THE GARDEN. From the Auckland "Star," April 19.

Te Aroha News, Volume 1, Issue 47, 26 April 1884, Page 6

THE GARDEN. From the Auckland "Star, " April 19.

Kitohen Garden. j Continue planting out small plots of cab- 1 bage and cauliflower. Sow mustard, cress, and radishes. Prick out lettuoe; tie up the leaves of a few to blanch every fortnight, so as to keep up a succession. Tomatoes ; it will be advisable to strip off a good deal of the foliage of these now, so as to admit the sun's rays to the fruit to ripen it Give occasional dustings with lime to kill caterpillars. Make another sowing of the prickly spinage for winter use. Sow a large break. Continue harvesting all crops as they ripen, clear away all rubbish, and have it manured and turned over while the dry weather lasts, Ground , laboured in dry weather will always be sweeter and in better heart for cropping than when laboured in wet weather; it then becomes clayey and sour, and it takes some time to get it back into a good state again. Have all weeds and rubbish taken away to the rot heap, and mixed with fresh stable manure and coarse salt. Try, by every means in your power, to increase the quantity of manure.

Flower Garden. In the mixed borders most of the flowers will be over. Have the debris all token away, and any plants which are of a strong growing habit, and have overgrown the spaces allotted them, cut them back to their proper dimensions ; also all herbaceous plants which are past flowering. Cut out all dead stems ; reduce some of them ; mark the places where all bulbs and tubers are allowed to stand in the ground all winter ; stake and tie all plants that have atill to flower. Having thus cleared away all decaying matter, nave plenty of good, wellrotted manure conveyed all over the bordsrs ; spread this over the ground between the plants. Recollect, while putting en the manure, the more you give the border the better the return in flowers next season. The manure can lie for a few weeks, and then be forked into the ground. The lawns should now be kept in a good state. Keep the grass short, and roll heavily whenever the soil receives a shower of rain. Keep walks clear of weeds ; roll occasionally, so as to bind them.

Orchard. Those who intend extending or making new orchards during the incoming planting season should do their utmost to have the soil drained, trenched, or sub ploughed during the end of this and beginning of next month. Formerly an idea prevailed that it was of no importance whether the soil was wrought or not, but planters are beginning to find out that the better the soil is laboured the greater success with the orchard. If possible always plant the orchard on gz'ound that has been under cultivation for a few seasons, and during that time has been well manured. A piece of ground that has been under crop "will simply want sub-ploughing at present. It is better to plant a few trees erery season and hare the soil well laboured for their reception, than to plant a large number in one year and not give the soil any preparation.

Leaf and Flower iMPßEtsiONg.— Oil a white piece of paper on one side ; hold the oiled side over a lamp or pine-knot smoke till quite black ; place the leaf on the black surface, as the veins and fibres show plainer on the under part. Now press the paper on all parts or the leaf with the fingers ; then take up the leaf and put the black oiled side on the page of a book (made for leaf impressions), with an extra piece of paper on the top to prevent smutting the opposite page. Press it a few moments ; then remove the green leaf, and the impression will be left on the page as beautiful as an engraving. Flowers of single carolla can be pressed in the same manner. Many of the geranium leaves make beautiful impressions. The impression book may be made still more interesting by giving botanical classification of each leaf and flower.

Renovating Old Grape Vines.— The fact that the season is now on for preparing; or obtaining new seils for increasing the dimensions of the vine borders induces me to give a few extracts which will meet the case of a few growers here. The extracts are taken from "Gardening Illustrated." They are written by one of the best growers in Britain. " About six years ago an amateur consulted me on a house of rines that were in a most unsatisfactory ■tate. They were from fifteen to twenty yoars of age, and ought to have been just in their prime. Before consulting me he had been advised to root them up and plant young ones. I examined the border, and found, as I expected, the roots had travelled beyond it into cold wet sub-soil, which had brought on shanky to an alarming extent. The old border, which was in a bad state, was entirely cleared away, saving as many as possible of the roots. The drainage was seen to, and a new border of chopped turf (in which a little bone was incorporated) was made. The roots were shortened and carefully laid out, and the border was well mulched with manure. The canes inside the house were thinned out and shortened. They were allowed to break almost naturally the next season, and the result was a good crop of fruit with scarcely a shanked berry, whilst before they were lifted it was no uncommon thing to see whole branches go off." Shanking. — This disease is caused by a deficiency of supply of nutriment at a critical period of the growth of the fruit, and thitj deficiency frequently arises from the roots penetrating into a cold sub-soil ; they having travelled beyond the prepared border, become in an ungenial soil sluggish and inactive, and are therefore unable to supply the heavy demand made upon them, and the fruit fails. Another fruitful source of shanking is making the borders too rich and heavy, and neglecting the drainage. I have investigated one or two cases, where I was satisfied it arose from lack of moisture at the roots. Extremes of all kinds are bad. Vines in dry seasons should be well Bupplied with water, especially in shallow borders. The exhausting influence of a heavy crop of fruit for a series of years, especially in late houses, where the fruit is required to hang a long time, tends to induce shanking, and it is the knowledge of this fact that has induced many good cultivators to cut the grapes when ripe, and preserve them by inserting the ends of the shoots in bottles of water, thus relieving the vines of their heavy burden, to their manifest advantage. I lately had an opportunity of visiting one of our best grape-growers, and in a conversation about old vines he remarked that one of his best houses last year was furnished with some old vines he found there more than twenty years ago ; but of course they had been thoroughly well managed, both roots and branches. Makiko Graph Vine Borders. —ln making a vine border the first requisite is thorough drainage ; the next is a good supply of good turf from an old pasture. This turf forme the staple of ail the best vine borders I have ever seen, and I believe very good grapes may be grown on it alone, without any addition whatever. Of course, I a,m not against adding crushed bones

where neoessary, or, if the loam is heavy, old mortar or charcoal may be added with the advantage. The only way of keeping vines in good bearing condition for many years is to look after the roots, for when any falling-off is observed, there generally the cause must be sought for, and the remedy of lifting and shortening the roots applied ; draining at the same time if required, taking away a portion of the old soil and replacing with a further supply of good turf. The majority of vine borders must of necessity be less than twenty feet in width, but the roots, unless they meet with an impenetrable barrier, wander far beyond this limit ; soft and spongy unripe wood, with other evils, soon follow. Of course there are some soils so favourable for grape-growing that almost without any extra caro good crops can be grown.— ("F." in "Garden.") Now is about the best time of the year to get the turf carted and stacked in a heap ready to put into the old vine borders or the making of new. The best turf that can be obtained for this purpose is from a good rich friable loam.