THE GARDEN.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4378, 15 February 1922, Page 3

THE GARDEN.

( VEGETABLE CULTURE. (By W. H. Taylor, Horticulturist, in ' ' the Journal of Agriculture.) Cabbages for early spring.—Experienced growers know that the diffi- ' culty in getting early heads lies in the liability of the plants to bolt—- ; that is, to go to flower instead of iffctyirting The cabbage is a biennial plant and throws up flower heads in the second season. All biennial plants have a strong tendency to flower in spring. For spring use cab- ,. lutite seed must be- sown in autumn, problem has always been to discover hoW early /this can be done. If sowing is 'left too late there is no progress made, while if! too early they bolt. The time adopted as safest and most useful is the last week In March,, except in the coldest districts, where sowing is a month earlier. ' These dates, however, require revision in certain cases. Plant breeders ..In England have raised a new type Of pabbage, such as Sutton’s April, Suti jjfjn’s Flower of the Spring, and Ellam’s Early, in which the tendency to premature flowering has been sup- - pressed to such a degree that it only rarely occurs. Seeds of these, varieties may be sown at least six weeks < earlier than was formerly the practice —that is, about the middle of Febru- , ar£ < Celery.—Celery should be in the ground, and it may now be considered late for further planting. Firstclass heads are not likely to resultfrom late planting. (The foregoing re-t .'marks apply to most places in, the ■ Dominion; a flew extra-warm places are not included. In such places planting can be done several weeks . later.) There are a huinber of ways of growing celery. Until quite recently the variations were in the number of rows planted in a trench, , trenches being always used. The , number of rows in a trench ranged from one to twelve, the one-iW method being adopted when extra fine "Sieads were of greater consequence .wkan economy in This system is seldom adopted ex-‘ ■ cept for shbw*i purposes or in small gardens. In market gardens in the Old Country a large number of'rows are planted. Two rows in a trench was, and still is, the practice in good private gardens, r and fbr general-pur-poses may be regarded as tlid best. ■This system produces good heads, and i requires Jess manual skill than does a larger number of rows. In planting a double row the, plants are placed in pairs parallel with eacn j other, each pair being 9in or lOin apart. The plants are placed in pairs •to facilitate moulding up. Chinese • gaE&?ners . are now dispensing'with tiJKohes ,' they plant on the flat in of varying width, usually about 6ft wide, which enables weeding io be done without treading on the-beds. [' So-called selfi-blanching varieties are I grown, usually Henderson’s White Plume. The plants ,arp set about 6in apart, and no moulding up is done, planting shuts out a good deal ( of sunlight, and, the stems being naturally white, saleable heads-are .proMped They are, however, small and of poor quality. Even the so-called self-blanching varieties require Moulding up; the crispness that is essential,in good celery cannot be secured without it, and trench growing is the best method.