WORK FOR THE WEEK.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9057, 12 October 1907, Page 2

WORK FOR THE WEEK.

To Gardeners. Kitchen Garden. — With longer days' more sunshine and a higher temperature, woTk in the garden will increase. Vegetables will grow fast and^ need much attention, while weeds, if not closely attended to, will soon be very much in evidence. Seedling crops must be thinned as early ac possible; the longer the- plants ar© left in a crowded etate the more tender will they get and the more will they suffer when finally thinned. Therefore make a start as scon as the eeedlings can be handled, and keep at it until the work is finished. Onions should be thinned according to the sample of bulb required. If large onions are wanted for exhibition purposes thin severely, but if for home use the plants may be left closer to each other—six or eight inches is a good .distance for an ordinary crop. Spring onions are relished all through the season, and the. c may be provided by sowing a pinch of seid about every three or four weeks. Celery foi n:ain crop should be sown, either in boxes or in a bed in the open. Given a little shade they come quite strong from a seed bed in the open, and there is le6S work in bringing, the plante on. The plants from tlie first sowing should^ be kept growing until large enough io plant in the trenches. Give plenty ot air to make them strong and hardy ;• if kept too close insects will soon be troublesome. Beans, both kidney and euramer, may be planted. Do not waste the seed; give the plants enough room to enable them to give good returns ; they should be' quite twelve inches apart. Potatoes.— Get the late and main crop varieties planted. Keep the early varieties moulded up ac they grow; a little at a time and often is the proper method for moulding up. A. small quantity of nitrate of scda put around the spring cabbage would encourage a rapid growth. Asparagus shou'd be cut regularly rvery morning. If the heads are not immediately required they will keep quite fresh for some da^e by st nding them in a little water. By removing oil the large heads every morning the.' other growths can follow on, : Flower Garden.^-Seedling plants of diantbus, callio]ssis tjndora, coreopsis grandiflora, gaillaTdia, phlox Drumm<mcln,ten week and intermediate stcck may b© planted out if the plants have been thoroughly hardened off, but if this has not been done, defer planting for abouir ten days. Especial attention is drawn to this important item in. the cultivation of these bedding plants, as experience has proved that most of the

failures are due to putting these -plains in their summer quarters beforo they . are sufficiently " hard " by exposure to both wind and sun some tinte before being planted out. While tne plante are in the boxes they are, of course, quit© close to each other ; but when put into their final or flowering quarters each plant stands quite alone— -some ten or twelve inches from the next — so that sunshine and wind can get all round each plant, and if they are soft they flag and shrivel under the first burst of sunshine or wind, which often proves fatal to their well-being. Therefore, make quite certain that the plants are in a fit state to be put out before being moved from the boxes. Give each plant ample space; the minimum distance between the plants should be — -Dianthua, stocks and phlox, twelve inches; coreopsis, calliopsis and gaillardia, fifteen inches. To put them closer to &each other than this is to starve each plant and so prevent it from giving the best results possible. All these plants prefer soil rather on the heavy side ; they will^grow in light soil, but more manure would be needed, and. also more water during the hot weather. Any seeds that are to be sown in the open should be got in as soon as possible. Shade the seed patches with' a few spray branches of manuka | or macrocarpa. Bulbs. — Many of the early varieties will coon be over; but before the means of identification have j quite gone make 6ure they are correctly j labelled. This should be done for omte : a number of reasons. When labelled they are protected during digging and , other operations necessary to routine garden Avork, and when the Mmc arrives for lifting the bulbs the gardener can put the bulbs of each variety in one receptacle and plant them in larore bold clumps, one variety in. each. Planted thus they give the best results. Unfortunately, in too many gardens one or two bulbs are planted here and there, and, being so few. in one olace," they suffer more injury from digging, planting, etc., than they would if they were in bold plumps of twenty or tnirty in each. Wallflowers have been extra good this spring. Now is the time to sow seed for next sea-«on. Obtain 6eed of a good variety, and duality, and sow sparingly in a sheltered corner. When the plante are large enough to handle, prepare a nursery bed and wrick them of? about four inches apart each way.^ The- importance of this Attention cannot be over-estimated. It breaks th© long tap-root of each plant and causes the formation of a mass of small fibrous roots and at the same time ft checks the " upright " habit of the plants, thus inducing them to send out lateral shoots, the result being much shorter and better furnished plant*, and an abnndance of flowers. Canterbury beite and campanulas should be raked in the same wav and receive the came treatment, except that each plant ehouk have a space of six inches instead ol four inches, on account of their leave* beinfi: much larger than those of the wallflowers. \ f ' ,