The Garden Magazine 



Vol. XVI— No. 4 



Published Monthly 



NOVEMBER, 1912 



\ One Dollar Fifty Cents a Year 

 I Fifteen Cents a Copy 



MONTHS 



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REMINDER 



[For the purpose of reckoning dates, New York is 

 generally taken as a standard. Allow six days' differ- 

 ence for every hundred miles of latitude.] 



Preparing for Winter 



THE sun may be shining on snowless 

 fields, flowers may be blooming, the 

 furnace still unlit and the heavy overcoat 

 still in the cedar chest — but beware! 

 Winter is close upon us. 



Are you prepared for it? Have you done 

 your duty toward your garden? Can 

 you come indoors and hibernate with an 

 easy conscience until the buds of spring 

 burst open? 



Have You, for Instance 



Wrapped standard and tea roses in straw 

 jackets or bent the standards over and 

 covered them with soil? 



Raked leaves in around rhododendrons, 

 cedars and other evergreens? 



Burlapped exposed and newly planted 

 specimens or erected a screen of pine 

 boughs or rough boards around them? 



Covered the English ivy on the north 

 side of the house? 



Cut the dead stalks of the perennials and 

 heaped them over the crowns? 



Forked a little manure into all the peren- 

 nial beds and borders, carefully and 

 not too deep? (Later you can scatter 

 on handfuls of leaves as the tempera- 

 ture falls.) 



Mulched ah the bush fruits, young fruit 

 trees and ornamentals with loose 

 strawy manure? (But don't let the 

 mulch lie close around the trunks till 

 the ground has frozen and the cold 

 sent mice, rabbits, etc., elsewhere for 

 a winter nest.) 



Ploughed or trenched the vegetable 

 garden (if the soil is heavy) and left 

 it rough for frost action? (If not, let 



the chickens in when you do; they will 

 find a choice lot of grubs and insects in 

 the newly turned soil.) 

 Or (if the soil is sandy and lacks 

 humus) spread, manure over the garden. 



Cut back long bramble canes liable to be 

 broken by winter winds? (Canes may 

 be bent over and buried like standard 

 roses if they are extra tender.) 



Raked up and burned all prunings, litter 

 and rubbish that cannot be used for 

 mulching or compost? 



Repaired all the mats you will need on the 

 coldframes this winter? 



Brought in soil, leaf mold and sand for 

 potting and filling benches? 



Gotten in coal for greenhouse and 

 dwelling? And pots, flats and all in- 

 door gardening apparatus? 



Potted parsley plants for an indoor winter 

 supply? 



Dug and stored in a cool part of the 

 cellar rhubarb and asparagus roots for 

 midwinter forcing? 



Dug early celery and stored it in an ac- 

 cessible pit? And covered the late 

 varieties with more soil that they may 

 be harvested unfrozen directly from 

 the row. 



Cleaned and put away the outdoor tools 

 as you finish with them? (A list of 

 what you have missed this season made 

 now will be mighty helpful in February 

 when you make out your 19 13 order 

 list.) 



Cut the dahlia tops, dug the bulbs, dried 

 them and put them away in a cool, 

 dark, dry place? 



Laid plank walks over gravel paths and 

 grass plots where winter travel is 

 common and where mud and slush are 

 especially inconvenient? 



Brought in the winter's wood supply? 

 (We read of the joys of winter lumber- 

 ing, but snow covered wood is heavy, 

 wet and messy; better haul yours 

 while it is dry.) 



Made sure that all water pipes crossing 

 the lawn and gardens are pro- 

 tected against frost and unnecessary 

 leaks? 



Fitted weather strips, storm doors and 

 windows on the house? 



Cleaned out rain gutters and leaders? 



Rendered impossible water logging of the 

 soil next spring by means of timely 

 tile drains? 



Finished all concrete jobs before severe 

 weather? 



Divided lily-of-the-valley and other hardy 

 perennial clumps? 



*43 



Made the bees comfortable for the 

 winter? (The first real cold day after 

 a mild spell is the time to bring the 

 hives into a moderately dark and dry 

 place with a uniform temperature of 

 from 40 to 45 degrees F. If nothing 

 worse than zero weather is expected 

 supply a layer of absorbent material 

 just under the cover and pack the 

 hives well with straw, leaves or news- 

 papers.) 

 Numbered the hives (if taken indoors) 

 and their stands to prevent confusion 

 next spring? 

 This is quite a formidable list of re- 

 minders, to be sure, and some of them are 

 superfluous to you; but its worth while now 

 and then to recapitulate. Checking up our 

 garden duties is the best kind of reverie to 

 indulge in because we are sure to light on 

 some one little thought that may save a 

 lot of time later on. 



In November, Before the Ground Freezes 



TURN the compost heap once. 

 Plant deciduous shrubs, vines, fruit 

 trees, and bushes, and ornamental trees; 

 except, peach, plum, cherry, beech, birch, 

 magnolia, tender roses and a few similar 

 species that need spring planting. 



Plant every kind of hardy spring flower- 

 ing bulb. Iris, daffodil, snowdrop, scilla, 

 lilies, crocus, hyacinth and tulips are all 

 included, but use only firm, solid bulbs. 



Cover with a foot or more of manure any 

 beds where you are going to put bulbs that 

 you are still expecting. 



After the ground freezes, cover the 

 strawberry bed and the old bulb borders 

 with several inches of manure. 



Spread manure on the lawn. 



At Any Old Time During November 



SCRAPE and wash with lye or white- 

 wash the trunks of the old fruit trees 

 and doctor them, i.e., prune stubs and dead 

 branches, clean and fill holes with cement, 

 bolt up weak limbs, etc. 



Cut off and destroy all shrivelled fruit, 

 curled leaves, worm nests and webs that 

 disfigure some and endanger all the trees. 



Spray once with lime-sulphur or some 

 other scalecide. 



Paint gypsy moth egg clusters. 



Trap cutworms in the greenhouse benches 

 with poisoned baits or by going through the 

 house with a lantern about nine o'clock 

 at night. 



Pack and ship your prize chrysanthe- 



