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OPERATIONS FOR OCTOBER. 
The period for the safe housing of all plants that will be prejudiced by cold has now arrived ; 
for it is not wise to risk exposure to casual frost beyond the end of September, as one night of 
freezing, suddenly experienced, might destroy everything that is tender and unprotected. The 
direction, of course, includes all the greenhouse plants that are yet out, with due provision for 
the immediate shelter of those half-hardy kinds, which it is wished to preserve in frames. As 
to the specimens which need protection in the open ground during winter, it is not at present 
necessary to prepare for covering them ; but the sooner even this matter is attended to, the 
more secure will they be against any severity that may accidentally arise. 
From the late dry and extremely fine weather, an opportunity will have been given for 
maturing a great number of hard-wooded exotics, both in the stove and greenhouse, by exposing 
them to the open air ; and the same practice may yet be continued in the day-time, by opening 
the lights of the houses as much as possible, and admitting as much sun and air as can be 
allowed entrance. It is of the utmost importance to give plants in houses and frames all the 
exposure which will now be safe ; for a few days or weeks of sunny drying weather now will 
materially influence their state throughout the whole winter, and save much expenditure for fuel, 
as well as chance of injury. 
Those young tender plants for the flower-garden, especially, which are now lodged in frames 
and pits, should have all the air which can possibly be given them, in order to harden them, to 
check their growth, and to relieve them of any superfluous succulence. With these, as with 
many other things, it is a great point to harden them at first, and to prepare them for what may 
follow ; since there can be no question that plants, like animals, are susceptible of habits. It 
will be well, therefore, to keep them as cold as they will bear to be kept till frost actually sets in. 
Where plant-houses have been cleaned, and the plants are not yet brought into them, it will 
be a good plan to give them a little fire-heat, in order to dry them properly, before the plants are 
introduced ; and when the plants are brought in, they should be made to shift with just enough 
of water to prevent them from flagging. In the administration of water, the cultivator will have 
the safety of his stock in his own hands for the next two months, and likewise, in great part, all 
the winter. If very little water be given, very little fire-heat will be required, and the frost will 
scarcely affect the plants, unless it be very severe. But if water be supplied carelessly, and in 
the average quantity, there will be great danger from frost. This is particularly true with regard 
to plants of a soft-wooded or leafy nature. 
If half-hardy plants have not previously been propagated, now is the time for putting in the 
cuttings. They should be planted thickly in pots of moderate size, and put in a rather warm 
frame, just to induce them to root, when they may at once be transferred to a cold frame or pit 
for the winter. Any young shoots they may make should be stopped down to within two or three 
eyes of the stem. Plants of Verbena, &c, that are wanted to bloom early next spring in the 
greenhouse, should be taken from the ground, cut back, and immediately potted. The roots 
ought to be as carefully cut as the branches, and not mutilated. 
To secure a fine succession of annuals in the flower-garden next spring, and also for the 
greenhouse, a sowing may yet be made in the open ground for the former, and in pots for the 
latter. Neither of them should be put in too thickly ; and if seed of this year's saving be used, 
the young plants will speedily be up. 
Any alterations that are to be made in the ensuing winter should be forthwith determined 
upon, ere the trees have lost their foliage. The effect of any change, particularly where trees 
are at all concerned, can hardly be estimated when the leaves have fallen. 
Dahlias, and plants of kindred character, ought not to be taken up till towards the end of the 
month. Chrysanthemums must be kept duly staked and supported. Trees and shrubs can be 
moved with safety at the close of October. Plants, in houses, that are not growing well, must 
have their roots examined, and the soil removed if it be sour, at the same time putting them into 
smaller pots. 
