SEASONABLE REMINDERS. 343 



Maize Sow to any extent. Arrowroot. Plant medium-sized bulbs. 

 Potatoes. Dig as soon as ripe. Should they show for a second growth, 

 the crop will be spoiled. Sweet Potatoes and Yams. They are 

 starting into growth now, and tilling and clean cultivation help to make 

 crops. Cotton. Thin out the plants to prevent overcrowding. Misses 

 may be made up by planting seed in well-manured hills. Tobacco. Pre- 

 pare for harvesting. Pinch out all flower stems, and take off all leaves 

 that are defective. Close, well-roofed barns are necessary for curing. 

 Peanut and Oil Seed Crops. Plant out as may be desired, and keep 

 the earlier plantings clean and the crops growing. 



Garden Operations. The work in this department, for both fruits and 

 vegetables, is much the same as in the south. The exceptions are such as 

 coffee, tea, bananas, pine-apples, rosellas, and a few other purely semi- 

 tropical products, which can be transplanted at this time. In the flower 

 garden, annuals do not answer so well, but substitutes are got to any 

 extent desired in the great choice of shrubs available for flowers and foliage. 



AUTUMN FIELD AND GARDEN OPERATIONS. 

 FEBRUARY, MARCH, APRIL. 



Autumn Weather. The change from summer heat to the cooler autumn 

 time is gradual as a rule. In the colder districts, the night temperature 

 is noticeable first, and is usually felt early in February ; but in the warmer 

 districts of the coastal country, February is, at times, the hottest month 

 of the year, and semi-tropical crops, sugar cane, oorn, sorghum, sweet 

 potatoes, ginger, &c., make enormous growth at such times, as do the 

 summer grasses and indigenous pastures generally. 



Rainfall. Heavy and general rains are common in February. March 

 and April are drier as a rule, though heavy floods have occurred during 

 these months. 



Maize. This is still the leading crop, and it is helped on to maturity by 

 surface cultivation, which is advantageous in building up big cobs, as long 

 as there is any growth in the crop. Harvesting of maize becomes general 

 as cold weather is experienced. 



Maize for Winter Feed and Green Manuring. In the warmer sections, 

 excellent results are got by sowing maize broadcast at this time, either for 

 feed purposes or for green manuring. 



Winter Feed Generally. Oats, barley, rye, vetches, rape, and other 

 seed crops may be sown in order to come in for use as the indigenous pas- 

 tures dry off for the season. 



Wheat. Sowing commences in March and goes on in the different 

 districts till May. Early ploughing is an advantage for making a wheat 

 crop. When the land is made ready, as described in page 76, the seed can 

 be sown in dry soil should the season be dry, and an excellent spring may 

 be got by rolling the land firmly. 



Root Crops. The stubble of land that was under wheat last season 

 makes an excellent foundation for potatoes, which may be planted now ; 

 alao swedes, and field carrots. See chapter viii. 



