GARDENER'S CALENDAR FOR FEBRUARY.

Southland Times, Issue 1211, 18 February 1870, Page 3

GARDENER'S CALENDAR FOR FEBRUARY.

XrrcHEir G-asdxx. — Ihe main crops of peas, beans, and early potatoes should be cleared off, and their place occupied with winter vegetables. Sow cabbage and cauliflower for spring : at tba latter end of this month. Ripening crops of onions, shallots, garlic, &c, should be drawn and sorted, and advancing crops of carrots, turnips, parsnips, onions, boot, and other roots should be thinned out. Sow radish, mustard, cress, endive, and onions to pull green for salads. \ Gather ripe seeds and hang up in bunches in a cool airy place free from damp. Asparagus beds should be thoroughly cleaned and weeded, and afterwards dressed with salt. Prepare land for a large breadth of onions, to be sown next month. Plant out main crops of celery from the seed sown in Ootober, and hoe up and weed all growing crops. Fbttit Q-abdek. — Apples, pears, peaches, plums, &c, will be ripening off rapidly, and should be gathered carefully when perfectly dry, support branches which appear overladen, with fruit. Go round the trees with a good clean sharp knife and remove from the roots all suckers, also all unnecessary wood. Watch blight carefully, and whenever a spot shows paint with linseed or other oil, if persevered with this method will generally effect a cure without injuring the tree. Budding should be finished by the middle •■■ of the month, otherwise they will not hare ; acquired sufficient strength to withstand the early frosts. Flowbb G-abdbhv— Stake border plants that require support while blooming, and water frequently in dry weather. Collect ripening seeds of choice annuals and perrennials, such as dahlias, pinks, carnations, verbenas, and polyanthuses. Seed preserved on the spot is much preferable to that imported, as the germinating principle in delicate varieties is apt to ba destroyed by the long voyage. New and valuable varieties are also obtained by propagating from seed, whereas the general plan is to depend on slips for the. reproduction of our choicest flowers, including geraniums, verbenas, petunias, carnations, and many others. Take up the bulbs of gladiolas, ixias, speraiis, &c., as they become ripe, and store in a cool dry place. If not required for re-distribution they may be allowed to remain in., the ground, their position being marked by a ■tout peg so that they may not be hurt whjn digging The English Parliament enacted in 1770, that whoever shall impose upon and betray into matrimony any of his Majesty's male subjects by scents, cosmetic washes, artificial teeth, false hair, Spanish wool, iron stays, hoops, high heeled shoes, or bolstered hips, should be prosecuted for witchcraft, and that the marriage should be null and void. A young lady explained to her inamorato the distinction between printing and publishing, and at the conclusion of her remarks, .by way of illustration, she said, " You may print a kiss on my cheek, but you must not publish it;"