IN THE GARDEN

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16358, 1 November 1918, Page 8

IN THE GARDEN

(sncetkxxT wbittbc to* "tsm pzmss.") (Bj J. T. Smcuu*.) WORK FOR THE WEEK Sow—Cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, savoys, kale, radish, mustard and cress, main crop beet, onions for salad, lettuce, spinach, N.Z. spinach, peas, salsafy, scorzoncra, marrows, and pumpkins, French and runner beans, perpetual spinach, and ridge cucumbers. Plant—Cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, and tomatoes. *,• VEGETABLES. Salsafy and Scorzonera.—These are two of the best of the many negleteted vegetables. They are flesny, carrotshaped roots, nourishing and delicious enough to have earned for themselves the name of "vegetable oysters." Their cultivation is such a simple matter, and their merits as a food eo great, that they deserve much wider popularity than they have hitherto been accorded. There are two things you must not do in growing them. No animal manure of any kind must be used, nor must the soil about the roots be disturbed beyond the depth attained by hoeing. On new land these crops usually do well, and wood ashes, soot, superphosphate, and lime may be used as for any other root. They "are not particular as to soil, doing well in either light or heavy loam, but something of a sandy (but not gritty) nature is best. Sow the seed now, nearly one inch deep in drills a foot or fifteen inches apart. Thin the seedlings out to nine inches, hoe often, and remove any flower stems that may appear. They ccme in for use in April, are lifted in May, and stored like carrots between layers of sand or ashes in a, cool place. If a few roots are left in the soil all winter they will 6end up shoots in early spring, wliich may be cut and used as asparagus. Beetroot.—Ground which has been treated the previous year with rich, fat manures for a greedy crop such as celery may reasonably be expected to produce a fine saihple of beetroot. It is important that the soil should < be well broken np some time before sowing. The beds may be made up neatly, in sizzes from four to six feet, and it will bo found the most satisfactory plan to sow the seed not broadcast but in drills. In very light ground the seed may be set as much as an inch and a half deep; in heavier an inch only is necessary. To economise 6eed, continuous sowing may be avoided, and four or five seeds be left in distances of eight or nine inches between each clump in the drill. Enrly thinn'ne should be practised in order to avoid the young roots da paging each other. and eventually singling by hand will be carried out. Th's final thinning requires special care in order to make certain that the fine«t plant, and it only, is left standing. The d'ills should be drawn a foot- apart from other. The main sowing of beet should be made in mcst parts of the country at the present time. FBUIT. Morello Cherries.—Readers who cultivate this valuablo cherry should see ; to disbudding it soon after the tree j has set its fruit. When properly man- | aged, this tree is very profuse in its j production of lateral shoots, and these are tho principal fruit-bedrors for next i year. Tho Morello is much less inclin- 1 ed to form fruit-bearing spurs than other kinds of cherries; the object of the pruner, therefore, should be to have'the tree furnished at all points with young laterals in sufficient numbers to provide for an ample crop of fruit, independent of any fruit spurs that may be formed. But so profuse is the production of lateral shoots in the case of healthy, vigorous trees that unless they are reduced in number early in the season, they become overcrowded, onu fijl to mature their growth and develop the buds in which tne elements of the flowers lie. The best guide as to the amount of space which should ■ be left between the laterals contiguous with every other is that the leaves of one shoot should not overlap those of another. The shoots that are superfluous must "be removed bodily, or bo , pinched back near their bases. j FLOWERS. j Bedding-out.—That "practice makes perfect." is a motto quite applicable to gardening, lor perfection m this art can only bo acquired by years of experience. Thcro is no royal road to the ' mastery of it, and the same operations : have to be repeated each year. Even if : perennial plants are employed in the j borders, an annual adjustment becomes neceeeary. Some will he almost sure

to grow ont of form, others to ran beyona'tho stature of their place or follows. Thus tho opportunity is afforded of correcting mistakes and advancing on former practico. In what is popularly known as tho bedding-out of plants there is even greater scope for improvement. The ground is clenr eitner for a rehearsal of last year's doings, with 6uch variations and improvements as experience may suggest, or for entiroly now combinations of flowers and foliago plants. Some, indeed, change their gardens with as littlo •ceremony as they would their' carpets, and as long as it pleases tho possessor, and is not ostentatiously forcod upon others, there is no cause for complaint. All systems are good in the right place, and when well done, but it is equally true that many gardons would be more enjoyable if they were more natural and less 'artificial than is usually the case. Small suburban gardens especi- ■ ally ought to have as much of na turn in thom as may be, for a tasto anil odour of tho country ia never eo welcome as amid pent-up wooden walls, bricks and mortar, and dead fences. There are many bright and beautiful gardens full of permanent, hardy plants, where very little bedding-out is needed, but some partially tender plants give such gay masses of bloom thai gardens are enlivened by their presence. Many people who have olily small yards at the roar of thoir dwellings, could do a lot of gardenihg in tubs, and would find it—notwithstanding many difficulties —a # source of great delight. By filling email tubs, barrels, wooden buckets, or even fruit casos, with suitable soil, it is possible for an amateur gardener to obtain a groat amount of pleasure by growing numbers of different plants in them. As might be expectod, all plants do not grow equally well' in tubs, especially where there is any great restriction of air and light, and for this Teaeon it is necessary to select the plant used in tub gardening, Tf anything like success is to be attained. At the present time a number of different flowering plant 3 can bo set-out in tubs which will in a very short time furnish a very fine display of bloom. The common form of geraniums, as well as the ivyleaved varieties, prove most suitable subjects for tubs, and are easily managed under such conditions. Fuchsias and calceolarias also lend, themselves admirably to the restrictions incident to tub-gardening, and invariably make a good show even during unfavourable seasons.' Quito a number of different annuals can be grown in this way. Nasturtiums, stocks, asters, petunias, with very little care, can be induced to flower freely when cultivated in tho manner suggested. For all the differentjplants enumerated a soil consisting parts loam, one part of leaf mould, t and one part well-decayed manure, will, be found quite adequate. As it will be necessary to water the 6oil freely, the tubs or boxes must be provided with ample drainago. Holos should be bored in the bottom so as to'let the surplus moisture pass out of tho soil quickly.