November, 1912 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



151 



in the ground, and will give early results in 

 the spring if covered now with a litter of 

 straw, hay or coarse manure. The parsnip 

 is really improved by leaving it in the 

 ground until spring. No harm is done either 

 to parsnip or salsify if the ground freezes 

 but the protection spoken of will keep the 

 ground soft so that these vegetables may 

 be dug at any time in the course of the 

 winter that there is no snow. A few plants 

 of parsley lifted and transferred to boxes 

 will give the housekeeper garnishing for 

 several months. 



SMALL FRUITS AND BERRIES 



Strawberries require a light covering of 

 hay, straw or something similar. Leaves 

 may be used, but pack down rather too 

 heavily. In the spring the straw may be 

 drawn into the walks between the rows and 

 will serve as a summer mulch, as well as 

 keeping the berries clean. The heaving 

 and thawing of an unprotected strawberry 

 bed is disastrous. 



In parts of the country where extremely 

 cold weather prevails, protection for the 

 raspberry and possibly for the blackberry 

 bushes will be needed. The former are 

 easily laid on the ground and a little earth 

 thrown over them, but it is necessary to 

 loosen the soil with a garden fork around the 

 base of the blackberry plants. When lay- 

 ing down berry bushes it is well to have 

 one man wearing heavy gloves handle the 

 vines, while another man uses the spade. 

 The fall is a good time to trim the berry 

 bushes, although the work may be post- 

 poned until spring. Root cuttings may 

 be started, too. They should be two or 

 three inches long, and buried close together 

 in a corner of the garden where the water 

 does not stand, being covered with two 

 inches of soil, with a coat of manure on top. 

 Currants and grapes may be rooted in the 

 same way, but from the stems, making 



the cuttings eight to ten inches long. Cut- 

 tings started in this way and uncovered 

 the following April will give good plants 

 in most instances. A large forkful of 

 manure around each plant will help to 

 prevent its being thrown out of the 

 ground when sudden thaws follow freezing 

 weather. 



Rabbits and mice often do damage to 

 young trees in the course of the winter. 

 Wrapping the trees with tarred paper is 

 one method of circumventing them. Paint- 

 ing the trees with tree borer paint will 

 aid in keeping rodents away and also 

 help to keep away tree borers in the 

 spring. 



Many lilies do not arrive in this country 

 until November, and if the ground is 

 frozen when they are received, difficulty 

 will be found in planting them. It is a 

 good plan to throw a lot of manure over the 

 spot where they are to go, when the other 

 late garden work is being done. The 

 manure will keep the ground from freezing 

 until the lily bulbs come. 



There are odd jobs which may be done 



Where forest leaves are available they may be 

 packed into loose frames around the plants 



Protect young apple trees from mice and rabbits 

 by wrapping around with building paper 



even after snow falls. The grape vines, 

 for example, may be pruned any time until 

 the approach of spring, but it is better to 

 do it before the weather gets cold. If left 

 until warm weather in the spring, the vines 

 will bleed badly. Trees may be trimmed, 

 too, and people who live in New England 

 should take particular care to cut off the 

 nests of the brown tail moth caterpillars, 

 which winter over in the trees and appear 

 in great numbers as soon as the leaves come 

 in the warm days of spring. If the trees or 

 shrubs have the San Jose scale upon them, 

 they should be thoroughly sprayed with 

 lime-sulphur wash or one of the miscible 

 oil preparations on the market and specially 

 prepared for the scale. 



Corn stalks may be tied around newly planted 

 nursery stock to protect the trunk over winter 



Culture of Pasque Flowers 



TT IS a good rule to remember that all 

 *■ flowers that bloom in March or April 

 should be planted in the autumn. The 

 anemones are among the most charming of 

 the early spring flowers. 



The ideal way to grow them for pic- 

 torial effect is in stony woods. The rare 

 and costly kinds belong in the rock gar- 

 den. If you have neither, you should 

 provide partial shade and extra good 

 drainage, e. g. on a bank facing the south 

 where they will bloom earliest. Do not 

 put these early anemones in the flower 

 garden or hardy border. They look out 

 of place and are likely to be killed by the 

 hoe during their resting season. The 

 only ones which you can get cheaply by 

 the hundred are hepaticas, the rue anemone 

 and our native wood anemone. There- 

 fore these are the only ones suitable for 

 carpeting the ground beneath shrubs. 



The way to get these plants to maKe 

 large clumps and flower better every year 

 is to plant them at the right time and 

 leave them alone — not divide them every 

 year. It is a mistake to collect hepaticas 

 in spring as many do. To get the best 

 results wait until August or early Septem- 

 ber when all these precocious plants have 

 ripened their new growth after blooming 

 and have had a chance to multiply. The 

 pasque flowers seed freely and the 

 best way to make up a stock is from 

 seed. 



Readers who would refresh their mem- 

 ories on the more intimate facts about the 

 pasque flowers and other anemones may 

 refer to the series of articles by Wilhelm 

 Miller during last year; 191 1, as follows: 

 February, p. 15; June, p. 294; July, p. 

 354; and October, p. no. The pasque 

 flowers, proper (Pulsatilla), were given 

 special attention in the first article. 



