SEASONABLE HINTS UPON DENING.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 37, 17 March 1863, Page 2

SEASONABLE HINTS UPON DENING.

(From tho Daily Times, Maxell 8 A love of the gardening is so natural , versal a feeling, »hd the soil and dimnte, are so favorable for tlio production of alnii description of vegetable,- that r few biulj from experience in this province and ad the season, will not be unacceptable to tfc possess the means of cultivating a small gi M irch in South New Zealand correspoi August in England — the winter months lie May, June and July. The general work this month in the kitchen garden will be crops, clearing up, trimming, digging spare and making such alterations and improren may be necessary. Potatoes will now and housed for winter. The time for digg bs wben the top begins to wither. ] intended for seed should not be too ripe, a should be taken that they are not exposed sun. The ground should be perfectly dn thev are taken up, and they should b3j housed or piled up on dry ground in a form, and covered a foot thick with stn then a foot of mould placed over it, leavi surface perfeclly" smooth. The onion is an tant crop which has been too mueh neglt this province. To ensure a good crop the should now be turned over well, with jkj supply of manure, as much surface being exposed for the action of the frost winter. When the leaves begin to lose the the crop should be laid; ue , the stems «V bent dowu flat, just above the butt. Tw! can perform the operation expeditiouslj pole, each holding the ends in such a mani strike the stems about an inch or two at butt. The growth of the stem is thereby c and the nourishment thrown into the bulb, being taken up they should be spread thin! a gravel walk, exposed to the sun, and over regularly once or twice a day, until | thoroughly dried, and then stored in a vre! loft, where, if spread thickly, they inusti turued occasionally. Winter Onions. — Set be sown in the middle of the month. A\ should now be cleared off as soon as thej hausted, and seeds which are ripouing sbc gathered when dry and after being p hardened, laid by for use in a dry, airy, see Some of them, it should be remembered, their vegetative properties better when kept pods. As the crops are removed the ground be rough dug to benefit by the influence i and rain. The weather wili now bo shone; opportunity should be taken to sow, prici plant all necessary crops of the season; plant slips, offsets, &c, of aromatic and of: hf rbs. Sow radishes, spinach, &c, and a sue of small salading, as cresses and mustard, out celery, eabbugs, savoys, leeks, &c. C plants put in at the end of this month much better chance of escaping tho blight, prevalent in Otago, than those planted spring. They will have gained strength t forward before the aphis appears with tfc weather. In the fruit garden trees that were buck month should bo examined, and if the La pinch ihe stoeka too mu?h they should be li> If any of the buds should be dead, the stool still be budded in another part. Plants! strawberries may now be made; they sho made with runners or seedliugs. Make ror foot apart, and sot tho plants a loot ap patches, three or four plants in each ; put t: firm in the ground, and keep them moist ti have good roots. A change of plants sho obtained every three years. Prune your berry, currant and raspberry bushes, and It rake the ground between then), clearing weeds, old leaves, and all kinds of litter, may know when apples, pears, &c, are gather, by cutting some of them ; aud if tfcs begin to look brown and ripe, you may gatfc fruit on a dry day and lay them in a dry p» that they will not sweat. Hedges should t tritcmed, and young shoots of the hawt'uo: be planted out. You may now plant out and increase herb; perennial and biennial plants, immediately after the leaves are decayed. Platitout froaii; sweet williams, stocks, wallflowers, &c. plant layers, or pipings of pinks.