WORK FOR THE WEEK.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5427, 30 November 1895, Page 1

WORK FOR THE WEEK.

TO GARDENERS. Kitchen Garden.— Plant out brocoli and other winter greens in quantity. Celery also should be got in. Where there is land enough, the single row system ia best;, but a good deal of useful celery may be obtained from a small plot of land by adopting the bed system, which consists in taking out a trench 6ft or more wide, placing in a layer of manure, mixing it with the soil beneath, and setting out tbe plunts across the trench in rows Ift apart and 9in apart in the rows. Scatter a little short manure over the surface of the soil aftor the celery is plantad, Weeds have been more than usually troublesome lately, especially in gardens where neglect has crcwi; in. There ia nothing for it but to attack them vigorously with the hoe when 'small, and by hand-weeding after that stage is passed. One thing is oertain, if the weedo are . ■ not kept down nothing but ruin to the vegetable crops will ensue. Mulch peas, scarlet runners, cauliflowers, and any other crop that suffers from heat and drought. Lettuces, for instance, aie much benefited from having a thin stratum of manure' plaoed ovor their roots. Sow William Hurst, Little Gem, and Laxton's Earliest of All peas for a late crop. Dwarf French beans should be sown now. Peg out the ground shoots of vegetable marrows, and eucontaga with liquid manure. These, like everything else, are backward this season. Plant out and sow lettuces and other salad plants. Those who have vineries should be particular in giving early ventilation. As soon as the sun raises the temperature a little, air should be givon sufficient to prevent moisture gathering on the berries ; plenty of foliage, with early and free ventilation, is the best cure for Bcalding, where it has existed, or to prevent its appearance. Where tomatoes ere ripening under glass, come of the leaves must be removed to let in tho air and sunshine to colour and ripen the fruit; we generally remove those at the bottom, in advance of the fruit ripening, and after the fruits are gathered encourage new growth to spring up from the bottom, which is trained to the old stem, and in due course will produce a second crop of good fruit, nourishment being given in the way of artificials. Tomatoes require a good deal of support when the fruits are swelling off ; but do not overdo it, or the fruits may crack. Thiß is a good time to sow a considerable breadth of turnips for autumn use, snowball and American atone are good varieties. It iB never advisable to bow on newly dug land, unlesß the weather is moist and showery. A little artificial manure sown with the seed is a great help in pushing on the growth, and getting the plants away from the fly.

Flower Garden.— Follow up the disbudding ol! roses where very flue blooms are required. Stop the gross shoots of vigorous growers to induce late buds to form, and seep down insects by using soapy water or any other suitable cleanser. Liquid manures can now be used with good effect. Cuttings of pansios may now be got iu } the young shoots make tho beßt cutting*}, the best situation for tho cutting bed is a

southerly aspect, where the sun only touches the bed morning and evening. Herbaceous pseonies are coming into bloom, and those wishing to purchase these beautiful flowers Bhould now vißit the nurserieß. As herbaceous plantß are coming more into vogue, we will continue our list of the dwarf kinds. The Diantb.ua is familiar to all as the genus to which our pink, Sweet William, carnation and picotee belong. It yields besides these, many lovely border plants.— in fact so many, that it is difficult to make a selection. D. asper is a good >border plant, owing to its free and abundant flowering properties, also D. deltoides, a dwarf compact plant with grassy green foliage and small, intensely crimson flowers, whose deficiency in Bize is admirably compensated by brilliancy of colour. D. petrseus, rook pink, is an equally compact plant, but bas larger flowers of a deep rose colour. D. superbus, an elegant plant growing 18in high; ; the rosy white petals are divided into slender segments that hang somewhat flaccid ; what it lacks in brilliancy of colour, it compensates for in. its delicious perfume, always more pronounced towards night. Dictamnna f rascineila, a fine old herbaceous plant, forming, a compact underground root-stock, from which it sends down thick, vigorous roots; leaves not unlike those of the ash, hence its specific name; flower stems two feet high, the flowers purplish or white. Gentiano acaulis should be in every garden ; it is a very dwarf-growing: plant, bearing Very large deep blue tubular' flowers. Gypsophila paniculata, a slender-growing plant belonging to the pink family ; from a thiokieh root-stock it sends up each year a set . of shoots with smooth, narrow leaves to. a height of two feet ; from these a perfect cloud of small flowers, supported on the slenderest of foot-stalks, forms a conical mass of elegance, its. beauty continuing for some time. It is very usefnl for intermixing with cut flowers, and should find a place in every garden.