1883 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
435 
meet the male next month for March pigs. It is 
best to begin at once to feed for pork, using the 
soft corn first. The pens should be clean and 
warm. The store pigs will do well on the slops of 
the house, with bran stirred in. Skim milk is good 
for these. 
The pullets will lay eggs through the winter if 
kept in a warm house, and provided with crushed 
shells and good feed. Chopped cabbage and 
other green food is relished by fowls along with 
the grain. Avoid crowding the poultry, and keep 
the nests, walls, etc., free from vermin. Early 
fattened poultry are more profitable marketed 
during the latter part of October and early in 
November than at Thanksgiving or Christmas time. 
The Fruit Harvest. 
The earlier the variety of apple or pear, the 
shorter, as a rule, the interval between maturity 
and full ripeness. With summer varieties, this 
period lasts but a few days, while with winter 
kinds, it may be several months. Winter apples 
differ among themselves, in the time for picking. 
Those which, like the Rhode Island Greening, be¬ 
gin to fall soon after maturity, should be gathered 
first, while others may be left until there is danger 
of severe frost; a light frost does not injure them. 
Baskets of convenient size with a little hay in the 
bottom may be used in gathering. These should 
have a strong wire hook attached to the handle, 
to allow it to be hung to a branch ; some prefer a 
grain-bag slung over the shoulder, its mouth being 
kepi, open by a stick. Self-supporting ladders and 
step ladders of different lengths, should be used in 
preference to common ladders to lean against the 
tree. When the fruit is mature, it will readily part 
from the tree, no force being required. Early 
apples may be placed in the barrel at once, while 
the late ones may be laid in heaps for two or three 
weeks, to be covered w r ith straw when there is 
danger of freezing. Here they part with some 
moisture, the skin toughens, and they keep better 
than when barrelled at once. 
Assorting.— Even in years of abundance, really 
fine fruit will meet with ready sale, and careful 
assorting is more necessary then than when the 
fruit is scarce. In barrelling make two qualities 
for market, and one of inferior fruit, to be dis¬ 
posed of at home. Red apples, as a rule, bring 
the best price ; these usually have a bloom upon 
the surface, upon which much of their beauty de¬ 
pends, and in handling, carefully avoid rubbing 
this off. Fill the barrel slightly above the level of 
the staves, arranging the top layer with stems up¬ 
ward, and bring the head to its place by the use of 
a barrelling press, or a strong lever. The barrels 
may be left under a shed until there is danger of 
freezing, when they are to be taken to the cellars. 
Kitchen and Market Gardens, 
The important work at this time is getting ready 
to place crops in their winter quarters (in far north¬ 
ern localities they must be stored this month), and 
making all possible preparation for spring. Among 
roots, beets and carrots should not be exposed to 
the frost, while parsnips, salsify, and scorzonera 
are not injured by hard freezing, but made sweeter 
and more tender. Where the quantity of roots to 
be stored is large, they may be pitted above 
ground. The roots are to be piled up in a sharply 
conical heap, against which is placed a layer of 
straw. “ Shutters ” (made by fastening half-inch 
boards together with battens), are laid upon the 
straw, and, before freezing weather, a sufficient 
covering of earth, to exclude frost, is placed over 
the shutters, leaving a ventilating space at the top, 
which later may be closed wilh straw. If the roots 
are in small quantity, or if it is desired to remove a 
portion during the winter, the trench used by mar¬ 
ket-gardeners will be convenient. A trench or pit 
is dug in a place where the water will drain away 
from it. It may be three feet deep and six feet 
wide, or of a size suited to the quantity to be 
stored. The roots are carefully laid up, for about 
two feet of the length of the pit, until they reach 
the level of the surface. Then another stack of 
roots is built, six inches from the first, and so on. 
The spaces between the stacks of roots are filled 
with earth. The pit, when finished, consists of 
stacks of roots, two feet long, separated by six- 
inch walls of earth. This allows the removal of a 
stack of roots without disturbing the others. A 
covering of leaves will be sufficient at first, but as 
cold weather approaches, the pits must be covered 
with earth, well rounded up to shed water. Large 
quantities of roots should not be stored in the 
h'Mise cellar, for sanitary reasons. A moderate 
quantity for kitchen use may be kept in the cellar 
in barrels or boxes, and covered with dry earth. If 
parsnips, salsify, etc., are left in the ground, 
enough for use while the ground is frozen may he 
stored in this manner. A small root cellar for the 
kitchen may be made by sinking a cask, all the 
better if it has no bottom, not far from the kitchen 
door, and providing it with a cover. The roots, 
placed in this, and covered with a foot or so of 
leaves, will keep well, and be accessible. Cabbages 
should remain until there is danger of their being 
frozen into the ground. The simplest way of pre¬ 
serving them is to place them on the ground, with 
the roots up, and cover the heads before the 
ground is frozen with four to six inches of soil. 
For family use, where they can be taken out as re¬ 
quired, dig a pit several inches deeper than the 
hight of the cabbages; stand them closely to¬ 
gether in the pit, heads up ; cover with several 
inches of leaves, and lay on a roofing of boards, 
slanting, so as to shed rain. Celery for winter use 
should be stored before freezing weather. Dig a 
trench a foot wide and deep enough to hold the 
celery with its tops at the level of the ground. 
The plants, having been brought into proper shape 
by “handling,” are to be placed upright in the 
trench, and as close together as possible. As cold 
weather approaches, cover the tops with leaves or 
straw, increasing the covering as the weather grows 
colder; it is well to lay some boards, to make a 
slanting roof over the covering. A supply for sev¬ 
eral days may be kept in a cool cellar, by placing a 
couple of inches of soil in the bottom of a box, and 
standing the celery upright in the box. Onions are 
best kept in a loft, and covered with hay. 
Squashes and sweet potatoes must be stored where 
the temperature can be kept up to sixty degrees. 
Bedding Plants.— The above is a general name for 
the plants that are set out in masses, such as Ge¬ 
raniums, Verbenas, Heliotropes and others. These 
are rarely worth taking up after a summer in the 
open ground. 
The Flower Garden and Grounds. 
By Grounds, we mean that portion of the farm 
or other estate devoted to ornamental purposes, or 
to pleasure, whether it be a private park, or a 
front yard. This season is especially suited to the 
making of improvements, whether it be the lay¬ 
ing out of new walks and drives, or the complete 
remodeling of the ground, and also the formation 
of new flower beds and borders. A coating of 
gravel upon common soil will not make a perma¬ 
nent walk. The earth should be thrown out for 
the depth of at least two feet, and the excavation 
filled with stones; the larger at the bottom, smaller 
above, with gravel at the top; such a walk will 
last, and keep dry. Ornamental trees are subject 
to the same laws of growth as fruit trees, and like 
those may, according to circumstances, be planted 
in the fall or spring. The same applies to orna¬ 
mental shrubs. 
Bulbs. —Sufficient has already been said on the 
planting of Dutch Bulbs. Certain other bulbs need 
to be taken up at this season, such as the Hybrid 
Gladioluses, Tiger-flower (Tigridias), Tuberoses 
and other tender bulbs. If the Tuberoses have 
not finished blooming, lift them and plant in 
boxes of soil and place them in a green-house, or 
at a window until their flow'ering is over. After the 
bulbs are dry, wrap them in papers, with labels, 
and store them where they will not freeze. Tube¬ 
roses if expected to bloom must not be exposed to 
a temperature below' fifty degrees. Take up Gan¬ 
nas before their foliage is killed. 
Green>house and Window Plants. 
If the advice of former months has been fol- 
low'ed, the green-house will be ready to receive 
plants at any time. Indeed those from tropical 
countries should go in before cool nights check 
their growth, while nearly hardy plants, like 
Camellias and Azaleas, may remain out until frost 
without injury. Plants that were turned out of 
their pots into the border, are sometimes so over¬ 
grown as to not be worth taKing up. If the roots 
of such plants must be cut back severely in order 
to pot them, the tops should be cut away in pro¬ 
portion. Before the plants are taken in, see that 
they are free from insects. Annuals may be used 
for the decoration of the green-house and window 
gardens, and are especially useful for cutting. The 
first sow'ing may be made now, and later at inter¬ 
vals of a month. Sweet Alyssum, Candytuft 
(white and crimson), and Mignonette are among the 
most popular and useful. 
A number of hardy plants force very readily and 
bloom freely in winter. The Bleeding Heart 
(Dicentra spectabilis), forces easily, Astilbe Japonica , 
often incorrectly called Spircea, will give an 
abundance of its pure white panicles. We have 
forced these most successfully in the window. 
Deutzia gracilis is a capital small shrub to force, as 
is Spircea Thunbergii. All plants for forcing should 
be taken up early, potted, and placed in a frame or 
a cool cellar until January, when they may be 
given heat and light. Bulbs for forcing should be 
potted as early as possible, in a rich soil made open 
by adding a plenty of sand. If the pots can not 
be placed in a cool cellar, or a frame, set them 
under the shelter of a fence, covering them with 
coal ashes. Climbing vines add much to the at¬ 
tractiveness of a window garden ; among the best 
is the European Ivy. Among annuals, Tropaeo- 
lums are useful, both the gay colored sorts and the 
quaint Canary-bird Flower ( Tropceolum peregri- 
7ium.) Seeds of these should be sown at once. 
Hanging baskets for the green-house and win¬ 
dow, if not already filled, should be made ready 
without delay. Ivy twined about the basket and 
its handles is most useful, and for trailing over the 
edges, use Tradescantia repens , and the common 
“ Creeping Charlie ” or “Jenny,” it is known by 
both names, its botanical name being Lgsimachia 
nummularia. Though a perfectly hardy plant, it 
does well in the house, if the latter be not too warm. 
