OTAGO GARDENERS' CALENDAR FOR OCTOBER.

Otago Witness, Issue 931, 2 October 1869, Page 16

OTAGO GARDENERS' CALENDAR FOR OCTOBER.

' This -will be the last month of spring, and all the work neglected during the month of September, must be completed without delay. At two or three different times this month, sow" lettuces. • Thin them out in the seed bed, to give them room to grow into strength, and when large enough, plant out as the supply is Ranted. They want only to be kept clear of weeds: They grow best in light grounds. Sow different sorts, of raddish-seed once a week to keep up a constant supply. Sow onions in very rich ground. Leeks may be s&wn in a small bed, and, when large enough, planted' out six by eighteen inches apart, to be earthed up when they have grown into '.strength, for the purpose of bleaching them. Sow a full crop of beet root by the end of the month ; trench and crumble the ground well, and sow very thinly in drills nine inches apart,' or drop two or three seeds every nine inches in the drills. Peas and beans of all kinds must be sown at different times this month, to obtain a regular succession. Sow carrots in ground which has been well pulverised fifteen inches deep. The seed may be sown broad cast, or in drills eight inches apart. Thin out to six or eight inch distance. Parsnips should be sown in drills nine inches apart ; hoe out to the same distance in the row, and keep clear of weeds. If the spinach Bown j^last month begins to appear, make another sowing ; thin out to six inches apart. Sow early turnips two or three times in the course of this month ; Sow like onions, but without the treadings. Sow after a good rain, and thirl out to six inches apart. Sow cabbage seeds and plant out as vacant spaces occur. Plant cauliflowers in ground well dunged. Sow celery in a rich warm border. Towards the end of the month sow melons, pumpkins, vegetable marrows, tomatoes, &c., in a warm sheltered spot. Plant potatoes in a medium kind of soil, not a stiff unworkable clay, or a very light sandy soil, but a kind of loose friable, porous soil, full of vegetable fibre, and rather deep. If this be not the character of the ground, where the potatoes are to be planted, it must be deeply dug and a good coat of well rotted stable dung put in. Early potatoes which are up, may often be protected from frost, by having littler thrown over them. In the fruit garden, see the newly planted trees are well secured, and undistuibed by wind and weather. Fork between raspberries, gooseberries, and currants, or hoe between them and thin the surfoce. See that the apple trees are not ailectcd by the blight. Water the strawberry plants well iv dry weather. In the flower garden, this is a sowing time. Seeds of hardy and half hardy herbaceous plants should bo sown, and watering, slaking, tying, and shndinsr attended to. Plant o\it bulbs and tubes of all kinds. Worked roses will require attention, on account of the suckers which spring up and make rapid progress if not taken oil directly, and so prevented from running nway with the strength of the plant. The more delicate seeds may be sown by the end of the month, on open borders! Many plants may be put into the blooming pots, or planted in beds, out of their small pots, without disturbing the balls of earth.