make runners, it will be necessary to trim them off. Attend to raspberries and blackberries as advised for last month, if they have not already been attended to. All fruit trees should be gone over for borers before cold weather sets in; they also should have been gone over for the same purpose in May and June.
Vegetable Garden.—If cabbage, cauliflower and lettuce are wanted to plant in cold frames, the seed should be sown from about the 10th to the 20th of this month; but judgment should be exercised, for, if sown too early, cabbage and cauliflower are apt to run to seed. The best date for latitude of New York is September 15th. The main crop of spinach or sprouts that is wanted for winter or spring use should be sown about the same date. The earth should be drawn up to celery with a hoe preparatory to earthing up with a spade. Onions that were not harvested and dried last month must now be attended to. Turnips of the early or flat sorts may yet be sown the first week of this month in the northern states, and in the south from two to four weeks later.
October
Flower Garden and Greenhouse.—In northern sections of the United States, tender plants that are still outside should be got under cover as early as possible. Delay using fire heat as long as possible, unless the nights become so cold as to chill the plants inside the house. Roses, carnations, camellias, azaleas, pelargoniums and the hardier sorts of plants will do better if placed in a cold frame or pit until the middle of November than they would in an ordinary greenhouse. Look out for insects. Fall bulbs of all kinds may be planted. Take up summer-flowering bulbs and tubers, such as dahlias, tuberoses, gladioli, cannas, caladiums, tigridias, and dry them off thoroughly, stowing them away afterwards in some place free from frost and moisture during the winter. Before winter sets in see that the lawn is freely top-dressed. Be careful not to mow the grass too short in fall.
Fruit Garden.—Strawberries that have been grown from pot-grown layers may yet be planted in southern states; keep the runners trimmed off. Fruit trees and shrubs may be set out; but, if planting is deferred to the last of the month, the ground around the roots should be mulched to the thickness of 3 or 4 in. with straw, leaves or rough manure, as a protection against frost. The fruit garden must be protected from the ravages of mice in winter. Mice will nest about the plants if there is straw or other litter around them. Before winter, all tall grass and loose litter should be taken away; if this is not done, then the first snow should be tramped heavily around the plants, in order to destroy any nesting-places.
Vegetable Garden.—Celery will now be in full growth, and will require close attention to earthing up, and during the last part of the month the first lot may be stored away in trenches for winter. All vegetable roots not designed to be left in the ground during the winter should be dug up, such as beets, carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, &c. The cabbage, cauliflower and lettuce plants grown from seed sown last month should be pricked out in cold frames. If lettuce is wanted for winter use, it may now be planted in the greenhouse or cold frame, and will be ready for use about Christmas. If asparagus or rhubarb is wanted for winter use, it should be taken up and stowed away in pit, frame, shed or cellar for a month or two. It may then be taken into the greenhouse and packed closely together under the stage, and will be fit for use from January to March, according to the temperature of the house. Vegetable gardens often become infested with diseases that are carried over from year to year in the old plants and litter; this is specially true of water-melons and of some diseases of tomatoes. It is well, therefore, to burn the tops of the plants in the fall, rather than to plough them under or to throw them on the compost heap.
November
Flower Garden and Greenhouse.—Plants intended to be grown inside should now all be indoors. Keep a sharp look-out for cold snaps, as they come very unexpectedly in November, and many plants are lost thereby. In cases where it is not convenient to use fire heat, 5° to 10° of cold can be resisted by covering the plants over with paper, and by using this before frost has struck the plants valuable collections may be saved. When fire heat is freely used, be careful to keep up the proper amount of moisture by sprinkling the paths with water. Little can be done in the flower garden, except to clean off all dead stalks, and straw up tender roses, vines, &c., and, wherever there is time, to dig up and rake the borders, as it will greatly facilitate spring work. Cover up all beds in which there are hyacinths, tulips and other bulbs with a litter of leaves or straw to the depth of 2 or 3 in. If short, thoroughly-decayed manure can be spared, a good sprinkling spread over the lawn will help it to a finer growth next spring.
Fruit Garden.—Strawberry beds should be covered (in cold sections) with hay, straw or leaf mulching, to a depth not exceeding 2 in. Fruit trees and grape vines generally should be pruned; and, if the wood of the vine is wanted for cuttings, or scions of fruit trees for grafts, they should be tied in small bundles and buried in the ground until spring. They may be taken in December or January if preferred.
Vegetable Garden.—Celery that is to be stored for winter use should be put away before the end of the month in all sections north of Virginia; south of that it may be left in most places where grown throughout the winter if well covered up. The stalks of the asparagus bed should be cut off, and burned if there are berries on them, as the seeds scattered in the soil sometimes produce troublesome weeds. Mulch the beds with 2 or 3 in. of rough manure. All vegetable roots that are yet in the ground, and not designed to be left there over winter, must be dug up in this latitude before the middle of the month or they may be frozen in. Cover up onions, spinach, sprouts, cabbage or lettuce plants with a covering of 2 or 3 in. of leaves, hay, or straw, to protect them during the winter. Cabbages that have headed may usually be preserved against injury by frost until the middle of next month, by simply pulling them up and packing them closely in a dry spot in the open field with the heads down and roots up. On approach of cold weather in December they should be covered up with leaves as high as the tops of the roots, or, if the soil is light, it may be thrown over them, if leaves are not convenient. Cabbages will keep this way until March if the covering has not been put on too early. Plough all empty ground if practicable, and, whenever time will permit, do trenching and subsoiling. Cabbage, cauliflower and lettuce plants that are in frames should be regularly ventilated by lifting the sash on warm days, and on the approach of very cold weather they should be covered with straw mats or shutters. In the colder latitudes, and even in the middle states, it is absolutely necessary to protect cauliflower in this way, as it is much more tender than cabbage and lettuce plants.
December
Flower Garden and Greenhouse.—Close attention must be paid to protecting all tender plants, for it is not uncommon to have the care of a whole year spoiled by one night’s neglect. Vigilance and extra hot fires will have to be kept up when the thermometer falls to 34° or 35° in the parlour or conservatory. It is well to set the plants under the benches or on the walks of the greenhouses; if they are in the parlour move them away from the cold point and protect them with paper; this will usually save them even if the thermometer falls to 24° or 26°. Another plan in the greenhouse is to dash water on the pipes or flues, which causes steam to rise to the glass and freeze there, stopping up all the crevices. With plants outside that require strawing up or to be mulched, this will have now to be finished.
Fruit Garden.—In sections where it is an advantage to protect grape vines, raspberries, &c., from severe frost, these should be laid down as close to the ground as possible, and covered with leaves, straw or hay, or with a few inches of soil. Grapes may be pruned. Fruit trees may be pruned from now till March in the north.
Vegetable Garden.—Celery in trenches should receive the final covering for the winter, which is best done by leaves or light stable litter; in the latitude of New York it should not be less than 12 in. thick. Potatoes, beets, turnips or other roots in pits, the spinach crop in the ground, or any other article in need of protection, should be attended to before the end of the month; manure and compost heaps should be forwarded as rapidly as possible, and turned and mixed so as to be in proper condition for spring. Remove the snow that accumulates on cold frames or other glass structures, particularly if the soil which the glass covers was not frozen before the snow fell; it may remain on the sashes longer if the plants are frozen in, since they are dormant, and would not be injured if deprived of light for eight or ten days. If roots have been placed in cellars, attention must be given to ventilation, which can be done by making a wooden box, say 6 by 8 in., to run from the ceiling of the cellar to the eaves of the building above. (L. H. B.; P. H.)
Bibliography of Modern Works on Horticulture.—W. Robinson, Alpine Flowers; Lord Redesdale (A. B. Freeman Mitford), The Bamboo Garden; J. Weathers, Bulbous Plants (33 col. plates); H. H. Cousins, Chemistry of the Garden; W. Watson, Cactus Culture for Amateurs; R. P. Brotherston and M. R. Smith, Book of the Carnation; J. Weathers, Cottage and Allotment Gardening; J. Veitch and Sons, Manual of Coniferae; W. Wells, Culture of the Chrysanthemum; Rev. S. E. Bourne, Book of the Daffodil; Geo. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening (5 vols.); W. Robinson, The English Flower Garden; Geo. Schneider, Book of Choice Ferns (3 vols.); W. Robinson, Flora and Sylva (3 vols.; col. plates by the late H. G. Moon); J. Weathers, Flowering Trees and Shrubs (33 col. plates); J. Weathers, French Market-Gardening and Intensive Cultivation; T. Smith, French Gardening; Geo. Bunyard and O. Thomas, The Fruit Garden; Josh. Brace, Fruit Trees in Pots; Dr R. Hogg, The Fruit Manual; M. C. Cooke, Fungoid Pests of Cultivated Plants; Thos. H. Mawson, The Art and Craft of Garden-Making; J. Weathers, A Practical Guide to Garden Plants; W. Watson, The Gardeners’ Assistant; C. H. Wright and D. Dewar, The Gardeners’ Dictionary; J. Weathers, Garden Flowers for Town and Country (33 col. plates); Chas. Baltet, The Art of Grafting and Budding; W. Thomson, The Grape Vine; Thos. Baines, Greenhouse and Stove Plants; R. Irwin Lynch, The Book of the Iris; G. Jekyll, Lilies for English Gardens; E. A. Ormerod, Manual of Injurious Insects; Dr A. B. Griffiths, Manures for Fruit and other Trees; F. W. Burbridge and J. G. Baker, The Narcissus (48 col. plates); H. A. Burberry, The Orchid Cultivator’s Handbook; B. S. Williams, The Orchid Grower’s Manual;
