THE GARDEN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2883, 23 June 1909, Page 10

THE GARDEN.

WORK FOR THE WEEK.

KITCHEN GARDEN.— Successional sowings of M'Lean's little gem and! the queen peas should be made upon dry borders ; also broad beans, onions, parsnips, and radishes in well-prepared soil. Plant early kidn-ey potatoes in a warm border. Protection from frosts may be avoided by spreading branches over the ground. A sowing of early York cabbage and London market cauliflower seed may be made. Ehubarb beds should be cleared off and dug without delay, as the crowns are liable to be damaged if the digging is put off until /they commence to grow. New beds may be 'plaited out. Asparagus beds should be cleaned up and top-dressed. Every effort should be made to keep the growing crops moving by constantly keeping the surface moved when dry, and add artificial manures if the soil is at all poor.

FRUIT GARDEN.— Planting is now the most seasonable work here, and 1 a little "trouble or expense in duly preparing the ground and a caTeful selection of the varieties to be planted are abundantly repaid by after results. In connection, with the list given last week, a correspondent sends the (Following as & good selection of apples: — BJawthornden, Alfriston, Peasgood's nonBuoh, Emperor Alexander. Keeping varieties: Stone pippin, French crab, winter greening, Newton pippin, red streak, and $£ome beauty. Dessert: Scarlet nonpareil, ribston pippin, scarlet permain, golden tvsBet, Kerry pippin, and Cox's orange. FLOWER GARDEN.— Turn up all exposed surfaces to the ameliorating influence pi frost sund rain. Finish up the planting pf spring-flowering bulbs, such as hyacinths, vroouees, narcissi, tulips, jonquils, etc. Keep ■flown weeds of all kinds, as they continue io make slow erowth during winter, and do

irreparable mischief in casting their seeds in spring.

GREENHOUSE. — It is generally supposed that in order to force bulbs, such as hyacinths, etc., lilies of the valley, and even such hardy or half-hardy shrubs as are frequently employed for this purpose; bottom~ heat is essential, and a forcing house is nftt considered complete without ore or more hotbeds. There .are a- few exceptions, but generally speaking it will be found that even in early forcing operations bottom heat is not of nearly so much lmpartance as many imagine, and that, as a rule, it may be entirely dispensed m with altogether, and yet equally good results be obtained. To apply bottom heat to anything that flowers naturally in the spring is against Nature, and therefore unnecessary, if not actually wrong— that is, where the plants are already well furnished with roots. The warmth that causes hyacinths, tulips, dielytras, or, indeed, any kind of springflowering root or bulb to burst into growth and blossom comes to them from above, not from beneath, and unquestionably the average temperature of the surface of the ground in the spring time and early summer is some degrees higher than that of the soil 6in or lft below.