THE PATRIOTIC GARDEN 



CJRQP CONSERVATION & DISTRIBUTION 



He also Fights who helps a Fighter Fight (h Hoover) 



J^WHR^^UNDA^FOyT^^^ 



FALL PREPAREDNESS Tor THE SPRING DRIVE 



OF ALL the seasons of the year 

 autumn is the one in which pre- 

 paredness in the garden is most 

 effective. Yet most gardeners are 

 inclined now to rest on their laurels till next 

 year's urge is upon them. Now, when 

 work is slacking up and slowing down, 

 there is a chance every day during Sep- 

 tember, October, and November to do some- 

 thing that will fit the soil or the plants of hardy 

 species for next season's greater successes. 



Most obvious of all autumn work is the 

 cleaning up of debris of crops which have been 

 harvested, and left in their wake vines, tops, 

 stakes, trellises, etc. Waste nothing! All such 

 material as will easily decay and is otherwise 

 useless is best disposed of in a compost pile 

 where it will decay and become available for 

 future use as humus. As far as possible 

 gather it while succulent rather than hard 

 and woody because decay is quicker. Better 

 results will also follow spreading the refuse in 

 thin rather than thick layers because decay is 

 more prompt and there is less likelihood of the 

 stuff being an offensive, sticky, wormy mass of 

 decaying vegetable matter when the time 

 comes to Spread it on the garden as a top 

 dressing. If stalks and vines become woody 

 place them in a damp spot and cover with 

 earth. They will thus more surely decay than 

 if mixed in the ordinary compost pile. 



A Friendly "Compost Pile" 



A FAVORITE way of making a compost 

 heap is to place a layer of inverted sods 

 upon the ground or a layer of weeds, stems and 

 other vegetable remains from the garden. 

 Upon this two to four inches of good manure is 

 spread and sprinkled with bone meal, tankage, 

 ground phosphate rock or any other available 

 but rather slowly soluble fertilizer. If the soil 

 is acid a dressing of lime is given — enough to 

 make the surface pretty white. 

 Other layers of sod and manure 

 are added until the pile is finished 

 when the form should be that of a 

 broad letter A with the apex cut 

 off" and somewhat dished to hold 

 snow and water. The depth of the 

 sod layer should be governed by 

 the character of the soil and the 

 sod itself. If heavy loam or clay it 

 should be shallow and aboutathird 

 of its depth should be sand, sifted 

 hard coal ashes (or other material) 

 that will help to make it " lighter." 

 If loamy already and well sup- 

 plied with grass roots it may be 

 four to six inches thick. Such a 

 pile may be made in September or 

 October fcr use the following 

 fall or made in March or April to 

 be used the following spring. In 



either case it should be sliced with a sharp 

 spade vertically downward and the slicings 

 thrown into a new pile so that the outside 

 of the original pile may be in the centre of 

 the new one and thus get a good chance to 

 decay. Soil so prepared may be sifted for 

 indoor potting work or applied as it comes for 

 work in coldframes, hotbeds, and garden bor- 

 ders. Piles may be six or eight feet wide at 

 the base, four or five feet high, three feet 

 wide at the top and any desired length to 

 supply the needs of the maker. 



Planting Next Spring's Greens 



E^OR the earliest crop of spring spinach 

 *■ sow in September or October. Choose 

 the richest available part of the garden and 

 make it even richer by a liberal dressing of well 

 decayed manure. Dig or plow the soil 

 deeply and make the surface fine. If the soil 

 is somewhat heavy or poorly drained the 

 plants may be heaved out by frost. To ob- 

 viate this where there is no choice of a better 

 location, dig a trench six or eight inches deep 

 on each side of the bed and make the ground 

 slope from the centre of the bed toward the 

 ditches. These ditches should of course lead 

 to lower ground where possible, but even 

 where not they will be worth while. The soil 

 from them should be thrown on the beds which 

 will thus be raised slightly. For the over- 

 wintering crop, sow the seed in rows eight to 

 twelve inches apart using about one ounce to 

 each ioo feet of drill. Keep free from weeds 

 until winter sets in, then cover with clean straw 

 three or four inches deep. In early spring re- 

 move this straw, give a light dressing of nitrate 

 of soda close to but not on the plants and cut 

 the largest ones as soon as they reach edible 

 size. Plants so grown may be used three or 

 four weeks before spring sown seed will produce 

 plants of edible size. 



This season's harvest is nearly gathered in. but the alert gardener begins this month on re- 

 building fertility for the food crops of next season. Feed the land to feed the people 



Dig the Garden Now 



WORK and time next spring may be 

 saved by plowing or digging the gar- 

 den now, provided the soil be left in big clods, 

 just as turned up. If it is a heavy loam or a 

 clay so much the more reason for fall prep- 

 aration because such soils are made finer by the 

 alternate action of freezing and thawing during 

 winter. Still more may be done to fine them 

 by adding much old crumbly manure, sand and 

 sifted hard coal ashes. Another important 

 addition for breaking up the particles is the 

 addition of lime but this should be deferred 

 until spring because the action of lime is down- 

 ward, so more or less of the plant food might 

 be lost if the application were made in the fall. 

 Just before the soil is ready for harrowing or 

 raking is the right time to scatter thi,s ma- 

 terial. 



Laying War Plans Ahead 



TF NEXT year's war garden must be made 

 ■*- on land which has been for a year or longer 

 in sod its success can be enhanced by plowing 

 the face say four weeks before the ground is 

 likely to freeze hard. Apart from the ad- 

 vantages of having the sod decay and the 

 texture of the soil improve because of the ac- 

 tion of frost upon the clods during the winter 

 there is a great gain in the destruction of in- 

 sects which feed on the grass roots and which 

 divert their attentions and appetites to the 

 vegetable roots when these arrive. This is the 

 greatest advantage of fall plowing or digging 

 sod land. Wire-worms, cut worms, white grubs 

 and many other garden pests are now feeding 

 within a few inches of the surface as may be 

 proved by turning up the sod and searching 

 for them. While fall plowing does not destroy 

 them all, it kills enough to make it, pay to 

 say nothing of the advantages of having the 

 soil turned up in rough furrow slrces — as the 

 soil should be left until spring. 



Roots That Will Sprout in the Spring 



TT WILL take a special order to 

 ■*■ your seedsman or nurseryman 

 to get asparagus roots in the fall, 

 but they can be had and you will 

 save a year by planting early this 

 fall. Two-year old roots are the 

 most practical size for the home 

 gardener. Horseradish and rhu- 

 barb set out this month will be 

 ready for use in early spring. 



Lift a few parsley roots from 

 the garden, trim both root and 

 top — the latter to within one 

 inch of crown — and plant tvro 

 roots two inches apart in a six- 

 inch pot. A few pots in a sunny 

 window will give all needed pars- 

 ley when snow falls. 



