402 Journal of Agriculture . Victoria. [lo June, 191 i.- 



Vegetable Garden. 



Asparagus beds should be well cleaned out, and as soon as any young 

 seedlings appear they must be culled out and thrown away. The work 

 of digging the beds should be continued, digging in manure that was pre- 

 viously spread on the surface. Any seedling vegetables may be planted 

 out ; and the seeds of various sorts, such as peas, broad beans, carrot, leek, 

 lettuce, spinach, radish, &c., should be .sown. 



Flower Garden. 



Digging in the garden should be continued. Before digging, the beds, 

 should be given a top dressing of lime or of stable manure, and subse- 

 quently these could be dug well into the soil. Care must be taken not to 

 injure the roots of any shrubs, trees, or roses. Root cutting and root 

 pruning wnll always dwarf any plant. Tn digging, it is not wise to dis- 

 card any leaves, twiggy growths, or weeds. Unless they are required foi 

 the compost heap, they should always be dug into the soil. 



Hardy annuals may be worked into the beds, either as seeds or as 

 transplanted seedlings. Cuttings of roses and hard wooded shrubs may be- 

 planted. In putting in cuttings, the base should be cut perfectly level, 

 all buds or eyes below the surface should be cut out to prevent suckering, 

 and the cutting should be placed in an upright position in the bed. Roses 

 may be pruned, and, where necessary, flowering shrubs may also be so 

 treated. 



After flowering, evergreen shrubs may be well thinned out. especially 

 removing any weak, upright, or old flowering growths; keep the shrub 

 always at an outward growth, inclining it to a broad bushy type instead 

 of to an upright habit. By this means, the lower regions will always be 

 furnished with good growth. Shrubs and trees of all descriptions should 

 never be allowed to become too crowded; they require to be opened, so 

 as to allow sunlight and air into the interior, where it is most needed. 

 This is one means by which this class of plants may be kept healthy and 

 free from disease. Very few shrubs resent pruning, and the majority of 

 them, including Australian shrubs, such as Acacias, are very amenable to 

 the pruning knife. 



In rose pruning, the rule is that strong growing plants require less 

 severe cutting than weak growing ones. As roses always flower on new 

 wood, it is essential that to have good blooms, the bushes must be pruned 

 regularly. All weak growths, exhausted and worn-out w'ood must be re- 

 moved, retaining only the vigorous growths. It is generally advisable to- 

 prune to four or five eyes or buds, so as to have subsequent strong growths, 

 always pruning into the previous season's wood. Spindly growths, espe- 

 cially in the centres of the bushes, should be removed, the plants being 

 trained with an open and angular habit.. 



DESTRUCTIVE INSECTS OF VICTORIA, PART V. 



The attention of readers of the Journal is draw-n to the notice on the 

 back cover regarding Part V. of the Destructive Insects of Victoria, which 

 is now available. 



