Conducted by The Editor will be glad to answer subscribers’ queries pertaining to individual problems connected with the 
F. F. Rockwell gardens and grounds. When a direct personal reply is desired please enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope 
October 
O the gardener the month of October 
brings both important duties and 
golden opportunities—and both of them, 
as a general rule, are neglected. 
In the first place it is time for him to 
have a general house-cleaning, to take 
care of all the odds and ends of things 
that should be done before winter weather, 
both to save what he can of this year's 
garden and to do everything possible 
toward the forwarding of next year's. In 
the second place, there is a number of 
things which positively will not get done 
in the spring, if they are postponed for 
another year, and that can be done now. 
It seems quite natural to let winter take 
possession of things without interruption. 
There is little encouragement for working 
outdoors when flowers are fading and 
leaves turning brown. 
There are some things, however, that 
must be done, such as the taking up of 
tender bulbs — caladiums, gladioli, tuber¬ 
ous begonias and any others which may 
have been left out until frosty weather. 
Of these, the caladiums are the tenderest. 
These, as well as callas and amaryllis, are 
usually handled in pots, and should be 
gradually dried off on the approach of 
cold weather. They ought not to be left 
for the early-frosts to cut down, as are the 
gladioli, tuberous begonias and cannas. 
These latter should be cut back to within 
six or eight inches of the soil and stored 
in a dry, sunny place to dry — if not under 
cover, then where old bags or some other 
effective covering can be thrown over 
them when a freezing night seems prob¬ 
able. 
Roses should not be mulched until next 
month, but if, as is frequently the case, 
long canes of new, soft growth have been 
sent up late in the season, they should be 
cut back about a third, or even a half if 
necessary, after growth ceases, to prevent 
them being whipped around and broken 
in the fall winds. This is also the best 
month for the making of a rose garden. 
The slight task of setting the plants had 
better be left until spring, especially if you 
are going to use started plants, which are 
the best. But the work of digging out and 
preparing the beds should be done now, so 
that they can have all winter in which to 
settle and mellow, and be in the best of 
shape to furnish a strong, healthy growth 
to the plants next year. Select a sheltered, 
well drained place, and dig out about two 
feet deep, spading up the subsoil below 
that unless it is sandy. Fill in with about 
half a foot of clinkers or broken brick or 
stone, and then put hack all the excavated 
soil that is good, sods near the bottom, 
mixing in a generous supply of heavy 
manure (cow manure is the best) and 
topping off with four or five inches of gar¬ 
den soil without manure; bring the sur¬ 
face a little above the ground level to al¬ 
low for settling. Good plants set out next 
spring in a bed prepared thus cannot fail 
to give an abundant supply of beautiful 
roses the first season, and practically all 
the work will be done now. 
Fall Planting of Shrubs 
HEN you say “plant shrubs this 
fall” to the average home gardener 
it does not convey any definite idea of ac¬ 
tion to his mind. Shrubs are a thing that 
he has a vague notion about as being be¬ 
yond his skill and his pocketbook. Noth¬ 
ing is further from the truth, and there 
are thousands of small suburban places, the 
appearance of which could be improved 
ioo per cent, if their owners could once 
be convinced that our numerous small 
shrubs, especially the flowering sorts, are 
not only beautiful, but easily cared for 
and above all inexpensive. Most of them 
can be bought in good growing size for 
twenty-five or fifty cents, and that is the 
end of the pocketbook part of it for years! 
They thrive in almost any soil and re¬ 
quire no care save a slight annual pruning 
and the maintenance of clear space about 
their roots. Even when absolutely neglected 
most of them will continue to grow and 
blossom for years, remaining objects of 
the greatest beauty around old house sites, 
for instance, whence all other flowers ex¬ 
cept possibly an old-fashioned rose have 
disappeared long ago. There is not space 
here to describe the various sorts — not to 
Many of our small shrubs, especially the flowering sorts, are not only beautiful but easily cared 
for and inexpensive. For best results, plant them in the fall 
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