290 Joitntal of Ai^ricnlturc. Victoria, [to April. 1911. 



All garden sakuls, .such as thyme, mint, horse-radish, sage. (S:c.. as well as 

 rhulxirb, should be divided and planted out where necessary. 



Onion seeds for an early crop may be planted out towards the e^icl of 

 the month. Brown Spanish is very hard to beat, as an all round onion; 

 while the new variety of Early Brown Spanish may be relied upon to 

 produce an earlv crop. 



Flower Garden. 



The excessive rainy season has been disastrous io many gardens. 

 Quite an unusual number of plants ha\e been killed as a result of the 

 frequent rains. In one garden every plant of that valuable winter flower- 

 ing shrub, Othonnia Aihanasice, was destroyed ; dahlias and carnations 

 are also among the sufferers. This shows the necessity for trenching and 

 drainage ; and these very necessary works require present consideration. 



The garden will soon need digging over, and before this is done, a 

 good surface dressing of stable manure should be gi\en ; this mav after- 

 wards be dug in. 



Shrubs, divisions of herbaceous plants, hardy annuals, and cuttings of 

 liardy plants may now all be planted out. (\irnation cuttings planted 

 during this month should thrive readily. Tansies should be planted out. 

 Plants still flowering, such as autumn roses and chrysanthemums, will now 

 need attention. No liquid manure should be gi\en when the plants are 

 flowering; the weak buds and side shoots should be kept pinched out so 

 as to insvre good blooms. AH bulbs, corms. and tubers should now be 

 planted ; a large proportion of these will now be above ground. These 

 should be protected from slugs and snails by a liberal use of insecticides. 



A PROLIFIC PLUM. 



F. J . Caniiody. CJiicf hispector of Orcliards. 



Fur the past two years, plums have realized such abnormally low 

 prices that those \vho have embarked to any great extent in plum culture 

 find themselves in a somewhat serious position, as it is unlikely that in 

 the immediate future any relief by way of advance in prices can be looked 

 for. 



In the .sea.son 1907-8. the area of plums in bearing was roughly 2,3-'o 

 acres, whereas 1,870 acres represented the area that had been planted out 

 but had not, up till then, produced fruit, and a considerable acreage of 

 the plum variety has been put in since that time. It is, therefore, obvious 

 that if, previous to 1907, the supply was at all in the neighbourhood of the 

 demand, it must by this have more than overtaken it, and only those who 

 have intelligently selected varieties suitable to their location and inherently 

 inclined to yield heavy and regular crops can hope to be commercially 

 .successful in this particular industry. The factories, if they make any 

 differentiation at all in the prices they pay ft)r plums, do so in faA'our of 

 the light coloured varieties, so that no inducement is oft'ered to groxAers to 

 plant out such plums as are rioted for their excellence in texture and fla\our, 

 if they are not also commendable for their abundance in production. 



From the Asiatic species of plums may be selected varieties with the 

 best reputation as regards the quantity and regularity of cropping, even if 

 .somewhat inferior in quality to that of the European varieties. The Bur- 

 bank plum introduced into America by lAither Burbank is one of those 

 which conform to this reputation, when planted out in soils suitable to its 

 tastes. Whatever may be the preference of this variety to particular soils, 

 it is completelv satisfied in the rich alluvial washes and river siltations that 



