THE AMATEUR’S KITCHEN GARDEN. 
299 
have made good substance. This is the best time to form new 
beds of horseradish, the crowns to be planted fifteen inches 
deep and six inches apart, in very rich and well-trenched soil. 
Continue to sow saladings, and gather seeds as fast as they 
ripen. Potatoes to be taken up as the tops wither ; carrots 
and beetroot many remain till the frost cuts off the foliage, 
and no longer, but parsnips may be left- in the ground, 
to be trenched out as wanted for use, unless the ground is 
required, in which case store them in sand. 
It requires some experience to determine the right moment 
to gather any particular kind of fruit, and no fixed rule can 
be given, because seasons and soils differ so much that the 
same kind will be ripe in one place a week or a fortnight 
earlier than in another. When the pips of apples and pears 
acquire a dark colour is usually the signal for liarvesting the 
crop, but in looking for this sign a sound fruit must be taken, 
not one that has been pierced by an insect. Have all fruit 
gathered with care, and stored without bruising. Wall trees 
in a gross state should be disleafed ; the removal of a few 
■leaves from vines, peach trees, etc., will often materially pro- 
mote the ripening of the wood. Plant strawberries. Those 
to be forced should now be strong in pots ; give them a shift, 
and in doing so use a firm rich compost, and ram it in hard, 
dive plenty of water, and let them have full sun. 
October. 
“ Blessing of jour heart, you brew good ale.” 
This is a busy month ; nearly every kind of winter work 
may be commenced — and, indeed, completed — if weather 
permits. Deciduous trees and hardy fruits may be planted 
towards the end of the month, for there is no need to wait till 
every leaf has fallen. Get them into their places while the 
ground is w r arm, and a season is saved, and the tree will always 
be the stronger for it, for the fate of many a tree is sealed in 
its original planting. Earthwork, too, may now be com- 
menced, and drains laid, turf stacked for forming composts, 
and deep soiling practised on ground suited to such treatment, 
so as to have it in ridges in good time to be acted on by frost. 
The whole of the arrangements should be determined from 
this time, and in taking up bedders and decorative plants from 
the borders, their good and bad qualities should all be noted 
