Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1874-09-03
Autumn Work In the Garden.

THERE is no season so favorable as au-
tumn for making general Improvements
in the garden. The American autumn
weather is superb. Our springs are short,
and yet quite long enough, for our spring
weather is miserable; cold winds, and
rains, and snow, and mud, and sleet All
important changes in the garden should,
therefore, be made in the pleasant, dry
weather of autumn. Dig up and put in
order every vacant bed, as it will not only
facilitate spring work, but do the soil good
and have neater appearance than If left
rough and weedy. Above all things do
not make a manure-heap or a barn yard
of the front lawn. Why people think it
necessary to cover their lawns with rot
ting, unsightly manure six months in the
year is more than we can imagine. A
well-made lawn will not need enriching
in century, for there is nothing taken
from it, and it becomes richer and richer
every year. The fact is, our old lawns
become too rich and humid, and need, if
anything dressing of lime or ashes.
Then grass needs no protection in winter,
and even if it did, how very sensible it
is to rake off every leaf that falls from
the trees-just the protection and manure
that nature provides-and put in their
place the odious and odoriferous manure
that causes every passer to initiate the
Levite in the parable
Most people have observed, no doubt,
that self-sOwn seeds, that is, seeds that
have dropped from the growing plants o
the previous season, sometimes produce
the strongest and most healthy plants
that bloom the most freely. This is true
of several kinds, and particularly of those
that suffer under exposure to our mid
summer suns The reason is, that self
sown seeds get very healthy growth in
the spring, negotiating as soon as frost is
gone, and are goodsiZed plants ut the
time we usually put seeds in the ground.
They thus mature and flower during the
cool weather of spring. The clarkias
and nemophilas and annual larkspurs are
noted examples. There are also several
varieties of hardy ANIMALS that do well
with spring sowing that will bear autumn
sowing in the open ground, and reward
us with early spring flowers. Sweet alys-
sum and white candytuft will give us
abundance of white for early cutting if
sown in the autumn. In sandy soil the
portulaca may be sown in autumn with
good success. Seeds of biennials and
pe-ennials, if sown early enough TO pro-
duce strong little plants, will flower the
next summer, and pansies and Chinese
pinks, though they bloom the first summer
if sown in the spring, will make much
stronger plants and flower more freely
and earlier if young plants are grown in
the autumn The pansy sometimes suf-
fers in the winter, but if the young plants
are put in a frame and covered with a
few loose boards, or little mating, be-
ing always sure to give air, they will pass
the winter in safety.
All bulbs and plants that die down TO
the ground in the autumn may be pro-
tected by covering the surface of the
earth with leaves, or manure, or straw,
but plants that retain their leaves during
winter will not bear this kind of protec-
ton. A few evergreen boughs thrown
over the bed, little straw between the
plants, or some light open covering OF
this kind, is all they will bear without in
jury. We have seen more plants smoth-
cred and rotted by heavy covering than
saved Vtck's Floral GUIDE.