THE GARDEN.

Otago Witness, Issue 1812, 13 August 1886, Page 8

THE GARDEN.

OPERATIONS FOR THE MONTH. [August corresponds with February at Home. — The average mean temperature is 454.] SEEDS TO BE SOWN. Peas. Beans. Spinach. Beet. Cabbage. Carrot. Lettuce. Onions, (early) (early farm) Leeks. Radish. Parsley. Parsnip. IN HEAT. Capsicum. Celery.' Cress. Melon. Cucumber. Mustard. TO PLANT. Cabbage. Cauliflower. . Potatoes. Rhnbarb. Seakale. Asparagus. CALENDAR. Though the weather during the past week has been seasonably cold, many of the hills even on the sea coast having carried a coating of snow for some days, the effect of the lengthening days daysaudstrengtheningsunisbeingfeltinthemost f avoure dsituationsand-soils. and growth will soon be perceptible consequently all arrears of work should be taken in hand as soon as possible in order that spring crops may have a chance of making early growth. Vegetable Garden. — For the next few weeks there will be plenty of work in this department, and every effort should be made to get everything done in good time. Whenever old crops, such as cabbages, cauliflowers, &c, have served their purposes, they should be promptly cleared away, and the land prepared for others. Various crops may now be put in as soon as circumstances will permit. As a matter of course, cultivators must make due allowance for climatic conditions, as some localities are much more backward, than others. Another sowing of peas should be made, giving a preference to the wrinkled marrow varieties which are the best for this time of the year. Advancing crops of peas should be earthed up and supported by sticks when they are five or six inches above ground. Cultivators should also bear in mind that all varieties of the pea family, even the most dwarf kinds require to be supported, as they always give the most certain and heaviest returns when the plants are raised above the ground. Although kidney or other early maturing potatoes may be planted in favourable localities, it is still too early to plant in heavy wet soils, in which the seed will have but a poor chance. When planted in wet ground at this time of the year potato sets are in great danger of rotting before they start. Even if the sets start well and the plants make a fair amount of growth the tubers are likely to be diseased or inferior in quality if grown in wet, undrained land. Cultivators must bear in mind that the quality of potatoes does not altogether depend upon the varieties grown, but to a large extent upon other conditions. During the late winter

or spring mdn'ths a iridderately dry soil is likely t'6 yield p'otatdes much better in quality than hefj,vy wet ground. Fbuit Garden.— Old orchards should have a dressing of manure at least every other year, and in some cases it will be advisable to give it annually. If this plan is adopted trees may be kept in a healthy, free-bearing condition for many years, whereas if neglected they soon begin to fail and become unprofitable. Ptowfiß G-arden. — Sow mignonette, sweet peas, lupines, sunflowers, and other hardy flower seeds. Wallflower, sweetwilliam, dianthus of kinds, phlox.forget-me-nots, and other hardy and half-hardy annuals, and such perennials as the snapdragon (antirrhinum), penstemon columbine, &c, should be increased by division of the roots by cuttings, and by seeds. On frosty morniDgs delicate plants should be shaded or sprinkled with water to thaw the frost. There should be no loss of time in trimming up beds and borders, if the work has been delayed, and the making of alterations ought to be completed as soon as possible. Deciduous trees and shrubs should be planted at once, and vacancies in borders ought to be filled up so that the plants will have the advantage of an early start. All gardens and more especially those of limited extent, should be freely supplied with the principal spring flowering plants, as to most people they are Very attractive. Violets are general favorites, and when grown with a little care will yield their flowers in profusion for a considerable time. Daisies are also very atbractive flowers for several months and deserve to be more generally cultivated. Then we have the Primrose family, which supplies^ us with several beautiful species and varieties, including the Polyanthus, which affords cultivators an infinite number of brilliant colours. The Oxalis family also supplies a number of very attractive little plants which are no mean attraction to gardens during the winter and spring months. Pansies, Polyanthuses and Primroses are admirably adapted for small beds or ribbon borders in the spring. As soon as they begin to lose their beauty the plants should be taken up and replaced with others that will flower during the summer. The work of pruning either deciduous or evergreen plants should be finished as soon as circumstances will permit. Though, a large number of our ornamental trees and shrubs, more especially evergreens, want but little pruning as they generally make a symmetrical growth naturally, yet very of ben they will require some little trimming and regulating. Those plants whose growth is naturally compact and regular will require but little pruning, all that is necessary being to thin out the branches when too much crowded and to remove or shorten back rank or misplaced shoots. Some plants, however, have a tendency, after a few years growth, to make weak or straggling shoots and may be improved materially by a judicious pruning. Then, again, it may be necessary, and more especially the case in small gardens, to keep very robust and large growing shrubs within bounds by cutting back the heads occasionally. Conifers that have a rigid habit of growth, such as Araucarias and the Abies Picea, Pinus and Wellingtonia sections, must not, as a general rule, be interfered with in the way of pruning, except in cases where they send up two or more leading shoots, when, as a matter of course, only one must be allowed to remain. Whenever these extra leading shoots make their appearance no time should bo lost in removing them, as the longer they are allowed to remain the more difficult will they be to deal with. The more pendulous kinds of Conifers, such as the Cypress family, may be pruned somewhat more freely* but it is not advisable to use the knife unless there is a good reason.