The evening Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1918-1920, 1919-09-08

| iilSiiI VI 1ASilNdlIuANt NifON6h
Weather Bureau, tells you that frost
is coming, get the garden crops un
der cover. Listen to the warning Of
the Weather Bureau-but heed, also.
the admonition Of the horticultural
experts of the department and pat
the tomatoes under cover, where
they will be kept at a temperature of
about 50 degrees to 60 degrees, to
1ipen. Tomatoes are late bearers, and
as rule many are still green or only
partly ripe when frost comes.
The best way is to pull up the
vines with the green tomatoes on
chem and hang them In the cellar
or other sheltered place or pick the
tomatoes and place them in a sash
covered cold frame, and cover them
with straw or leaves, TO rlpen, Even
tomatoes that appear to be perfectly
green will, if of good size and the
seed mature, ripcn sufficiently for use
as fresh tomotoes.
The quality of the tomatoes will
probably be better if they IRE left
on the vines and they will continue III
disable condition for Il much longer
time, but they may be ripened sue
,cessfully by plucki2s them from the
vines and placing them IN Il single
layer on shei in the cellar. This
may be the. better plan for some
backyard gardeners who have not
Sufficient space to hang un the vines.
The late corn patch, also, Is likely
to have a week or ten days of table
service in it when the frost warn
ing comes. 1t is not necessary TO
lose the green corn. Plutk the cars,
leaving the husks on, and place them
on the cellar floor with no two ears
touching The corn will remain in
good condition for 10 days or longer.
Even if you have no cellar or other
place where the ears can be spread,
it is not necessary to lose the corn.
Cut the stalks, leaving the ears On,
and shock them ip the garden. The
corn will probably not remain in
good condition so long as if proper
" stored on the cellar floor and
it becomes toughened but the season
for using it can be extended several
days.
There may be beans and peas not
quite fully matured. If you have
space in which to keep them under
cover, pull up the vines by the roots,
hang them up and let the pods dry
out. Then shell the beans or peas,
not quite matured. If you have
space in which to keep them under
cover, pull up the vines by the roots,
hang them up and let the pods dry
out. Then shell the beans or peas,
put them in bags, hang in we'll
ventilated dry place, and keep them
for winter use. This, of course, can
not be done if the beans or peas are
too immature. Canning is the only
means of saving them under that
condition The curing on the vine
method, however, is the best plan for
curing navy and other bush beans
even when they are fully mature.
The cellar, if there is one, other
wise a pit in the garden, may be
made for most of the other vegeta-
bles we'll into, if not through, the
winter. Onions that are mature and
thoroughly dried may be kept in the
attic or in any dry, well-ventilated
place where they will not freeze. A
pit in the garden may be made to
serve as a storage for potatoes, late
beets, carrots: turnips, late cabbage
celery and satisfy. If there is no
cellar available the earth mound in
the garden can be made to serve au-
mirably, saving a lot of money by
keeping certain of the late garden
vegetables for winter eating.
All that is necessary in making a
vegetable storage pit is to place
some straw, hay, dry grass, or fodder
on the ground, place the vegetables
on, it in conical pile, cover them
with the same material used at the
bottom, and then cover with 2 or !;
inches of earth. The hay, or what
ever material is used, should be al
lowed to extend through the dirt al
the apex of the cone, thus providing
the necessary ventilation to keer
the vegetables in good condition
Place a board or piece of tin over
the hay at the apex of the cone and
weight it down to keep it in place
If the earth over the entire surface
of the mound is frmed down with
the back of the shovel and shall
low trench dug around the base OF
the mound with an outlet SO that the
water will drain away, the vegetables
INV be kent practically dry for any
len~th OF time. AS the weather be-
cones colder, II will be necessary to
put on more earth, increasing the
thiollnca7 of the earth covering to
or inches. In very cold weather it
U i16Wlvigable to put on an additional
covering Of straw, fodder, manure, or
other litter.
/ For cabbages and turnips the
earth mound is better storage
place than the cellar. Both turnips
and cabbages give off odors that, If
stored in the cellar, will permeate
the house and become very Disagree
able. The method of storing cab
! bages may vary somewhat from the