WINTERING ANNUALS OVER 
TO LENGTHEN THEIR BLOOM 
CHARLES OLIVE 
Minnesota 
^tftuJANY flowers grown as annuals can be made to give a 
much longer period of bloom if they are sown in autumn 
Mjfej and carried over the winter in a frame. The best time 
Jliill to sow them in the most northern states is, perhaps, 
during September. In any state, they should be sown early 
enough to give them a fairly good start before hard freezing 
starts. Of course, only the hardiest plants can be carried over 
the winter safely. Pansies, Dianthus, and Chrysanthemums 
are greatly benefited by frame wintering. Minnesota is a cold 
state, but we have carried these plants over winter, and the 
result has been larger and prettier flowers and a much longer 
period of bloom. 
The wintering frame or box that we are using is of the usual 
character; dimensions: 6 feet wide by 12 feet long, the length 
being divided into 4 sections, 3 feet wide each. It is 12 inches 
high above ground at the back and 8 inches in front, giving a 
good slant for sunshine. The frame is placed on a sheltered, 
well-drained piece of ground where the sun has a chance to strike 
it most of the day. Of course, the box is supplied with a hotbed 
sash, and the glass allows the sun during bright days to temper 
the air inside the frame. We cover the frame at night with 
mats or straw, thus retaining the heat produced by the sun 
during the day. As an added precaution we always keep the 
frame carefully banked with horse manure and earth. 
When one is wintering plants in a frame, the chief precaution 
which must be observed is that of proper ventilation. The 
object is to retain the plants in a healthy condition without 
adding to their growth. Therefore it is essential that the tem¬ 
perature of the frame at all times be kept at a degree which 
will not induce rapid growth. A high temperature and abun¬ 
dant humidity are sure to encourage growth more than is 
desirable. During sunny, mild weather we lift the sash daily 
to admit a sufficient amount of outside air to preserve the 
necessary low temperature about the leaves of the plants. 
Sometimes even in midwinter we find it wise to remove the 
sash for an hour or so at noon. We are careful, however, not to 
let the temperature of the frame become reduced late in the 
afternoon, for such treatment might lead to frost injury. We 
lift the sash only at midday, and water in the morning on warm, 
sunny days. Watering at night is dangerous, for it lets out the 
accumulated heated air, and the water itself tends to lower the 
temperature. Besides, dampening the leaves and confining them 
during the night may develop mildew and damping-off fungi. 
When the weather is mild, we cover the frame at night with 
jute mats, and during more severe weather we put a heavy 
covering of straw on top of the mats. As our winters are often 
extremely cold, we place the frame on a bed of fermenting horse 
manure about two and a half feet deep and wide enough to ex¬ 
tend several feet outside the frame. The manure is placed in a 
broad, flat heap and thoroughly compacted by tramping. 
About three inches of good garden loam is scattered uniformly 
over the area inclosed by the frame, after it has been placed on 
the manure heap. The sash is then put in position immedi¬ 
ately, and the bed allowed to heat up. It does so in three or 
four days. After the temperature has fallen to 85 degrees F. 
we begin planting the flowers. 
FACTS FOR READY REFERENCE 
—The presence of sorrel is an indication of sourness of the 
soil. 
—Sulphate of ammonia can be mixed with muriate of potash, 
sulphate of potash, kainite, dissolved bones, bonemeal, guano, 
or superphosphate. 
-—A satisfactory mixture cannot be made with kainite or 
muriate of potash and superphosphate or any other dissolved 
manure. 
-—The reason clay soil is not adapted to vegetation is be¬ 
cause it is too close and adhesive to permit a free passage of 
water or air to the roots of the plants. Besides it obstructs the 
expansion of the fibers of the root. 
-—We are told by the professors that during summer weather 
the compounds of nitrogen are broken up by quick growth of 
minute germs that exist in the soil, and the presence of these 
germs on the roots of Clover affords that plant an opportunity 
to gather a large amount of nitrogen. 
-—Fruit stains should always be removed as soon after they are 
made as is possible. If the stain is still moist, an application of 
boiling water will be sufficient. Peach stains and fruit stains 
whose coloring is red or purple are often set by soap, so they 
should always be removed before the article is washed. 
—Wood ashes contain on the average about 8 or 9 per cent, 
of potash and 2 per cent, of phosphoric acid. 
—The potash content of wood ashes will be lost if allowed 
to leach. They should be stored in a dry place. 
-—Nitrate of soda should not be mixed with any dissolved 
manure (such as dissolved guano or dissolved bones) nor with 
superphosphate. 
—Organic matter is the principal factor in restoring soil 
fertility. The depletion of our soils may be laid to the destruc¬ 
tion by cultivation and otherwise of this organic matter. 
-—The objection to a sandy soil for vegetation is because it 
consists of particles that have insufficient adhesion to each 
other, and consequently do not hold sufficient moisture for the 
nourishment of the plants. Too much solar heat passes to the 
roots. 
—Stable manure should not be buried deeply in the soil. It 
seeds the soil with bacteria that renders plant food already 
contained available. But these bacteria must have air, which is 
shut off from them when the manure is buried deeply. The 
land should first be broken, and then the manure harrowed into 
the surface. 
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