50 
HO USE & GARDEN 
O NE of the most important things to realize 
now is that it is your last opportunity to 
prevent being overwhelmed with work next 
spring. Anything that can be done now to save 
the precious hours of next April should be done. 
Every hour you can spare from your regular fall 
work should be so employed. The article and 
planting table, on pages 29, 30, 31, take up in de¬ 
tail the things which can be planted now rather 
than put off until next spring. Any constructive 
work, such as new coldframes, a new tool-shed, 
sash to be glazed or repaired, or cloth sash to 
be made, the general cleaning up of the place, 
the making of flats, gathering of materials for 
next spring’s work, should all be done before 
freezing weather. 
Taking Up Summer Bulbs 
One of the early fall jobs which should be at¬ 
tended to promptly is the taking up of the summer 
bulbs, which have to be wintered over and set out 
again next spring. Of these the caladiums are 
the most tender, and should be taken up even 
before early frosts blacken their foliage. Store 
them in a safe place and let them dry out gradu¬ 
ally. A good way is to lift them with all the soil 
which will adhere to them, and most of the tops, 
and pack them in a deep frame which can be 
covered when frost threatens. After they have 
dried thoroughly, store them in a warm room or 
under a greenhouse bench, where the temperature 
will not go much below 50°, covering them 
with sand or soil. Callas should be dried off in a 
similar way,. with a rest of two or three months 
before starting in to growth again. Begonias, 
after the tops have been killed by frost, should 
be dried out gradually, first cutting away the tops, 
and stored in sawdust or sand. Dahlias and 
cannas are a little more hardy and may be left 
until their appearance has been spoiled, when 
their tops should be cut off some 6" or so 
above the roots, the latter taken up and placed 
under cover, or where they can be protected on 
cold nights, to dry thoroughly before storing. 
The roots of either will keep well in any good 
cellar or room where you keep potatoes. Gladioli 
will stand considerable cold, but should be taken 
up at the first opportunity. Lift them carefully, 
saving all the small bulblets that have formed 
around the mother bulbs, and putting them with 
the soil that sticks to them. The large bulbs, 
with an inch or two of the tops left—unless they 
have matured enough to have dropped off—should 
be thoroughly dried and then packed away in 
flats, each variety carefully labeled, in any good 
dry place safe from freezing. 
Most dahlias and other things which cannot be 
saved, may be protected for a couple of weeks by 
covering with newspapers or sheets against the 
first frost. But the plants which are to be saved 
for the window garden should be taken up and 
made ready. Any which have not been potted 
up, as they should have been last month, so that 
they will get over this shock before having to 
undergo the further one of being taken indoors, 
should be attended to immediately. It is always 
best to make the shift as gradual as possible. It 
is a good thing to pick out a place on the veranda 
where they can be put temporarily for a week or 
two and covered on the cold nights before put¬ 
ting them into their permanent winter quarters. 
After they are moved indoors, all the air possible 
should be given at first, until they gradually be¬ 
come accustomed to their new conditions. Plants 
are more or less subject to injury from the sud¬ 
den change than are animals or humans. Plants 
that are left outdoors to the eleventh hour should 
be cut back very severely when they are potted up. 
An effort to save the flowers and buds that they 
may chance to be bearing at the time is likely to 
result in the entire loss of the plant. After re¬ 
potting or taking the plants into the house very 
little water should be given for a week or so. 
Give your hardy perennial and shrubbery bord¬ 
ers their spring treatment this fall before the 
ground freezes. Dig in rotted manure and bone 
meal, and trim up the edges and get them into 
Conducted by F. F. Rockwell 
The Editor will be glad to answer subscribers' 
questions pertaining to individual problems con¬ 
nected with the gardens and the grounds. 
With inquiries send self-addressed stamped en¬ 
velope. 
first-class shape before putting on the winter 
mulch. 
Make a Vegetable Pit 
Few houses have cellars sufficiently large to ac¬ 
commodate both the heating plant and a supply 
of vegetables large enough to last through the 
winter and early spring, therefore, the more bulky 
things such as potatoes, cabbage, turnips and 
onions are not grown for a winter’s supply. A 
vegetable pit sufficiently large to store a full sup¬ 
ply of vegetables can be made with little more 
expense than that involved in the construction of 
a hotbed. If a steep bank is available, it may be 
built into that, the earth forming the back and 
part of the sides, otherwise, a small pit may be 
built in the form of a double hotbed, but with a 
much deeper pitch. The sides may be a foot or 
two above the ground, level, with the ridge three 
or four feet. By digging it out to a depth of two 
or three feet, and using the soil to bank up the 
sides, a storage space of considerable size may 
be had at very little expense. Old sashes covered 
with boards will make a good roof; a small door 
or a loose sash that may be used as a door should 
be left on the north side. On the approach of 
continued cold weather, the roof, which should 
be very strongly supported, must be covered with 
litter and earth sufficiently deep to make it frost¬ 
proof. Additional protection may be given in 
very cold weather by using a lamp or a small oil 
stove. A small ventilator should also be provided, 
which should also be stopped up when necessary 
with an old bag. 
Get the Greenhouse Started 
Do not wait until the last minute to look over 
the greenhouse. The pipes are likely to leak a 
little until the system has been in use for a day 
or two. For replacing panes of glass that have 
been broken or filling small holes, you will find 
that liquid putty, which can be bought of most 
seedsmen, is much more convenient and effective 
than the ordinary kind. In using it see that all 
wood is scraped clean and is perfectly dry. 
Where possible, it is best to renew the soil en¬ 
tirely in raised benches, and at least several inches 
of top soil in solid beds. The soil removed, if 
it has been free from plant diseases, may be added 
to the compost and will be available for use in 
the spring in transplanting vegetables. Get in full 
supplies of soil, leaf mould, sphagnum moss, and 
other things which you may require through the 
winter and the early spring. Attention to this 
matter now may save endless trouble next Febru¬ 
ary and March. A supply of manure suitable for 
use in pots and flats should be secured and placed 
in a neat compact pile in a convenient place. Get 
that which is several months old and contains a 
large percentage of horse manure; then, by next 
spring, it will be in an ideal condition for green¬ 
house use. Examine it carefully a week or two 
after stacking, to see that it is not heating too 
much; if it is, stack it over again, turning it 
inside out in the process. 
There are still many bright, hot days and ven¬ 
tilation must be carefully watched. Carnations, 
roses and other plants grown in soil will need 
frequent cultivation, just as they did outdoors, 
even though no weeds may apear. In watering, 
remember that the rule should be “Seldom but 
thorough, rather than a little and often.” There 
is little danger of overwatering plants in pots, but 
in solid beds great care must be exercised, be¬ 
cause if they are once too wet it is a very diffi¬ 
cult matter to get them thoroughly dried out 
again. Water may be applied as long as the 
ground will absorb it readily, but never until it 
stands upon the surface. Go over your potted 
plants an hour or so after watering, and knock 
one out here and there to see whether it is satu¬ 
rated clear to the bottom. It is very difficult to 
tell by mere guess work whether they have been 
wet clear down. On the approach of short days 
and dull weather, water only on bright mornings, 
so that the surface of the soil may dry off thor¬ 
oughly before evening. 
Do Your “Spring Cleaning” Now 
Nothing is so more unsightly than an abandoned 
garden — and nothing more dangerous to the 
health of next year’s garden. Every bit of refuse 
and weeds means a winter place of shelter for 
disease spores, insect eggs and weed seeds. Every 
bonfire which illumines the evenings of early 
spring is a blazing sign of work neglected the fall 
before. Have your bonfires now! Go over your 
garden from one end to the other and from side 
to side with a fine tooth-comb — or at least with 
an iron rake. Old bean stalks, late pea vines, cab¬ 
bage stumps, old weeds, tomato and bean poles, 
refuse from the root crops, fallen leaves—remove 
them all, rake up clean after them and burn. To¬ 
mato and bean poles, pea trellis and other things 
that are sound and worth saving should be stored 
away under cover for use next year. 
Get New Frames Ready 
Now is the best time to build your new cold- 
frames and hotbeds, or to repair your old ones, 
even if you do not expect to use them until next 
spring. One advantage will be that the work will 
be out of the way, and another will be that they 
will be ready to use two weeks or so earlier than 
you can possibly build them in the spring. With 
double glass sash, however, there is no reason for 
having them idle during the winter. In climates 
in which the thermometer does not go much be¬ 
low zero, double glass sash will be protection 
enough to keep lettuce, radishes and violets prac¬ 
tically through the season, the employment of sash 
or shutters being seldom necessary. 
