AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
339 
1861. j 
of the borders, let them receive a top-dressing 
of old manure, say two inches thick. Then, lay 
two or three shovelfuls of common soil on the 
top of this, immediately around the trunk of 
each tree, to protect the bark from mice. The 
dirt is to be thrown olf in the Spring, and the 
manure to be forked in among the roots. 
5. It is taken for granted that all vegetables 
are now safely housed,—beets, onions, cabbage, 
cauliflowers, potatoes, carrots, celery, turnips— 
what a goodly show of comfort they make in 
one’s cellar! 
6. Now gather up all foul stuff from every 
nook and corner of the garden, and make a final 
bonfire. Be sure to include all weeds with 
their seeds in the burning. When this is done, 
then, as a final work, throw the whole ground 
into ridges with the spade. One year, let the 
ridges run east and west; another year, lay them 
off north and south. Take pains each Fall, to 
throw up more or less of the subsoil on the top 
of the ridges, that it may be disintegrated by 
the frost. In the Spring, these ridges are to be 
leveled. It will be found that where this prac¬ 
tice is followed, the ground becomes dry and 
warm early in the Spring, the soil is gradually 
deepened and ameliorated, and vermin and nox¬ 
ious weeds are killed out. This practice is 
more important on stiff clay lands, than on 
light, sandy loams. 
---- — - —■» - 
Planting Potatoes in Autumn. 
A writer in the Rural Economist recommends 
to plant potatoes in Autumn in order to have 
them early the next season. He directs to dig 
the ground thoroughly, mixing in a liberal ap¬ 
plication of old manure. Select good sound po¬ 
tatoes of medium size, which are to be planted 
whole. Provide a dibble of hard wood, one 
and a half inches thick, with a blunt point, and 
having a cross piece about six inches from the 
end to regulate the depth of planting. Make 
the holes in rows three feet apart, and nine 
inches distant in the row. Drop a potato into 
each opening, and press the earth upon it with 
the dibble. Let this be done early in Novem¬ 
ber, and before hard frosts. Give the land a 
heavy dressing with long manure, which may 
be removed early in Spring. As soon as the 
sprouts appear, fork up the bed between the 
rows. As the sprouts grow, pull them out so as 
to leave not more than three to each plant. In 
this way it is said very early potatoes may be 
had. [This may do in a mild climate.—E d.] 
Harvest the Roots. 
The root crops being the last to be taken from 
the garden, are often neglected until injured by 
hard frosts. Beets are easily spoiled by having 
their crowns frozen, which will cause them to 
decay early. If they are not already secured, 
take them in at once. Carrots may remain a 
little longer if desirable, except the white, varie¬ 
ty, which is more tender and should be car¬ 
ed for early. There is little to be gained by 
leaving either variety in the open ground after 
Nov. 1st, as little or no growth is made. Tur¬ 
nips are very hardy, and may be left until the 
middle or last of the month; they will gain 
considerably in growth if the weather remain 
mild. Parsneps and Salsafy or Oyster Plant, 
are improved in flavor by being left in the open 
ground until Spring. The action of frost con¬ 
verts part of thei” starch into sugar. A few 
may be taken into the cellar for occasional use 
through the Winter, Jf tliis be done, Keep them 
buried in sand. Dig also a few roots of horse¬ 
radish and keep them in sand; they' will be 
ready for use much earlier in Spring than they 
can be dug from the open ground in the garden. 
All roots should be kept dry and cool. If 
stored in the house cellar, let the bins be removed 
as far as may be from under the rooms where 
fire is most used. A ventilator should pass from 
the root cellar to the chimney flue, or to the up¬ 
per part of the building, and thence to the open 
air, to carry olf the moisture escaping from the 
roots. This precaution will in some cases pre¬ 
vent frost. A friend informed us that he had 
always banked up his cellar to keep out frost, 
but seldom fully succeeded. One Winter, hav¬ 
ing neglected it, the frost did not enter, although 
the cold was intense. The crevices had afford¬ 
ed ventilation, and the roots had been kept 
dry. Avoid all bruising of the roots, and after 
they are stored, examine them frequently to re¬ 
move any decaying. Other suggestions on 
storing roots may be found on page 334. 
-—■ -—a-O — - 
Keeping Winter Squashes. 
First in importance, they should be well 
ripened before harvesting. This will occur in 
nearly all the Northern States, by the first of 
October. They should be picked before hard 
frosts have injured the rind; and the gathering 
should he done in the middle of a dry day. 
For a month or more after being harvested, 
they may be kept in a barn or other out-build¬ 
ing, not laid in large heaps to accumulate mois¬ 
ture and heat, but spread on the floor, a little 
straw being laid under them to prevent bruis¬ 
ing. On cold nights, late in October and during 
the first of November, cover them with a little 
straw. When there is real danger of freezing, 
carry them into the cellar for the Winter. 
But there is a great difference in cellars. One 
that is warm and damp, is a poor place to pre¬ 
serve any sort of fruits or vegetables from decay¬ 
ing. Some persons maintain that a warm and 
dry basement or stove-room is the best of all 
places for squashes. A horticultural contribu¬ 
tor to the Tribune holds that “a dry store¬ 
room, or furnace-heated apartment, that never 
gets cold enough to freeze, or a closet near 
a fire-place, are good places in which to keep 
squashes and pumpkins. They also keep well, 
if hung up in baskets or bags overhead in the 
kitchen, or on a hanging shelf.” 
In our own experience, such warm rooms, or 
closets where the temperature varies much, are 
poor places for the purpose. We succeed best 
with squashes kept in a cold, dry cellar, and not 
exposed to much light. Theoretically and prac¬ 
tically, heat, moisture and light are found to 
promote rapid decomposition. The squashes 
should be placed on shelves separately, and 
with a few thicknesses of paper under each. 
The Ampelopsis in England. 
In the Autobiography of Leslie, the artist, 
lately published, we find the following passage: 
“ The country about Dawlish is all hill and 
valley, very luxuriant and beautifully diversified 
with gentlemen’s seats and villages. The cot¬ 
tages and, churches are of the most brilliant 
white, and a kind of vine which is generally 
seen spreading over the walls of the former, the 
leaves of which are at this season (November) a 
bright crimson, produces a beautiful effect.” 
The painter doubtless alludes to the Ampelop- 
sis, or American Ivy., 
Most Important Confer of a Garden. 
On page 344 one of our associates has said 
something to the children about their garden. 
We must add a word or two here specially ad¬ 
dressed to all who have the care of children— 
their own or others’. Those who have chanced 
to visit, our homestead the present year, were 
perhaps a little surprised on passing from the 
lawn to find at the very entrance to the beds oi 
flowers and vegetables in the garden, a some¬ 
what irregular plot containing a great variety of 
different kinds of plants growing in apparent 
confusion, but not entirely without system. Here 
were beets, carrots, onions, cabbages, sweet 
peas, strawberry plants, potatoes, dahlias, tur¬ 
nips, nasturtiums, morning glories, and perhaps 
thirty other things—some in pots, some in hills, 
some in rows, some in beds, some on mounds of 
earth, and so on. Boards laid on the edges and 
held up by stakes driven down, marked the 
boundary lines. All this was the work, and 
solely the work of three children, the oldest a 
girl not seven years of age, the others boys of 
nearly three and five years old. Their ground 
was planted with scattering seeds they had col¬ 
lected, or voluntarily asked for, and with refuse 
plants thrown into the walks by the gardener. 
Every thing of this kind was seized upon as a 
lawful prize and planted, watered, and watched 
with the greatest care and solicitude. 
And what was the result ? These three little 
ones spent many hours daily in out-door health¬ 
ful exercise, and away from temptation. They 
asked questions innumerable, and studied the 
habits and wants of the plants with the earnest¬ 
ness of philosophers. They watched the gar¬ 
dener in all his operations, and practiced the 
lessons they thus learned. No one interfered 
with their operations on their own territory, or 
offered a word of unasked advice. They were 
led to think and observe for themselves, and this 
we believe to be the true education (drawing out 
thought). Without any attempt to teach them 
directly, the older of the three lias learned to 
name and describe thirty to fifty flower plants 
in our own larger garden, and the second in age 
has learned the names of at least twenty. 
And we too, have learned anew an old les¬ 
son, and feel more forcibly than we have ever 
tried to write hitherto, the value and importance 
of a children’s garden. If we and our children 
live to another Spring, a larger garden for them, 
and more facilities for its culture will be the 
first thing provided. (They have already laid 
by dozens of little papers of seeds, and show that 
their experience has developed provident habits.) 
Now what we intend for our own little ones 
we would earnestly bespeak for all the other 
children belonging to the great “ Agriculturist 
Family.” Parents, or guardians, a square rod or 
two of ground, or more, for your children, will 
not be missed from your broad acres, or your 
village plots. Let them have a garden of their 
own—entirely their own—not to be interfered 
with by any older person whatever. Let it be 
understood that they are permitted to cultivate 
it just as they choose, and when they choose, 
and to enjoy or dispose of the product at their 
own pleasure. Look in upon their operations 
not to criticise but to express pleasure by looks 
and words. Begin now to talk about their next 
Summer’s garden, and suggest the saving or 
gathering of seeds. Do this, and from the na¬ 
ture of the case, as well as from what we have 
seen, we can confidently predict that after one 
year’s trial you will need, no second hint, 
