GARDEN NOTES.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 8206, 31 July 1905, Page 2

GARDEN NOTES.

(Special CoHlrilmtor.) There is nothing that adds to the attractiveness of a residence more than a well laid-out garden, nor is there anything more necessary to a home than a good vegetable garden. Almost every house has sullicient land attached for a garden plot - -enough to keep the family supplied with vegetables through the summer months, and no matter if the ground is inclined to be poor, with judicious working and manuring, will well repay the outlay. August will be a very busy month in the garden. The time for sowing and transplanting has now arrived. All spare ground should have by this time been well manured and trenched, and thrown up to receive spring crops. Where this has not been done, no time should be lost, as it is in all cases better that the land should be worked some time before putting the crops in. ■

A good sewing of peas may be made now. Choose land of a light nature, and in a sunny position. Peas should be sown about three inches deep, and, for dwarf varieties, the rows should be about two feet apart, and, for tall ones, from three to four feet apart. A very bad custom prevails of sowing peas in double drills, and in wide drills, which are both wrong, ft is only a waste of seed, and the product will be less than if sown in single rows. One pint of peas will sow eighty to one hundred feet, according to the size of the seed.

Early potatoes can also be planted. A good warm border, where they can easily be protected, should be chosen in which to plant them. The best place at this season is to choose smaller or moderate-sized tubers that have been laid out to encourage the stariing of the buds, and plant them whole. There is not so much danger of the sets rotting as if cut, because the present month is often wet and cold, the sun having but little effect in encouraging the vitality and growth of the sets. Plant them two feel apart and twelve inches in the rows, and from four to six inches deep. They may be either planted in trenches or with a dibble. Continue planting out cabbages, but only plant those that are strong and in a good d| open situation. The land should be well ' worked, at the same time digging in some well-rotted manure. Some good varieties for sowing for succession in summer and autumn are the Enfield Market, London Market, Imperial and Defiance.

Prepare land for onions and parsnips. The latter requires a light deep soil that has been manured the previous year. They must not be sown in land just manured, as it causes them to become forked and coarse.

Transplant early varieties of caulillower in a rich warm border. They do better in a rich warm soil and lots of room. They should be planted three feet apart each way. A sowing of lettuce and raddish may also be made; the former for transplanting out.

A sowing may also be made of broad beans, carrots, and spinach. The latter requires a deep rich soil, stronger than most oilier vegetables, as the great desideration in this vegetable is a large succulent leaf, and is being constantly taken oil', and it requires an abundance of nourishment to sustain it.

Make cucumber and melon beds. A little tomato may also be sown in the hot bed ; also, a little celery, to come in early.

Fruit trees at this season should be thoroughly cleansed for the destruction of scale, woolly blight, etc. As the buds are now dormant, this can be dons without injury. The following is a good compound for spraying trees with : —Two pounds of soft soap, one gallon of kerosene; mix in two gallons of boiling water until the soap is dissolved ; then add fifteen gallons of cold water. Syringe the trees well. Keep it constantly stirred during use. FLOWER GARDEN. Many of the bulbs are now growing fast, and will need to be kept clear of weeds and insects. Keep the earth loose around them, and protect any of the more delicate from frost. Plant out carnations and picotees that, were taken oil" in April and May ; also, hollyhocks. These plants require a rich deep soil. Roses should now be pruned. Put in cuttings of roses, deutzia, weigalia, spiarea, and other shrubs. Annuals and perennials may be sown in boxes for planting out early—such as pansy, lobelia, verbena, petunia, golden feather cineraria, maritama, stock, etc., and a few hardy annuals, such as lupin, Virginian stock, Indian pink, linum, and nemophila may be sown on an open border.