cellar or 

 root house direct from the garden. Store 

 them if possible on a nice day, so as to 

 ensure their being placed in the cellar quite 

 dry. Roots keep best during the winter 

 covered with dry earth or sand, unless the 

 cellar is very damp and close. A few 

 artichokes, salsify and parsnips may be left 



in the ground all the winter. They will eat 

 much nicer in the spring than those stored 

 in the cellar. Celery will require to be 

 moulded or earthed up, or protected in 

 some temporary way from severe frosts, 

 until later, when it can be placed in earth 

 or sand in the cellar. A narrow trench dug 

 out in a high and dry part of the garden, 

 where the surface water will not get into it, 

 will keep celery splendidly during the winter. 

 The trench should be only the width of a 

 spade, and deep enough so that the tops of 

 the celery are just below the ridge of earth 

 thrown out. Place the celery carefully in 

 the trench in an upright position, use plenty 

 of the earth thrown out around and about 

 the celerj-, packing it carefully with the 

 hands. Cover a few boards over to keep 

 out the rain. A very slight covering of 

 leaves or long manure placed over these 

 later on will be found sufficient to keep out 

 frost, unless very severe. There is more 

 danger of celery rotting in trenches from 

 being too closely packed than there is from 

 its being frozen. Cabbage and cauliflower 

 are best covered up or pitted out of doors, 

 as they are considered to be a source of 

 danger and disease to the inmates of a 

 dwelling house if kept in the cellar during 

 winter. 



Manure and dig up roughly all ground as 

 soon as the crops are taken off". Throwing 

 the ground into ridges about 3 feet apart 

 will be found to be of great benefit to heavy, 

 clayey soils. 



HORTLS. 



Hamilton. 



The Hanrahan System of cold storage 

 has been adopted by the Minister of Agri- 

 culture for Ontario for the forwarding of 

 tender fruits to Great Britain, One car load 

 of early apples and pears left Grimsby for 

 Manchester on the 25th of August, and 



several carloads of pears, peachas, tomatoes, 

 etc., followed on the 15th of September. 

 All these consignments go forward to Man- 

 chester by the Manchester linsrs. A cable- 

 gram reports that the first car load arrived 

 in perfect condition. 



