GARDENING FOR APRIL.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 6 April 1916, Page 3

GARDENING FOR APRIL.

Kitchen. Garden.—Continue to plant cabbage, Savoy and lettuce for succession. Mustard, cress, radishes, and prickly spinach sow according to requirements. Carrots and turnips, show for winter and spsing use. Sow cabbage and cauliflower. Give a liberal supply of manure water to celery previous to moulding up. Mould up cabbage, cauliflower, leeks, etc. Pumpkins, and piemelons, gather and store away in a dry, airy place. Cucumbers, rock and watermelons will be over for the season. Clear away the . old vines and have the ground, thoroughly dug or trenched, HFrirecessary, and manured, in readiness for cropping. Attend to gathering all crops as they come to maturity, especially onions and late- a planted potatoes.' Clear away all rubbish, as it not only looks unsightly but is a^ harbour for insects. Dig and tiench all vacant ground. bow with oats or, mustard any land not intended for cropping until spring. Sow parsley this month.

Ft.owek Garden.—All annuals past flowering should be cleared off. Sow a few hardy kinds for early flowering. Lift layers of carnations, etc., plant either un a bed together or where intended to remain. Plant out antirrhinums, pansies, penstemons, etc. Plant sweet peas, anemones, hyacinths, irises, narcissi, tulips, crocuses, etc^, for early flowering. The foliage' of all perennial plants should be cut away as it decays and all plants ought to be marked or labelled to indicate their whereabouts. Spaces will be left through lifting tender plants and decay of others ; a few hyacinths, tulips, ixias, etc, can be put in to fill their places, and they, m their turn, can be removed when they have done flowering to make room for the border planls for another season. Let the border have a good dressing of manure, and dig or touch it in at the same time. See that the whereabouts of all slimmer bulbs and tubers is properly marked.

The Orchard.—All digging and trenching of. ground intended for a new or extension of an old orchard should be finished this month. Re* move raspberry suckers that are not wanted, and make strawberry plantations if not done last month. Tie up trees and long shoots against approaching winter winds; remove tendrils and laterils from vines. Continue t^> collect apples and other fruit as they fit to pull. Handle them gently, and mark the good and inferior sorts that you may cut back the latter and graft with the former. Late keeping pears and apples should be stored where the exhalations from earlier ripening sorts will not reach them. Air may be admitted when outside temperature is about equal to that inside the fruit- house. When air warmer than that in the fruit-room is admitted, it causes moisture- to gather on the fruit, which has the effect of making it mould and rot. Gooseberries and currants may be propagated by cuttings towards the end of this month. Take care to remove all buds from the lower part of gooseberry cuttings as high as three inches above the depth they are insorted in the soil, Look well to your figs that they become not over-ripe,'and your grapes, and if you want a bunch of the latter to keep fresh for a while cut it with a little oi the wood. Cape gooseberries require looking after ; gather tbe fruit before it falls off, and spread out to dry before husking. Look well to all drains and watercourses of every kind; wet weather is fast approaching. Stone fruits should be planted as soon as the trees can be obtained; any trees intended to be moved should be done now.

Farm,—Finish fcowmg all grasses as eaxly as possible in the month. This is a good month to sow Algerian oats; two bushels seed to the acre sown now will give good results, and will allow being fed off once or twice before shutting for crop. Then oats niay be sown from now up till September. Lift all potatoes, and if not sold immediately put into good pits. Now that the blight is tare, it i- advisable to j?eep in the bags for a short time, and re-pick before pitting. Clean o drains and watercourses.