THE GARDEN.

Te Aroha News, Issue 166, 21 August 1886, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE GARDEN.

Kitoben Garden-, Plant out a few early potatoes; make small sowing of turnips and broad beans for early uee. . Peas, bow once a fortnight now bo as to keop up succession. Prepare places for planting out the rhubarb plants by a good-sized hole for each plant, and put about ft barrow load of well-rotted manure in each. Plant out the plants some time this month, juat covering the crowns. The aoakale beds should now be forked over ; give plenty of well-rotted manure ; place boxes over each plant that you wish to force. Continue planting out a few cabbages and cauliflowers ; make fresh sowing of the same. Keep sowing, fortnightly, radish, mustard and cress for salad. Prick out a few more -lettuce. Sow a row of round spinach for early crop. Whenever the soil is in a moderately dry state have it laboured for the reception of future crops. Heavy clay soils should never be touched while in a wet state, they are sure to run into a cloggy state, unfavourable to the growth of all crops.

Flowos* uaraen. All moving and planting of shrubs should now be brought to a close, as the aap in beginning to show. Prune back all evergreen shrubs which are grown for their foliage. All herbaceous plants which are getting old should now be lifted, reduced in size, and transplanted, putting fresh noil to their roots. Prune a few of the roses now for early flowers. Sow a few patches of the hardy annuals. Transplant daisies, violets, pansiee, pinks, carnations, penstemens, lobelias, etc. Also put out a few of the gladiolus bulbs for early flowering. Many of the spring flowers are now pushing through the soil. Gently stir the surface soil around them. The grass on the lawn will be showing growth increasing in vigour every day. Constant attention must be given to the cutting and rolling while in a moist state. During winter or wet weather moist soils swell, and the roller has to be brought into frequent use so that it may be compressed properly into its place before the dry weather sets in. Rake the walks weakly to keep the seedling weeds under.

Greenhouse. Still continue as directed laat week.

Grafting Fruit Trees. Grafting is one of the most important operations connected with practicial fruit growing, and it is co easily learned that no fruit-grower phould fail to acquire a knowledge of all the various methods, as by this practice it is co easy to change the characters of the different trees in the orchard. Whenever a grower finds that a given tree Ib not of good quality or any special variety neither suits his soil nor locality, by grafting other varieties upon the old trees he can easily substitute good varieties for the worthless. The theory of the practice rests on the fact that when the ecion is so placed in or on the stalk that the cambium layers of the two are in contact, immediately on the sap beginning to move they unite and the scion at once becomes part and parcel of the tree. This union, however, is only of the growth made subsequently to the operation, and never extends to the wood existing when the grafting ia done, while moat trees and shruba may, under favourable circumstances, be successfully grafted. I shall only deal next week with the ordinary methods adopted for changing the fruiting qualities of our orchard trees. — Hortus, in •' Star." (To be Continued)