158 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ October, 
SUBURBAN GARDENING. 
f ~TOBER.—Tliat which gardeners have 
anxiously looked for, namely, a fine, 
warm, and dry late summer and 
autumn, has already been realised in part. As 
we write, the weather is all that could be de¬ 
sired, and eminently favourable to gardening 
operations. Owing to the prolonged wet 
weather, gardening work generally had fallen 
into arrear, and there is yet much need for open 
weather to get important work executed. 
Kitchen Garden. —The lifting of Potato 
crops is now a work of some importance. On 
the whole, there have been good crops of early 
Potatos, but main-crop and later varieties are 
thin in the yield, and much tainted with 
disease. Lifted Potatos are keeping badly. 
It is well to get up all crops fit for lifting, and 
when dry lay them out as thinly as possible 
in an open, cool place, and look over them 
occasionally. Lettuce and Cauliflower can be 
planted out in a warm situation in rich soil, 
to be covered with hand-glasses or cloches in bad 
weather. It is not in many suburban gardens 
that space can be afforded for these, but when 
it can be done both come in very handy in the 
winter and spring. Hoot crops are late, but if 
not already harvested, this work should be done 
without delay. Celery should be pushed on 
into growth as fast as possible, so as to be com¬ 
pletely earthed up before bad weather sets in. 
Now is a good time to get the garden tho¬ 
roughly cleaned over before winter. A fine 
autumn is the best time to do this. If time 
admits of its being done, any vacant plots of 
ground should be dug and thrown up roughly 
till wanted. 
Fruit Garden. —The gathering of fruit is 
now a leading operation in the fruit garden. 
It should be done in dry weather, and the fruit 
carefully handled. Morelia Cherries and Plums 
on walls, and Red Currants on walls or bushes, 
should be carefully covered up, for preserving 
from birds, &c., and be kept as dry as possible. 
Strawberry-beds should be well manured and 
slightly forked in fine weather ; planting can 
be done at any time this month. Those who 
contemplate planting should endeavour to 
obtain trees with plenty of fibrous roots, as 
these soon take hold of the new soil, if at all 
favourable for planting. Any one planting 
should endeavour to find out what sorts do best 
in the locality, and certainly not attempt to 
plant in the open any sorts that require to be 
placed against walls. Cuttings of Gooseberries 
and Currants may be placed in a convenient 
piece of ground now. Strawberries may still 
be planted, but it is getting late, and Rasp¬ 
berries should be trimmed, cutting away all 
the old canes, and removing such young suckers 
as may not be required for next year’s fruiting. 
Five or six canes are quite enough to leave on 
each stool. Hardy and Orchard Fruit-trees 
may be pruned towards the end of the month. 
Flower Garden. —If fine weather character¬ 
ises the month of October, many things will 
continue flowering all through it. The best 
thing the gardener can do is to keep the beds 
of the hardier plants as gay as possible; and 
with these, the lawn and grass walks. Any 
beds of tender plants can be cleared away and 
planted with Bulbs and Spring-flowering Plants. 
If the ground is poor, some rotten dung should 
be worked into it. It is best to clear away a 
bed,'dung and dig it, plant it, and finish it off, 
before another bed is touched. Calceolaria 
cuttings can be put into a cold frame during the 
month, simply keeping the frost from them. 
Shrubs can be planted, and Hedges clipped. 
Herbaceous Plants can be propagated by divi¬ 
sion of the roots. Hyacinths can be put into 
pots and glasses. To have them in perfection 
in the former, they should have a rich compost 
—say, one-third loam, one-third rotten dung, 
and one-third leaf-mould and sand. Tidips , 
Polyanthus Narcissi , and Crocuses may be 
similarly planted. The pots should be plunged 
in leaf-mould, ashes, or spent tan, covering 
them over about six inches deep. In about six 
weeks they will be well rooted, and may be 
removed to the greenhouse. 
Cold Frames. —These are now getting well 
filled with subjects for winter preservation. 
No time should be lost in dividing and potting 
hardy Primulas of all kinds, taking care not to 
overpot any. The pots should be well drained, 
and the soil made free by the addition of sand. 
All plants already potted should be gone over, 
the decaying leaves removed, the surface-soil 
stirred, and any worms that may have found a 
lodgment in the soil about the roots got rid of. 
If any plants have an unhealthy appearance, 
they should be turned out of pots, and if the 
soil has become soddened and sour, the plants 
should be repotted. As it is necessary to shut 
up the plants somewhat close in bad weather, 
green-fly will be certain to increase, and fumiga¬ 
tion should be resorted to. Air should be given 
on all occasions when possible, the more freely 
the better in fine weather, and the plants will 
be benefited by an occasional warm shower 
being allowed to fall upon them. 
Greenhouse. —Any plants, such as Camellias , 
Azaleas , Acacias , &c., which have been stand¬ 
ing out during the summer,- should now be 
housed under glass, but previous to removal, 
the drainage of the pots should be examined, 
and worms extracted from the soil, the pots 
also should be well cleansed and made tidy for 
the winter. Liliums that are going out of 
flower, and indeed anything of a hardy 
character, should be stood out of doors, for 
the foliage to ripen off, and then be placed 
