364r 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[October, 
Blackberries and Raspberries should be so securely 
tied to their stakes or trellises, that they will not 
be broken down by the snow. It tender raspber¬ 
ries are to be laid down, it should not be done until 
just before the ground freezes. 
Currants and Gooseberries. —Prune as soon as the 
leaves fall, thinning the bushes where too thick, 
and shortening the new growth a half or a third its 
length. Make cuttings of the prunings of this 
season’s growth, about 6 inches long, and set at 
once; cover the cutting bed with straw or leaves 
when cold weather sets in. 
Strawberries. —In most northern localities it is 
too late for the plants to get well established, and it 
will be better to wait until early spring. 
Crapes. —No questions concerning small fruits 
are more frequently asked than those about keeping 
grapes. Some varieties, such as the Concord, will 
not keep any length of time, no matter how much 
pains is taken, while the Catawba, Diana, Iona, 
Isabella, and others, keep for several months. If a 
grape is not of a keeping variety it is of no use to 
attempt it. At the vineyards fruit houses are built, 
usually with double walls, after the manner of a 
refrigerator, to keep a uniform temperature ; these 
are well ventilated, and may be made dark. The 
grapes, thoroughly ripe, are picked with great care, 
and laid upon trays or drawers, which are arranged 
on racks in the fruit room. When sent to market 
towards the holidays, the bunches have all imper¬ 
fect berries removed and are packed in boxes. 
Some expose the fruit in the trays for a week or so, 
or until the skin becomes toughened and it is 
then packed and kept in the boxes (3 or 5 lbs.), un¬ 
til sent to market. In either case the fruit is kept 
at a low and uniform temperature. 
Crape Vines should always be pruned in the fall, 
as bad weather, or press of other work may inter¬ 
fere in early spring. As each vine will require to 
he pruned according to its condition, no general 
rules can be given. The canes that grew the past 
season, will not bear fruit again. The buds upon 
these canes will next spring form shoots upon 
which the fruit will be borne. The pruner should 
be able to see what the vine will be, to decide 
where he wishes fruit bearing shoots, and must 
leave buds to produce them, cutting away all the 
other buds, or the canes which bear them. As this 
will remove a large share of the wood that the vine 
has made during the past season, the novice is 
timid, and fears that he is doing wrong, but in 
most cases the danger is in leaving, rather than in 
removing, too much. 
Kitchen and Market garden. 
If one is to commence a garden, this is a favora¬ 
ble month to begin operations. Such work as 
draining, leveling, and others in which soil is to be 
be moved, is more easily done than when the earth ■ 
is heavy with moisture, as it is in spring. Land in 
sod, intended for a garden, may be broken up, first 
giving a good dressing of manure, and then turning 
over the sod with a shallow furrow. As fast as a 
portion of the garden is cleared of its crop, all rub¬ 
bish should be removed and the piece plowed or 
spaded, with manure or without, according to its 
intended use_Stiff soils are wonderfully ameli¬ 
orated by plowing and leaving them rough : the ex¬ 
posure to the weather during the winter, will make 
them, as an old gardening friend expresses it, “ as 
soft as a silk glove.” 
Plants for Cold-Frames. —Cabbages, Cauliflowers, 
and Lettuce, the seeds of which were sown last 
month, are usually ready to be put into the frames 
in four weeks from the time of sowing. Each sash 
will hold about 500 cabbages and cauliflower plants, 
and about 800 of lettuce. Care should be taken to 
set the first two down to the leaves, as when a 
portion of the stem is exposed, it is apt to be in¬ 
jured by the freezing and thawing ; if the weather 
is warm at the time, the plants may need shading 
for a few days, and if the soil is very dry, a slight 
watering may be required. The sashes are not put 
on until the approach of cold weather. 
The Cold-Frames used by market gardeners, are 
rode affairs. Hemlock planks are nailed to posts to 
support them ; the rear plank 12, and that at the 
front 8 inches high ; the frame is wide enough for 
the length of the sash, and as long as is required by 
the number of sashes to be used; of course the 
ends are closed by pieces having the proper slope. 
Strips may be placed from front to rear for the 
sashes to slide upon, the ends of the strips having 
a “ dove-tail,” which fits into a corresponding notch 
in the edges of the plank. The frames should be 
in a sheltered place, and face the south or south- 
. east. The soil should be rich, or made so, and 
worked fine and free from stones. The object of 
these frames is to keep the plants, which are almost 
hardy in the climate of New York, safely through 
the winter, and in a thoroughly dormant condition. 
They are not, as some suppose, for growing the 
plants, but on the contrary, great care is taken 
throughout the winter that they shall not start into 
growth ; hence on all mild days the sashes are 
lifted at one end, or taken off altogether. 
Preserving Roots. —Roots to be used for the table 
should not freeze, nor dry so as to shrivel—the lat¬ 
ter being a quite common trouble ; for family use, 
beets, carrots, parsnips, etc., are easily kept in box¬ 
es or barrels, in which is earth enough to cover 
them, and placed in the cellar. House cellars are 
apt to be too warm, and it is not desirable to have 
large quantities of vegetables stored in them, as the 
emanations from them, if no worse, are unpleasant. 
The use of earth avoids this difficulty in good 
measure. Still, it is better to keep only a moderate 
quantity, for immediate use, in the cellar, and put 
the bulk in the root-cellar, if there is one, or if not, 
Store in Pits, as practised by the market gardeners. 
The pit, made where the water will run off, is 6 ft. 
deep and 3 or 4 ft. wide. A section of roots, 2 feet 
in length, is started in the pit; then 6 inches from 
that another section of roots, and so on, the spaces 
between the sections being filled with earth ; this 
keeps them in small masses, and they are preserved 
in the most perfect manner. The pit is at first 
slightly covered with earth, but as cold weather 
comes on, earth is added to the depth of 2 feet, and 
well rounded off to shed rain. Of course the roots 
should not be dug and stored until the growing 
season is over, but it is well to be ready for them. 
Beets and carrots are injured by heavy frosts. 
Celery not yet earthed up, should be attended to; 
first bring the leaves together, and draw the earth 
to them with the hand, to hold them in an upright 
position. A part for early use may be banked up 
with the spade, bringing the earth up nearly to the 
top, but that for the winter will blanch in the 
trenches, where it will be placed next month, and 
needs only enough earth to keep it upright. 
Tomatoes are injured by a light frost. When dan¬ 
ger is apprehended, the partly ripe ones may he 
gathered and the ripening finished in the sun, 
and thus prolong the season for a few days. Some 
pull up the vine and hang it up under cover for the 
same purpose. Secure the green tomatoes needed 
for pickles, before frost injures them. 
Sweet Potatoes should be dug as soon as the leaves 
are injured; a dry and warm place is needed to 
keep them well. 
Squashes will have their keeping injured if they 
are touched by frost. Handle carefully to avoid 
bruising. Use the least ripe first, and store the 
others where the temperature will be about 60°. 
Spinach. —Keep clear of weeds, and thin as requir¬ 
ed for use, gi ving plants to be wintered more room. 
Flower Garden and ILawm. 
Many, as soon as the first frosts come, cease to 
take interest in the flower garden, and leave it 
without further care. Therein they make a mis¬ 
take, as they deprive themselves of some weeks of 
enjoyment. Our climate at this season is in one 
respect very unsatisfactory—we speak now for the 
vicinity of New York City.—Late in September, or 
early in October we have frosts, not very heavy 
ones, but enough to demoralize the Coleuses and 
all such very tender things, while the plants that 
are a trifle more robust—even the Geraniums, are 
scarcely injured, and the hardy Chrysanthemums 
and other late bloomers do not mind it at all. After 
a few mornings of these early frosts, it often hap- 
pees that there is a whole month of weather, which 
for real enjoyment of out-door life, is not equaled 
in the whole round of the year. Let the delicate 
things from the tropics go, there will be enough 
left, and these faithful friends that stay with us to 
the very last, should have all the more care. Be¬ 
sides, it is not flowers alone that make the garden 
enjoyable, there is the foliage, which the cool 
nights and heavy dews bring into the best possible 
condition, and as the trees and shruhs ripen up 
their leaves, one after another, a variety of tints 
are displayed, and in such profusion too that we 
can well spare the flowers. 
Keeping —by which we mean care and neatness 
everywhere—should not be relaxed. If tender 
plants are touched by the frost, remove them at 
once. If a tree sheds its leaves early, sweep them 
up. If late blooming plants are past their prime, 
cut away the flower clusters, and keep all snug. 
Chrysanthemums will be showing bloom. If those 
for flowering in the house were not taken up, as di¬ 
rected last month, lose no time in doing it. Tie up 
those that are to bloom in the borders. 
Stakes and Strings will be needed now, not only 
for Chrysanthemums, but for Tuberoses, and other 
late blooming plants. A storm may come at any 
time, and all preparations should be made for it. 
Pahtias are done for by the first frost. Cut away 
the stalks near the ground, and select a warm dry 
day to lift the roots. This should be done in the 
morning, letting them dry all day in the sun before 
putting them away. A cellar that will keep pota¬ 
toes will answer for these. Be sure and so fasten 
the label that it will stay. 
Tender Bulbs , such as Tiger Elowers, Gladiolus, 
Tuberoses, etc., are to betaken up after the early 
frosts, and kept in a dry place where they will not 
freeze. Tuberoses should'be kept where they will 
not be in aless temperature than 50°. 
Protecting from Early Frost. —If one has a showy 
bed, or single plants of the tender kind, they may 
be carried through the first frosts, by taking a little 
trouble, and their beauty be prolonged for several 
weeks. This may be done by means of a sheet, 
supported tent-fashion over the bed, or even a 
shelter of newspapers held up by sticks and strings 
for the few first frosty nights. We have in this 
way often prolonged the usefulness of a bed of 
Cannas, which are very susceptible to frost. If 
the foliage is killed by a heavy frost, it is very 
difficult to keep the roots through the winter, and 
it is safest to be a little in advance of a killing 
frost, and cut them down. Ordinary cellars are too 
damp to keep the roots well; they do best in a dry 
and warm place, but must not be allowed to dry 
until they shrivel. 
Mouse Plants that have been plunged in the bor¬ 
ders, and those that have been turned out, if they 
are to be saved, should be taken up before they are 
injured by cold nights. 
Bulbs for Spring Blooming must be planted, and 
the earlier now, the better; give a rich bed, well 
fertilized with cow manure. The catalogues of the 
dealers give ample directions for planting. 
Hardy Herbaceous Perennials , where the soil is 
still in good order, and the season favorable, may 
be divided and reset, as directed last month. This 
is the proper season to set out all of these that 
bloom in early spring: 
Covering is necessary for plants of doubtful har¬ 
diness, and even the hardiest bloom all the better 
if covered for the winter. Nothing is better for 
this purpose than leaves, which may he kept in 
place by a moderate sprinkling of earth, or by brush 
and poles. Straw or litter of any kmd that has no 
seeds of weeds, may be used for this purpose, but 
not until cold weather sets in. 
Greenhouse and Window Plants. 
The greenhouse should he ready to occupy when¬ 
ever the weather makes it necessary to take the 
plants into it. Painting, glazing, new planks to 
the benches and walks if needed, and the repairs to 
the heating apparatus should be all done. Do not 
