November, 1917 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



121 



label and store in open boxes or crates in a 

 place where the temperature will be around 40 

 degrees, and away from light. The very tender 

 bulbs such as Caladium, Calla, etc., will need 

 a temperature some ten degrees higher. 



Vegetables for Storage 



/^\NIONS, squash and such other vege- 

 ^S tables which may have been stored in 

 temporary quarters to cure may now be put 

 where they will be safe for the winter. Look 

 over everything with the greatest care. Any 

 that are imperfect or show even the slightest 

 kind of bruising or decay must not be stored 

 but used at once. 



Most fruits and vegetables keep best in an 

 even temperature only a few degrees above 

 freezing. A wet cellar, tightly closed, will 

 surely cause decay; while in an abnormally 

 dry air, close stored products will fail to keep 

 or will shrivel, causing loss not only in bulk 

 but of quality too. Good ventilation is one of 

 the important points about the storing place. 

 For full details, and directions for storing, see 

 the October number of The Garden Mag- 

 azine. 



Going to Use Concrete? 



WALLS, foundations, fence posts, repairs 

 of all kinds and jobs innumerable about 

 the grounds can be made with concrete. It is 

 not difficult to use, but the one big danger at 

 this time of the year, just as the gardener be- 

 gins to find himself caught up with his work, 

 and with a little leisure for new things, is that 

 it may be spoiled by freezing weather before it 

 has a chance "to set." The danger from light 

 frost can easily be avoided by covering up the 

 work with warm horse manure or even with 

 blankets and bags, until it is beyond the dan- 

 ger point — the first night or two after being 

 put in place. If you have never yet made use 

 of concrete for such work try it out this fall. 

 It is simpler than most kinds of carpentering 

 or repairing. The only equipment needed is a 

 supply of Portland cement, clean, sharp sand or 

 clean, hard gravel or cinders, and a strong, 

 shallow box or stout, flat surface — such as an 

 old shutter or cover for the hotbed — a hoe to 

 mix them with and a shovel to put them into 

 place after they are mixed. From any of the 

 firms selling Portland cement you can get 

 literature full of excellent suggestions on what 

 may be done w T ith concrete. 



Get Ready for Spring Before Winter Comes 



/^ET together supplies needed for start- 

 ^J ing seeds, repotting plants, etc., in 

 February and March, when the garden is 

 frozen up tight. Put a barrel or two of good 

 loam or loamy compost down cellar, together 

 with sufficient supplies of leafmold, chip-dirt, 

 moss, sand, and any other ingredients you are 

 likely to require. Coldframes or hotbeds, if 

 they are not used through the winter will take 

 some time to get into shape for planting if 

 all preparation is left to spring. 



Trench Celery for Fall Use 



PHE earliest celery, which has been blanched 

 •*■ in the open, will now be about used up. 

 That wanted for use until real hard freez- 

 ing, say till the last part of December, may 

 be handled readily by "trenching" it out 

 of doors. Select a convenient, well drained 

 place and open up a narrow trench, fifteen 

 inches or so in width, and deep enough so 

 that when the celery is packed in it — roots 

 and all — the tops of the foliage will come about 

 level with the ground. In taking up the 

 plants, leave on all the soil that clings to the 

 roots. Do not "handle" the plants in wet 

 "weather, but put them away when dry, pack- 



ing them closely, upright. As soon as there is 

 danger of weather cold enough to hurt the 

 celery, cover the trench over with marsh hay 

 or leaves, preferably the former. As it gets 

 still colder, put soil over the mulch, for further 

 protection. The stalks will bleach out quickly 

 in the trench, and can be taken out as re- 

 quired. 



Running a Winter Resort for Bugs? 



TTVON'T get the mistaken impression that 

 *~* the job of cleaning up the garden at the 

 conclusion of the season is for the sake of looks 

 alone. One of the most effective steps to- 

 ward controlling insects and diseases is to 

 prevent their finding any place in the garden 

 where they can put up for the winter. One 

 small pile of rubbish or a handful of diseased 

 leaves left on the ground over winter may 

 carry enough eggs or spores to be the source 

 of total failure of several crops next spring! 

 A match in time saves ninety-nine garden 

 troubles! Make a thorough job of it. Begin 

 at one end of the garden and clean up as you 

 go — any old stalks, cut-off tops, brush, poles, 

 whatever may be left, row by row — until you 

 get to the other end. Flower-beds and borders 

 are much more likely to be overlooked when 



DO THIS MONTH 



1. Take in tender and semi-hardy bulbs be- 



fore ground freezes 



2. Put vegetables in permanent winter quar- 



ters 



3. Do concrete work for walls and so forth be- 



fore frost 



4. Provide soil and other materials for next 



spring's planting needs 



5. Trench celery for fall use 



6. Clean up the garden 



7. Clean up the flower beds 



8. Take up roots for forcing 



9. Mulch bulbs, hardy borders and roses 



10. Bring in first bulbs for forcing 



11. Provide suitable conditions for plants in the 



house 



12. Watch carefully vegetables and flowers 



under glass 



13. Begin winter spraying 



it comes to cleaning up than is the vegetable 

 patch. But it is just as important to get 

 them cleaned too. 



When the tops have been killed down by 

 frost, go over every bed carefully. Remove 

 the annuals and burn them, as soon as they 

 are dry enough. Take a scythe or sickle and 

 cut ofFthe tops a few inches above the ground. 

 Remove these to a place where they can dry 

 and be burned. Rake up any fallen leaves 

 which may be diseased. Prevention pays! 

 Replace by a clean mulch. 



Save Your Temper and Your Tines 



"DEFORE the ground begins to freeze take 

 -*-* up roots of asparagus, rhubarb, and 

 Witloof chicory for winter forcing. If the 

 soil is very dry, water thoroughly a few hours 

 before you take them up. Then store them in 

 a frame or cool cellar, where they can be taken 

 into heat as wanted. In taking up roots an 

 edger with which to cut off the ends of the 

 largest roots under the plant is a very handy 

 thing in addition to a sharp spade. Another 

 scheme is to put a heavy mulching around the 

 plants to be taken up, so that the ground will 

 not freeze for some weeks later than it or- 

 dinarily would. 



And Now Put the Garden to Bed 



TF YOU have followed the suggestions given 

 in previous months you have provided 

 yourself with marsh hay, dry finely rotted 

 manure, and dry hardwood leaves, put away 

 under cover where they are dry and easy to 

 get at. Now is the time! 



As soon as the ground freezes up fairly 

 hard, with the prospect of remaining so, is 

 time to use these coverings. The winter mulch 

 is not for the purpose of protecting the plants 

 from the cold. They can be killed with too 

 much care. It is to prevent the winter and 

 early spring sun from flirting with them, and 

 raising hob by thawing the ground about their 

 roots and getting them all excited about com- 

 ing out in their new foliage before warm wea- 

 ther really means to stay, that the thoughtful 

 gardener puts on a winter mulch. 



Dry manure is good for the perennial border, 

 about newly planted hedges, and in other 

 places where much of it can be raked or forked 

 into the soil in the spring. For the Rose bed, 

 nothing is better than dry leaves, held in 

 place by a low strip of wire netting supported 

 by small stakes. Manure can be applied under 

 the leaves, but care should be taken not to 

 put it in position, either here or any where else, 

 before the ground has frozen and the mice have 

 taken up their winter quarters elsewhere. 

 For the new bulb bed, manure with a good per- 

 centage of straw, or manure and leaves mixed 

 together, makes a good mulch. Tender Roses 

 may be given additional protection by drawing 

 the soil up about them in a steep cone, before 

 the mulch is put on. 



Blossoming Bulbs foi Thanksgiving 



THE first of the winter blooming bulbs 

 ■*■ to be put in the frames, pit, or cellar 

 for root-growth may be taken in now for 

 "forcing" if they have made a fairly good mass 

 of roots. Hyacinths and Polyanthus Narcissus 

 are the soonest to be ready for bringing into 

 heat — either in the greenhouse, or in the 

 dwelling. Give a very cool temperature at 

 first, then gradually increase both water and 

 temperature. If you haven't any bulbs 

 started, try Hyacinths in a few of the special 

 hyacinth glasses, and Paper-white Narcissus 

 and the Chinese Sacred Lily in pebbles, or 

 better, prepared fibre or humus. 



Half a Day for the Plants in the House 



/"\NE reason why plants in the house so 

 ^-^ frequently fail is because no serious 

 effort is made to give them congenial condi- 

 tions. The dwelling house is by no means an 

 ideal place for plants — and incidentally the 

 atmosphere that is too hot, "stuffy" and dried 

 out for plants to live in it, is far from being 

 good for humans! If you are going to have a 

 window garden, take a few hours and fix it up 

 so that the flowers in the window can be 

 really watered without spoiling the carpet on 

 the floor. If a bay window is used, a curtain 

 can be hung in such a manner that the plants 

 will be somewhat shut in by themselves a 

 good part of the time, and during sweeping, 

 dusting, etc., they can have a cleaner and more 

 moist atmosphere. 



Ready for Enemies ? 



r t 1 HE green plant louse will get you if you 



•*• don't watch out ! 



Conditions under glass are usually such as 

 to make more likely the attacks of insects and 

 disease than in the open. The most certain 

 to appear, and the most troublesome, if you 

 allow him to get a good start, is the ordinary 

 aphis or plant louse. Fumigate regularly 

 and spray at the first sign. Careful watering 

 and plenty of fresh air, with an avoidance of 

 draughts, will reduce greatly the danger of 

 trouble from mildew or blight or dropping or 

 yellowing foliage. The last two are sometimes 

 due to the presence of illuminating or coal gas, 

 even if in such small amounts that the human 

 nose doesn't detect it. 



