400 THE GARDENER. [Sept. 



HINTS FOR AMATEURS.— SEPTEMBER. 



There is much that is pleasant at this season in well-kept gardens. 

 Order, of course, should be stamped on every part of the grounds. 

 Plots should be well jfilled with vegetables ; and every flower-bed 

 and border will now be as gay as they have been all the season ; and 

 "keeping" may be said to be the greater part of the labour at pre- 

 sent. Whenever crops are done with, the space should be cleared 

 without delay, manure given, and the ground turned up and planted 

 or sown; or, if not required, it should at least be kept free from weeds, 

 which only (by their seeding on the ground) give labour for years to 

 come. Hoeing and surface-stirring must be w^ell followed up, and thin- 

 ning attended to in time. Allowing crops — such as Spinach, Lettuce, 

 Onions, &c. — to become matted before they are thinned, prevents them 

 from becoming hardy and able to stand the winter. Spinach we 

 allow 8 or 9 inches between each plant, and when growth becomes 

 strong in spring a number of the plants are pulled out by the roots. 

 However, where this crop is liable to die off, it is best to thin by 

 degrees, allowing the plants always to stand clear of each other. The 

 same applies to Onions ; and dustings of soot and burnt earth help to 

 keep away grubs, &c. Lettuce can be thinned out in the rows or 

 beds, and the best of the plants planted on a warm sheltered spot. 

 Dryness is of the greatest importance in winter. We prefer a sharp 

 ridge, and planting 6 or 8 inches apart, so that every alternate plant 

 may be cut out when fit for use and a crop left. Lettuce-seed may 

 still be sown. The finest lot of Lettuces which stood the winter were 

 on raised Asparagus-beds, where a few good Brown Cos were allowed 

 to ripen seed, and some were blown about the ground and left to 

 grow. Wood-ashes or dustings of lime are necessary to keep grubs 

 and slugs in check. Cauliflowers may be pricked out where they are 

 to stand the winter. Shelter from the east and north is necessary. 

 A piece of rather dry ground, measured to the size of a frame, may be 

 pricked full, and the frame placed over to keep off rain and sharp 

 frost. When the season is advanced, hand-glasses are useful for pro- 

 tecting and bringing on early Cauliflowers. A sloping bank, well 

 broken and in moderately rich condition, answers well. The lights 

 are fitted on, and the spaces filled with nine plants or more, to be 

 reduced to five in spring, when they are earthed up. To get them 

 very early we have often kept the plants in pots, allowing them 

 plenty of room to grow. Some sow the seed in a box about the 

 beginning of November, and keep them growing near the glass, with 

 plenty of air and free from damp, and prick them out in March. 

 They are about as early as those sown late in August. We give both 



