NovemsBer, 1908 
Standard roses laid down and ready to bury. The 
best method of protecting tender plants 
on heavy quantities. I have used two tons 
to the acre in wet places. 
Don’t cut your grass too short in fall, 
or the roots may be harmed by the winter. 
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 
Cut off the asparagus tops and burn them, 
then spade under a liberal quantity of good 
manure. (It is quite impossible to over- 
feed asparagus.) Then cover the bed with 
seaweed or half-rotted manure. This can 
be removed in spring. 
If you have set a new bed of asparagus 
this fall give it an extra heavy covering and 
if the rows are ridged up to throw off the 
water it will be all the better. 
All root crops such as beets, carrots, 
turnips, salsify, parsnip, and celeriac are 
better stored in trenches. Dig a trench 
about two feet deep and as broad and as 
long as necessary for your requirement. 
Put your beets in one end, carrots in another, 
salsify here, turnips there and so on, and 
then make a diagram of their position so 
that you will not have to uncover the whole 
trench when you want to get anything out. 
Throw some dirt in among the roots — 
cover with salt hay or straw, then put on 
another layer of dirt, then about a foot of 
hay, and finally about four inches of dirt 
for a cap or mound to turn off the water. 
When cold weather comes pile on about 
two feet of leaves and lay on sticks to prevent 
them blowing away. Roots wintered in 
this manner will keep in excellent condition 
until the middle of April. Then, of course, 
they start to grow and lose their value. 
Celery is much better stored out of doors. 
In a cellar it dries out and gets stringy and 
tough. Dig a pit about three feet deep and 
lift the celery with the roots on and store 
the plants close together. Cover with dirt 
up to the top of the celery, then put about 
one foot of leaves on to keep out the moisture, 
then place boards in a conical mound over 
the trench and cover with leaves and dirt. 
Leave the ends so that they can be opened 
to admit air on mild days as the danger lies 
in the trench heating. 
Cabbage and Brussels sprouts can also be 
stored in the celery trench. Set the cabbage 
heads upside down on some leaves. 
Leeks can be lifted and stored like 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
= 
Standard roses buried and covered with manure. 
Leaves will be put on later 
root crops or simply covered with hay 
or leaves. 
The whole artichoke plant must be pro- 
tected from freezinge Place boards coni- 
cally over plants and cover with about three 
feet of leaves. Keep water out at all times. 
The cellar is the best place for storing 
pumpkins and squashes and also potatoes, 
if you have a cool dry compartment not 
exposed to furnace heat. 
SMALL FRUITS 
Whatever else happens, be sure to cover 
the strawberry bed with a mulch of well 
rotted manure, but take care that the manure 
does not come in contact with the plants, 
as it is apt to start decay. This mulch 
should be left on until rather late in spring, 
but if good manure is used it can be spaded 
under. After several good frosts have 
hardened the foliage you should cover the 
bed with salt hay or straw. On top of this 
put sticks of some kind to prevent the 
straw or hay from blowing away. 
All bush fruits, such as_ raspberries, 
blackberries, currants, and  gooseberries, 
_should be well mulched with some good 
manure. Although they are quite hardy 
the mulch will improve them and it can be 
spaded under in spring. 
I have seen raspberries winter-kill in very 
exposed situations, but only rarely. How- 
ever if you are troubled with your raspberries 
winter-killing lay them down and cover 
To protect lawn from wheels and hoofs, cover tem- 
porary way with litter or manure“ 
i BR Sos a 
To protect tea roses mulch heavily enough to keep 
out frost. Wrap stem in straw 
with pine boughs or leaves, but first try heavy 
mulching as raspberries are very shallow 
rooters and they suffer from severe freezing. 
Don’t get the garden fever in February and 
uncover things on the first fine day. More 
damage is done to all plants during March 
than at any other time of the year. Plants 
that have been protected all winter are not 
able to stand severe changes and they will 
surely suffer from the late frosts if uncovered 
too early. I would not advise uncovering 
anything in the latitude of New York before 
April ist. Then the more hardy varieties 
may be uncovered, the tender ones being left 
a little later. But everything should be 
uncovered by April 15th. 
PARTING ADVICE 
In covering plants always bear in mind 
what you are protecting against— zero 
weather, alternate freezing and thawing, 
March sunshine, mice, rabbits, or wetness. 
Have everything ready beforehand; don’t 
wait till the cold weather is on you. Always 
get oak leaves if possible as they do not mat 
down so quickly. Elm leaves are no good 
at all as they start to decompose before 
spring. Maple leaves are fairly good, but 
it is better to compost them for a year. 
Frost-proof mats are invaluable for fall 
work and are useful for so many different 
purposes that I can hardly see how any- 
one gets along without them. If well 
cared for these mats will last for years. 
Straw mats are also good for protection, but 
they do not resist the water as well. If you 
cannot afford canvas mats use burlap and tar 
paper on top wherever water must be shed. 
In mulching old established beds always 
use well rotted manure, as the fertilizing 
qualities soon find its way to the roots. 
The best manure for protecting plants con- 
tains straw that has been used for bedding. 
Along the seacoast salt hay can be secured 
cheaply. It is clean, does not mat down 
very easily, as it is very wiry, and is especially 
useful for covering strawberry beds. » Save 
all the old barrels and boxes you get during 
the summer. They will all come in handy 
for protecting plants. When covering 
anything with barrels or boxes always mound 
up a little on the inside so as to prevent 
water from lodging inside. 
