80 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



October, 1914 



Late 

 Vegetables 



Salt hay makes an excellent cover for lettuce or endive; even 

 celery not yet got in can be saved thus, if you are caught by a 

 severe frost. The hay can be easily taken off during the day. 



WATERMELON or muskmelons (the latter, however, are 

 usually over before the frost comes) are too spreading to 

 protect, and it is better to pick all the full sized melons, which placed 

 indoors will ripen themselves. If dwarf okra has been planted a 

 few plants can be kept over by placing a barrel over 

 the plant, the branches must be first tied in it 

 lightly. 



Pumpkins and squash don't need any protection as they have 

 almost completed their growth; all the fruit should be gathered 

 and stored in a cool dry place. 



Cover the spinach with hay when heavy freezing starts in, also 

 that which is to be carried over through winter can be protected 

 in this manner. 



Tomatoes on a trellis can be protected by using mats, burlap 

 or heavy paper but the better plan is to pick all the fruit, selecting 

 all the small fruit to make your green tomato pickle and placing 

 the balance in a light airy room where they will ripen perfectly. 



All the herbs should now be gathered and stored for the winter, 

 cut and tied in separate bunches and hung from the ceiling in the 

 attic until dry, when they can be powdered and put in boxes ready 

 for use. 



Permanent 

 Beds 



ANEW bed of asparagus may be set now. A little protection 

 will be required for the plants during winter, but asparagus 

 starts very early in spring and by planting in fall the plants get 

 the advantage of an early start in spring. 



Though yet too early to do any mulching it is 

 well to prepare for the work, locating manure and 

 carting and storing it near where required. Lime 

 is an excellent top dressing for slow sluggish gardens; it is of course, 

 an absolute necessity on acid soils. 



Harrow over every particle of vacant space in the garden and 

 sow down with rye; it not only makes a pleasant ground cover 

 for the winter but is a valuable addition to the soil when turned 

 under in spring. 



GATHER and store for winter use, mangels, turnips and car- 

 rots. Do not put away any of these root vegetables while 

 wet, and do not store in a damp cellar unless a raised platform is 

 built on which to put the roots. 



Seed down with rye any fields that are cleaned and ready early 

 in the month. This gives the ground at least some return, 

 when plowed under in spring. Fields that can not 

 be so handled should be plowed and left rough over 

 winter. 



Cut and stack field corn during dry weather. Clean the corn 

 crib at the first opportunity, not waiting until ready to store. 



Farm 

 Crops 



WHAT THE WAR MEANS TO THE 

 AMERICAN GARDENER 



IN MANY quarters the fear has been 

 •expressed that the usual supplies of 

 plants, seeds and bulbs would be com- 

 pletely cut off ; but we are able to assure 

 our readers that the amateur horticulturist 

 will be able to procure practically every- 

 thing that he will require. 



Bulbs for fall planting have been received 

 in quantity, since traffic with Holland con- 

 tinues undisturbed. Many dealers have 

 ample supplies already, and others advise 

 us that shipments are moving satisfactorily. 

 There may be some delays in delivery, 

 however, as compared with other years, and 

 some early orders may be only partly 

 filled. But the bulb buyer may rest 

 assured that his needs will be met in ample 

 time for planting. Also, because the home 

 markets are to a large degree closed, the 

 quality of bulbs shipped to America bids 

 fair to be the very highest. 



It is not probable that we shall receive 

 any stock from Belgium in the way of 

 azaleas and other flowering shrubs. It is 

 also problematical whether we shall re- 

 ceive any lily-of-the-valley from Germany. 



As to the seed question: we do not antici- 

 pate any disturbance in the matter of 

 vegetable seeds. Many are raised here as 

 it is, and as to those from abroad, there are 

 practically sufficient stocks in this country 

 to carry over another season, even if none 

 were shipped from Germany or France. 

 Most seedsmen carry over stocks of those 

 seeds which hold their germination to cover 

 themselves from just such conditions as are 

 prevailing at the present time, and also 

 from possible crop shortages. Then again, 

 the Southern and California trade requires 



delivery of seeds from two to three months 

 earlier than in the Middle West and 

 East. 



As far as flower seeds are concerned, the 

 average amateur will not be inconven- 

 ienced to any great extent, if at all, by the 

 present European war. 



A great many of the leading flower seeds 

 are now grown in this country, including 

 asters, alyssum, balsam, calendula, candy- 

 tuft, carnation, centaurea, cosmos, dian- 

 thus, hollyhock, larkspur, marigold, mignon- 

 ette, nasturtium, petunia, phlox, poppy, 

 salpiglossis, salvia, scabiosa, schizanthus, 

 sweet pea, sweet William, thunbergia, 

 verbena, zinnia, as well as many others of 

 less consequence. 



It must be kept in mind that many of 

 the seeds that come from Erfurt, and other 

 so-called seed centres in Germany, are not 

 necessarily grown there, but are produced 

 some in Holland, some in Southern Europe, 

 which sections are still open. The greatest 

 difficulties are in help to gather, clean and 

 ship the crops (many of the able bodied 

 male help having been mobilized by the 

 neutral countries to protect their borders) 

 and the delays in getting goods to the sea- 

 board. 



With regard to roses, it is probable that 

 those usually shipped from Germany and 

 Luxembourg will not be forthcoming, but 

 that shipments will come through from 

 France since the rose nurseries are below 

 the war zone. Holland stock should come 

 through in time. And from England we 

 are advised that the growers there are 

 exceedingly anxious to sell to America stock 

 that evidently will not be in demand for 



the Continent, and perhaps less in demand 

 among their own growers. 



It is an encouraging fact that well 

 established nurseries have on hand good 

 stocks of the several lines of ornamentals 

 and flowering shrubs generally, as the im- 

 ported material is largely grown on for at 

 least a season before it is offered to the 

 discriminating buyer. 



Moreover, the nursery and seed trade 

 have, during the past few years, been 

 devoting considerable attention to domestic 

 production so that, as a whole, the trade 

 in all branches is in a better position to 

 sustain itself than ever before. 



As a mere matter of self protection and 

 in order to reduce trouble to a minimum, 

 it is likely that most catalogue houses will 

 omit from their lists any articles about 

 which there is any doubt of getting a supply. 



There is every reason to believe that, if 

 the war zone is confined to its present 

 location, everything usually offered will be 

 procurable from some source, but arrival 

 may be delayed which will, undoubtedly, 

 entail an immense amount of extra labor 

 on the seedsman and will call for patience 

 on the part of the customers, who very 

 frequently blame the seedsman for lack of 

 immediate attention, without knowing the 

 strenuous efforts that are made to get 

 stocks in hand on time. As the whole 

 situation is very complex, it is impossible 

 to explain delays, and we advise our readers 

 to order their usual requirements as early 

 as possible, and to be prepared for a delay 

 in the delivery of some/ew items, which are 

 almost sure to be sent them in ample time 

 for planting. 



