48 
House & Garden 
October 
THE GARDENER’S CALENDAR Tenth Month 
Winter squash, when 
ripe, should be 
stored in a dry, well 
ventilated room 
When putting away 
tomatoes, see that 
they are not piled 
up on each other 
For the autumn 
clean-up in the gar¬ 
den a machete is a 
usejul implement 
SUNDAY 
MONDAY 
TUESDAY 
WEDNESDAY 
THURSDAY 
FRIDAY 
SATURDAY 
This Calendar of the garden¬ 
er’s labors is aimed as a re¬ 
minder 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 
garden operations. 
1. This is the 
time to think of 
winter hotbeds 
for carrying over 
all kinds of hardy 
vegetables. If 
they are given 
proper protec- 
tion, these 
frames can also 
be made active 
producers of food 
crops, as explain¬ 
ed in the last 
House & Garden. 
2. Barrels, 
boxes, tar paper 
and other pro¬ 
tecting materials 
should be placed 
near the egg¬ 
plants and pep¬ 
pers so that the 
plants can be 
readily protected 
in case of frost. 
Prevention is 
better than cure, 
as freezing will 
be fatal. 
3. Crops of 
beans that are 
maturing should 
be protected. 
Have a wire or 
thin strip of 
wood supported 
slightly above 
the row, and 
cover this with 
old burlap or 
building paper 
as a protection 
when frost is ex¬ 
pected. 
4. Sweet pota¬ 
toes should now 
he ready for dig¬ 
ging. This work 
should be done in 
the morning and 
the crop allowed 
to lie exposed to 
the sun all day. 
After this, store 
them in a warm 
place which, like 
all storage rooms 
must be dry and 
even temperature 
5. After the 
vines are touched 
with frost all 
fruit should be 
gathered from 
the tomatoes and 
graded according 
to the ripening 
period. Wrapped 
in paper and 
stored in boxes 
in t he cellar, they 
will be good for 
late fall and 
winter use. 
6. If the rasp¬ 
berry and other 
cane fruits have 
not been attend¬ 
ed to they should 
be tied up and 
the superfluous 
wood removed. 
It is well to re¬ 
member, too, 
that the heavy 
canes should be 
somewhat 
reduced before 
winter. 
7. Pumpkins 
and squash 
should be gather¬ 
ed and stored for 
winter. They 
may be placed In 
a box or barrel 
alongside a fur¬ 
nace or beside 
the chimney in 
the attic—they 
will decay if they 
are stored in a 
damp or cool 
place. 
8. The plant¬ 
ing of deciduous 
trees and shrubs 
should be com¬ 
pleted at the 
earliest moment 
possible. When 
setting, use water 
freely to settle 
the earth around 
the roots and to 
carry them 
through the 
winter with the 
least danger. 
1). This is the 
proper time to 
plant bulbs. 
Some types of 
these wonderful 
flowering plants 
can be found 
which are suit¬ 
able for every 
purpose, so that 
there is no excuse 
for a dull and 
colorless spring¬ 
time. See pages 
28, 29, and 30. 
10. W hat 
about some vege¬ 
tables in the 
greenhouse o r 
hotbed. Beans, 
cauliflower, let¬ 
tuce, beets, car¬ 
rots, radishes, 
etc., may all be 
sown now. Sow¬ 
ings made about 
three weeks apart 
assure a continu- 
ous supply 
in cold weather. 
11. Serai- 
hardy or tender 
plants such as 
bay trees, hy¬ 
drangeas, a c u - 
bias, etc., that 
are used for deco¬ 
rative effects 
aiound the 
grounds should 
now be stored in 
a frost-proof cel¬ 
lar to carry them 
through the 
winter. 
12. A few old 
sheets or pieces 
of burlap over 
the tops of your 
tender flowers 
will save them 
from early frosts. 
Dahlias, salvias, 
petunias, cannas, 
etc., are all sub¬ 
ject to mild freez¬ 
ing, but may be 
saved by light 
protection such 
as this. 
13. All fruit 
should be picked. 
Choice apples 
and pears keep 
best when 
wrapped sepa¬ 
rately in soft 
paper and stored 
in boxes in a 
cool, dry cellar. 
This work should 
never be at¬ 
tempted during 
wet spells. Have 
the fruit dry. 
14. Fruit 
houses that have 
finished their 
crops should be 
thoroughly 
cleaned by scrap¬ 
ing the canes and 
repainting the 
woodwork. If 
the canes are 
covered with 
burlap a mild 
freezing will 
benefit them 
somewhat. 
15. Herbs such 
as thyme, sweet 
Marjoram, sage, 
parsley, etc , 
should be cut 
and tied in small 
bundles and sus¬ 
pended from the 
ceiling in a dry 
room. They can 
also be placed 
in bags to dry, if 
you prefer, 
though the 
other is simpler 
16. Celery 
should now be 
hilled. Frost 
improves celery, 
but if it pene¬ 
trates to the 
young, tender 
shoots in the 
center of the 
beads it is apt to 
cause them to 
rot. Tying the 
shoots together 
is also helpful to 
this end. 
17. The tops 
should be cut 
from the aspara¬ 
gus bed and 
burned. All 
weeds should be 
removed at this 
time and a win¬ 
ter mulch of good 
manure applied. 
If this is done 
regularly the as¬ 
paragus bed 
won’t run down 
for years. 
18. All tender 
bulbous plants 
such as cannas, 
gladioli, caladi- 
ums, etc., should 
be lifted and 
stored for the 
winter. A dry, 
cool storage is 
desirable. Plac¬ 
ing the bulbs in 
sand will prevent 
them from shriv¬ 
eling. by exclud¬ 
ing the air. 
19. Geraniums 
that are to be 
carried over the 
winter should be 
lifted carefully 
and stored in 
boxes of moist 
sand. They may 
also be potted up 
for use in the 
house during the 
cold months to 
come. This work 
should be done 
at once. 
20. The tops 
of the perennials 
should now be 
cut down and 
burned. A scythe 
is one of the best 
tools for this pur¬ 
pose. Afterward 
the ground 
should be cleaned 
and well mulched 
with good ' ma¬ 
nure to prevent 
destructive freez¬ 
ing and thawing. 
21. Dahlia 
bulbs should be 
lifted and stored 
for winter. Care 
should be exer¬ 
cised to preserve 
the names of va¬ 
rieties by proper 
labels, attached 
now. Pack the 
bulbs in boxes of 
sand and place in 
sand and place 
them in the regu¬ 
lar root cellar. 
22. The straw¬ 
berry bed should 
be well cleaned 
and have a mulch 
of rotted manure 
applied. Some 
leave this mulch 
on until after 
fruiting time the 
following season, 
and then turn it 
under. Others 
prefer to remove 
it in the spring. 
23. Do not 
neglect to lime 
your garden this 
fall. Lime re¬ 
leases the natural 
food content of 
the soil, besides 
remedying any 
super - acidity 
which may exist. 
It is also a mild 
fertilizer and in¬ 
secticide. 11 is 
easily spread by 
hand. 
24. All hardy 
root crops such 
as Jerusalem 
artichoke, pars • 
nips, carrots, 
beets, etc. should 
be gathered and 
stored in trenches 
in the garden. A 
good plan is to 
use boards to 
separate the dif- 
feient sorts, set¬ 
ting them firmly 
to mevent ciush- 
ing. 
25. Root crops 
can also be stored 
in boxes of sand 
in the cellar. In 
this way they 
will be more 
readily accessible 
when wanted, 
but they do not 
retain their fresh¬ 
ness as well as 
when they are 
stored outside in 
a trench or root 
house. 
26. All water 
pipes should be 
shut off and 
drained before 
severe freezing. 
Urns and other 
plant receptacles 
should be over¬ 
turned so they 
will not hold 
water, and all 
marble work 
should be cov¬ 
ered with shel¬ 
tering hoards. 
27. This is a 
good time to 
prune the decidu¬ 
ous trees and 
shrubs that are 
used merely for 
foliage effects. 
Flowering 
shrubs, however, 
should not be 
touched at this 
time, lest their 
spring blooming 
be interfered 
with. 
28. All hardy 
fruits such as 
apples and pears, 
and particularly 
giapes, should be 
pruned at this 
time. This re¬ 
lieves the pres¬ 
sure during 
spring, when 
there are numer¬ 
ous other tasks 
to be attended 
to in a limited 
time. 
29. All new 
plantings, 
whether of 
shrubs, trees, 
bulbs or peren¬ 
nials, should he 
thoroughly 
mulched with 
well rotted ma¬ 
nure to assist 
them through 
the winter. This 
reduces the freez¬ 
ing and thawing 
to the minimum. 
30. Blackber¬ 
ries, raspberries 
and other shal¬ 
low rooted fruit¬ 
ing plants should 
be protected by a 
heavy winter 
mulch. Most of 
the complaints of 
winter killing can 
be overcome if 
this is attended 
to in time. Apply 
the mulch before 
freezing. 
31. Perennial 
borders that ha ve 
run down to the 
point where they 
cease to produce 
satisfactory re¬ 
sults should be 
dug again, using 
plenty of manure 
and coarse 
crushed bone, 
and dividing the 
extra large 
clumps when 
possible. 
What visionary tints the year puts 
on. 
When falling leaves falter through 
motionless air 
Or numbly cling and shiver to be 
gone! 
How shimmer the low flats and pas¬ 
tures bare, 
As with her nectar Hebe Autumn 
fills 
The bowl between me and those 
distant hills. 
And smiles and shakes abroad her 
misty , tremulous hair! 
—Lowell 
THERE’S a feller here in our village who’s the most all-fired unsuccessful fisherman I ever see. He’s got 
all kinds of tackle, but he s the One Original Jonah when it conies to bringin’ back the bacon. iVhy, he 
went fistin’ down to the ocean a while ago, an’ never got a nibble. Finally they let him cast into a big pen 
where they was hundreds of fish cooped up waitin’ to be shipped to market, an’ I’ll be ding-swissled if he 
hooked a blame one even there. He cast an’ cast an’ cast, but ’twasn’t no use. Trouble was, his bait was 
wrong he ought to have put more of his heart on the hook, ’long with the worms. Sure, I’m serious about 
that an the same principle applies to lots of other things, includin’ gardenin’. You can say what you like 
—a gardener’s got to mix his soul into the ground along with the lime an’ bone meal, if lie's to get really 
top-notch results. 'Tisn’t just a question of luck, or even of knowledge. A good chunk of heart, whether 
for bait or fertiliser, is doggoned necessary. 
Old Doc Lemmon. 
Tubbed ornamental 
plants such as hy¬ 
drangeas should now 
be placed indoors 
Brussels sprouts, 
well grown, are 
among the most sat¬ 
isfactory of crops 
Now is the time to 
take up the dahlia 
roots, label and 
store them 
Do not forget to cut 
down the old as¬ 
paragus tops and 
clean up the bed 
Frost protection by means of cloths, news¬ 
papers, etc., is a necessity this month. Have 
these materials ready for emergency use 
any evening 
The fall planting season is here in earnest, 
affecting shrubs, trees and bulbs. The de¬ 
tails are explained on the other pages of 
this issue 
The less formal 
small bulbs like cro¬ 
cus and squills may 
be naturalized 
