KITCHEN GARDEN.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIX, Issue 136, 10 June 1898, Page 3

KITCHEN GARDEN.

Up to the time of writing t!iis wo have had a splendid autumn for gelling all work well forward in thi.-s department. Hough labour of every sort should therefore be up to date. At the present, time it is threatening to rain, and when it does come we will probably get it very heavy. H this be the ca.se all digfffing or turning1 of the soil should be deferred iill we again receive a few fine days. To labour soil while it is in a wjt state does it a great deal of harm, as i. will leave it in a cold, clammy st;:u till the sun again evaporates the moisture from it. When the soil is dry is the best lime to prepare the different breaks of ground for early spring cropping. The onion crop in p.rrticular should now be got ready. The soil for this crop should l>e prepared in the following manner:—Plenty of well-rotted manure should be wheeled all over it, and should cither be dug in or, what is better, trenched into it, as the deeper the soil is laboured the better it is. The same remarks will apply to the labouring1 of soil for all other crops. Opportunity ought to be taken of the first dry weather to finally earth all late crops of celery. When earthing1 up only leave about six inches of the foliage above tli.e ground. Plant out another few rows of cabbage and cauliflower and sow a fresh patch of seed for spring planting. Earth up such plants as are growing strongly.. Tomatoes are now over for the season and any unripe fruit ST4II hanging- to the plants should be picked off. If taken into the house this fruit will ripen. The piece of soil in which the plants -were growing should be well manured and dug- for some other crop. Pumpkins, pie-melons, etc., are now all pretty well ripened. The fruit should be collected and stored in some cool, dry, airy place so that they may keep for winter and spring- use. The haulm of the old plants should be cleared away oft' the ground, which should be prepared for another crop. Towards the end of this month a few early potatoes can be planted in warm, dry" situations not subjected to lata spring frosts. A few early pea.? may also be sown in similar situations. Another successions! sowing of broad beans can also now be made. Earth up all growing crops as they auvance in growth and keep the soil wcil stirred between the rows of such as are small. Thin out all seedling1 crops before they begin to draw one another up, Any vacant, pieces of ground not required for winter cropping should be sown down in oats. The green oafs, if not. required for feed, can. when about six inches high, bo dug into the ground. This is one of the best methods of supplying manure to the ground.