THE GARDEN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2167, 5 September 1895, Page 8

THE GARDEN.

OPERATIONS FOR THE WEEK.

Kitchen Gauden.— The season for sowing seeds for main ciopfi may be said to commence with September, and as soon as the soil is in a fit coudition not a day's delay should be permitted btfore the seed ie under the ground. All other work must give way (0 this, as in the event of the time being allowed to slip by it ct'inot be regained, and the season is practically foot. The weather c&nnot yet be depended upon, therefore the first fine day should be devoted to eeed sowing. More peas should be got in, and it ii not necessary to limit them to early varieties, as they will form a succession according to the sort, and the sooner the pea ge's well established in the soil the better for the certainty of the crop. The tound peas aro not so much in favour as the wrinkled sorts, which have a good deal of the ninrrow strain in them, and of these there are no bvlfcer sorts for vigorons growth and prolific yield thau Dr M'Leaa aud Vcitch'i perfection. Of bread beans perhaps the beet that can be grown for curly work is the Mazagan, and to succeed this lhe monarch longpod and green Windsor, but ihey should be gathered for use when they are Its large as peas. Tue gitnt cl&ss of broad beans, though suitable for exhibition, are not to be recommended for culinary purposes.

Fruit Gakdbn.— Any planting which has )«en delayed by unfavourable weather must be inished at once, and if any grafting is in arrear 'Hi should be dove forthwith. Examine fruit trees ifhich have been recently planted, and if > tecesstry secure them by stout stakes against 'jrind waving.

Floweu Garden.— There must be a considerable amount of activity dispkj ed in this department if the plants for spring blooming were not plantod in the autumn. Beds of pansies should be cleared of weeds and the soil btitred between the plants. A top dressing of rotten manare may be put on to strengthen the plants and improve the "tiloom. It is time that ranunculus were planted. Put a good layer of caw manura at the bottcm of the bed, and use l : gh<s flbroas compost with a little eand if the 01 dinary soil is of too heavy a character. Piojnies and herbaceous delphiniums can be safely divided and teplanted now, but a little s*nd should ba plaoed round them. Aubntias and alpines generally may be turned out of p .its into tie borders, and old plants will bear division. Ibefis cempervirens is probably the be?t of the hardy candy-tufts. The habit is neat and compact, and it is an early bloomtr. The soil for violas, panties, calceolarias, and verbenas must bs rich and deep, but a soil of tbis description will not fcuifc the bedding pe'argoniums, agaratunw, or heliotropes. For these the SOll should be compsrativtlj poor, to induce freed.m of bloom. Sow annuals and biennials. In guoh weather as is being cxi o.ienced at the time of writiug expose everything as much as possible to tie nir to get the growth well ripened, then it is Utter able to renat froßts. Calceolarias should be the first plauts to go out. Whilst writing upon this subject we may mention that window boxes sbouJd begot ready, havhig three holes in the bottom of each for drainage. Tuberous begonias, ivy-leaved geraniums to hang over the sides, calceolarias, muck, zonal pelargoniums, or "geraniums," are the most suitable plants to ure.

Grbenhouse.— Where lilies are grown in pots they fhould be placed in a cold frame as soon as they begin to grow. They can be kept near the gla i s to prevent their being drawn up, aud they will thus make a sturdy growth. Liliutn eximium being ote of the earliest to bloom, may receive a little warmlh toh«sten the period of blooming. The little frcesias are coming into favour for greeuhouse decoration, a? apart from their eaiiy bloom Ihocolourd are sbowy, aud the fragrance from even a single pUnt is enough to perfurce a whole house. They may be treated like half-hardy plants, and bs grown in a frame from which frost can ba excluded until tho bloom tpikC3 appear, when they may be transferred to the stages of the greenhouse.