Book of Gardens 
115 
October THE GARDENER’S CALENDAR Tenth Month 
Carrots and other 
roots should have 
their tops removed 
before storing 
Changes in the per¬ 
ennial flower border 
should be made dur¬ 
ing this month 
If the last clipping 
of evergreens has 
not been finished, 
there is still time 
Label the gladioli 
bulbs before storing 
them away for the 
winter 
SUNDAY j MONDAY | TUESDAY 
WEDNESDAY 
THURSDAY 
FRIDAY 
SATURDAY 
This Calendar of the gardener’s labors is 
aimed as a reminder for undertaking all his 
tasks in season. It is fitted to the latitude 
of the Middle States, but its service should 
be available for the whole country if it be 
remembered that for every one hundred 
miles north or south there is a difference 
of from five to seven days later or earlier 
in performing garden operations. The dates 
given are, of course, for an average season. 
1 . Don't ne¬ 
glect to get 
hyacinths and 
other early 
flowering types 
o 1 bulbous 
plants boxed 
up or planted 
in pots pre¬ 
paratory to 
forcing them in 
thegreenhouse. 
They should be 
buried out-of- 
doors to facili¬ 
tate rooting. 
2. If you 
have heated 
frames of any 
kind, why not 
use them for 
the forcing of 
quick maturrng 
vegetables 
such as rad¬ 
ishes, spinach, 
beans, etc. 
They may be 
yield crops 
during the win¬ 
ter months. 
3. Don't fail 
to make ar¬ 
rangements to 
pick the fruit 
and store it 
properly. The 
best method is 
to wrap each 
fruitseparately 
in tissue paper, 
storing them in 
boxes in a dark, 
cool place. Be 
careful that 
they are not 
bi uised. 
4. Flower 
beds composed 
of tender plants 
last consider¬ 
ably longer by 
a slight cover¬ 
ing to protect 
them from 
frost. An old 
sheet or blan¬ 
ket of any kind, 
with a few sup- 
ports, may be 
used for this 
purpose. 
5. The flist 
few days in the 
house are the 
critical period 
for indoor 
plants. Use 
great care in 
watering and 
keep the foliage 
sprayed or 
moistened. If 
the plant dries 
up too quickly, 
plunge the en¬ 
tire pot in a 
pail of water. 
6 . Incase of 
a severe frost 
being threaten¬ 
ed, it is wise to 
cover the flow¬ 
ers of outdoor 
chrysanthe- 
mums with 
paper or other 
material at 
night. This 
will prevent 
their being 
damaged and 
add to their 
life. 
7. Dig up 
and store all 
tender bulbous 
plants such as 
gladioli, dah¬ 
lias, etc. These 
must be stored 
in sand or saw¬ 
dust in boxes 
and kept in a 
cool cellar. 
Dry ness of 
packing ma¬ 
terial and sur¬ 
rounding air is 
essential. 
8 . Hay thrown 
over tender 
garden crops 
such as egg¬ 
plant, peppers, 
lettuce, will 
protect them 
from damage 
by light frosts. 
It must be re¬ 
moved during 
the day and 
applied only at 
night. Do not 
use enough to 
break them. 
9. Celeiy 
must be kept 
hilled. Hold 
the staiks to¬ 
gether tightly 
with the hand 
to prevent drrt 
from getting 
down into the 
heart. Keep 
hilling as they 
grow, since it is 
contact with 
the earth that 
gives celery 
flavor. 
10. Cauliflow¬ 
er just starting 
to head up 
should be lifted 
very carefully 
and placed in 
frames where 
it will mature 
properly. The 
plants may also 
be planted in 
tubs and 
moved to a 
barn, garage or 
other frost¬ 
proof place. 
11 . Why not 
havesome fruit 
trees around 
your garden, 
preferably on 
the north side? 
Or perhaps you 
have room for 
a small or¬ 
chard. This is 
the proper time 
to set the trees 
out, except the 
plums, cherries 
and other pit 
12 . Start 
mulching 
rhododendrons 
with leaves or 
manure. This 
is not only for 
the purpose of 
protecting the 
roots, but it 
will also furnish 
the plants with 
considerable 
nourishment. 
In the spring 
the leaves may 
be dug under. 
13. All shal¬ 
low rooting 
crops should be 
afforded the 
protection of 
a winter mulch 
of manure. 
This applies to 
strawberries, 
raspberries, 
blackberries, 
etc. With 
strawberries, 
manure should 
not touch the 
crown. 
14. This is 
an excellent 
time to put 
into execution 
any changes in 
your garden, 
such as sod 
borders, dwarf 
hedges, trellises 
for fruit plants, 
changes in wa¬ 
tering systems, 
etc. A good 
map of the 
grounds will 
help. 
15. The 
plantings of 
new trees may 
be attended to 
at this time. 
With the dry 
summers which 
have prevailed 
for the past 
few years, fall 
plantings have 
given better re- 
where work of 
this sort was 
done in spring. 
16. What 
about some 
bulbs for house 
forc.ng to 
bloom about 
time? Paper 
whites, Pott- 
baker tulips, 
narcissus and 
various other 
early forcing 
bulbs may be 
grown success¬ 
fully in the 
house. 
17. Don't 
neglect succes- 
sional sowing 
of the vege¬ 
table crops 
planted in the 
gr eenhouse. 
Lettuce, cauli¬ 
flower, spinach, 
radishes and 
beans require 
seeding about 
every two or 
three weeks in 
order to insure 
a supply. 
18. Stop 
feeding the 
chrysanthe¬ 
mums just as 
soon as the 
buds show col¬ 
or. It is a good 
practice to 
shade the 
greenhouse 
slightly. This 
will give con- 
slderably 
longer petals 
and 1 arger 
flowers. 
19. Any 
changes in the 
dower bordeis 
should be 
made new, as 
the different 
types of flow¬ 
ers may be 
easily deter¬ 
mined at this 
time, even by 
the beginner. 
Old plants that 
are not yield¬ 
ing should be 
divided. 
20. Cairots, 
beets and other 
root crops 
should be gatt- 
eied and after 
the tops are re- 
moved they 
can be stored 
in trenchesout- 
of-doois, or in 
a cool cellar. 
If stored out¬ 
doors, they 
should be pro¬ 
tected from the 
frost. 
21. A few 
roots of pars¬ 
ley, planted in 
pots and placed 
on the kitchen 
window-sill, 
will keep any 
ordinary 
family supplied 
with an abund¬ 
ance of this 
valuable green 
for gar nishing 
and other kit- 
chen uses 
all winter. 
22. Don't 
neglect to 
mulch heavily 
with manui e or 
any loose ma¬ 
terial, all ever- 
greens that 
have been 
transplanted 
during the cur¬ 
rent year. The 
first winter is 
the critical 
period wit it 
these trees, and 
they need care. 
23. Start now 
to collect all 
the old leaves, 
bringing them 
to one point. 
Do not ever 
burn them.^be- 
rotted, they 
are one of the 
best of all fer¬ 
tilizing ma¬ 
terial. Store 
them in some 
obscure, shel¬ 
tered coiner. 
24. Don't for¬ 
get to plant a 
few or the more 
hardy types of 
narcissus in 
some secluded 
corner where 
they may go 
on naturalizing 
and spreading 
by themselves. 
In a few years 
e n o r m o u s 
masses are pos- 
s i b 1 e from 
small plantings. 
25. Shut off 
and drain all 
irrigating sys¬ 
tems and other 
exposed 
plumbing 
pipes, and 
empty concrete 
pools, etc. All 
faucets should 
be left open to 
assure proper 
drainage of the 
piping. If 
they freeze 
they will burst. 
26. Potatoes 
and other root 
crops stored in 
the cellar 
s h otild bo 
looked over oc¬ 
casionally to 
prevent dam¬ 
age by decay. 
Remove all 
decayed or 
soft, spongy 
tubers, because 
they ate sure 
to infect other 
sound ones. 
27. Hydran¬ 
geas, bay trees 
and othei deco- 
rative plants in 
tubs and boxes 
should be 
stored away for 
the winter. A 
good cellar 
which is not 
too warm and 
is fairly light 
makes a good 
storage place 
for this class of 
material. 
28. tV h e n 
husking cor n, 
any exception¬ 
ally fl.nc ears 
should be set 
as.de and saved 
for seed next 
year. The eats 
should be hung 
up _n some dry 
place where the 
mice w.ll not 
be able to reach 
them. Sus- 
pending by 
wire is good. 
29. After the 
foliage falls all 
fruit trees and 
other decidu¬ 
ous trees sub¬ 
ject to the at¬ 
tacks of scale 
should be 
sprayed with 
any of the sol¬ 
uble oil mix¬ 
tures. Lilacs 
are especially 
susceptible to 
attacks of the 
scale pest. 
30. This is 
an excellent 
time to destroy 
any aphids 
which may be 
on the white 
pines and other 
evergreens. A 
thorough 
spraying with 
a strong to¬ 
bacco and soap 
mixture will 
free the trees 
from this 
pest. 
31. Arrange¬ 
ments should 
be made to 
protect the 
roses, the best 
method being 
to do them up 
in straw over¬ 
coats. In ad¬ 
dition to these, 
earth should be 
banked around 
the plants so as 
to throw the 
from them. 
I love 1o see a 
bough across 
the moon 
When, like a 
scarlet lan¬ 
tern of Ja- 
I,oio in the east 
Pendant, ob¬ 
scured, and 
dim. 
William Douglas 
7 T makes me smile sometimes to hear city folks talkin’ ’bout how they’d like to go to farmin’ — “it’s 
such a easy, restful life!’’ Durn few of ’em seems to realize that a real farmer gits up at four-thirty 
or five A. M. the year ’round, an’ works till dark. Sure, I’ll ’low they’s breaks durin’ the day — restin' 
the team when ye’re plowin', settin’ by the spring under the big maple an’ ? wipin’ off the sweat when 
hayin’ time comes, talkin’ crops an’ politics ’side the road when the R. F. D. feller comes with the mail. 
If ’twarn’t for them interruptions I don’t b'lieve us farmers could git along; we got to have some change 
from hoein’ potatoes an’ hollerin’ “WHOA!” An’ daggone it, a man needs a chanct once in a while to 
chaw on a straw an’ calc’late. Thcy’s lots o’ things to stop an’ figger on—how much of a cut to make in 
the woodlot next winter, when the drought’s a-goin’ to break, whether them two Holstein heifers o Jake 
Hopper’s is really worth a hundred apiece, or who’s to be the next postmaster now that old, Bills dead 
an’ gone. Reckon mebbe it’s because they secs us a-chawin’ an’ calc’latin’ an’ a-gossipin’ round the- 
sand box in the store at the Corners that city folks think we ain’t got much work to do, or else are just 
plumb lasy. But just let ’em try formin’ onct, t licit selves! 
—Old Doc Lemmon. 
Greenhouse work gets under way this 
month, in preparation for the winter bloom¬ 
ing season. The sweet peas should be 
kept cultivated 
The collecting and saving of autumn leaves 
shoidd not be overlooked. When rotted, 
they make excellent mulching and fertiliz¬ 
ing material 
Dig up and store all 
the tender bulbous 
plants such as can- 
nas, dahlias, etc. 
Bulb planting 
shoidd b e started 
now, and continued 
until frost comes 
The root crops can 
be stored in boxes 
and covered with 
dry sand 
Dahlias, too, ought 
to be clearly labeled 
when taken from 
the ground 
