HOUSE AND GARDEN 
October, 1911 
235 
nate freezing and thawing. In 
November, after the first severe 
frosts will be time enough. Use 
leaves or rough manure to the 
depth of three to six inches, 
according to climate. Where 
severe winters are encountered 
they should be further protected 
with corn stalks, bog or pine 
boughs. For the smaller grow¬ 
ing sorts, such as the Teas, a few 
wooden stakes with twelve or 
eighteen-inch chicken wire sur¬ 
rounding the bed, and filled in 
with leaves held in place by 
boughs, is a very neat and effect¬ 
ive plan of mulching. 
Fall is the best time to prepare 
the new rose garden. The plants 
should not be set until spring, 
but they will take hold very much 
better in a fall prepared bed. Se¬ 
lect a well-drained spot in the 
lawn with good rich heavy loam, 
if possible. Dig out twenty-four 
inches deep, loosen up the soil 
below that, and fill in six inches 
with cobbles, clinkers or any 
good drainage material. Fill in 
with the best of the soil exca¬ 
vated, sods first, and mix with 
a heavy dressing of manure— 
cow manure being preferable— 
to within two inches or so of the 
surface level. Then add six 
inches of good clean loam. By 
spring this should have settled to an inch or two below the sur¬ 
face and should not be made higher if rain is depended upon for 
the water supply. The beds should not be more than five feet 
wide, to make care and cutting convenient. For the same reason 
long beds are preferable to large round ones. 
If the hardy perennials have been planted in a mixed border 
and properly selected, there will still be many blooming in Octo¬ 
ber, such as funkias, chrysanthemums, golden glow, Japanese 
anemonies (wind flowers) and other late stayers. So not much 
can be done until severe 
frosts have killed the soft 
growth, which is not us¬ 
ually until after the first 
of November. When the 
proper time arrives, cut 
the old stalks off to with¬ 
in several inches of the 
ground and burn. (It is 
not advisable to add them 
to the compost heap, as 
they are likely to contain 
disease germs or insect 
cocoons or eggs.) Do not 
cut off too close to the 
ground, as the stubs give 
the roots a chance to ripen 
off naturally, and also 
help to hold the litter¬ 
mulching in place during 
winter. 
If the bed has become 
Among the hardy evergreens the erica or heath is well worth a 
trial. Its delicate blossoms add to its foliage beauties 
The sumach is another member of the Rhus family that should be planted for 
the glorious effect it makes in the fall, when both leaf and fruit are flame-colored 
foul with weeds or grass, now 
is the time to clean it out—don’t 
wait till spring. 
After the ground has begun 
to freeze, put on the mulching 
—litter or rough strawy ma¬ 
nure to the depth of two or 
three inches. A heavier pro¬ 
tection is likely to cause prema¬ 
ture growth in the spring, re¬ 
sulting in injury from late 
frosts. If possible, put the 
mulching on when the ground 
is dry—a few warm days, and 
moisture covered in sometimes 
causes trouble from rotting. 
In removing this covering in the 
spring, it is best to do it grad¬ 
ually, so as not to leave any 
new growths which may have 
started exposed to unfavorable 
changes in temperature. Don't 
be tempted to begin taking it 
off the first warm day. Wait 
until some of the late frosts are 
over. 
There are several important 
lines of work to be looked after 
among the flowers in the fall if 
one would have the greatest 
success with them. In the first 
place, there are those which 
should be started for next year, 
some to be sown or planted 
where they are to bloom, others 
to start and winter over in 
frames. Two of the most important of the latter are the pansy 
and English daisy (Beilis Perennis). For best results these 
should be started in August, but if one can give them the protec¬ 
tion of a frame, and seeds are sown at once, good strong plants 
may be had before the ground freezes in a tight frame. They like 
cool weather, and will start more rapidly now than six weeks 
ago. The ever admirable and desirable hollyhocks may be sown 
in a frame and wintered there without transplanting. A selected 
list of annuals and of perennials will be found elsewhere in this 
number and the reader is 
referred thereto. 
Secondly, there are the 
flowers which should be 
propagated now, either to 
furnish new plants for 
next summer's garden, or 
plants for the winter win¬ 
dow garden inside the 
house. Most of the flow¬ 
er garden plants are in¬ 
creased readily by cut¬ 
tings, and it is nothing 
but ignorance of the sim¬ 
ple process of rooting 
them which causes the 
loss of so many choice 
flowers every autumn. 
How often, for instance, 
in a lot of seedling petu¬ 
nias, are there a few of ex- 
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