HAWKE'S BAY GARDEN CALENDAR.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 13, Issue 1063, 6 July 1869, Page 4

HAWKE'S BAY GARDEN CALENDAR.

JULY.

Kitchen Garden.— Should the season be dry, and not very frosty, the main crops of carrots, parsnips, beet, onions, leeks, &c, may be sown ; in exposed situations, or far inland, next month would be soon enough. Sow plentifully of peas and broad beans ; be careful not to sow the dwarf kinds too close together. Sow, in gentle heat, capsicums, tomatoes, cucumbers, and melons.

Fruit Garden. — Collect grafts; put thorn in a shady corner for a few days before grafting ; proceed with pruning ; plums, peaches, and nectarines should have been pruned in the early part of June, as they flower in August. Dress strawberry beds. Transplant fruit trees early this month, if not before done. Do not cultivate too near fruit trees or bushes, as, by digging, the | surface roots get destroyed. . • Flower Garden.-— Sow hardy annuals and biennials ; prune and transplant roses — they require a generous soil to flower well ; more especially the hybrid perpetuate. Divide chrysanthemums. Put in cuttings of roses, honeysuckles, spirea, laburnum, laurel, &c. Take up the bulbs of tigridia. Sow sweet peas for early flowers. All flowering shrubs show their bloom buds early, therefore must be sparingly pruned now ; the proper time is directly the bloom is over; crowded shoots, not showing bloom buds, should bo cut out. Plant out from seed beds hardy annuals, biennials, and perennials. AUGUST. Kitchen Garden. — Sow carrots, parsnips, onions, leeks, lettuces, radishes, spinach, beet, peas, beans, cabbages and cauliflowers. Protect early potatoes where necessary ; fronds of fern stuck along the rows form a good protection against the frosts of spring. Silver beot, which is grown for its leaf stalk and leaves, should be sown in rows and thinned out to two feet apart ; the young leaves are an admirable substitute for spinach, and the stalk and mid rib is used for seakale. Fhuit Garden. — Peaches are now in blossom, and towards the end of the month the plums begin to bloom ; therefore it would not answer to prune any of them, but such trees as are late in developing either blossom buds or leaf buds may still be pruned. Grafting should be performed this and next month, according to the stato of the buds ; the most successful time is when they begin to swell. Apples, pears, medlars, quinces, plums, may still be planted in cases of emergency ; the trees will require mulching and frequent waterings if the next month should be dry.

Floater Garden. — Sow anemone seed ; mix the seed with sand and rub well, so as to separate tho downy seeds from each other; sow them thinly, sand and all, but a little below the surface in rows 12 inches apart, and thin them out afterwards to 12 inches in the row, transplanting to another bed those thinned out. Manure roses with cow-dung, two years old if possible ; prune some of them, leaving others to be pruned in October, so that you may obtain a succession of flowers. Put dahlia roots in ! gentle boat to make them shoot previously to dividing and planting out. SEPTEMBER. | Kitchen Garden. — This is the busiest month in the year. A final dressing of salt and guano should bo given to asparagus beds. In transplanting, never draw the plants from the seed bed, but lift them with some kind of tool. Sow asparagus, American cross, beans, boets (white and red,) brocoli, cabbages, cauliflowers, carrots, celeriac, celery, lettuces, leeks, onions, mustard, nasturtiums, parsley, peas, parsnips, rhubarb, seakalo, savoys, spinach, turnips. In gentle heat sow cucumbers, melons, marrows, tomatoes, and capsicums. Make thyme borders. Plant potatoes, garlic, horse-radish. Plant out leeks when about size of a goose-quill. Plant carrots, parsnips, beet for seed ; do not attempt to raise seed of more than one variety of each at same time. Fruit Garden. — Graft fruit trees. Eootpruno over-luxuriant trees. Watch for American blight ; if it i 3 making rapid progress among the bursting blossom buds, touch with a little olive oil. Mulch newly, planted trees, and water them occasionally. Flower Garden. — Sow tender annuals ; sow biennials and perennials. Spring gladioli should be at once planted. Transplant perennials (excepting tap-rooted ones), every other year ; wher-e they cannot be safely removed, manure them freely. Put in cuttings of fuschias, petunias, verbenas, geraniums, roses, pansies, aloysia, syringa, spirea, &c. Plant dahlias and marvel of Peru. OCTOBER. Kitchen Garden. — All sowings omitted last month must be performed now ; keep seed beds well weeded and thinned. Sow plentifully kidney beans and runners, carrots, parsnips, small salading, melons, cucumbers, and marrows. Slugs now become very troublesome; cabbage leaves smeared on the under side with grease and laid among the beds successfully entrap them ; as the slugs feed at night, the leaves will have to be visited at that time. Fruit Garden. — Disbud trees, with the thumb, of superfluous buds. Trim away strawberry runners, reserving such of tho strongest as may be required for new beds. : Mulch newly planted trees with lawn mowings, rough stablo litter, or even weeds. Flower Garden. — Sow annuals of all kinds for successional flowering ; sow also biennials and perennials. Acacia seeds and others of similar nature germinate with greater certainty if they have been steeped in water at nearly boiling heat for an hour. Plant dahlias ; those that wore left in the ground during winter will send up numerous shoots ; select the strongest, and remove tho others; the suckers will all root. NOVEMBER. Kitchen Garden. — Asparagus beds should bo in good wprking order at the beginning of this month ; salt applied once a week materially increases the yield, and keeps the weeds under. Sow Cape brocoli now, if done earlier, the plants are apt to run ; sow carrots, rub the seed in sand and sow in drills nine inches apart. Plant potatoes ; sow kidney beans, runners, (scarlet and case-knife,) peas, celery, vegeteblo marrows, melons, cucumbers, tomatoes ; sow nasturtiums for pickling. Capsicums may be planted out in open border at end of the month. Part thyme, sage, savory, mint, and marjoram. Thin out and transplant onions and leeks ; prick out plants of cabbages and cauliflowers to about four inches apart,

Fj&uit Gabden. — Keep down American blight ; during the summer months a strong

decoction of tobacco mixed with flour of ' sulphur is a better application than turpentine, as the latter destroys the foliage wherever it touches. Remove suckers from raspberries, reserving three or four of the strongest canes for next year's fruiting. Peach and other trees much infested with scale should be painted over with a mixture of 2 lbs soft soap, 2 lbs flour of sulphur, 1 lb tobacco, a wine-glassful of turpentine, and 7 gallons water. If the season is at all dry, water strawberries every evening ; cut away the runners, excepting those reserved last month for planting new beds. Flower Garden. — Sow annuals and biennials of all kinds. Take up and store hyacinths and most of the Cape bulbs as soon as the leaves begin to change colour. Plant cuttings of China roses; banksian roses must be pruned now; hybrid perpetuals will be going out of bloom, cut them back a little, so that they may gain strength for autumn blow ; apply liquid manure occasionally. If the green fly or rose aphis is very troublesome, dip the ends of the shoots in a decoction of 2 ozs. of quassia to a gallon of water. Prune flowering shrubs as soon as they have done blooming. Divide and plant out chrysanthemums. DECEMBER. Kitchen Garden. — Sow peas, kidney beans, and swede turnips. Plant out tomatoes. Cease cutting asparagus, that the plants may gain strength for next season ; mark such plants as you may require to save seed from. Prick out celery plants when about two inches high ; let the soil be very good, and keep them watered and shaded so that they receive no check. Reserve radishes for seed ; be careful not to save more than one kind for that purpose, as the different varieties cross and eventually become useless. Stop cucumber plants, to induce them to throw out fruitbearing laterals. Fruit Garden. — Summer pruning should now be done : those shoots that are ill placed or crowded, which cannot bo rubbed off with the thumb, should be cut away close with a sharp knife. Bud peaches, nectarines, apricots, almonds, and plums. Strawberries will require abundant and constant watering. Flower Garden. — Stake lilies, hollyhock, foxgloves, Canterbury bells, and other tall growing flowers. Dahlias, planted in October, will require attention ; to obtain good flowers, allow of only one shoot from each plant; keep them tied to the stakes as they advance in growth. Roses may now be budded ; when the bud has been inserted about three weeks, it be seen whether it has taken or not ; if it has, loosen the bandage and cut back the shoot, two eyes above the bud; cut away all shoots from the stock below the bud. Pinks and carnations should now be in bloom ; make layers, and pipe the choicest ; should the weather be dry, frequent waterings are necessary to the full development of the flowers. Take up ranunculuses, anemones, cape bulbs, as soon as they have ripened. Save ixia seeds. Strike side shoots of pansies.

Quartz. — If the existence of quartz is any evidence of the presence of gold, we have numerous indications of auriferous sti*ata in the province. At the offices of Messrs. Bothune and Hunter, a largo table is spread over with specimens of almost every tint — grey, blue, yellow, white, and also the dark brown shade, which in certain conditions, pervades the rich stone of Bendigo and Ballarat. These specimens were brought from the neighborhood of Terawiti, and Mr. Hunter has taken the trouble of pulverising some of the best, looking amongst them, but, upon examination through the aid of powerful magnifying lenses, the total absence of the precious metal is apparent. This in itself may be looked upon as a- very singular circumstance, inasmuch as side by side with these specimens, there are two vials — each containing about two ounces of capital gold — small, shotty, and angular — evidently not having travelled far, and obtained by tho pick and shovel of the prospectors amongst the surrounding ranges. — Independent, June 22.

Not fit to be Mabbied. — A description of a " colonial honeymoon " is furnished by the Bendigo Independent. At the Sandhurst Police Court, it appears, a woman applied to Mr. M'Lachlan " for advice about her husband, as he wanted to marry somebody else." She stated that she had been married to him amonth since, and in support of her statement that ho wished to dissolve the existing union, she produced the following unique declaration of his news on the matter : — " Sir, — I are willan to Be devost from My wiff As She is not fit to bo marrid. — Samuel Myebs." After hearing the unfortunate bride's account of her troubles, Mr. M'Lachlan in* formed her that the case was one which did not exactly come within his jurisdiction, and advised her to go back to her husband. This did not seem to meet her wishes, as "she did not care about his leaving her, but she would like to make him support her after."

A Singing Mouse. — Wo (Adelaide Observer) were shown by Mr. Gr. Freeman, photographer, of Rundel- street, a genuine curiosity in the shape, not of a singing fish that Londoners have had exhibited to them, but a singing mouse. For some time Mr. Freeman had heard in his shop the piping sound usually produced by canaries and some other small birds, and found it to pro* ceed from an unsuspected quarter. On Wednesday eveningamouse entered atrap, where it is still ensconced. la this domicile the reputed singer was brought to our office, and although we were not so fortunate as to hear him warble like a lark, wo did distinctly for some timo listen to a whistle. Especially in the evening, and when dark, its piping notes may bo heard for some distance and length of time. No doubt Mr. Freeman will be willing to show it to those interested, though of course he cannot guarantee a song at any particular moment.

Smartness of Young Australia. — An instance of the peculiar smartness of tho Australian youth was afforded lately at the Fine Arts Exhibition, at tho Mechanics' Institute. Geelong. A " small boy," some seven or eight years old, was, with all the air of a man, scrutinising the pictures, and occasionally refering to a catalogue which he carried. A member of the police force, who was in the room, noticed the precocious air of the youngster, and thinking to " chaff" him, went up, and in patronising manner requested to bo informed what information the catalogue gave about his number, at the same time refering to the number ou his hat. The lad, with porfeet nonchalance, pretended to look up the corresponding number, and coolly answered the enquiring constablo that picture No. — was " A Bobby." The disgust of tho officer, and the amusement of those who overheard the conversation, may be imagined. — Argus.

Legislative Council. — We learn that N. Levin, Esq., of Wellington, has received a writ of summons issued in the name of her Majesty and under the hand of the Governor, calling him to a seat in the Legislative Council. Tho Hon. F. D. Fenton, Chief Judge of the Native Lands Court, who was recently called to the Council, has, it is understood, resigned his seat, on the ground it is said of finding a seat in Parliament incompatible with his official duties.— lndependent, June 22.