i8 7 9- 



CALENDAR. 



485 



CTaUtttrar* 



KITCHEN-GARDEN. 



Now that one is drawing to the season 

 of ' ' sear and yellow leaf, there is 

 nearly an end of sowing and plant- 

 ing for 1879 ;" but the present month 

 is one in which the anxious and in- 

 dustrious cultivator can find plenty 

 to keep his energies employed. The 

 weather has for about a year kept up 

 a topic of conversation which will not 

 be readily forgotten. The continued 

 drenchings and low temperature have 

 rendered it a real difficulty in many 

 places to secure the necessary require- 

 ments of the gardens. Weedy gardens 

 and nurseries are more common this 

 season than we ever remember them ; 

 hoeing has been almost impracticable ; 

 and hand- weeding has been attended 

 with the greatest difficulties. But now 

 that we hope to be better served with 

 weather in the season to come, every 

 effort should be made to facilitate all 

 operations in the gardens which may 

 act as aids in the future. Firstly, a 

 thorough clearance of all useless vege- 

 table matter should be made. Every 

 crop, such as Cabbage, Cauliflower, 

 and Lettuce, should be in their places, 

 properly planted in well-prepared land. 

 We use the word "properly," as it is 

 seldom we meet with men of the 

 ordinary class who can plant in a 

 proper form. Sticking the roots in a 

 hole smooth and battered like pitch 

 is a practice by no means rare, and 

 the collars of the plants are made 

 tight in this while the roots dangle 

 loose in the hole. We need not won- 

 der then why plants — " unaccountable " 

 — look starved during winter, and bolt 

 to seed when the season becomes 

 warmer. Planting in wet soil is 

 much safer when done by a trowel, 

 and the soil properly placed to the 

 roots. If the land is very heavy and 

 cold, a small portion of kindly soil 

 placed with the roots would do much 

 to secure a crop by giving a start to 

 the plants and preventing their be- 

 coming stunted. We have in our 

 heavy red clay to adopt this practice 

 with all our seeds and plants — without 

 this precaution failure is certain. 

 Still, on our well -trenched land we 

 have little to complain of this untoward 

 season. When making the clearance 

 which we refer to, all refuse should be 



wheeled to a heap, where it should be 

 covered with soil, so that it would not 

 be offensive. If ground is ready to be 

 trenched, a quantity of rough vegeta- 

 tion may be turned down ; it will act 

 as drainage and not be lost, but act as 

 a slight dressing to the ground. Our 

 practice is to have a heap of garden 

 refuse — keeping back stones and sticks 

 — a mixture of soot, siftings of lime, 

 burnt -wood ashes, turf, refuse from 

 potting -sheds, &c, all put together, 

 and when trenching is done this mixture 

 is wheeled in quantity to the ground 

 and turned down at least a "spit and 

 crumb" below the surface. We are 

 at present (middle of September) 

 wheeling in such material along with 

 some good manure for the main crops 

 of Cabbage. The ground by this 

 means is kept open during the winter, 

 and in spring the roots run freely into 

 this manure, and get away from 

 drought. The Cabbage crop should 

 be planted without delay. If the 

 plants are, however, pricked out, 

 and not becoming crowded, they will 

 take no harm to remain some time as 

 they are, when they can be lifted and 

 carefully planted. We prefer plant- 

 ing doubly thick, and when the plants 

 are large enough for use, every alter- 

 nate one is cut out; and when the crop 

 is fully grown those which were cut 

 out early will be coming in to succeed 

 them as greens. Thus a large quan- 

 tity of vegetable produce may be had 

 off a small space. The small Cabbage 

 plants left from planting should be 

 lifted and planted neatly in a shel- 

 tered space to stand the winter. They 

 are of great service in the spring 

 season, especially if we have such an- 

 other winter as last. We knew the 

 use of reserve plants last March and 

 April. Cauliflower should be planted 

 where hand-lights and other protectors 

 are to shelter them : a border sloping 

 to the sun, well broken, on which place 

 the hand-lights about 4 feet between 

 each, and in each light place nine sturdy 

 plants ; they can be thinned out in 

 March, and the thinnings transplant- 

 ed, leaving about five in each light. 

 Cauliflower to be wintered in frames, 

 &c, should be carefully pricked on a 

 border, measuring first by the size of 



