56 
House & Garden 
October THE GARDENER’S CALENDAR Tenth Month 
Large peony clumps 
may be dug up and 
divided now for re¬ 
planting 
Instead of dead 
leaves, excelsior or 
straiv may be used 
to cover the roots 
Burlap spread over 
the late beans will 
protect them from 
night frosts 
SUNDAY 
MONDAY 
TUESDAY 
| WEDNESDAY 
THURSDAY 
FRIDAY 
SATURDAY 
31. This is 
an excellent 
time to destroy 
any aphids 
which may be 
on the white 
pines and other 
evergreens. A 
thorough 
spraying with 
a strong to¬ 
bacco and soap 
mixture will 
free the trees 
from this 
pest. 
How fuse and 
mix,with what 
unfelt degrees. 
Clasped by the 
faint horizon’8 
langu id arms. 
Each into each, 
the hazy dis¬ 
tances ! 
—Loicell 
This Calendar of the gardener’s labors is 
aimed as a reminder for undertaking all his 
tasks in season. It is fitted to the latitude 
of the Middle States, but its service should 
be available for the whole country if it be 
remembered that for every one hundred 
miles north or south there is a difference 
of from five to seven days later or earlier 
in performing garden operations. The dates 
given are, of course, for an average season. 
1. If you 
have heated 
frames of any 
kind, why not 
use them for 
the forcing of 
quick maturing 
vegetables 
such as rad¬ 
ishes, spinach, 
beans, etc. 
They may be 
sown now, to 
yield crops 
during the win¬ 
ter months. 
2. Don’t ne¬ 
glect to get 
hyacinths and 
other early 
flowering types 
of bulbous 
plants boxed 
up or planted 
in pots pre¬ 
paratory to 
forcing them in 
the greenhouse. 
They should be 
buried out-of- 
doors to facili¬ 
tate rooting. 
3. Flower 
beds composed 
of tender plants 
can be made to 
last consider¬ 
ably longer by 
a slight cover¬ 
ing to protect 
them from 
frost. An old 
sheet or blan¬ 
ket of any kind, 
with a few sup¬ 
ports, may be 
used for this 
purpose. 
4. Don’t fail 
to make ar¬ 
rangements to 
pick the fruit 
and store it 
properly. The 
best method is 
to wrap each 
fruit separately 
in tissue paper, 
storing them in 
boxes in a dark, 
cool place. Be 
careful that 
they are not 
bruised. 
5. In case of 
a severe frost 
being threaten¬ 
ed, it is wise to 
cover the flow¬ 
ers of outdoor 
chrysanthe¬ 
mums with 
paper or other 
material at 
night. This 
will prevent 
their being 
damaged and 
add to their 
life. 
6. The first 
few days in the 
house are the 
critical period 
for indoor 
plants. Use 
great care in 
watering and 
keep the foliage 
sprayed or 
moistened. If 
the plant dries 
up too quickly, 
plunge the en¬ 
tire pot in a 
pail of water. 
7. Hay thrown 
over tender 
garden crops 
such as egg¬ 
plant, peppers, 
lettuce, will 
protect them 
from damage 
by light frosts. 
It must be re¬ 
moved, during 
the day and 
applied only at 
night. Do not 
use enough to 
break them. 
8. Dig up 
and store all 
tender bulbous 
plants such as 
gladioli, dah¬ 
lias. etc. These 
must be stored 
in sand or saw¬ 
dust in boxes 
and kept in a 
cool cellar. 
Dryness of 
packing ma¬ 
terial and sur¬ 
rounding air is 
essential. 
9. Cauliflow¬ 
er just starting 
to head up 
should be lifted 
very carefully 
and placed in 
frames where 
it will mature 
properly. The 
plants may also 
be planted in 
tubs and 
moved to a 
barn, garage or 
other frost¬ 
proof place. 
10. Celery 
must be kept 
hilled. Hold 
the stalks to¬ 
gether tightly 
with the hand 
to prevent dirt 
from getting 
down Into the 
heart. Keep 
hilling as they 
grow, since it is 
contact with 
the earth that 
gives celery 
flavor. 
11. Why not 
have some fruit 
trees around 
your garden, 
preferably on 
the north side? 
Or perhaps you 
have room for 
a small or¬ 
chard. This is 
the proper time 
to set the trees 
out, except the 
plums, cherries 
and other pit 
fruits. 
12. All shal¬ 
low rooting 
crops should be 
afforded the 
protection of 
a winter mulch 
of manure. 
This applies to 
strawberries, 
raspberries, 
blackberries, 
etc. With 
strawberries, 
manure should 
not touch the 
crown. 
13. Start 
mulching 
rhododendrons 
with leaves or 
manure. This 
is not only for 
the purpose of 
protecting the 
roots, but it 
will also furnish 
the plants with 
considerable 
nourishment. 
In the spring 
the leaves may 
be dug under. 
14. This is 
an excellent 
time to put 
into execution 
any changes in 
your garden, 
such as sod 
borders, dwarf 
hedges, trellises 
for fruit plants, 
changes in wa¬ 
tering systems, 
etc. A good 
map of ' the 
grounds will 
help. 
15. What 
about some 
bulbs for house 
forcing to 
bloom about 
Christmas 
time ? Paper 
whites, Pott- 
baker tulips, 
narcissus and 
various other 
early forcing 
bulbs may be 
grown success¬ 
fully in the 
house. 
16. T li e 
plantings of 
new trees may 
be attended to 
at this time. 
With the dry 
summers which 
have prevailed 
for the past 
few years, fall 
plantings have 
given better re- 
s ujl t s than 
where work of 
this sort was 
done in spring. 
17. S t o p 
feeding the 
chrysanthe¬ 
mums just as 
soon as the 
buds show col¬ 
or. It is a good 
practice to 
shade the 
greenhouse 
slightly. This 
will give con- 
siderably 
longer petals 
and larger 
flowers. 
18. Don’t 
neglect succes- 
sional sowing 
of the vege¬ 
table crops 
planted in the 
greenhouse. 
Lettuce, cauli¬ 
flower, spinach, 
radishes and 
beans require 
seeding about 
every two or 
three weeks in 
order to insure 
a supply. 
19. Carrots, 
beets and other 
root crops 
should be gath¬ 
ered and after 
the tops are re- 
moved they 
can be stored 
in t renches out- 
of-doors, or in 
a cool cellar. 
If stored out¬ 
doors, they 
should be pro¬ 
tected from the 
frost. 
20. Any 
changes in the 
flower borders 
should be 
made now, as 
the different 
types of flow¬ 
ers may be 
easily deter¬ 
mined at this 
time, even by 
the beginner. 
Old plants that 
are not yield¬ 
ing should be 
divided. 
21. Don’t 
neglect to 
mulch with 
manure or 
any loose ma¬ 
terial, all ever¬ 
greens that 
have been 
transplanted 
during the cur¬ 
rent year. The 
first winter is 
the critical 
period with 
these trees, and 
they need care. 
22. A few 
roots of pars¬ 
ley, plantted in 
pots and placed 
on the kitchen 
window-sill, 
will keep any 
ordinary 
family supplied 
with an abun¬ 
dance of this 
valuable green 
for garnishing 
and other kit- 
chen uses 
all winter. 
23. Start now 
to collect all 
the old! leaves, 
bringing them 
to one point. 
Do not ever 
burn them, be¬ 
cause when 
rotted, they 
are one of the 
best of all fer¬ 
tilizing ma¬ 
terial. Store 
them in some 
obscure, shel¬ 
tered corner. 
24. Shut off 
and drain all 
irrigating sys¬ 
tems and other 
exposed 
plumbing 
pipes, and 
empty concrete 
pools, etc. All 
faucets should 
be left open to 
assure proper 
drainagp of the 
piping. If 
they freeze 
they will burst. 
25. Don’t for¬ 
get to plant a 
few of the more 
hardy types of 
narcissus in 
some secluded 
corner where 
they may go 
on naturalizing 
and spreading 
by themselves. 
In a few years 
enormous 
masses are pos- 
s i b 1 e from 
smallplantings. 
26. Hydran¬ 
geas, bay trees 
and other deco¬ 
rat ive plants in 
tubs and boxes 
should be 
stored away for 
the winter. A 
good cellar 
which is not 
too warm and 
is fairly light 
makes a good 
storage place 
for this class of 
material. 
27. Potatoes 
and other root 
crops stored in 
the cellar 
should be 
looked over oc¬ 
casionally to 
prevent dam¬ 
age by decay. 
Remove all 
decayed or 
soft, spongy 
tubers, because 
they are sure 
to infect other 
sound ones. 
28. After the 
foliage falls all 
fruit trees and 
other decidu¬ 
ous trees sub¬ 
ject to the at¬ 
tacks of scale 
should be 
sprayed with 
any of the sol¬ 
uble oil mix¬ 
tures. Lilacs 
are especially 
susceptible to 
attacks of the 
scale pest. 
29. When 
husking corn 
any exception¬ 
ally fine ears 
should be set 
aside and saved 
for seed next 
year. The ears 
should be hung 
up in some dry 
place where the 
mice will not 
be able to reach 
them. Sus¬ 
pending by 
wire is good. 
30. Arrange¬ 
ments should 
be made to 
protect the 
roses, the best 
method being 
to do them up 
jn straw over¬ 
coats. In ad¬ 
dition to these, 
earth should be 
banked around 
the plants so as 
to throw the 
water away 
from them. 
/^hlAVVIN S a kinder funny thing—I mean, the pleasure a feller gits out of it. Nor I ain't thinkin’ 
o tobacker or beefsteak or gum, neither; but chawin' the things Old Ma Nature grows for ye to chaw. 
I mind as a boy how I used to pick the pinkish young leaves o' sassafras an’ eat 'em by the handful, / 
amt never got over the habit. There’s a kinder spicy flavor about ’em that’s mighty tasty, an’ yc can keep 
pickm an, chawtn , chawin’ an’ pickin’, ’long as ye’ve a mind to. ’Nother thing I like is wintergreen 
leaves, an them red berries the pa’tridges is so fond of. They keep ye more busy than the sassafras — 
that is, the leaves do; but wintergreen s a durn fine flavor an’ it sorter stays by ye. Some folks’ll chaw 
on dandelion leaves, too, but they re too. bitter for me, I like sour-grass a tot better, ’specially on a hot 
day when yer mouth gits kinder dry. Fin’lly, they’s chawin’ on a grass stem, a good, long, sweet stalk o’ 
timothy that ye pulls out o the load on the hay wagon as she passes ye by on the road. I like winter¬ 
green, an young birch tips, an ground-nut an’ all the rest; but for real, solid chawin' comfort, give me a 
timothy stem on a still July evenin' when the las' load’s on its way to the hayrick. 
— Old Doc Lemmon. 
Use plenty of dead 
leaves to protect the 
root crops stored 
outdoors 
M o s t long-hived 
perennials need to 
be divided every 
three or four years 
You can keep the 
parsley bed working 
if you protect with 
boards and leaves 
Dead, leaves make an excellent winter mulch for per¬ 
ennial beds. They should be raked up and stored under 
a shed until you are ready to use them 
The various hardy spring-blooming bulbs should be 
planted this month and next. Crocus, narcissi, lilies, 
scillas, tulips and snowdrops are among them 
Fall is the time to 
prune grapes, because 
the sap is down 
