FOR GARDENERS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 317, 2 October 1908, Page 5

FOR GARDENERS.

WORK FOR TO-MORROW. Colery is a plant worth extensive cultivation. It thrives best in deep soil that has been liberally manured, and it prefers that the soil and its manuring shall ail havo been attended to a good time before planting.' Now stable litter has a tendency to neat and dry tho soil and make it too open. Buried weeds are good, but these also should be dug in] if possible, a good time beforehand bo that they, may bo decomposed before the celery roots, require to feed on them. It is, therefore, desirajble.to prepare celery tranches at the earliest opportunity. When ono digs a deep trench one usually .reaches the raw subsoil, in which tho roots : will not thrive. It is best, therefore, to that there shall, bo a reasonable thickness of surface soil put into the bottom, of the trench lower than the ; roots will be set. The subsoil excavations may be used for. earthing up later on.'-' Bonedust or blood and bone meal may with advantage;, be mixed liberally with the soil, at the bottom of the.trench, or superphosphate. used_ more sparingly will also do good. In addition, if there be added a slight sprinkling of nitrate; of potash (salt petre) then in the matter of manures one will have done , all that is possible. The nitrate of potash could best be watered on to the soil in the..trench, so as to give it bettor dis : tribution and regulate the strength to' prevent burning later on. About a thimbleful per foot of trench, if first dissolved'in. water, would be suflicient for-the season. - The, bonedust and the..,blood a,nd .bone are not caustic, but should be well mixed with the soil. : Celery requires .to be grown rapidly without/any in the seed box or in the trench..; It requires to have moisture constantly available at the. roots, but the trench must bo so placed that tho surplus will .drain-away .so that the roots. will not be: standing', in stagnant -water. Celery is said- to be a blood purifier, and it is generally considered a most appetising vegetable. ■ Very artistic summerhousos, or . arches, or other designs may be fashioned with the. aid of French beans. -If you desire a summerhouse, place ta.ll stakes as tho framework of the building into ground that has been deeply dug and.manured.--At each stake sow two or three French bean seeds, "or transplant them from ;boxes; In . a month or' so there should, ho a .very pretty-little, shady structure coming into existence. The growth of • the beans i" will depend -jan the quality and depth of'the; soil you'give them to feed in. Under favourable treatment the crop of beans "should'.■■■.be enormous, hanging 'down the sides' and under the roof of-the house. An archway may;be made just;as easily, or a whole' garden path 'may be covered in with these useful plants, and both the shade and the".'crop !_of; beans will bo appreciated later - oh. -' It - is. of course, of tho first importance that' the soil' in which 1 tho: beans have . their roots shall bo in good growing order, ; otherwise the scheme. will bespoilt. W'ith plenty Of Worn arid good soil it is surprising to see the enormous crop a single plant'of scarlet .runner beari will yield. Simi- ■ lar sorts of - structures may ]be made 'with passion fruit- plants, but they take longer to grow. The erection of the framework will form a good Saturday afternoon task. • The treatment-of seed-beds "is a'task that/ puzzles some. amateurs, 'arid the question "of the advisability of watering often crops up. Watering ;,has one grea.t drawback, that- it cakes the. surface.' - Where the-"surface is caked there is rapid evaporation, and with evaporation there is always a loss of heat. One ,has to some sort of compromise in these matters. It is not necessary to water a seed-bed immediately it is .sown. Let the seeds get the-,influence of the air and semi-darkneSs'" ! for''' several' ;'day&; nr '*thcn. 'a copious watering 'giveriy, if Adeemed I necessary, at! evening tiine.'' If" sunny - weather follows, the ground : will be' sure to' cake af'Jthe surface, and if is advisaiblo' to break' this ! up by /chipping ,thb .'surface-W tweeri. the seed rows- with a hoe. It is obviously .'an advantage in sjich' a case'to know exactly where the' seeds are. If there bo a bright. sun shining or a drying wind blowing, the chipped surface soil will within about an .hour -be - found, to be quite ..dry: .This speed at which evaporation takes place., . j There would have been.,the samo evaporation' if the soil had not been chipped, but m that case, the lost moisture would have ; been replenished. by moisture, rising from below. The hoeing, has .arrested this upward flow of moisture,; and it remains on reserve , beneath the looso - sujrface. ■ * ~ thinning out of seedlings is an important operation, and this should bo dono'as soon as. they .are large .enough to be dealt with,'.as the growth of;the'plants;that remain is thus stimulated. Speed of growth is everyin \a, vegetable garden. Usually the thinning-is-done in several stages. .Root crops are now making ' very rapid growth, and neglect,to thin will seriously impede the development of the plants. The aim .-in surface-cultivation from now. onward-should bo to maintain a fine, loose s.oil mulch. : We'.'are getting' into the dry weather and cannot afford, to hive the soil opened up any longer to, tho wind. The hoeing should be as shallow as possible so long as it gives a.complete niulch. Neatness' counts m this work. Some people when they hoe simply leave small lumps of soil scattered over the surface, but between the lumps the firm under-soil is visible. This is not proper Joeing.- It does , not. provide a complete mulch, , and evaporation can still proceed at those places where the firm soil,is exposed, iho right way to hoo is just as easy as the .wrong way, and the results are far superior. . ; . ■ ■ ' • In tho flower garden tho planting out of ° P i r r ' va ™ t ; es „ may be proceeded J lth -, TJle . f pl' a ge of bulbs that have done flowenng may soon be tied .up. in order that this foliage, which now manufactures for. the bulbs underground the material from which next season s flowors will be produced, mav not bo injured, and may look tidy. The same care of cultivation-as described for vecetables is required for. the flowers. . Seeds maj be sown of beans, cabbaees cauliflower, Toot vegetables, lettuce, leek' onr?,md a ey ' P&a ' radi celery, spinach! pumpkin, melon and additional potatoes. Plants may be set out of artichoke, asparagus, celery, cabbage cauliflower, various herbs, tomatoes, oT ln dry, sunny weather the evening is the best time'for-planting, and every care should' bo taken to prevent'the drying of the roots dnnog the operation.