I 



The Garden Magazine 



Vol. XII— No. 3 



Published Monthly 



OCTOBER, 1910 



I One Dollar Fifty Cents a Year 

 ' Fifteen Cents a Copy 



I 

 I 



[For the purpose of reckoning dates, New York is 

 generally taken as a standard. Allow six days' difference 

 for every hundred nailes of latitude.] 



Duties for October 



"^TEXT year's garden must have its 

 •^ ^ foundations laid now. Of course 

 everybody knows that bulbs (tulips, hya- 

 cinths, crocuses, etc.) must be planted 

 in the fall to get flowers next spring, but 

 a great many people seem to forget the 

 opportunities for a great deal of other 

 planting during this month. 



Practically all deciduous trees, flower- 

 ing shrubs and herbaceous plants can be 

 planted in the fall. The notable excep- 

 tions are: 



1. Trees having thick, spongy roots like 

 magnolias. 



2. Trees having thin, paper-like bark, 

 such as the birches. 



3. Plants, bulbs, and roots of delicate 

 nature that do not flower until late summer 

 or early fall. These include Japanese 

 anemone, hardy chrysanthemums, tri- 

 toma, and yucca. Wait until April or 

 May to plant these. 



No one can answer categorically whether 

 you should or should not plant in the 

 fall. It is a case for individual judgment, 

 but if you will read the symposium pub- 

 lished elsewhere in this number you will 

 surely be able to decide this question for 

 yourself. One guiding principle, however, 

 you should bear in mind, — the earlier 

 the work is done, the better. Plants that 

 flower very early in the spring are much 

 better planted in the fall, and some of the 

 spring bloomers must be planted now or 

 not at all. 



Other Duties for the Moment 



PREPARE your compost for use next 

 •*■ spring. Gather together aU garden 

 refuse and fallen leaves and put together in 

 a pile; add some stable manure if you can 

 get it; mix some loam, or, better still, 



some sods taken from a pasture and turned 

 upside down. Stack these all together for 

 the winter. This will be splendid compost 

 for everything in the garden when it is 

 chopped down in the spring. Do not let 

 fallen leaves go to waste, anyhow. Gather 

 them together; stack them in some con- 

 venient place; turn them and water them 

 twice in the summer and they will 

 be ready for use in the fall for digging 

 into beds. It will take two years to 

 rot oak leaves sufficiently for potting 

 soil. 



START A HOTBED 



Of course you want a hotbed next 

 spring to start early vegetables, flower 

 seeds, etc. Better begin preparations 

 now. You will want good soil. Select a 

 well-drained site. Provide shelter against 

 storms. Tight board fences eight or ten 

 feet high are excellent. This should be 

 on the north side. 



If your garden soil is stiff and heavy 

 and cold, plow it up and leave it rough 

 all winter. The action of frost is a great 

 improver, and you may be able to plant 

 two or three weeks earlier than usual, 

 when spring comes. 



IN THE GARDEN AND GROUNDS 



Get ready for the coming winter. Clear 

 up herbaceous plants. Cut out dead wood 

 from the shrubbery. 



Have you ever stopped to think that 

 that ancient neglected apple tree of yours 

 may be worth fifty to a hundred dollars ? 

 If it is one of the good old varieties, such 

 as the Baldwin, prune it and otherwise 

 renovate it this month, and then see if 

 it will not pay a big enough fruit dividend 

 to establish its claim to be worth fifty to 

 a hundred dollars to you. There will be 

 an "extra dividend" every May, when 

 the few days of glorious bloom alone make 

 the preservation of an old apple tree well 

 worth while. 



IN THE GARDEN 



Don't kill your foxgloves with kindness; 

 ditto Canterbury bells. Both have soft 

 foliage and are apt to rot if a heavy cover- 

 ing of leaves presses down on them. In 

 the writer's Connecticut garden the^^ 

 stand the winter with leaves scattered 

 over them so lightly that few are on the 

 crown. If there must be a heavy cover- 

 ing, have it loose above the crowns and 

 then roof over with cornstalks laid across 

 slats placed high enough to let in a little 

 air. Never cover foxgloves with manure; 

 that is one of the surest ways to kill 

 them. 



Lilies can be planted later than you 

 reahze. Prepare the ground without delay 

 and cover the bed with a foot of manure 

 to keep the frost out. Then, when the 

 late bulbs arrive from Japan, you can 

 plant them easily and safely — even after 

 the end of December. 



After the tops are cut by frost, lift 

 roots of the tender summer-flowering 

 bulbs, — dahUas, cannas, gladioli, tube- 

 roses, elephant-ear, and tigridia. Tuberoses 

 are particularly tender and must not 

 suffer a temperature below forty degrees. 



VEGETABLES FOR WINTER 



Now is the time to plant lettuce for 

 Christmas forcing. Sow tomatoes for 

 crops under glass. Almost any variety 

 will answer, but special forcing tomatoes, 

 which all up-to-date seedsmen offer, will 

 give superior results. 



If you want to get the best azaleas and 

 lily-of-the-valley, place your orders now. 

 The stock arrives from Europe in No- 

 vember. 



Fighting the Insects 



LOOK over orchard and aU other large 

 trees, and if insects and worms have 

 been prevalent, scour with a wire brush. 

 Sweep up and burn the leaves and litter 

 from infected grounds. 



Gather apples after they have been 

 fully ripened on the trees. Gather pears 

 before they are fully ripe and let them 

 mature under cover. Winter pears must 

 be gathered before there is any danger 

 of freezing. 



VISITING THE FLOWER SHOWS 



Every large city and a great many 

 smaller ones have their annual flower 

 shows in October or November. If every 

 reader of The Garden Magazine would 

 take his or her active part in promoting 

 these events, what a wonderful stimulus 

 would be given to gardening all over the 

 land. If possible, be an exhibitor. If 

 not, visit the show and learn your short- 

 comings. Strive to obtain results of 

 "Exhibition Standard." At aU events, 

 do something for the public good. 



LAST CALL FOR CHRISTMAS BLOOM 



September 15th is the latest date to 

 pot Roman hyacinths for Christmas 

 bloom. The bulbs want six weeks to 

 root, and two months in the house. 



If you have plants outdoors that are 

 to be brought in for winter, keep them 

 out so long as the weather remains mild, 

 but place them under shelter any frosty 

 nights. 



