THE GARDEN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2412, 24 May 1900, Page 8

THE GARDEN.

OPERATIONS FOR THE WEEK. KITCHEN GARDEN.— The formation of a warm border in a sheltered corner where the frott will hardly leach, as on the north side of a fence, is a great aesistar.ee in raising and growing smell saladings during the winter. Vhe border should be composed oi the lightest soil obtainable, and well enriched with the, manure from a spent hot-bad. It should be raised a •foot above ths surrcuiiding level, and slope from back to front, to enable the surface water 'to drain off quickly. By means of movable or fixed frames, roughly put- Together, which can be covered at night, and a few bell glasses ov {hand lights, a good deal may be done in i-ais- ' ing early crops. Radishes, lettuce, nrustoul and cress, etc., can be thinly sown at once, and another part of the border can be devoted to raising early ashleaf potatoes. By colleccing^all the tre 3 leaves and placing them lourul ■the frames, a gentle heat will be obtained whi-jh will be serviceable in ths young plants i^LOWER GARDEX.— Unhappily, the fine ■tardy kinds of lilies are anything but as plentiful as they shoald be, though in- a free rica soil they increase readily enough." ' Few may" .have tham sufficiently plentiful for some tin'; to make beds of them, but when once people"kvbxr how truly -fine thp\ arp when seen well arranged in a large bed in an isolated place, they will hardly real content -without such " gkriouc garden ornpnioi.ts. With such kinds as Lilium testica mi and Tigrinium Fortunoi in the centie, surrounded by the queenly candi■dum, burnished croceurn, spotted canaderise, 3?omponium, colchicuin, vivid chalcedonicum, and gradually worked, down to the edge with dwarf but beautiful ' lands ■like eximlurn, longiflorum, and tenonfolium, a large . circular or oval. bod. might bs made on the grass in some isolated .spot .which for the Mghest beauties of colour, iorm, and^iragrance — for, in fact, almost '.every 'quality by which vegetable beauty endears itself to- us— eoald not be 'surpassed by any ar-a-angement of indoor or outdoor plants. The only precaution that need be mentioned is that to grow lilies well they should have 3ft, or nearly that, of free loamy earth, < with a good v <3ash of vegetable mould in it. GREENHOUSE.— As the beauty of salvias, chrysanthemums, and schizostylis will soon be on the wane, the amateur who desires to keep •up a display of bloom must look out for other •plants to supply their place. If the double iEoman narcissus and the Roman hyacinth were potted, they will be ready to bring into the Souse. These, with Helleborus niger and some of the early cyclamens ought to begin to bloom lay the middle of next month. The plants of calceolaria, in the cold frame, will be sufficiently advanced to have the central shoot pinched out, to cause them to s=nd up i'alf a dozen trusses instead of one. If a few plants are wanted to come in early, lei it run tip to .Woom without pinching; 'still kce •> the p'&nts cool, give plenty of air, and look aM°r greenfly. Cinerarias will require 'similar treaimfnt, but they are a little more sensitive to fr<.st. FRUIT GARDEN.— Preparations for planting fruit trees of all kinds shovild ne m a icrward condition, so as to j>dmit -of removing out early in June. Bush fruits of all kinds may now be planted, either in beds by themselves or along the borders, near the paths of the kitchen garden. In these positions they generally .succeed, and produce -regular crops .of good fruits, as they are well under observation, and get regular applications of manure. Saspberry cah&s should now be planted out, . an I the canes in existing beds should be ;fchinhed out; leaving, only about a dozen of the strongest canes of last season's growth.