The Garden

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 462, 12 April 1890, Page 3

The Garden

(By HORTIS.) Kitchen Garden. The moist weather which we have experienced lately will have brought the soil into first-class condition for putting out all the different autumn crops. Cabbages and cauliflowers: Plant out a few more, earth up early planted crops, and sow another small patch of seed of each, for later planting. The cold nights will check the ravages of the cabbage fly. Sow carrots, turnips, onions, and spinach for winter use, also mustard, cress, and radishes. Those late should be sown frequently, and in small patches, so as always to have fresh, succulent young plants. Lettuce : Prick out another batch, sow another patch of seed, tie up advanced plants for blanching. Tomatoes : Continue the tieing up and pinch back ; see that the fruit is exposed as much as possible to the action of the sun s rays, so that it may swell for ripening quickly. It is a good plan to pick the fruit just as it begins to colour, as it will ripen equally as well in the house, and will not be exposed so much to the action of the caterpillar. Allow a few flowers to set yet, as in some situations they will still arrive at maturity before the cold of winter checks them. Celery: Continue giving liquid manure to the late-planted crops; tie up the foliage, and earth up when the stalks have attained a height of about six to eight inches in height. Where late winter and early spring celery is required it is still time to plant out if young plants can be procured. Leeks can also yet be planted; they will make moderate growth still, although they 7 will not attain anything like the size of those which were planted during the spring and early summer. Where the runners of strawberries have been specially grown, or can be procured with roots, have them planted out in their permanent po -ition as soon as possible. I have always found that early autumn planting will produce the finest crop the following season, as the plants get well established before the winter sets and the following will make good strong fruiting plants. Where the strawberry plantation is to be made the ground should be heavily manured, and if possible, trenched. Recollect, when planting, that the plants are to remain in the same position on tho ground for at least two years,and although artificial manures can be applied at any time, they will never do the same amount of good that a good supply of litter manure will do if put in while the soil is being laboured for planting. Where young plants are procurable and planted, if the balance of the autumn comes dry, watering will need to bo resorted to, so as to keep the roots moist and growing. All debris of crops should be cleared off the ground and placed in the rot heap. Good doses of salt and lime should bo dusted in with it so as to kill the germs of insect life. All ground that is required for autumn cropping should be well manured and roughly dug or trenched over, letting it lie in this state till wanted for cropping. The atmospheric action will soon bring it into a good state. What breaks are not required"for autumn cropping should be dug over and sown down in oats, which will make capital material for green feed where a cow or horse is kept. Where such is not kept, the oats should be dug down when they attain a height of about a foot to a foot and a half. This green manure will grow splendid crops next season of almost any class-of vegetable. Flower Garden. The moist weather has also made a large number of the ordinary stock plants assume a more healthy and vigorous appearance. Cuttings of all the different hard-bedding plants should be taken off and put in at once. A cool, shady place is the best for putting them out, and light, rich, sandy soil is the best. Shading will be required during the day for a few weeks, especially while the sun’s rays are upon them. In cloudy or wet weather the shading will be better dispensed with. Early spring flowering bulbs and tubers should now be put out in their permanent places where such can be managed. Anemone and rananculus tubers, if required for later bedding, can be planted out in boxes in which they can be grown till required for the beds. Cinerarias can also be pricked out into boxes in the same manner. The best way to do with all these is to get some half-de-composed manure and place about an inch of this in the bottom of tho box, on top of this place about two inches of rich light compost, into which the bulbs can be plan ted. The cinerarias can also be pricked out into this. The plants will soon grow, and their roots will go into the compost and manure, and when good sturdy plants, they can be easily lifted with a good ball of earth attached, and planted out. Plant in the boxes a little over two inches apart, and keep in the open air so as to obtain good strong hardy plants. Camellias, azaleas, and rhododendrons: Give liquid manure occasionally, so as to assist in maturing their buds. Dahlias: Stake, tie, and give liquid manure. If you are kind to them they will still give good flowers. Chrysanthemums : These are now in some instances beginning to open their buds. All who may want to produce good large flowers should at once disbud, for ordinary cases leaving only two or three buds on each shoot. Those who may intend to enter into competition at the show to be held towards the end of the month, should only leave one bud on each shoot, as nothing but really first-class flowers will be of any use at the coming show. Liquid manure should be freely applied to the soil above the roots, but do not allow it to touch the foliage. To keep up the appearance of the flower border till the annual autumn digging and manuring takes place, go" over all the plants and cut off all dead aud decaying branches, also all debris of spent annuals, and it would be as well to run the hoe over the surface of the borders to check the millions of annual and seed weeds which the late moist weather has germinated. Greenhouse. Give plenty of air and water, re-pot calceolarias, cinerarias, and primulas whenever they have properly filled their small pots. To grow these plants well in pots, they should never be allowed to get a check. Cinerarias to be planted out in the open border should be pricked out into boxes, and when established, placed out in the open air, so that they may be grown hardy. Cyclamens should now be planted out in the open border, and they will soon get furnished with foliage and flowers. Camellias in pots should now be shifted from their summer quarters into the house, where they will flower earlier than those in the open border.