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HO USE & GARDEN 
T 
Winter Protection 
T HE secret of succesful winter protection is 
to keep the ground frozen. The mulch it¬ 
self, however, should be of such a nature 
that it will not freeze, but will remain dry and 
porous, freely admitting air and allowing rain 
and snow to pass through it without making a 
wet, soggy mass. Manure, if it is of the right 
kind, is the best thing for mulching hardy borders, 
bulb beds, and for use in other places where it 
does not come into contact with any tender, new 
growth, or would be in itself objectionable. It 
should be either light and dry, with a good per¬ 
centage of straw or bedding, or so thoroughly 
decomposed that it is fine and spongy. Any that 
is wet or lumpy must never be used for this pur¬ 
pose. 
In many places it is easier to get leaves or 
marsh hay than the right kind of manure. These 
make an excellent mulch, the kind recommended 
by nature. If possible, only leaves of hard wood, 
such as maple or oak, should be used; the sorts 
which decay rapidly such as birch or alder, may 
become water soaked and freeze, causing a great 
deal of damage. For many purposes evergreen 
boughs laid flat on the ground over pansies or 
hardy perennials will answer and are easy to 
apply. Protection is sometimes given by cover¬ 
ing or tying down the plants to be safe-guarded; 
this may be done with roses, raspberries, or with 
any plants of such a nature that they can be bent 
down to the ground without injury; they may 
be held in place with earth or pegged down and 
covered with the regular mulch, if soil is used, 
great care should be taken not to put it on until 
the beginning of continued freezing weather and 
also to remove it early in the spring, before 
growth starts. The best mulch for strawberries 
is clean meadow or marsh hay. Give a final cul¬ 
tivation and in cleaning be sure to get all the 
weeds and grass out before putting the mulch 
on. Three inches over and between the rows 
will be sufficient in most localities. Marsh hay 
makes a good mulch for the flower beds and 
borders where manure and leaves cannot be 
readily obtained. Grain straw, which is usually 
more expensive, is not so good for this purpose. 
In applying any mulch, let the ground freeze 
first for an inch or so, but be sure to get your 
material ready ahead of time. Large empty bran 
sacks may be bought for a few cents apiece and 
these are excellent for picking up and storing 
your leaves until you are ready to use them. 
The neatest way of holding leaves in place where 
they are to be used is to put a temporary fence 
of 12" chicken wire, supported by small stakes, 
around the bed or border to be covered; or 
evergreen boughs or boards may be used to hold 
the leaves in place until they become settled. 
Bedding Plants To Winter Over 
There are a number of plants which, though 
naturally deciduous or dormant, are not quite 
hardy enough to survive our northern winters, 
even with protection. Among these are the ten¬ 
derer hydrangeas and standard roses, century 
plants, fig trees, oleanders, etc. A clean, not too 
light cellar, preferably shut off from the heating 
plant, is a good place in which to keep them. 
Only enough water should be given them to keep 
the soil from drying out. Fresh air should be 
given occasionally. A convenient way of hand¬ 
ling standard roses is to dig a trench in a thor¬ 
oughly drained place, line it with straw, lay the 
plants down in it and cover them over with 
boards, soil and manure. Roses for wintering 
in the cellar may be handled easily by putting a 
little soil in the bottom of regular cracker boxes. 
Just before the ground freezes take up the plants, 
prune off the long tops sufficiently to make them 
convenient to handle, and place several with all 
the soil that will adhere to the roots in each 
box. Small cleats nailed to both ends of the 
boxes or small holes cut out with a keyhole saw 
will make them much easier to handle. They 
should be set out as early as possible in the 
spring. 
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. 
Keep Up the Insect Campaign 
Attack your insect enemies in their winter 
quarters. Two minutes spent in destroying a 
cocoon or mass of eggs now will save you several 
hours of spraying or dusting next summer. One 
of the most disagreeable and destructive of these 
is the tent caterpillar. Egg masses may be found 
on the terminal twigs of apple, wild cherry, or 
other trees where they have been seen, and the 
cocoons may be readily distinguished, if one 
keeps an eye open for them, under old bags or 
boxes on the walls of out-buildings, or any other 
place that affords a partial shelter. 
As soon as the harvesting is all done, make the 
final clean-up of the garden, and before putting 
on the mulch cut off the old tops of perennials, 
rake them up and burn them. Every little bit of 
rubbish is a menace; old flats, tomato poles, berry 
baskets and other trash ordinarily burned in the 
spring had much better be cleaned up and burned 
now, rather than after they have safely harbored 
some pest through the winter. 
Get the Frames Ready for Winter 
Before hard freezing see to it that the frames, 
if made of board, are well banked up with earth 
or manure for the winter. Sash and shutters, of 
course, should all be in good repair. Any 
cracked or loose lights of glass had better be 
attended to now. Even the frames that are not 
intended for winter had better be prepared now. 
Dig in a good dressing of well rotted manure— 
3" deep all over the surface is not too 
much. Another good plan is to secure your 
manure now and stack it in an empty frame dur¬ 
ing the winter. This will prevent the ground in 
the frame from freezing so that you can use it 
as soon as possible in the spring without wait¬ 
ing for it to thaw out; and the manure, when 
removed, will be thoroughly decomposed and fine, 
in perfect condition for use for the greenhouse 
or the hotbed. 
Where the winters are moderate or where extra 
protection can be given with double glass sash, 
the last planting of lettuce, radish, spinach, etc., 
can be made now. It is better to resurface the 
soil of the bed even if only for 2" or 3" 
deep, with fresh soil from the gardens. If 
any of the summer crops in the frames have 
been infested with insects, a good fumigation 
with tobacco dust or paper before planting the 
winter crops will be advisable. 
The Work Indoors 
It is at this time of the year’s work that the 
great advantages of a small, practical greenhouse 
become evident; the gardening work may go 
right on in spite of freezing weather and storms 
which make it impossible to get at the frames. 
A small sowing of lettuce should be made at 
least every second week, and a few radish put 
in every week. It is well to have definite days 
for these tasks or they are likely to be overlooked. 
If the house has a warmer section, melons and 
tomatoes can be grown now, but in the single 
house in which cooler-blooded vegetables and a 
general collection of flowers are growing, it is not 
wise to attempt these things until spring, when the 
cooler things have been moved out and the house 
has to be kept hot for the tomatoes, peppers, egg¬ 
plant, etc. Strawberries, potted up before the 
ground freezes and then sunk in the frames to 
give them a rest for several weeks, may be 
brought into growth in a cool house, and will 
bear quite abundantly. Good strong crowns only 
should be selected and put into 5" or 6" pots. 
Flowers in the Greenhouse 
The earliest of the bulbs for winter blooming, 
put in pots or flats to make roots in August or 
September, should be brought in this month and 
put under a bench, or where they will be cool, 
for a few days until growth starts. Then give 
them more light and a little higher temperature. 
A last lot of bulbs may be potted up now and 
put into a pit or frame for spring flowers. They 
should be well protected from frost and care¬ 
fully tagged. Bulbs of oxalis, tuberous begonias, 
freesias and callas do not need this preliminary 
cold storage, but can be planted now and started 
directly in the greenhouse. Plants of any of these 
will give an abundance of bloom all through the 
spring months. 
Careful attention should be given to the sup¬ 
ports for carnations. Whatever system of sup¬ 
port is used, string, wires or stakes keep them 
growing straight; if once allowed to sprawl, they 
will become a hopeless tangle that cannot be 
straightened out without much loss and injury. 
To get the best blooms, you must disbud fre¬ 
quently. Watering with liquid manure should 
be done on the first sign of their beginning to 
“play out.” Keep the soil well cultivated; no 
amount of feeding will overcome the effects of a 
crusted soil. Watch every part of the green¬ 
house carefully for the first signs of any plant 
lice, red spider or other intruders. A regular 
fumigating with tobacco once a week is the best 
method of prevention — and ten minutes of pre¬ 
vention is worth two hours of cure. 
Chrysanthemums will be going through the crit¬ 
ical period of their development now; give them 
an abundance of water and air and watch out 
for the black aphis. If, in spite of precautions, 
he puts in an appearance, spray with some nico¬ 
tine solution and fumigate thoroughly a few 
days later. For the largest flowers only one 
bud on a plant is allowed to develop, but, per¬ 
sonally, I have always considered this a sacrifice 
of the natural grace and beauty of the chrysan¬ 
themum. 
