Operations for March

Northern Advocate, 18 March 1939, Page 5 (Supplement)

Operations for March

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 11 A good time for sowing onion seed for early crop. Use only fresh [I seed, and sow in a good soil, with a fine surface, and with I good drainage. j Onions sown now should toe ready for. transplanting towards the J end of June. They should come in as useful bulbs in January, Make a sowing of prickly-seeded spinach for winter use. It is a good plan to save your own tomato seed. Select healthy, "jTipened fruit from healthy plants. Look over stored onions and potatoes. The latter 1 are often j attacked by the moth at this season. I When saving seed it is better to allow the seed to mature on the n plants. Pick only when the pods are thoroughly dry. Sow oats or other suitable crop for digging-in later for green manure. Dig or trench any vacant ground. Harvest and store all ripened crops. Sow turnip, radish, carrot, cauliflower, celery, leeks, during showery weather. (I After digging, leave the surface soil in a rough state. ' Use the hce frequently during any. weather. Cultivation activates the dormant life in the soil. THE FLOWER GARDEN. Beds well trenched and manured now should not need doing again for next summer planting. The dry weather this season should have kept chrysanthemums dwarf. In many case they have not had enough moisture to swell the buds. If the dry weather continues, water twice a week, and give liquid manure after watering. Chrysanthemums should be disbudded, leaving one bud at the end of each shoot. , When planting seedlings in dry weather, make a hole and pour in plenty of water before planting. Water the seedlings in the I boxes before transplanting, so as to keep the soil on the roots, j Seed of spring-flowering plants may still be sown; and plants for early bloom may be planted out. In gardens that are free from frosts and flood-water, gerberas may ■be lifted and divided. The soil should toe deeply dug and enriched with well-rotted manure and leaf-mould. The yellow arum lily, Richardia, is best lifted and stored under a hedge away from, frost for a month or two. The recent dry weather has been ideal for lifting the plants. v | Continue to plant tulips, anemones, ranunculus, hyacinths, ixias, I tritonias, babianas, irises and other bulbs. Autumn-flowering bulbs may be lifted and divided now if they are too crowded.