8 NEW ZEALAND GARDENING. 



Flower Garden. Bedding plants should now be 

 hardened off preparatory to planting out next month. Dahlias 

 may be propagated by division of the roots at the crown, and 

 planted out at once. They may also be propagated by 

 cuttings. This is done by placing the roots in gentle heat ; 

 as soon as the shoots have attained a length of a couple of 

 inches they are slipped off with a sharp knife, placed singly 

 in small pots, and plunged in heat ; and after ten or twelve 

 days they may be removed to a cold frame for hardening 

 off, to be planted out as soon as all danger from frost is past. 

 Hardy annuals may now be sown. Finish pruning roses, 

 and point up the surface of the beds with a broad-tined 

 fork. Do not be tempted by the occasional warm days, 

 which occur during this month, to commence bedding out 

 tender plants. The middle of next month or the beginning 

 of November will be quite time enough. This is a good 

 time for sowing seeds of Californian and other pines. 



OCTOBER. 



Continue planting potatoes, and successive crops. 



Onions sown in the Autumn should now be transplanted 

 into rows about one foot apart and four inches between the 

 plants. The work should be done with a dibble in moist 

 warm weather, and the soil should be prepared as for the 

 Spring sowing of this vegetable. Leeks give excellent crops 

 in this climate if sown in drills in October and planted out 

 thinly in rich soil during the Autumn. Tomatoes may be 

 sown in October, in a hot-bed or cold frame, and planted 

 out in November, in light rich soil, in rows, and trained to 

 trellis work. Tomatoes are much improved by pinching the 

 points of the young shoots as soon as the flowers are visible. 

 The lateral, or side shoots should be thinned also. Vegetable 

 marrows, gourds, etc., may be sown by the end of this month 

 in warm situations. Renew or make fresh plantations of 

 pot-herbs, such as sage, thyme, chamomile, marjoram, 

 parsley, etc. Plant cuttings of rosemary, lavender, thyme, 

 etc., and make the herb garden clean and tidy. All the 

 walks in the garden should be put in proper order. All 

 vacant ground should be dug and cropped as soon as possible. 

 Weeds should be destroyed as soon as they appear. This 



