The Garden.

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 10, 10 September 1874, Page 4

The Garden.

-C-iUii «V; ~.Z. «-,.., I- *,:..,> if • \ ahd curranit Ira_h(«F may have all : their : lateral oi .Bide shoots cut short, that is down hall * anihch, leaving the end short; on. All f Branches'* that grow inward should be cot clean Black cufrahts' may re- ; qujre weelriy branches pruned off. Wall trees must .have all, shoots that grow . straight out: from the wall cut off, all weakly branches removed, and the best * laid in and'nailed to the wall. Orchard trees should have all the waste wood cutout of the head; the cross branches and. those growing inwards removed. . Raspberry canes onlyrequire.shprtening. Grafting. — The only conditions necessary to grafting are—-lst. The stock must be of a similar family to the graft j 2nd Tffe portion of wood to be grafted, and the stock it is to be grafted on, must be cut so^as to fit very neatly ; ■Srdv The barks of thestock and the graft must meet on one side at least; 4th. . They must be firmly tied < and air excluded by adhesive clay or grafting "wax: -, sth. The operation must be performed at the proper season, viz?, before the stock starts into growth, and when the graft is dormant. : New Mode of Planting- Apple Trees.— : A horticulturist in Bohemia lias a beautiful plantation of the best .apple trees, which have neither sprung from seeds nor grafting. His plan is ' take shoots from the choicest sorts, insert*them in a potato, and plunge both into the ground, having but an inch or two "of the shoot above the surface. The potato .nourishes the shoot whilst it pushes out roots; and the shoot gradually springs up, and becomes a beautiful tree, bearing the best fruit, without requiring to be grafted. Bobding. — The process of budding * is very simple. There is a bud at the base of every leaf. Shave out the end ; with a portion of its bark, say threequarters of an inch long, half below hall above the leaf, cut a slit about an inch long down the portion of the stock that is to receive it, and half way down make a cross slit, raise the bark on both sides, and slide the bud in under the bark, - which must be tied down upon it. Utilise the Leaves. — Few are aware of the great benefit to be derived from the fallen foliage during the autumn months, when used as a protection for young and partially tender plants. Armind almost every dwelling in the streets, and especially in the woods, they may be raked up and scattered thickly over beds of herbaceous ' flowers, roses, and bulbs. When incorporated with manure, and thoroughly rotted, they form one of the best elements of the compost heap. Mixed with old sods, and in a decayed state, their best use to the florist is reached, for numberless species of plant life derive their nourishment almost entirely from its health-giving properties. Our - lady, florists just commencing the practical portion of the culture of flowers for their windows, will find old leal mold a valuable auxiliary; and that instead of the hard uncongenial garden soil usually employed, decayed leaves will meet their requirements for almost every class of plants. Their use returns to thtf soil precisely what the growing plant needs, besides preserving the soil open and porous. Onions. — A hard bed is best for onions. By hard I mean a compact bed, ■not a shallow nor a poor bed. To grow onions well they must have a deep and Tich root run ; but after it has been deepened and enriched it can hardly be made too compact Unless earth is sheer clay, ground can scarcely be made too solid for the well-doing of this crop. Human fpet are good consolidators ; the hand-roller is likewise very useful, and in light sandy soils the heavier the roller the better. It is a good plan likewise to give the seeds a special tread in with the heel before the surface is raked over. A great many onion crops suffer or fail for lack of a hard seed bed. The plants do not seem to bite ihe earth freely, nor the roots to acquire boring force at starting in a soft soil. Both are of the first importance to a good crop. On a com- . pact soil the base of the bulb rests upon rather than sinks into the earth. This position is by far the more favourable for the development of size and quality. Many years' experience in the culture of onions confirms the belief that the harder (in reason) the ground for the crop, the less disease, the fewer thicknecked mis-shapen specimens, the heavier the yield, and the longer it keeps. The roots pierce deeper, the bulbs swell larger, and assume a more, regular form. Moreover, the crop resists the drought better on a firm than a loose bed. Strawberries, — Turnip tops will be found an excellent material for mulching strawberries with. A neighbour who is a practical fruit-grower, and very successful in that line, has for a number of years back practised this plan -of turning to account heaps of turnip tops that would otherwise be wasted, :and the result is most satisfactory. During the cold and blowy weather these: tops lie -close- to the strawberry plants, keeping them well protected, and on the approach of warm weather toward Spring, the mulch gradually decays, acting then as a fertilizer. The plan is well worthy of a trial by those •who have any quantity of turnip tops. rnoN in Water. — Carefully avoid, f<»r garden purposes, all water impregnated with iron; no plants thrive well rthar ujome in contact with it.