WORK FOR THE WEEK.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7607, 17 January 1903, Page 2

WORK FOR THE WEEK.

To Gardeners. Kitchen Garden.— Give every'attention to the' winter supply of vegetables, and as fast aa cne crop is cleared get anotheV in ; it often happens that late-planted crops give better results than early ones. When planting greon vegetables, select sturdy dwarf plants. Winter spinach. — The quarter that I is reserved for this crop should be turned ' over several times with the fork, aa this | not only sweetens the soil, bub gives the I birds an opportunity to destroy any insects j there may be in it. All seedling crops i should be thinned early and kept free from j weeds. Collect all decaying foliage from cabbage, Brussels sprouts, etc., and any that have not been moulded up should receive that attention at once. Parsley. — If not already sown, get a row in at once, and cut away any flowering sterna that push up on the old plants. Flower Garden. — Everything is growing fast, and the gardener will have all he can do to keep the weeds down j but this must be accomplished at once, or many will I ripen their seed and give trouble for years. ' Lawns need not be cut quite so close now, ; but should be cut regularly ; take the mall chine up a little, and go over the lawn jusb as often as before. Where the grass is thin, give a liberal dressing of fertilisers ! to stimulate the growth. Promptly remove ell decaying flowers from rose-bushe9 amd , herbaceous plants to prevent seed forming. \ Grcemhouae. — Another sowing may be made of cinerarias ; the earlier , batch will be making good progress, and this must be maintained. Shift I the plants into larger pots before the small ones are too full with roots, as once a cineraria becomes " pot-bound " it* development is arrested and it forms a flower-head. If the plant is ' small, the flower-head is small, ' but if kept growing vigorously until the I flowering pots are well filled with roots, | large heads of fine flowers will result. Use I good, rather than rich, soil, and give each I plant. pUnty of room. Bouvardiaa, when ; well cultivated, are most useful for the i decoration of both greenhouse and dwellingi house during the autumn and early winter. I Unfortunately these plunt* are not grown Ito such perfection as they migiht be, and do not receive tihe proper treatment lin early summer. To have them in perfection a free clean growth, is necessary, with plenty of air amd xoot space. Perhaps the best results are obtained by planting them out early in the summer, in a bed specially prepared ; mix some good loam ; leaf mould, or peat, .with a good proportion of welldecayed manure ; put this in a bed, and : plant the young plants out about twelve inch€9'apart.' The plants should? be, put out as early as possible, and should they be on the small side, a glass frame could with advantage be put over them for a few weeks. The plants will make a vigorou* growth, And should be stopped once or twice. About a> week before lifting them in, the autumn, to .pot, cut ftnind each plant with a spade. The plants must be kept free from, green ily and thrip> ■ . Cyclamen.— Old flowering sbrubs should be turned out, much of the soil removed from the roots, and then repotted. Use good sdU'iwidK, pot firmly ia as small pots as are consistent with i the size of tiho corymb, ; Seedling plants should be abift*d "' into their flowering pots without

delay. Arrange the plants aa close to the glasH as possible, and screen them from the very hot sunnhine. The shade need not be permanent, and shcnild only be used on very hot days. .Give the plants as much air "during the night ad possible; eyringe the foliage twice a day with a very fine $pwy, amd use very little water, or the soil will .become sour and waterlogged, n condition fatal to tho cyclamen. Should any insects, such -as green aphis or thrip, attack tho plant*, fumigate. (or dip) them at once, because they cannot make eatisfactory growth with these pests on them. The plaints will thrive better if moved about every second week (just turned round), and, if necessary, give them a little more room.