GARDEN MEMORANDA FOR MARCH.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 2, Issue 169, 1 March 1878, Page 3

GARDEN MEMORANDA FOR MARCH.

EXPRESSLY FOR THE AKAROA MAIL,

General Remarks. The timo will soon arrive when the ingathering of the fruits of our gardens and orchards will demand our attention, and in anticipation of this, we shall offer a. few hints on this important, but too often badly managed, business. Fruit for storing should be gathered before it is quite mature, for the process of ripening will go on as well In the open air at the season when the function of the leaves have ceased and the fruit no longer swells, in fact, in the case of some varieties of pears, their true flavour cannot be secured unless this «*nethod is adopted ; this not only applies to the late sorts, but also to many of the early ones. In gathering fruit, every care should be taken to avoid bruising. In view of this, the fruit should be carefully iplaced in baskets, lined throughout with •sacking, or other suitable material, and when full, should be taken direct to the storeroom, the contents taken out one by one, placed on the floor or shelves of the room, and not poured out, as is too often done, thereby causing small bruises, which are •quickly followed by decay. To avoid this, and to keep the fruit firm and juicy, are the principal objects in storeing. The storeroom should be so situated that the should be equable, and ranging as near as possible from forty to fiftjdegrees. In building a room specially for this purpose, if the situation be dry, the floor level may be kept a little below the ground, this will help to pre■vent fluctuations of temperature, but* should not be secured at the risk of damp. The walls, if of wood, should be lined • with stout tongued and grooved boards inside, as well as weatherboarded on the outside. If of bricks, means should be taken to prevent the rising of damp, but •concrete is the best material both for the walls and floor, as in addition to its goodness in other respects, it keeps those pests rats and mice at arms length. If the building be of one "story only, the roof » should be of sdmeiion-con&tictingmaterial, and I don't know that anything is much better than a thatched roof made with good straw or rushes ; hut if the building be a two-story one, and the upper portion used for another purpose, this need not be so much a consideration. Means should be secured for thorough ventilation, as there will always, even with a low temperature, be a good deal of evaporation going on. from the fruit especially, during the first few weeks after storing. Darkness is also another essential, and one of the most important points in fruit keeping; but as there will be necessary operations to perform in the fruit-room, means must be provided for securing light at such times, ** for this purpose, windows with close- . fitting shutters will answer best, but these should only be opened when they are really required. We have been thus particular in detailing, not that we expect all our readers will be able to follow out all our instructions, but for those to whom the preservstion of their fruit crop in the best possible condition is becoming of such importance as to render a proper building necessary, these hints may be of value, and to those who, through tbe smallness of their requirements, or other causes, have to make shift with the best appliances at hand, we also commend them, in view of making these as efficient •as possible, remembering that "He who aims at the sun will shoot higher than ne 0 who aims at a bush." . Kitchen Garden. Continue to lift dry and store onionsi and gather tomatoes as they ripen. The crops of peas that have been left for seed should be secured as soon as ripe, and the same may be said of other seeds ; take the first chance, as wind or rain may at any time destroy them. Early in the month make the last sowing of turnips, •cabbage, lettuce, cress, and raddish, and about the middle of the month cauliflower, spinach, onion, &c. Earth up celery, and .a few more-plants may be put out for the very latest crop. Take up the eaTly i potatoes for seed, and the very earliest kinds.are better laid out thin on shelves or on the floor of a loft where they will be .secure from frost, but well exposed to light and air, this will prevent their beeom- -'. ing exhausted by growing, before the time of planting again, which too often happens when they are pitted. Fruit Garden. The gathering and storing of fruit as it ripens will form the principal part of the work of this department, and, as on the way in which this is done much of the success or failure of storing depends, we commend the suggestions made at the beginning of this article to all those of our readers who have fruit to store. Continue to make fresh plantations of strawberries, and if tbe runners' in older beds are not required for this purpose keep them cleared away. Flower Garden. The propagation of bedding plants should be finished without delay; divide primroses, polyanthuses, &c.; attend to the watering of the layers of carnations and picottees while the weather continues dry ; gather any desirable seeds, and sow those of some of the hardy annuals to stand the winter. Remove decaying flowers and as the leaves of deciduous trees, fall, keep them constantly raked up, and, as far as the season will allow, every part neat and clean.