48 
HOUSE & GARDEN 
Conducted by 
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. 
tion in order to produce a crop. A packet of ten 
seeds costs a quarter, but as eight or ten vines 
will be ample for the average home greenhouse, 
this is no very serious objection. Of the Ameri¬ 
can varieties, Davis Perfect has done the best 
for me. Blenheim Orange and Windsor are 
among the best of the forcing melons. 
severe pruning back given when they were brought 
in, will be showing color again by this time, and 
the best should be selected, repotted if they need 
it, or "fed" in the old pots, and given plenty of 
light and moisture to produce vigorous growth 
for next month’s supply of cuttings. The nearer 
they can be kept to the glass, the less likely is 
the new growth to be “drawn,” and the better 
will be the plants obtained from them. 
It is a good plan also to go over the tender 
bulbs, stored under benches or elsewhere, and be 
sure that they are keeping all right. A few bad 
bulbs in a pile will spoil many others; and often 
in the hurry of geting them in, roots that are 
cut or bruised, or otherwise not sound, are not 
noticed. If any are beginning to sprout prema¬ 
turely, remove them to a drier or a cooler place. 
The early forcing bulbs, hyacinths, narcissi, 
etc., should be in full swing now. A few of the 
earliest may be beginning to show color, and 
these can be hurried along a little with extra 
heat and copious watering. But a rather slow, 
cool growth during the earlier stages of devel¬ 
opment, will give better flowers in the end. The 
large late varieties of tulips, the double sorts, 
and the trumpet and polyanthus narcissi, do much 
better with a longer period for root development 
before being brought into heat. Be sure to keep 
bulbs just brought in, out of the full light at 
first. Put them under a bench or in a northern 
exposure, with moderate temperature and water¬ 
ing; otherwise the flowers will open irregularly 
and with practically no stems. 
Forcing Vegetable Roots 
Just before the ground freezes hard, roots of 
asparagus, rhubarb and sea-kale should be taken 
up and stored where they may be accessible, but 
preferably where they will freeze. Or roots may 
be bought for the purpose at a reasonable price 
from your seedsman. Later bring them into mod¬ 
erate heat. Very old manure or compost, which 
will remain moist, should be used under the roots 
which are “set out” just deep enough to cover 
them and hold them in position. Rhubarb and 
asparagus may be given full light, but it is gen¬ 
erally much more convenient to put them under 
a bench, and if they are preferred blanched, may 
be kept dark. The sea-kale requires blanching 
and must be grown dark, or the individual plants 
covered, large flower pots answering the pur¬ 
pose. Whitloof chicory or French endive, which 
has become so popular as a winter salad during 
the last few years, is produced by planting the 
roots in a deep trench and covering with light 
soil or old compost about 8" deep. This keeps 
the leaves together and blanched as they grow. 
Under a bench, with the hot water pipes over 
head, makes a good position for them. 
Winter Work in the Greenhouse 
W ORK in the greenhouse, or the conserva¬ 
tory, will be in full swing now. During 
this month the gardener under glass has 
to combat at once the shortest days of the year, 
low temperature and often dull weather. The re¬ 
sult is that much artificial heat has to be used, 
with its consequent danger to the health of plants 
unless every precaution is taken to safeguard 
them. In the greenhouse, tobacco dust strewn 
between plants in the bench or about the surface 
of pots, and tobacco dust or nicotine-paper fumi¬ 
gation every week or so, will generally prevent 
most of the insects likely to do damage from 
getting a start. In the house and the living-room 
conservatory, where these methods may be ob¬ 
jectionable, a thorough spraying with aphine or 
some other nicotine preparation, immediately 
upon the first sign of trouble, will keep them 
under control. The likelihood of damage from 
either diseases or insects is in inverse ratio to 
the general health and vitality of the plants; 
therefore, watering and especially ventilation 
should be regularly attended to. During mid¬ 
winter it is easy to over water; let the soil begin 
to get quite dry on the surface before using hose 
or watering-can. Ventilating, on the other hand, 
when it is not required to lower the tempera¬ 
ture of the greenhouse or room, is apt to be neg¬ 
lected. Try to make it a rule to give some air 
every day, even if it runs the temperature down 
a little temporarily. 
Succession Planting 
Succession plantings should be kept up, as 
growth, though rather slow now, will become 
more rapid again after the turn of the year. 
Plant lettuce, radishes, beans, cauliflower, and, 
if there is space, beets and carrots; the radishes 
every week, lettuce and beans every fortnight, 
and one planting of each of the others. Rapid 
Red and Rapid Forcing are good varieties of 
radish. Hothouse, Belmont, Big Boston and May 
King are all good varieties of lettuce of the head 
type for forcing; it is easier to succeed with 
Grand Rapids, however, and as it grows under 
glass it is as tender and brittle as the best head 
lettuce. Chantenay, Nantes and French Forcing 
of the carrots, and Electric and Early Model 
beets, are good forcing varieties. Snowball cauli¬ 
flower, which is offered under a dozen different 
names, is unsurpassed for indoor work. Any of 
the early dwarf beans may be grown inside, but 
the wax sorts are preferable. 
During the latter part of this month, tomatoes, 
cucumbers and melons should be started. The 
object is to have the plants strong and well de¬ 
veloped to transplant to space left vacant by the 
earlier things, as soon as the latter are through. 
All of these require a higher temperature than 
the vegetables mentioned above. It is easy to 
give this as the days become longer and brighter, 
when they are transplanted; but in starting them 
it is well to have a warm corner or a small in¬ 
side frame where they may be given extra heat — 
a night temperature of 60° being about right 
Tomatoes may be sown in a small flat or a seed 
pan, but as the others are difficult to transplant, 
it is better to sow several seeds in a medium¬ 
sized pot filled with very light, rich compost, and 
then thin to a single plant and repot as they grow. 
The tomatoes should be pricked off into small 
pots as soon as large enough, and transferred 
to fours and again to sixes as they develop. Give 
the growing plants of all these things plenty of 
room; they are especially subject to attack by 
the prenicious white fly, and high temperature 
and crowding increase this danger. Bonny Best 
makes a good forcing tomato, but Comet, in my 
own experience, has always set a much higher 
percentage of fruits. The latter is of the “clus¬ 
ter” type, the individual fruits being small but 
perfectly formed, smooth as a peach, and ripen¬ 
ing uniformly to a dark rich red, ideal for salads. 
Only the forcing types of cucumbers and melons 
should be used. Of the former, the English sorts, 
Rollinson’s Telegraph, Rockford’s Market, Lock- 
ie’s Perfection, etc., have the advantage of not 
requiring to be fertilized by bees or hand pollina- 
The Bedding Plants 
Another greenhouse task for this month is to 
go over the stock plants of the various tender 
bedding flowers, such as geraniums, heliotrope, 
salvias, begonias, etc. Most of them, after the 
Send to your flower-loving friend a box of bulbs 
this Christmas. He will have flowers in his room 
for Easter 
Winter Window Boxes 
Too frequently, after the flowers and vines 
have been removed for the winter months from 
the outside window boxes, the latter are left 
bare and desolate until the following spring. 
Why not make them beautiful for the winter? 
There are a number of hardy plants which may 
be used for this purpose in all but the most 
severe climates. Bay trees, in many places, are 
available for this work, as the window boxes 
are naturally placed in a sheltered position. 
These cost from $3 up for good specimens, ac¬ 
cording to size. Other evergreens suitable for 
window box planting, in small sizes, are as fol¬ 
lows : Douglas fir, dark green; White spruce, 
greyish green; Norway spruce, dark green; Aus¬ 
trian pine, dark green; Mugho pine, deep green; 
Scotch pine, bluish green; White pine, lustrous 
dark green ; Norway pine, shining green. These, 
ranging in height from 6" to 24", cost from 50 
cents to $1 each. Six or a dozen, assorted and 
gracefully arranged, will make a good display 
in a window box of considerable size. Ordered 
from your nurseryman, they will come carefully 
packed and ready to put in place with little 
trouble. Evergreens and boxwoods in tubs, cost¬ 
ing from $5 to $15 or more a pair, according to 
size and variety, are equally attractive for porch 
and veranda decoration. 
