THE GARDEN.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CVI, Issue 12570, 3 August 1901, Page 4

THE GARDEN.

WORK FOR TEE WEEK, Kitchen Garden. —It will be necessary to examine the seed of peas sown during July, especially the wrinkled varieties, as there is every reason to expect some will have rotted during the excessively web weather experienced diming the past two weeks. If this has resulted, sow again at onefe. Beans.—Both early and main crop varieties may be. sown, selecting the'warmest and driest situation for the early varieties. Broccoli.— Sow several varieties; Walcheren is one of the very best for general purposes. Cauliflower. —Make another sowing to secure a continued supply. If small quantities of seed were sown at intervals there would be a more regular supply of vegetables for . the season. Carrots and other small seeds had better be left for a few days until the soil has become a, little drier. Give every care to growing crops of spinach, onions, cabbage, etc., by breaking up the surface with a hoe or a planet cultivator. We do not advise treading on the ground, while it is wet, bub directly the surface is dry run the cultivator through the crops*to let the air into the soil, and prevent the surface hardening. Even the seed rows should be carefully broken up, to alloAV the January seedlings to push, through. Potatoes.—The second early varieties may be planted when th® land is fit, but nothing is gained tlirough planting in wet or waterlogged soil. Put tho early varieties on light land, as there is thus less risk of frost. Asparagus.— August is the best month in which to make fresh asparagus beds. The reason many plants fail to grow is owing to planting early in the winter. They should be planted just as. they commence to start into fresh growth. In making new beds there is no necessity for the elaborate preparations so often advocated, as the best results can be obtained without them. The beds should be trenched to an even depth of about two feet; then mark each bed off four feet six inches wide, and if there are two beds side by .side there should be an alley between them two feet wide. Having' marked out the bed, put one row of roots down the centre, spreading their rootlets out carefully; next plant a row on either side, eighteen inches from the centre row. The roots should be twelve inches apart in the rows, covered with about three inches of soil. Too much attention cannot be given to this point, as more than three inches of soil put over the roots is not only unnecessary* but often injurious. Another mistake to avoid is taking too much soil from the alley. Old-time gardeners used to make these quits eight or ten inches deep, and so rob the outside roots of moisture. It is far better to leave the alleys level with the beds, and cover the roots with soil from- another part of the garden. A few inches of half-rotted manure should be spread over the bed as a mulch. , Flower Garden.—Unless the garaen is well sheltered, it -is not wise or sa e o prune roses until about the middle m August; the latter* half is the sal er, it may be well to point out why roses should not be pruned so. early* It rs nob because the bushes are not haray, but d - cause the late frosts often destroy the n -t crop of flowers. It will bo noticed that while the bushes are not pruned Gm P buds are pushing into leaf, and the lowei ones are dormant, but directly the . e are pruned the lower buds push ° U R. .A ' leaves, and just as the buds ar*e late frosts partially destroy them, buds do nob show the injury until gin to show colour; then the petals • if they had been eaten, by g™ b ® ° r pillars. There are a nuipber of A _ • ■that should be sown at once, to sec re S plants for the coming summer. varieties germinate quicker, and giv - results, if the seed is sown in a i - > while others may be successfuUy . a cold frame, and later on m the spring sown in the border where they lire • In preparing the soil for seeds t , placed in a hob bed care should , to ensure that it is light, and mo ' It is owing to over-rick soil mat y seedlings damp off after tney 0 The two most essential , pLps are plenty of drainage, and light, p • Varieties that should be r , bed are lobelia, petunias .(both i single), phlox Drummondß cast° r ° J? iA yenbena -aiad several of tho

We need hardly remind our readers to use . but few seeds, little watfer, and provide suitable, shading to protect the tender seedlings from hot sun.