64 
House & Garden 
October THE GARDENER’S CALENDAR Tenth Month 
Good-sized trees for 
transplanting shoidd 
have their root balls 
enclosed in burlap 
Burlap or some 
other rough cloth 
will avert danger 
from light frost 
Plant plenty of nar¬ 
cissus bulbs this fall. 
There are many 
splendid varieties 
SUNDAY 
MONDAY 
TUESDAY 
WEDNESDAY 
THURSDAY 
FRIDAY 
SATURDAY 
30. This Is 
a n excellent 
time to destroy 
any aphid s 
which may be 
on the white 
pines and other 
evergreens. A 
thorough 
spraying with 
a strong to¬ 
bacco and soap 
mixture will 
free the tx'ees 
from this 
pest. 
31. Arrange¬ 
ments should 
be made to 
protect tlie 
roses, the best 
method being 
to do them up 
in straw over¬ 
coats. In ad¬ 
dition to these, 
earth should be 
banked around 
the plants so as 
to throw the 
water away 
from them. 
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. 
The sweet , calm 
sunshine of 
October now 
Warms the low 
spot ; upon its 
grassy mould 
The purple oak 
leaf falls; the 
birchen bough 
Drops its 
bright spoil 
like arrow¬ 
heads of gold. 
— Bryant. 
1. 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 
thegreenhouse. 
They should be 
buried out-of- 
doors to facili¬ 
tate rooting. 
2. 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 
duringthe win¬ 
ter months. 
3. 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. 
4. 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. 
5. 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. 
6. 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. 
7. 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. 
8. 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. 
9. 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. 
10. 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. 
11. 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. 
12. 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. 
13. 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. 
14. 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. 
15. The 
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- 
sults than 
where work of 
this sort was 
done in spring. 
16. 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. 
17. 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. 
18. Stop 
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- 
s i d e r a b 1 y 
longer petals 
and larger 
flowers. 
19. 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. 
20. Carrots, 
beets and other 
root crops 
should be gath¬ 
ered and after 
the tops are re- 
moved they 
can be stored 
in trenches out- 
of-doors, or in 
a cool cellar. 
If stored out¬ 
doors, they 
should be pro¬ 
tected lrom the 
frost. 
21. A few 
roots of pars¬ 
ley, planted 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. 
22. 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. 
23. 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 
drainage of the 
piping. If 
they freeze 
they will burst. 
24. 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¬ 
terials. Store 
them in some 
obscure, shel¬ 
tered corner. 
25. Hydran¬ 
geas, bay trees 
and other deco¬ 
rative 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. 
26. 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 
small plantings 
27. 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. 
28. 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. 
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. 
r ! v t anybody what’s been born an* raised in one, an apple orchard comes party near as close to the heart 
/ as a dog, a house, cr the crick where he used to fish as a kid. Thinkin’ back on it, it stands out in his 
mem’ry ’hove cv’rythin’ else, ’specially the way it looked in the spring an’ fall. 
The spring orchard’s all pink an’ white, soft an’ warm an’ full o’ bees an’ bird songs. The whole feel 
of it’s young, but in the fall it’s sorter middle-aged an’ steady, like. ’Stead o’ tender, delicate flowers, 
there's big, solid fruit. The pale green leaves are darker, an’ when ye feel of ’em they’re stiff an’ kinder 
tough. No bird songs, no buzzin’ o’ bees — jus’ fat, quiet ripeness. 
I like to * loaf ’round the orchard of an October mornin’, feelin’ in the long grass fer the big, rich 
Baldwins' an’ Pippins. What a cool, fruity smell ev’rythin’ has, a sorter mixture o’ fallen leaves an’ cider 
an’ dryin’ frost! A breeze stirs the leaves, an’ here, there an’ ev’rywhere ye hear more apples failin ’— 
thump, thumpthump—like they ivas jus’ too meller with juice to hang on any longer. Sad, ye say, to 
think that their year is over? No, not a bit—there ain’t no comfortin’er sound in the world than a big, 
ripe apple droppm’ into the grass. Old Doc Lemmon. 
Late vegetables sub¬ 
ject to frost injury 
can often be moved 
into cold-frames 
Break off the tops 
of the root crops be¬ 
fore storing in 
trench or cellar 
Tomatoes picked 
green and put away 
in dry excelsior will 
ripen weeks later 
The Poet’s narcissus is one of the best for 
naturalizing. Bulbs planted this month will 
yield abundant bloom next spring 
Root division and replanting of the peren¬ 
nials that have outgrown their sites is one 
of October’s important garden activities 
Hardy chrysanthemums deserve a leading 
place in the fall-blooming garden. Details 
about them are given in the article on page 62 
