672 



NOTES FROM A WOMAN'S GARDEN 



not perfect heads will be formed. These will furnish 

 lettuce in advance of the plants now newly set from 

 seedlings. Also plant seed under glass in the green- 

 house or hot bed for plants which are to be set in the 

 beds in February. Lettuce is half hardy, but heat and 

 glass are needed now to help it forward to perfection 

 and attain satisfactory results. The beds, which 

 should be carefully watched, will need mats and shut- 



ters over them at night for proper protection. Cress 

 is fit to furnish cuttings and parsley is well started. 



At this time of the year the outside and inside tem- 

 peratures at night will vary about 10°, so if there is 

 danger that the mercury will fall at night to 20°, it is 

 best to start a fire. Water and ventilation are little 

 needed. W. H. Bull. 



Hampden Co., Mass. 



NOTES FROM A WOMAN'S GARDEN. 



NOVEMBER. 



"^URING some of the warm, 

 I pleasant days that always 

 come in November we should 

 put our garden in perfect 

 winter order ; for our garden 

 even in the coldest days is a 

 well-beloved spot. It is here, 

 when the ground is bare, that 

 we often take our daily walks. 

 We have even gone so far as to dig, or have dug 

 paths through really deep snow ; and walking in 

 these paths under the apple trees with the chicka- 

 dees chirping merrily, if the sun shines and it is 

 not too cold, we can almost forget that winter is 

 upon us and spring gardening very far away. 



The grape vines should be well trimmed and firmly 

 fastened to supports by bits of leather or strong string. 

 Prune the currant bushes and save cuttings, tying them 

 in compact bundles. Use red cord for the red variety, 

 and white cord for the other. Place them with cut ends 

 down in a pit two feet in depth, and about the same in 

 ■circumference. A good way to mark the place where 

 the cuttings are buried is to put in long, slender stakes 

 on opposite sides of the hole. Then fill up carefully 

 with earth, pressing it down, and cover all with a layer 

 ■of leaves at least a foot in depth. The leaves may be 

 kept from blowing away by placing some heavy material 

 upon them. Cuttings thus treated are fresh and green, 

 often rooted, when unearthed in the spring. 



Raspberry and blackberry canes should be tied 

 firmly to their stakes, and they, as well as the currant 



bushes, should be well banked up with some fertilizing 

 material, if possible. Rose bushes should receive the 

 same attention. 



Strawberries, as well as all bulbous plants that remain 

 out of doors in the winter, are especially benefitted by 

 a generous application of stable manure when applied 

 at this season of the year. If this cannot be obtained, 

 pine needles, straw, or any similar dressing should be 

 applied. It should be quite free from seeds, else a 

 heavy crop of weeds will put in an appearance in the 

 spring. 



October and November are the best months for 

 " housecleaning " out of doors, and if the work is not 

 well done our gardens will be anything but a pleasant 

 sight during the winter and early spring. Of course 

 every good gardener has a compost heap, and upon this 

 put the corn stubbles, cabbage stalks, and any such 

 material that has been left in the garden. Next year 

 we may want some soil for pottmg plants, or for some 

 particular flower bed, and it is well to prepare for that 

 time now. But beware of saving anything that will 

 spread weeds. Clean out the fence corner, and burn 

 everything that may contain their seeds. Take advan- 

 tage of every opportunity of destroying these pests, 

 whatever be the season of the year. The easiest way 

 of getting rid of the canes of the raspberries, black- 

 berries, and the brush from the orchard, is to burn 

 them also. 



When all this has been well done the work for the 

 year will be about ended, and plans for the following 

 season's operations will be in order. 



Plymouth Co., Mass. M. E. Vigneron. 



