Conducted by The Editor will be glad to answer subscriber’s queries pertaining to individual problems connected with the 
F. F. Rockwell garden and grounds. When a direct personal reply is desired please enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope 
October 
O-DAY the garden is in the height of 
its glory; the geraniums were never 
brighter, the begonias have become a 
miniature forest, the salvias are lines and 
circles of fire amid the somber colors of 
late autumn. 
To-night — who knows — winter may 
fling the first line of his advance guard 
across the land, and tomorrow of all sum¬ 
mer’s widespread armies there will be left 
only black ruin. 
And what have you done to provide 
against these disasters, to protect at least 
a few of your garden favorites from the 
universal destruction ? A few wholesome 
plants in the house, like minstrels in a 
besieged castle awaiting relief, will make 
the long attack of winter pass more quick¬ 
ly, and to the dreary days will lend a 
spirit of cheerfulness that cannot be 
duplicated. 
If it is worth the time and attention we 
spend on it to provide a flower gard-en in 
summer, when every corner and bank by 
the roadside offers its quota of blossoms, 
how much more worth while is it to make 
an effort at securing a flower garden in 
winter, when every green leaf is prized. 
There is another reason, not less im¬ 
portant than that of having flowers in 
winter, for saving some of the plants from 
Jack Frost. We want a supply for next 
summer’s flower garden, and not only for 
economy’s sake but also to be sure of 
Take the cutting off clean—preferably below 
a joint. Remove the leaves from the lower 
half 
keeping specimens of our favorite plants 
we must propagate them ourselves. Es¬ 
pecially is this true of such as are raised 
from seeds — petunias, snapdragons and 
many others having beautiful unnamed 
mixed hybrids. 
Save Part of the Flower Garden 
TIERE are two distinct ways of car¬ 
rying plants over. In some cases 
the plants themselves can be saved—al¬ 
though as a rule new plants give better 
results — or you can root cuttings of the 
old plants, and thus make them over into 
new ones. In some instances the old 
plants are saved in order to furnish mate¬ 
rial for cuttings early in the spring. 
Where this is done the plants are usually 
just carried through the winter in an al¬ 
most dormant condition and started into 
growth by giving more warmth and mois¬ 
ture, in January or February. 
Simple as it may seem to dig a plant 
up out of the garden, put it into a pot, and 
bring it into the house, not one plant out 
of fifty so treated, in the ordinary way, 
will survive. In the first place, it is im¬ 
possible to take up a plant so growing 
without badly mutilating its roots — no 
matter how careful one may be, many of 
them will be broken and bruised. The 
plants at the end of a summer’s season of 
blooming are more or less ripe and woody 
—there is not much active new growth— 
which is a very unfavorable condition for 
handling and potting. And in addition to 
this, the environment indoors is usually 
much less favorable than that from which 
the plants are taken. In connection with 
the shock of moving, it usually proves 
fatal. 
If you have garden plants you desire 
to save, take every precaution you can. In 
the first place begin operations as early 
as possible—the longer the time between 
taking the plant up and bringing it inside 
the better. 
Make a clean, deep cut around each 
plant with a knife or a sharp spade, leav¬ 
ing a ball of earth about the size of the 
pot in which it is to go, or a little larger, 
as some of the earth will probably get 
knocked off in the process. If the earth 
is dry, get it into good condition by water¬ 
ing thoroughly for several days in suc¬ 
cession. Cut the top of the plant hack 
severely. Do not let buds and flowers 
tempt you to try to save it all, or most 
likely you will loose it all. Some soft- 
wooded plants, like petunias, should be 
almost entirely cut away, leaving-' only the 
stubs six or eight inches long. Geraniums 
and other stronger wooded plants should 
be cut back one-third to one-half. If the 
weather permits, leave the plants in the 
soil for several days after this pruning of 
roots and branches. Then take them up 
with as little pulling as possible; it is al¬ 
ways better to cut roots off clean than to 
pull them out. Pot the plants up, using 
soil such as is recommended below for re¬ 
potting cuttings, and see that it is packed 
firmly into the pot. Give a thorough 
soaking, and put them in the shade — under 
a tree or on a corner of the veranda — 
for several days. Within a week or so 
they should be sending up new growths, 
and emitting new white rootlets. Keep 
them outside as long as possible without 
risk of freezing, and when you do take 
them in, be sure to give all the air possible 
during mild days. By taking pains many 
of your favorites in the flower garden can 
be saved. 
How to Take Cuttings 
TIERE will be many plants, however, 
too big to take up, or in excess of 
the number one has room for. These 
When first potted the little plants may be 
close together, but in a week or two they 
will need to be spaced 
( 244 ) 
