The Garden Magazine 



Vol. XII— No. 4 



Published Monihlv 



NOVEMBER, 1910 



One Dollar Fifty Cents a Yeah 

 Fifteen Cents a Copy 



mm 



REMIt^DER 



[For the purpose of reckoning dates, New York is 

 generally taken as a standard. Allow six days' difference 

 for every hundred miles of latitude.] 



Prepare for First Frosts 



OF COURSE frost — real frost — will be 

 expected any time now, but that's 

 no reason for letting all the remaining 

 crops be sacrificed. You can get a lot of 

 late satisfaction by the use of a few mats, 

 old newspapers, sacks, etc., for covering. 

 Even such decidedly tender things as 

 dahlias and cosmos may be protected. 



If you have never yet had the garden 

 full of flowers after the early frosts, see 

 to it that things are different this year. 

 Fresh flowers in November look even 

 brighter than roses in June. 



Straw mats are the best, but if you 

 have not got them handy, take old news- 

 papers and fasten the ends together with 

 building lath, fiUing in between with salt 

 hay or seaweed if possible. Odds and 

 ends of burlap will always be handy, and 

 if these coverings are dried before being 

 put away finally they will last for years. 

 Old articles of clothing will pay better 

 dividends as frost protectors in the garden 

 than if sold to the old clothes man. 



Expect frost on a still night when the 

 air is clear and cool. Lowlying land will 

 catch frost before adjoining land on neigh- 

 boring hillsides : because cold air gravitates 

 downward. Large areas of water tend to 

 equalize temperatures; study your local 

 conditions. Last year thousands of dollars 

 were saved in Western orchards by fires 

 there in early spring. Smudge fires on the 

 windward side of the garden may save 

 your corn and beans. 



Look to the Vegetables 



nPHE most important thing this month 

 -'■ is preparing for winter storage. 

 If you have followed the gardener's re- 

 minder all this year, you will have plenty 

 of vegetables for winter supplies. 



By far the most important crop is cel- 

 ery, and the way to get good celery is 

 to keep it in a growing condition even 

 in winter. The temperature for vege- 

 tables in storage should never drop be- 

 low 35 i^degrees, although the air itself 

 around celery may go as low as twenty- 

 two degrees. A cool well-ventilated cellar 

 is the best storage place for all vegetables. 

 The next best plan is to bury them out- 

 doors in the ground. No need to lift and 

 store celery, brussels sprouts, kale and 

 cabbage, which are used in a practically 

 growing condition; they can be banked 

 up where they grow. 



Gather corn stalks and put them in 

 water, and eat sweet corn on Election 

 Day. Surplus and unripened tomatoes 

 will mature if gathered and placed in a 

 sunny window. All kinds of root crops 

 can be stored in a pit; cut the tops off all 

 except beets, which should have some 

 leaves left. 



A practical storage house can be made 

 by sinking a bottomless barrel in a shady 

 place, putting a layer of salt hay on the 

 bottom and covering the top after filling 

 with burlap, hay and earth. 



Ever try sowing vegetable seeds in 

 the fall? It's really worth while. For 

 instance, before November ist, sow carrots, 

 celery, parsnip, chard, lettuce, cress. Sow 

 lettuce in coldframes for winter use. 



Coldframes must be ventilated every- 

 day when the weather's warm: cover them 

 with mats when it's quite cold. 



Are the Bulbs Planted? 



HPHE earlier the bulbs can be put 

 -*■ into the ground the better it is 

 for them, and for next year's results. No 

 advantage at all in waiting for Thanks- 

 giving Day. Better take a day off as soon 

 as your purchases arrive. By all means 

 hurry up with the planting of daffodils 

 if it's not already done. 



Try planting each bulb on a little 

 cushion of sand. It will drain the roots 

 and give you bigger flowers. 



Don't forget to plant some lilies. 



Good bulbs for naturalizing can be 

 bought for a cent each in small quantities. 

 Why not try two or three hundred in a 

 little shrubbery corner? 



There are some flower seeds to be sown : 

 poppies, cornflowers, sweet peas. Read the 

 article on page 178. Did you try fall plant- 

 ing of sweet peas last year? If not try the 

 experiment by two or three sowings, and 

 find the proper date for your own neighbor- 

 hood. Then tell us your results next June. 



Protect the pansies and all fail-sown 



perennials that are to be planted out next 

 spring. Mulch or protect lightly; re- 

 member the idea is to protect against 

 changes, not to smother with undue heat. 

 Many flowers are hardy with light pro- 

 tection but tender under a heavy mulch. 



With the Trees and Shrubs 



ALL kinds of deciduous stock, that 

 -^^ may be safely planted in the fall, 

 can be handled all through November. 

 Outdoors, in the grounds during this 

 month, is the best time to trim up, clear 

 up, and clean up all shrubberies, prune 

 out dead wood, cut back and thin out 

 too dense growth, lift and replant for color 

 effects. 



Feed the trees with a mulch, to be turned 

 under in the spring. 



Never omit the mulch for newly planted 

 trees or shrubs. But don't disfigure 

 your lawn by covering it with stable 

 refuse. It's much better to use chemical 

 fertilizers in the spring. 



Now is the time to propagate trees and 

 shrubs by cuttings, if you like that kind 

 of fun. 



Do you want a hedge around the garden? 

 Plant it now. 



Get nature to do her share this winter 

 by turning up any unoccupied ground 

 that is to be in use next spring. Turn 

 it up or plow it up as rough as possible. 

 Snow, rain and frost wiJ mellow it and 

 kill insects. 



Clean up the blackberry and raspberry 

 patches and burn the old canes. 



Any "mummy" fruits on plums, peaches, 

 etc.? Don't let one escape; gather them 

 up and burn to prevent further spread 

 of the disease. 



Burn over the asparagus bed, and don't 

 let the seeds germinate on the ground. 



Rubbish harbors insects and disease, 

 besides looking untidy. Insure your re- 

 putation as a good gardener by clearing 

 everything now. 



Clear up around the bases of trees, so 

 that mice won't be harbored. Later on 

 hill up a httle. 



Prepare for winter spraying for scale. 

 You can use everything at double strength 

 while growth is dormant, and besides, 

 there's not much else to do. 



During the past year Tiie Gaeden Mag- 

 azine readers have shown great interest 

 in planting for color effects. Keep study- 

 ing the winter beauties, especially of the 

 shrubs. Did you ever notice the variety 

 of colors that they yield? Study color 

 effects this winter and resolve to plant 

 next season for winter beauty. 



