The Garden.

Clutha Leader, Volume IV, Issue 207, 28 June 1878, Page 7

The Garden.

v CALENDAR FOR JULYKitchen Garden. — Plant potato .onions in rows eighteen inches apart and six inches between each bulb ; thin "out autumn sown onions to four inches apart, and fill' up blanks in the lines, or transplant into rows a foot apart, manuring well; the root only Bhould be -inserted, and no other part of the onion. Plant cabbage, cauliflower, eschalots, garlic, early potatoes, sea kale, rhubarb, and asparagus; also ..hone radish into trenches, eighteen inch\ ideep, spreading a layer of wellrotteVdung three inches deep in each trench, on the top of which place in a row pieces of radish from an inch to two inches long, and fill up with fine soil. Blanch rhubarb, sea kale, and endive. Sow peas and broad beans j stir the ground about those that are up. Sow round-leaved spinach, mustard, and American cress. Manure and trench, ridge, or dig all empty spaces. Transplant herbs.

Fruit Department. — Forward -the transplanting and pruning of fruit trees and bushes as recommended for last month. Plum trees will bear better by being lifted and re-planted; as a rule, they should be done so every two or three years, adding fresh soil to the roots. Dress strawberry beds, and make fresh plantings. Plant hedges and trees for shelter. Repair drains. Flower Department.— keep all pot plants free from green-fly and other insects. Attend to the potting of cattings. Bulbs may still be planted ; and, in dry weather, sow annuals for early flowering. Plant and prune roses j increase perennial and herbaceous plants by parting; form and {riant rock-works ; renew tlie names on abels ; and dig over all empty plots.

PREPARATION AND FORMATION OF SEEDBEDS.

It is seldom that anything like specific instructions are to be found in writing about the preparation and formation of seedbeds, and yet it is evident that both ignorance and thoughtlessness are rife in connection therewith, and therefore a few hints may be found serviceable. It is no uncommon thing to see seeds put in after such a fashion that one might almost think a host of cats had been scratching around, or, what is even more common, beds of vegetable seed are put in after the very " ungardenesque" manner of the " Celestials." Neither of these plans is worthy the attention of those who wish to be accredited with gardening with brains. Chinese gardening, taken as a whole, cannot be considered contemptible, but it is only in its entirity that it is worth a rap, and then it consists in shallow digging, raising seedbed, frequent manuring, and constant watering. Raised seedbeds and the item of constant watering may be regarded as inseparable, for without the watering a raised seedbed is anything but satisfactory in a droughty climate. Climate influences must not be lost sight of to ensure* success in the raising of vegetables. The exposure of a bed raised from eight to ten inches above the footwalk on either side, the bed being at most not more than four or five feet wide, gives full play to drying ' winds and the rays of a gcorching sun, and therefore cannot be conducive to growth in so dry a climate as this. With very frequent watering of course this objection is reduced to a minimum, but in any case there is a much more excellent way. Lay out your beds in the first instance ot such a width as to facilitate weeding, say from four to five feet wide. This is easily done hj stretching the garden line first on one side then on the other of the footway, and then with your two* feet close together tread within the two lines firmly the whole length, throwing out nothing therefrom j then proceed to do the same with the other side. By this method the bed will be very slightly raised above the footwalk, and can be laid out for drilling in the seeds — if for carrots in row's nine inches apart, onions and leeks the same, for parsnips and turnips not less than a foot, and for beetroot 18 inches. Lettuces and radishes are also best drilled in, and should have a foot between them. Some gardeners have a preference for sowing seeds in drills all through the plot they are putting under crop, leaving nothing for alleys, but giving everything plenty of space. Those who follow this method generally tnake frequent alterations with tall and short growing crops. For instance, the? will put in one row of tall peas, oLI after leaving the room necessary for getting upon the ground to earth and stick the peas they will sow a couple of rows of turnips or plant two rows ot cabbages, and proceed throughout the plot after that fashion. It is certain

that peas are more fruitful when grown -in, this way, and the land is more thoroughly utilised than when cropped in any other way. It is the outcome undoubtedly of" gardening with brains." But let whatever method be adopted,

appearances ought never to be lost sight of. A' garden, whether of vegetables, flowers, or fruit, should be " a thing of beauty and of joy." . It is disgraceful to see what should be a grateful and cheerful prospect an eyesbre, such as is too frequently the case. And let it not be thought tnat the well-kept garden is the result of extra labour, for more frequently it is the slovenly and ill-kept garden that demands most toil, and give_r far and .away the least profit or satisfaction. — Capricornian.