THE FLOEAL \YOELD AND CfARDEN GUIDE. 



117 



XOTES FOR MAY. 



KITCHEN GAKDEiV. 



High culture should be aimed at now 

 with all vegetable crops, frequent stirrings 

 between the rows with the hoe to keep 

 down weeds, and abundant supplies of 

 water and liquid manure. It is hardly 

 possible to give too much water, and in 

 exposed situations and on thin soils grass 

 mowings should be used as a mulch to 

 keep the ground moist, but should be ex- 

 amined occasionally to guard against it 

 becoming a harbour for slugs. Put sticks 

 to rows of peas as soon as they require it ; 

 well bank up those that are forward. Thin 

 parsnips and carrots to eight inches apart, 

 and go on transplanting from seed-beds as 

 fast as the plants are large enough to 

 liandle, leaving the smallest to get stronger 

 before moving them. Choose showery 

 weather, if possible, for transplanting, or 

 else give shade for a few days, and gentle 

 waterings. Flat-hoe potatoes, and draw 

 but little earth to their stems; the old 

 method of moulding them up has proved 

 to be of no benefit at all, rather an injury, 

 as the heat of the sun cannot have too 

 ready an access to the roots. Thin out 

 celery, and make up small beds for the 

 plants on very rich, hard ground. 



Sotv beans and peas for succession, savoy 

 for late crop; cabbage, broccoli, kale, beet- 

 root, kidney-beans, both runners and 

 dwarfs, lettuces, spinach, turnips, cucum- 

 bers, and marrows may now be sown in 

 the open ground for a late supply. 



FBUIT GARDEN, 



Remove all useless shoots from wall- 

 trees, and begin at once to train in new 

 wood. Give strawberries plenty of water 

 and liquid manure. 



FLOWER GARDEN. 



Begin to harden off all the stock in- 

 tended for bedding, but be in no hurry to 

 put them out, for the weather is often very 

 treacherous till quite the end of Ihe 

 month. If dahlias are turned out early, 

 they must be protected at night with in- 

 verted flower-pots with the holes stopped, 

 and by bell-glasses during the day, should 

 the weather be wet and cold. The 15th 

 is quite early enough to begin to turn out 

 dahlias. ■ Put the stakes to them at once. 

 Take cuttings of everything that is wanted 

 to bloom late in the season, and for next 

 year's stock. Verbenas and petunias struck 

 now in a brisk heat will bloom well at the 



end of July. Roll and mow grass lawns, 

 keep gravel walks in good order, and give 

 choice subjects in the borders sufficient 

 water, and occasionally a shower from an 

 engine. The morning is the best time to 

 water now, as the nights are often cold, 

 and water would chill the ground and do 

 more harm than good. 



GREENHOUSE. 



Hard-wooded plants will want plenty 

 of air, and specimen plants in flower must 

 have shade. Allow nothing to form seed, 

 unless seed be specially desired. Cut back 

 all kinds of shrubs that are out of shape, 

 and keep them rather close afterwards, to 

 get good breaks, so as to bring them into 

 decent shape, and get the wood well 

 ripened for next year's bloom. Where 

 plants are crowded, many may be removed 

 to frames, so as to allow of a freer cir- 

 culation of air. Shift, stop, and tie out all 

 soft wooded plants that are advancing in 

 growth ; but if required to bloom shortly, 

 they must not be disturbed, merely kept 

 in shape, and have plenty of water and free 

 ventilation. 



Here also it will be necessary to make 

 a little more room. Climbers will want 

 training, and everything will more or less 

 need the syringe, to keep down insects 

 and promote healthy growth. 



Auriculas. — Pick off the seed-vessels as 

 fast as the plants go out of flower, but 

 do not cut down the flower-stalk. When 

 done blooming, place the pot on a pave- 

 ment of tiles out of doors, and let them 

 have air and showers. But very heavy 

 showers must be kept off by means of a 

 spare light or a few boards, to be removed 

 as soon as the storm is over. Any infested 

 with fly, smoke well before turning out. 



Camellias. — Keep very moist and 

 syringe the foliage frequently. Warmth 

 and shade are essential to the free growth 

 they should now make preparatory to 

 being turned out to ripen their wood. 



Cinerarias. — These are now in tlieir 

 full beauty, and should have shade durin"- 

 mid-day hours. Give plenty of water, 

 with liquid manure, once or twice a-week. 

 As they go out of bloom, cut down and 

 remove to a shadj' place. 



Hyacinths, not yet out of bloom, must 

 be shaded, but have plenty of water. Those 

 that flowered in pots ought to have been 



