298 
WORK FOR OCTOBER, NORTH AND WEST. 
north, the trees may be planted towards the close 
of this month, agreeably to the directions given at 
p. 330, of our sixth volume. 
Trenching Old Orchards. —If you have any 
neglected old trees in your orchards, fork or trench 
up the earth all around their trunks for a distance 
of four or five feet, and give to each tree at least 
a bushel of compost, made of eq.ial parts of stable 
manure and leaf mold, or swamp muck. And at 
the top of this, spread half a peck, each, of char¬ 
coal dust, wood ashes, and oyster-shell lime. 
Felling Timber, Fencing Stuff, $fc. —If circum¬ 
stances require it, all non-resiniferous timber may 
be cut this and the next five months following, for 
reasons assigned at p. 362, vol. vii. 
Gathering and Storing Winter Fruit. —Winter 
apples and pears should be carefully picked from 
the trees by hand, packed up in barrels, and stored 
in a cool, dry room, in which the temperature 
ranges, as near as possible, to the freezing point. 
If such a room should eventually become too cold, 
put them in an airy, dry cellar, sufficiently cool as 
not to allow them to freeze. 
Cider Making. —This is the proper month for 
making cider, minute directions for which will be 
found at p. 247, of the current volume. 
Harvesting and Storing Root Crops. —Carrots, 
sugar beets, and mangold-wurtze! should be well 
secured before the occurrence of heavy frosts. 
They should be perfectly matured, before they are 
pulled, which may be known by the yellowish 
color of some of their leaves. If allowed to re¬ 
main unharvested beyond that time, a new elabora¬ 
tion of the juices takes place, and much of the 
saccharine principle, which is the fattening one, is 
destroyed. 
Turnips and parsneps may be left in the ground 
until there is danger of freezing, and the latter, if 
not wanted for winter use, are all the better for 
remaining unpulled until spring. In this case, all 
the water must be carefully led away from the 
beds, otherwise, they might rot. 
Potatoes, for winter keeping, should never be 
dug before they are ripe, which may generally be 
known by the decaying of the vines. 
All kinds of culinary roots, after digging, should 
be protected from the sun, by throwing over them 
some leaves or straw, and as soon as the dirt 
attached to them becomes dry, let them be carried, 
at once, to the cellar, or pit, where they are to be 
stored. They should be kept from the air by put¬ 
ting them in barrels or bins, loosely covered with 
straw; and it would be still better for them to sift 
in between the interstices some fine, dry sand, or 
powdered, air-slacked lime. Such as are stored in 
the fields may be put in pits, where the ground is 
sandy and dry; or they may be piled up in conical 
or long heaps above the surface, at any height 
required. A coating of straw should first be laid 
over them, in the manner of thatching the roofs of 
buildings, in order to shed off the rain. In parts 
of the country subject to heavy frosts, or snow, 
the heaps should be covered with a layer of earth, 
sufficiently thick to prevent the roots from freez¬ 
ing ; but care must be observed not to expose them, 
if possible, to a temperature above 38° or 40° F.. 
as they then would be liable to heat, grow corky, 
and probably rot. The earthy covering for winter | 
; need not generally be completed till quite late in 
: the season ; as, by leaving the straw partially bare 7 
the escape of moisture and heat from the roots will 
■ thereby be facilitated, which is all-important, imme¬ 
diately after they are thus stored. When finally 
■ covered over for the winter, a hole should be left 
at the top of the heap, or several, if the pile be 
long, in each of which a wisp of straw should be 
placed, for the escape of moisture and gas. If the 
ground be stiff and clayey, the heap should be sur¬ 
rounded by a ditch, at least a foot deep, so as to 
carry off all water that might accumulate from rain 
or melting snow; otherwise, the lowermost por¬ 
tions of the heaps would become wet and spoil. 
Storing Winter Cabbages. —Such cabbages, at 
the extreme north, as you wish to keep through 
the winter and early spring, may be pulled up by 
the roots, and arranged in compact rows, with their 
heads downward, resting on the surface of the 
ground, so that their stalks will stand upright in 
the air; then, they may be covered with straw and 
earth, and treated in every other respect as directed 
for the root crops above. 
Storing Pumpkins , fyc. — Secure your winter 
squashes and pumpkins by placing them in a cool, 
dry place, where they will not freeze, and you may 
have the luxury of these vegetables until quite 
late in the spring. 
Care and Management of Stock. —The remarks 
given in our hints for last month, in this depart¬ 
ment, are equally applicable to this. In addition 
thereto, it may be stated that cows, intended for 
milk, should be kept constantly in good condition ; 
as, when they are disposed to become very lean, 
and that in the winter season, it is impossible that 
they can be brought to afford a large quantity of 
milk. When they are lean, at the period of calv¬ 
ing, no after-management is capable of bringing 
them in a condition to produce, for that season, 
anything near the proportion of milk that they 
would have done, had they been kept in good order 
during the winter. Food of the most nourishing 
and succulent description, should be given them in 
suitable quantities during the cold months; and 
they should be well supplied with pure water and 
kept warm. 
Kitchen Garden. —Keep your crops of lettuce 
and spinach entirely clean; they may now be 
thinned out, leaving the plants four or five inches 
apart. Those intended for late-fall or winter use 
should be transplanted into frames, and protected 
from frost at night. The same plan may be adopted 
for other vegetables intended for winter use. 
Toward the end of this month, top asparagus, and 
give the beds a coat of well-rotted, stable manure, 
two or three inches deep. 
Fruit Garden and Orchard. —Continue propagat¬ 
ing by cuttings and layers as long as the season 
will permit. Plant beds of strawberries that may 
have been omitted last month. Allow your Isabella 
and other grapes to become perfectly ripe before 
they are plucked. 
Flower Garden and Pleasure Grounds. —Continue 
to sow the seeds of bulbous and tuberous-rooted 
flowers. Transplant biennial and perennial roots 
of flowers. Lift the bulbs and tubers of gladi- 
{ oluses, tuberoses, dahlias, &c., as soon as the tops 
[ have been killed by the frost. Ornamental trees 
