AUTUMN NEEDS 59 
not rooted up, covers the ground in short order. 
Pull up all stakes and temporary trellises just 
as soon as the need of them is over. Unless they 
are in too bad order for further use, shake off 
the dirt and put them away for the winter under 
cover. 
The last thing to do in the garden before winter 
is to give the plants any needed protection. But 
this does not mean that the task is to be begun 
at the eleventh hour. Go about it gradually as 
nature does. Manure, straw, hay, cornstalks or 
any coarse litter—four to six inches deep—may 
be placed over plants that have disappeared en- 
tirely from view, provided that this is done after 
the ground freezes and the covering is all or par- 
tially removed when spring growth is discernible 
beneath it. The usual reliance, and there is noth- 
ing better, is leaves and the stalks of plants. 
Gather the leaves after each heavy fall—lest 
many of them blow where they will be lost to you, 
and also to make the burden lighter. So far as 
can be done conveniently, rake the leaves toward 
the plants, using a leaf rake, and then toss them 
lightly over the plants with the implement. Other- 
wise carry the leaves in a basket or wheelbarrow 
to the spot and toss them by hand. In either case 
they will fall naturally—most of them settling 
sooner or later between the plants, where the next 
rain will pack them a bit. 
Continue this process three or four times until 
all the available leaves are used. A good com- 
