HINTS FOR THE AMATEUR.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 July 1938, Page 10

HINTS FOR THE AMATEUR.

VEGETABLES AND FLOWERS. WORK FOR THE WEEK VEGETABLE GARDEN. Look over the stocks of seed potatoes and get them placed on end in trays to sprout. Make up hotbeds for early seed sowing; these are a great , help for early crops. Plant out the main crop of onions; do not plant too deeply or they will not bulb up. Make a sowing of broad beans and early peas when the soil is dry enough. On a warm border sow early carrots, turnips and beetroot. Sow some lettuce in boxes to follow the autumn planted crop. Any land in green manuring crops should be dug over to give the green matter time to decay. Plant lettuce, cabbage, shallots and herbs in raised beds. Dig spare plots and leave the surface quite rough. Give every part of the Vegetable garden a good sprinkling of lime every third year. Buy "certified” seed of good early potatoes (Jersey Bennes, Robin Adair and Cliff's Kidney), and sprout them in shallow boxes. Stand the tubers upright having uppermost the end with nearly all the “eyes.” See that the drainage of the back garden is good; make the necessary changes to levels. FLOWER GARDEN. Plant hardy ornamental trees and shrubs, also hedge plants. Loosen the soil around bedding plants of all kinds, and also between bulbs. Make a frame for propogating plants; a handy size is five feet by four feet, and the height may be two feet at the back and twelve inches at the front, the slope of the glass being towards the north. Clear away all rubbish that would harbour slugs and other pests. Scatter some slaked lime around chrysanthemums, sweet peas and other plants that would suffer from slugs and snails. In bad cases it will be necessary to lift the clump of chrysanthemums, examine it (for pests), and then plant it-in a tub or box kept on a stand well above the ground. Border carnations will need overhauling; remove all dead foliage. Trees and shrubs can be*pruned, but leave the spring-flowering subjects ' till later. . . " In the colder districts the pruning of roSes can be taken in hand. Rooted suckers of chrysanthemums can be taken off and lined out in the nursery rows. Some of the early flowering corms can be planted for an early crop of flower. . Make good any gaps in hedges; this may be done by tying down some of the lower branches. Prepare land for spring sowing of lawn grass seed. FRUIT GARDEN. Cut out all dead and cankered wood from the trees When pruning. Destroy all prunings by burning. If left to decay on the soil, they are a harbour for disease. If the fruit area needs draining, this should be seen to as it, is a frequent cause of cankered trees. An egg killing spray should be applied when pruning is finished to destroy the eggs of peach aphis. Select and “heel in” any scions required for grafting later. Push on with the planting operations in all favourable weather. Keep the strawberry bed clean >of weeds but do not hoe too close to the crowns.