GARDEN NOTES FOR AUGUST. A ROYAL STALLKEEPER. BISMARCK AS A WOOD DIALER.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 554, 28 August 1880, Page 2

GARDEN NOTES FOR AUGUST.

A ROYAL STALLKEEPER.

BISMARCK AS A WOOD DIALER.

' KZ, Country Journal,) Kitchon Garden.—This, the first month of spring, is a busy month in this department, Two or threi sowings of peas should be made at intervals of a few days. Fur this season we can recommend Laxton's. Prolific, McLean's Advancer, and Wonderful-all of which have proved to he good aorta. We should.advise that they lie sown in rows-four to six feet apart, rather thickly, and about three inches deep. A few potatoes'(if the very earliest sorts may he tried on the iiorth side of a hedge— beat kiud is probably the Coldstream. Any cabbage-plants of a sufficient size may be planted out now, ~jv j % v ; ; : : v:

mid large sowings of the whole of Hie tribe should bo msido in Mured situations ; they willj however, in most localities, require protection from the birds, flelery miiy :b'e,sowii in a frame or uiuler : . a luindiiglit: a pinch of be found enough at this season; Leeks and onions should be sowed on the ground prepared iir the autumn ; sow in drills one foot apart and very shallow,.so, that the seed will be nicely covered and no more; after covering up, tread,the wholo of the bed gently but firmly with" the feet, then rake lightly, and the job ia finished. We have tried most, of the new kinds, but have found hone equal to the old Spanish " ' ' and James Keeping.. A good breadth:of; -j parsnips should now be "sown in rich;' ' f light soil, in drills 18 inches apart, and - the parts thinned out to 6 inches. Air " Kinds of salads may be sown in such '' quantities as are likely to be required. Flower Garden.-All planting should be;finished this; month, and all alterations in the form of the garden or any of its'; parts should be completed as soon as possible. . Some the hardiest annuals' should be'sown in the warmer parts of the garden. Species of herbaceous plants' ' may be divided, and ; the mixed flower , borders may be much improved by care- ' ful digging over and forking in a liberalsupply of old manure or fresh soil. Lawns ' | may be formed by sowing or turfing, abd V ' old ones should be carefully mown weekly, and any bad placer turfed over. Various - tender annuajs may be sown in hotbeds ; ■' for planting Out in November, all weeds should be cleaned off, and all leaves and S other decaying matter carefully : awept"■ up: from the walks.

Great crowds of people visited Kensington House recently, when it became known th.it the Princess of Wales would assist iii the sale of the fancy articles for the Kensington Industrial and Training School for GirJa. People pressed up to the counter where, a beautiful lady in black stood handing"to the buyers little vases of colored glass or Buultou ware; each with a flower in it, and receiving in. 1 exchange a few shillings, Groups of those who had passed and made their purchases were talking excitedly to their friends or ' tn perfect strangers," I have seen her," " The Princess sold it to me,"'..l liad ■ it from her own hands"—such was the scene; but the crush became a iiltle dangerous ten minutes after the Princess began to sell (between five,and six p.m.) Two ladies fainted, and at first it was im[wsnble to clear the place for them and give them air.. , The Duchess of Teck, however, went forward, and the welldressed but pushing crowd gave way at mice to Her Royal Highiiess, who procee-. ded to admiuister eau do cologne and oilier restoratives. After these visitors hal recovered and had been led into tho open air, the Princess Mary effected a a diversion of the crowd by going to her other stall, the fruit-stall in the next room (the pioture gallery), and so causing ii stream of.purehasera to flow to the pic- . !ure gallery as well as to the ball-room. Tho takings at the royal stall amounted ■; to about £SOO for the two days, and the proceeds of the whole bazzaar would proably reach the handsome sum of £2000.' '

A wholesale wood merchant of Hamburg, whose name is not given, has been' made by his interviewer to communioate to the Berlin Montagablatt au account of Prince Bismaiok' in hia character as a large dealer in wood. The'business intercourse between the two principals has baen ciriuod on, of course, through the > intermediary of the the Imperial Chancellors chief forester, but the Hamburgher has occasionally seen the great statesman himself, and all the commercial documents havo duly-received his ooimtersiguature, as if they were contracts between Germany and some other great Power. After telling us that it has ; been a ll colossal bad time for the wood trade," o the dealer says that he has recently bought from the Prince a parcel of one thousand wagons of beams. These all came from the famous Saohsenwald, a part of the Prince's " dotation," whioh is , valued by the Hamburgh merchant at no <■•' less than three million thalers. Prince • Bitmarck, he says, is the first owner who ' has made anything out of it. The ' " Saxou Forest" belonged formerly to the Danes, and " they appear never to have cumbered themselves about its immense value. Bismarck liaß had ten auctions there during one single winter, from which he has realised nearly forty thousand marks." The forest cannot be worth less to him thau one hundred and fifty thousand marks a-year, though business has been so execrably bad for the last three years, He cuts down a great deal, He is a most economical man at regards himself, but is very generous to his family, and particularly to that " clever-headed" fellow his son-in-law. He was accompanied by six servants. J.' He would much prefer to go about along in the woods, but the Emperor insisted that he should always be attended by . such a retinue." It is the custom in . Hamburgh for merchants to send presents at Christmas lo those with whom they have dealt: during the past year. Our' merchant could not very well send a sort of trade complimeut to so august a customer as the Imperial Chancellor, so he despatched a Bplendid piece of that beloved dainty, " Ranohfleißoh" to his chief : forester. "The old gentleman is just Buch a man as his master, the two are great friends, and often drive out .toge- s ther. Would you believe it? An early post brought twenty marks in payment of the present of smokud meat!" The Prince knows every detail of every bargain. Once when the merchant had bought bi ' \ parcel of beeches, all of which were te be*"/ cut down within nine years, Bismarck 'v sent word that not a single oak found amongst them should be touched. ••' ■