THE GARDEN. (By Hortus.) [Hortus is willing to answer any questions. Correspondents must give their real names and addresses, though not for publication.] HORTICULTURAL CLIPPINGS.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 361, 20 April 1889, Page 4

THE GARDEN. (By Hortus.) [Hortus is willing to answer any questions. Correspondents must give their real names and addresses, though not for publication.] HORTICULTURAL CLIPPINGS.

Time to Plant. Now is the time to get ready fco plant deciduous fruit trees. Do not delay this matter for what you consider some more favourable time, as that time will never come. Plant early and well. A few acres properly planted now will be worth many times what a large acreage will bo poorly planted iato in the season. Some growers advise the planting of two and three-year-old trees. This we claim is a mistake. "While in a few instances trees of that age have been taken up and transplanted successfully by our more experienced horticulturists, the average grower and the becmner will meet with much better success from planting one-year-old trees. Much of the \> lantin q done in this State is done in a manner that will not permit of the use of two and three-year-old trees. There are thousands of instances in this State where one-year-old trees and even dormant buds have outstripped in their giowth tiees transplanted when two and three years old. Dig large, deep holes, spend time and labour on your trees, and future results from your orchard will more than repay you. Be careful and not plant too deep, * a& many trees are smothered and stunted by deep planting. Put plenty of good, rich top soil in the bottom of each hole. Be sure that the roots have plenty of room, and that they come well in contact with tine top soil pressed firmly about them. Trees planted well and caved for are sure to live and thrive, and the owner is well on his way toward becoming a very successful and prosperous fruit grower. — " California Fruit grower." Flax for Fibre and Seed. There is no difficulty in growing flax a profit for both fibre and seed, and the farmer engaging in the business can have profit in proportion to the care and attention given to the business. There is no secret in the bu&iness ; the same care given to other staple farm crops is all that is required. The same careful preparation of land secures the same results, the only difference being that ot the care and character of cultivation peculiar to each ciop. Corn, wheat, potatoes, peas, beans, rye, oats, and barley all have their peculiarities, and so with flax. To ensure the highest profit in either, the be?t attention is required, and either suffers if neglected. Flax is just as Eure a crop — certainly if grown for both fibre and seed a surer crop than any gtown for seed alone. Dry seasons will unduly affect crops on dry land, but flax stands both wet and dry seasons more favourably than the other crops. The same careful preparation of the land in good tilth and fertility is rewarded equally by all the farmer raises. All may be pushed by unusual fertility and good drainage, flax especially. Flax may be sown a? early ao the ground can be stirred or up to the Ist of July, if the soil be naturally moist, but most crops suffer late in the summer, and are more sure the earlier sown. Perhaps flax is the one crop best adapted to a moist, mellow soil, or a soil which is not perfectly drained. The stalk grows taller, remains green longer, and is better for the fibre when grown on soil a little moist, as much of the soil is in Indiana. The quantity of seed sown is determined by the character of the fibre desired. One bushel to the acre on poor soil would be almost totally a loss, while on very rich soil it would practically con er the ground and produce a heavy coarse fibre. Poor soil should have more seed — if poor soil must be seeded at all — that it may shade the ground. Rich soil will stand either light or heavy seeding. The gi eater the quantity of seed the larger the fibre and the finer and more valuable, but the amount of seed is lessened. About two and a-half bushels of seed to the acre, sown just before planting corn, on good, mellow, cloan soil, is the nearest direction which can be given to obtain the highest results in both seed and fibre. For fibre alone, or where fibre is the first considex-ation, sowing three bushels to the acre were bettei. To obtain the fibre in the best shape the fla.\ should be pulled just as the bottoms of the stalks are turning to ripeness. The seed loses nothing in this rather early harvesting. I say pull the flax, because there is no such thing practicable as to cut it close to the ground ; if there were, cutting would answer all'purposes. If the ground is mellow and carefully rolled after seeding, a harvester may be set so low as to remedy the necessity of pulling, that is when the cost of the two methods of harvesting is considered. If sown on rich soil, three bushels to the acre, the fibre will be very long and valuable, if cut close by a harvester. When harvested the flax should be bound and cured, but not left in the field co become discoloured by the weather. Threshing may be done during the winter by flails, by hand-beating it over a barrel or board, by roller threshing or by riffling. To prepare the fibte the old plan of spreading it in gra\els on the ground, to be rotted by the action of the atmosphere and frequent turning, is still the geneial practice by small growers. Others steep it until the retting is effected in stagnant waters where it is placed and held under the water by plank and weights. After retting the straw is passed through a brake by hand or machinery, and then scutched by hand or revolving knives. The business of preparing the fibre is a good winter employment, and our forefathers produced very fine fibre, and our grandmothers spun very fine linen from it. The flax industry is a safe business. There can be no loss, and if the straw is housed it will always be valuable. There is at this time no more promising pursuit to the American people than to develop this industry in all its bearings. — Correspondent ' Country Gentleman.'