AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE FOR THE MONTH OF MAY.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XII, Issue 827, 1 June 1855, Page 1 (Supplement)

AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE FOR THE MONTH OF MAY.

(From the Victoria Rural Magazine.) Tiie Farm. — In this month the sowing of many kinds of grain may be vigorously carried on. Wheat, Cape barley, tares, peas, beans, as well as mangold wurtzel, turnips, carrots, parsnips, field cabbages, and many other kinds of | seeds may be now sown ; but the precise time !of sowing is of comparatively little importance to the modes of breaking-up and getting the soil ready and fit for the reception of crops ; and no one thing so powerfully contributes to successful farming as the deep and thorough stirriug-up, breaking, and mixing of the soil, so as to expose as large a surface as possible to the action of the sun, and provide for the free admission of the air and rain. Those who have not had their lands deeply ploughed at' least two months ago will doubtless be losers in harvest. But better late than never ; and soil broken up now day still produce sufficient to stimulate the aspiring and hopeful farmer to further exertions in anI other year. The rains of the present month will quickly start into life the seeds of pasture grasses ; now is therefore the sea-on for sowing the clovers, lucerne, Italian rye-grass, and Bokhard clover, as well as tobacco, cotton, and many other plants requiring nearly a year to bring them to perfection. Preparation should also be made for plantiug potatoes, and some of the early sorts, as the ash-leaved kidney and others, may be put in. This is also a favorable time to go into the wild busli and scatter seeds, to produce good herbage feed in the ensuing spring and summer. All possible means should now be adopted to render the coming raius as serviceable to the earth as possible, by means of draining and irrigation, taking advantage of the overflowing of rivers and creeks, and training them (so to speak) over the land, producing plenty where else would be sterility. Gu* auo, nitrate of soda, lime, and common salt, are also powerful fertilisers, and may now with advantage be scattered over the earth, "as the sower soweth his seed.''

The Garden. — The value of the ridge and furrow, and the secret of blending together the varioui ingredients of the soil, are not quite so well understood here as is desireable ; though the Victorian gardener will find that to be thoroughly successful with his crops he must expose his land to the fertilizing action of the sun's rays, which have the same effect here in preparing the soil for the seed as frost has in cold climates. His kitchen -garden should be divided and subdived ; and if for green crops, no tree, bush, or herbaceous plant, other than for culinary use. should be permitted within its precincts. Trees should be planted in a quarter by themselves, bushes and each of its kind the same. The good gardener will observe that a mixture of all will deteriorate most, as some few, perhaps only one, will take the lead, to the detriment of all the rest. In Victoria, especially, where the rains are sometimes so heavy so continuous, the beds for crops oifght to be much higher than the paths, so that path and drain may go hand in hand. The seeds to be now sown we cabbages, cauliflowers, brocoli, turnips, carrots> parsnips, white beet, peas, beans, ouious, leaks, spinach, and many kinds of herbs for culinary use. The latter are much in demand here, and are a valuable crop ; but whatever is sown, it must be borne in mind that, as seeds require air in addition to warmth and moisture to cause them to germinate, it is better to cover them with decayed leaves or rotten manure, rather than with sifted earth.

The Flower Garden. — This should be»a busy month with the Victorian florist;, not Ofl ly in clearing off and digging in decayed plants and stems, but in forming new beds and sowing on a large scale, particularly the annual kinds,— as

do art can make such plants, if sown in spring, grow so well or blossom so profusely as those sown in autumn. As to the forms of flowerbeds, we will take another opportunity of recurring to the subject, much ingenuity having been (we think needlesly) exerted to torture them as well as their occupants into arbitrary forms, such, for instance, as hearts and diamonds and horseshoes for flower-beds ; and as to trees and shrubs, they have been transformed into the semblance of beasts and birds, vases and architectual columns, &c. ; and we cannot help thinking those who advocate such vagaries to be quacks, and those who put faith in them their victims.

Fruit 'Garden: — Trench and drain ground intended for orchards, if it has not been previously done, so as to be ready for planting at the fall of the loaf, which will be in June. Now also dig holes for the reception of your trees, lettiug them remain open and exposed, with the earth thrown up around them, for the next two or three months, which will much promote your success in plauting ; but should you find that after raiuy weather your hole holds water like a well; rest assured that some little skill and trouble will be requisite. Plant on hills backed by higher hills, or on warm declivities, and you will be near the mark ; or you may be quite successful even in a flat, by draining it and throwing up the mould into little Mounds, high and dry ; but iv every case plant shallow, putting well rotted manure or leaves round the stems of the trees or shrubs planted.