The Garden.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 194, 12 March 1887, Page 1 (Supplement)

The Garden.

Take small cucumbers ; alter washing, place in a jar j have ready two gallons of boiling water, with one quart of salt boiled in it ; pour this over the pickles ; leb them stand twenty-four hours ; wash them out of the salt water and lot them stand to drain ; wash out the jar, placo the pickles in it again ; take cix quarts of vinegar, place on the stove with three pounds of brown sugar, one ounce of celery, if you like, cloves and allspice, and when this boils pour it ou the pickles and cover, while hot, with a cabbage leaf Tie a cloth over the jar and put on the cover. They will be fit for nee in thtee days, and will keep three years if the vinegar is good. Alinoat every one likes a good sharp pickle occasionally, but still there are comparatively few families that put them down for themselves. Let such reraembei that it costs about four times as much to purchase them as it does to grow the cucumbers and make the pickles for yourselves, It is merely a want of attending to these small matters in time that leaves so many tables dependent upon the grocer. Every farmer should not fail to grow such things in his garden as are needed for consumption, and the prudent wife will not fail to put up in saving form all that she needs to complete her table. Pickles and preserves come handy and cost comparatively little when grown and put up at home,

Cauliflower, No vegetable will give more profit to the grower than the cauliflower. If well grown and if planted iv small patched from the beginning of March to the end of May, they will give a good succession during the early and late spring. The cauliflower likes good, rich, free coil, in which plenty of manure has been used while preparing. If planted iv dry weather, the plants will need to be frequently watered so as to keep them growing. In raising cauliflower plants from seed the mosl successful gardeners sow the eeeds thinly in seed beds, and water the plants once a day, never allowing the D6d to gtt dry from the sowing till the plants get big enough to transplant. There is no danger in doing this of scalding the plante s as many w uld suppose, but just the ruvorse -, the plants thrive well, and so t'cated will be attacked leas by the cabbage fly, the greatest enemy of the cauliflower, and one whose ravages il is very hard to protect tho young planes from. When planted out, if dipped in water with which a tableapjonful of kurosene to the gallon has bean mixed, it will still further assist in keeping the fly off the plants. There are French, German, and Italian varieties : the last with me has proved tbe best for autumn planting. The soil for these plants must be very rich, and the roots always kept moist and frequently hood round so as to procure first-class heads. Watering occasionally with liquid manure is advantageous, as ie will promote a quicker and healthier growth. To grow first-class heads they should be kept growing frota the planting without a single check, aa a check in growth may cause them to be becorno buttony.

Strawberry Growing, The above is ono of the beat of our spring fruits, and eveiy gar :en should pop?eas a small patch To grow pood cropa a certain ornounl of trouble must be taken with the preparation of tho ground and planting. In Britain the strawberry plants are usually planted out in the spring, and no crop is expected ii-oin them the first season. The plantation will last for four or five years. In North Now Zoalnnd the practice with most growers is to plant out early in autumn, thus giving the plants an opportunity of starting and making good growth before the winter sets in. The following spring tho joung plants, being well established, givo first-class crops, also the second year. When fruited for two seasons it is better to have a fresh plantation made ; as tho third year's crop is not, as a rule, very prolific. Wherever a new patch of strawberries i 3 to be put down this autumn, the sooner the ground is pnepared the better. It should be dug as deeply as possible and well manuied, as the strawberry is a heavy feeder. li possible, the ground should be prepared early in March, so as to be able to take advantage of the first suitable weather for planting out— either the end of March or beginning of April. The new break of strawberries should be a part of the kitchen garden that has not been under strawberry culture for the last few years. When planting out select the best runners and dip their roots in a prepared puddle of cow-manme and wator.only lifting sufficient plants to do one row at a time, and giving each plant a thorough soaking of water immediately afterwards. Twenty inches will be a good average distance between the rows of plants. This will always give sufficient room for keeping the plants freo of weeds. If winter weather keep very dry after planting; give ono or two waterings to each plant so as to keep the roots moist. During the winter the hoe will need to be put through the rows about twice so as to keep the weeda undor. Strawberry plants that have been one season undor crop will require to get a thorough overhaul sometime during April All runners and dead leaves should be cleared away, then spread over the ground between the rows a considerable quantity of well rotted manure -the more the better for the crop nexb season— and fork it in the poil, taking care not to injure the roots of the plants during the incoming winter keep them free of weeds with the hoe. Old plants that have fruited for two seasons should be trenches down into the ground, atrd the soil should be well manured for other crops. — Hortus, in "Auckland Star."

A French duchess, who had eloped with come one beneath her in rank, and had been disowned by her family and deserted by her husband, is said to have been found earning her livelihood by plucking up beetroots on a farm near Sasaons.