October, 1914 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



87 



deal of warmth to mature. Besides, extra 

 early spring sown sorts would beat them 

 in time of maturity and the present fall 

 activity, would count for nothing. 



Among lettuces, I know no sorts that 

 will beat Earliest Wayahead, Naumburger, 

 and May King in this connection. All are 

 hardy, stand cold wet weather well and 

 mature quickly. Of mustard, I prefer 

 Elephant Ear to all others. They ought 

 to have called it "pot-filler." Besides 

 Munsterland spinach mentioned above, 

 Triumph or Long Season will come through 

 the winter admirably, though it has much 

 fleshier leaves and requires 

 more protection. 



Of carrots, Chantenay, 

 and Danvers, the two most 

 reliable stand-bys, answer 

 admirably. Be sure to sow 

 only smooth seeded peas in 

 the fall. Alaska, First, and 

 Best, or Pedigree Extra Early 

 will do, although I believe 

 the last named is of greater 

 productiveness and better 

 quality than the other two, 

 if we can talk of quality in 

 an extra early smooth-seeded 

 pea. Of radishes, choose 

 Rapid Red, Scarlet Button, 

 or Vick's Scarlet Globe — 

 all extra early spring sorts that mature in 

 the order in which they are mentioned here. 



OTHER VEGETABLES FOR FALL PLANTING 



The above do not represent by any 

 means the complete list of vegetables that 

 may be started in the fall. Rhubarb roots 

 and horse radish sets planted in the fall 

 will give splendid returns the following 

 year. By setting out asparagus roots 

 this fall you gain practically a whole year. 

 Incidentally, do not plant roots that are 

 three years old or older. All experienced 

 gardeners will tell you that two year old 

 roots are the most satisfactory all around. 

 If your seedsman can supply them, set 

 out Egyptian Winter, Multiplier and Potato 

 Onion Sets. All are perfectly hardy and 

 are bound to furnish the very earliest green 

 spring onions next season if planted now. 



USING THE BACKYARD GARDEN THIS 

 WINTER 



For those who keep chickens, here is 

 a scheme to make the backyard garden 

 keep down the cost of chicken feed. After 

 clearing the garden and either spading or 

 plowing it, sow part of it to oats, and part 

 to rye or else to Dwarf Essex rape or hairy 

 vetch {Vicia villosa). All these forage 

 plants make a quick growth during the 

 cool fall months and should provide plenty 

 of feed throughout the winter, since all 

 are quite hardy. 



Even if chicken keeping is not on your 

 programme, it will pay you to either dig 

 the ground and let it lay in rough chunks 

 or to level it and sow it to rye, oats, or 

 vetch. If you let the ground lay in a rough 

 condition, it will freeze up hard and this 

 thorough freezing will not only sweeten 



it, but will put it in fine mellow condition 

 for next spring. If you sow it to oats, 

 rye, or vetch, you may turn them under as 

 green manure next spring and vetch will, 

 in addition, add nitrogen to the soil, since 

 it absorbs that valuable element from the 

 air and stores it in the soil. 



LENGTHENING THE FRESH VEGETABLE 

 SEASON 



Part of the bare ground now in the garden 

 may readily be converted into fresh vege- 

 tables. Fix up a box-like structure of 

 1 2-inch boards, making it the same shape as 



Cleared for action in the fall (Nov. 10th). Newly made vegetable bed next the back fence. 

 Dry leaves ready in the barrel in the corner 



a hotbed frame. If a solid fence guards 

 the north side of your property, you can 

 lean this box right against it, thus saving 

 lumber for one side. 



Drive short strong posts about six feet 

 from the fence, letting the ends of posts 

 stand about twelve inches above the soil. 

 Nail boards against these posts and fasten 

 boards with cleats to the fence and your 

 box-like structure is ready. Next, get 

 some well-rotted, reasonably fresh manure 

 and spread it to a depth of five inches into 

 this frame. Tramp it down tightly and 

 spread about four inches of good garden 

 soil on top of it. You now have a bed 

 that is something like a coldframe and yet, 

 it does better work, since the manure 

 underneath will generate just enough 

 warmth to cause a quick germination 

 of the seeds for which the bed is now 

 ready. 



For immediate use, sow radishes, like 

 Rosy Gem, Rapid Red and Crimson Giant. 

 Lettuce Early Curled Simpson grows 

 quickly to good size. Of beets, sow Eclipse, 

 Crosby's Egyptian, and Detroit Dark 

 Red. You may even plant some onion 

 sets of any sort obtainable into this frame 

 and feel sure of good results. Since all of 

 the vegetables and varieties suggested are 

 of very compact growth, the rows may be 

 placed quite close together, thus affording 

 maximum returns from minimum space. 

 The accompanying picture shows my semi- 

 coldframe of last fall against the north 

 fence of my backyard garden. 



With the approach of cold nights, this 

 frame is covered with either glass sash or 

 boards, mats or anything to keep out the 

 cold, and uncovered in the morning to let 

 the sun do good work all day; covering 



after sun goes down. When very cold 

 weather sets in, bank up the sides of frame 

 with dirt or coarse manure or leaves. Place 

 old boards against the latter two to prevent 

 the wind from blowing them away. 



PARSLEY AND RHUBARB ALL WINTER 



Cut back the row of parsley in your 

 garden to within two inches of the top and 

 cover it with one of your (now empty) 

 porch boxes. It will keep right on growing, 

 if, during very cold weather, you take care to 

 cover the row with additional boards or mats 

 or burlap. Should you be reluctant to go to 

 all that trouble, dig up half 

 a dozen roots and plant 

 them either in pots or in a 

 deep box. Those may be 

 kept in the kitchen window 

 or near a light, sunny cellar 

 window and they will pro- 

 duce parsley all winter if 

 the temperature is warm 

 enough to induce growth. 



After the first real hard 

 frosts freeze the ground solid, 

 go into your garden with an 

 ax or a strong spade and lift 

 one of your largest clumps of 

 rhubarb roots. Bring it into 

 the cellar and put it in a 

 barrel, frozen soil and all. 

 Keep about six inches of sawdust or straw 

 in the bottom of the barrel. This will ab- 

 sorb the moisture, as the lump thaws. 

 Place the barrel within ten feet of the 

 furnace, not nearer. Gradually, the rhu- 

 barb clump will send forth tender, delicate 

 sprouts. If the clump is large and of 

 strong vitality these sprouts will grow to be 

 an inch in diameter and fourteen to sixteen 

 inches long. I have known a good sized 

 clump to produce three dozen stalks of 

 good size, before its strength became ex- 

 hausted. Bought in the open market, 

 they would have cost at least $2 and freshly 

 stewed rhubarb tastes twice as good around 

 Christmas time as it does during May. 



Spiking vs. Tying Tomatoes 



PROBABLY everyone knows that the 

 earliest and finest tomatoes are secured 

 when the vines are trained up poles. But 

 instead of tying them up with string or rafia 

 time may be saved by simply spiking finish- 

 ing the vines to the poles with ordinary wire 

 finishing nails. Some injury to the vines 

 would naturally be expected, but I can testify 

 from long experience that absolutely none 

 need occur. A fairly sharp nail, inserted 

 in the tough portion of the vine some six or 

 eight inches back from the crown bud, 

 simply sparates the fibres without intefer- 

 ing with their normal functions at all. I 

 have nailed hundredsof vines right out in the 

 hot sun without having a single leaf wilt. 

 Best of all, the vines stay in place with their 

 increasing load right through the season, 

 and do not thrash even in high wind. Of 

 course the vines should be trained to a 

 single stalk by pinching out the laterals. 

 Maine. C. M. G. 



