194 



THE GARDENER. 



[April 



THE WEATHER. 



Tin: following remarkably low temperatures occurred at the following places 

 on March 14th : — 



Mr Forbes's Nursery, Hawick, 

 Ingleston Gardens, P,;itho, ... 

 Edinburgh, Craigleith Nursery, 

 Drumlanrig Gardens, .... 

 Dumfries, Messrs Kennedy's Nursery, . 

 Brayton Gardens, Cumberland, 



— ^>os#^e *-t>- 



(SaUn&ar. 



KITCHEN-GARDEN. 



There having been so little time to 

 make adequate preparation for the 

 more important garden crops, we fear 

 in many cases the qualities of garden 

 seeds will be severely taxed, especially 

 where land is very tenacious and wet. 

 Some are easily tempted to sow their 

 seeds, thinking that " delays are dan- 

 gerous." In such cases as referred to, 

 nmch haste is often the dangerous 

 course. We have distinct recollec- 

 tions of what young beginners have 

 accomplished by "much haste, but 

 less speed." We once had a goodly 

 order of seeds placed into our hands, 

 which had been supplied to a young 

 beginner, who had condemned nearly 

 all and sundry as being worthless, and 

 would not vegetate. Though it was 

 the second year after they had been 

 consigned, all and sundry (except such 

 things as French Beans, and a few 7 

 others), did not only vegetate, but 

 were first - rate kinds. The seeds- 

 man (who, however, knew r nothing of 

 the affair) had been "shunted" as a 

 dealer in "cheap, but worthless seeds. " 

 Now where soil turns up sticky, like 

 pitch, wet and cold, we would advise 

 waiting till it is tolerably dry, and 

 would cover the seeds with fine soil 

 from a dry shed, or from a heap of 

 congenial material ; and to give battle 

 to slugs must be a speciality. Have a 

 quantity of ashes, shifted through a 

 fine sieve ; put the rough portion aside 

 for burning ; mix a little soot and 

 lime with them (this is not indispens- 

 able) ; dust over the rows, rather 

 thickly, by box-edgings, or near to 

 Cabbage crops or other shelter, for 



vermin, and repeat it if weather or 

 other influences should cause it to be- 

 come inert. By attention to this we 

 have never suffered materially from 

 the slug pest. Birds are best kept off 

 by nets or frame-w r ork covered with 

 w r ire - netting. Arrears of every de- 

 scription must be brought forward 

 with every available means at com- 

 mand. To give weeds a check, the 

 hoe or prong must be applied freely. 

 When the weeds are just coming 

 through the soil, then is the time for 

 attack. Leaving them till there is 

 something to "tug at" is giving the 

 enemy quarters of "defence and of- 

 fence." When young seedlings, such 

 as Onions, Carrots, Turnips, &c, are 

 coming up, they are often accompanied 

 by double their number of weeds ; and 

 if the latter are not destroyed in their 

 early stages they do much injury to 

 the crops. All renovations ought to 

 be brought to a close as early as pos- 

 sible. Repairing of box and other 

 edgings, edging tiles misplaced by 

 frost, gravelling of walks, reducing 

 overgrown collections of herbs (divid- 

 ing and replanting these is the most 

 satisfactory treatment they can re- 

 ceive), are some of the items of labour 

 which require attention before the sea- 

 son advances too far. Let all growing 

 crops, such as Cabbage, Broad Beans, 

 Peas, Lettuce, &c. , have the hoe or 

 prong neatly worked among them. 

 A sweet-growing surface is of great 

 benefit to the plants. Cabbage and 

 main crops of Cauliflower may be 

 planted out from the winter stores, or 

 what have been raised early under glass. 



