House and Garden 
the soil will be all the better for it next spring. Dig 
up dahlias, cannas, gladioluses, caladiums, Montebre- 
tias, etc., and store the roots in a frost proof cellar 
where they will not become too dry. Before putting 
them away, place them under a shed out of the 
weather to dry them off, if put away wet they will 
likely mould and decay. The same conditions are 
re(|uired to keep these roots over winter as potatoes. 
If there is danger of their becoming too dry they 
should be placed in boxes in dry sand which will 
prevent too much evaporation. 
Do not delay planting the bulbs of hyacinths, 
tulips, narcissus, crocus, snowdrops and other 
early spring flowering bulbs. Early planting insures 
success and it gives the bulbs a chance to develop 
roots before the ground freezes. Well-rotted cow 
manure is the very best fertilizer to use for bulbs, 
and if the ground is very heavy a liberal application 
of sand, forked in with the manure, will be bene¬ 
ficial. Do not use bone-meal, or manure that is 
likely to encourage vermin. 
Hyacinths should be planted about six inches 
apart and about six inches deep to the bottom of 
the bulb. Tulips and daffodils should be set a 
little closer, where a mass effect is wanted, and 
about five inches deep. Crocus and snowdrops 
about three inches apart or even a little closer and 
three inches deep. After the bulbs are planted 
in the beds, leave the surface nice and level as it 
will not be possible to fix them up much after they 
come through the ground in the early spring. Do 
not mulch or cover them with manure or leaves 
until after the ground is frozen two or three inches 
deep or it will make a harbor for field mice which 
will destroy the bulbs. 
If bulbs are wanted for blooming indoors during 
the winter they should be potted as soon as possible 
this month. Equal parts of good garden soil, well- 
rotted cow manure and sand well mixed together 
make a fine compost to pot them in. When 
potting place broken crocks or charcoal in the 
bottom of the pot to the depth of one inch to insure 
good drainage, fill the pot up with the compost, 
then insert the bulbs so that one third to half of 
each bulb remains above ground and press all 
firmly down together. Stand the pots level and 
give them a good watering to settle the earth. In 
about two days cover them to the depth of eight 
inches with coal ashes or sand or lacking these 
bury them in the ground to that depth. In about 
eight weeks they will have made a good supply of 
roots, which is very necessary to produce good 
flower spikes. At the end of that time, they may 
be uncovered, the pots nicely washed off and set 
in a cool place, but not exposed to the direct sun¬ 
light as the growth made under ground will be 
very tender for a few days until it develops a good 
green color. Keep them in a temperature of not 
above 55 degrees until the flower spikes are well 
developed, when they may be removed to the 
living-room or where they are wanted to flower. 
Take all tender potted plants indoors as soon as 
there is danger from frost. Wash the pots and see 
that the hole in the bottom of the pot is not stopped 
up as is very often the case with pots that have 
been standing outside. Give rather close atten¬ 
tion as regards water until their requirements 
in this respect are learned under their new con¬ 
ditions. 
Chrysanthemums will soon be in full flower. 
Keep them carefully tied up. If large blooms 
are wanted, pinch off the side buds, leaving the 
one at the end of the stem. By covering the hardy 
chrysanthemums on frosty nights, blooms will 
be much better. It is well worth doing as an early 
killing frost is often succeeded by a long spell of 
mild weather, when the flowers will be much appre¬ 
ciated. 
Cut oft all dead stalks from the plants in the 
hardy border and do what planting is necessary. 
This is an excellent time to renovate the borders 
while the habits of the plants are fresh in the mind. 
Some of them will have spread too much, and will 
be crowding others of not so robust habit, others 
that do not thrive should be tried in a different 
position, and faults in the arrangements of color 
corrected. 
As advised last month keep the refuse of kitchen 
garden crops burnt up and vacant ground dug. 
Corn stalks make an excellent material for pro¬ 
tecting evergreens and should be reserved for this 
purpose. Root crops, such as turnips, carrots, 
beets, etc., should be dug up, the tops trimmed off 
and stored in the cellar. Do not put them away 
in a wet condition. Parsnips and oyster plants 
should be left in the ground as late as possible 
so the frost will act upon them as they are not 
really good until frozen in the ground. 
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