Gardening for Amateurs 



pots of sandy soil. They will quickly root 

 on the greenhouse stage. 



Sweet Peas. Those in pots in cold 

 frames should receive air in abundance in 

 favourable weather to get them properly 

 hardened off for planting out next month. 

 Place short sticks to any that need support. 



Disbudding Vines and Peaches. This 

 work will need attention where the trees 

 have commenced growth. In the case 

 of Vines it consists in simply rubbing off 

 the weaker shoots on each " spur," leaving 

 one strong growth only. Peaches produce 

 several shoots along the whole length of the 

 growths previously nailed or tied in ; they 

 must be reduced, removing a few at a time, 

 to two, or where there is likely to be room, 

 three on each growth or stem. One must 

 be left at the base of each of last season's 

 growths ; as the young shoots progress 

 they are tied to the trellis parallel with the 

 older stems. A growth must always be left 

 at the end of a branch to draw the sap, but 

 it may be pinched at four leaves, if there is 

 not room for extension. 



Salvia Cuttings. Salvia splendens is a 

 useful plant for brightening up the green- 

 house in the shortest days of the year. 

 Cuttings will strike easily now if they are 

 inserted firmly in pots of sandy soil. 



THE FRUIT GARDEN 

 Planting Fruit Trees and Bushes. 



Work of this description should be com- 

 pleted without delay, and the soil over the 

 roots may with advantage receive a mulch of 

 short manure. Fruit trees planted at this 

 late date will require a good deal of watering 

 should a dry summer ensue. Stake n<-\\Iy 

 planted standards and others that are liable 

 to be swayed by the wind, as roots that 

 are constantly being moved can never get 

 proper hold of the soil. 



Pruning Newly-planted Trees. Fairly 

 hard pruning is advisable the first season 

 for young trees which have subsequently 

 to be trained in various forms. Cut to 

 buds pointing either outward or upward 

 as may be necessary to form the shape 

 desired. Newly-planted Raspberries are best 

 cut down within a foot of the soil, although 

 this means sacrificing the crop for the first 

 season. 



Mulching Various Fruits. Strawberry 

 beds may receive a good dressing of manure 

 that contains plenty of straw. By this 

 means the plants are assisted, and by the 

 time the fruit ripens only the clean straw 

 will remain, thus forming a clean surface for 

 the fruit. Raspberries and Loganberries 

 cannot very well be assisted otherwise than 

 by mulching, and half-decayed manure is 

 best for the purpose. The same remarks 

 apply to Gooseberries and Currants, which 

 are too often neglected until fruit is fit for 

 gathering. 



Protecting Trees in Blossom. Peaches, 

 Nectarines and Apricots flower earlier than 

 other fruit-trees grown on walls, and are 

 consequently more liable to be damaged by 

 frosts and cold winds if means are not taken 

 to protect the blossoms. The simplest 

 method of protecting the trees is by sus- 

 pending fish netting such as is used for 

 protecting the fruit from birds later on 

 in a double thickness from the top of the 

 wall, keeping it from actually touching the 

 trees by leaning long posts against the 

 walls. 



Forking over Fruit Quarters. As soon 

 as the work of planting, pruning, etc., is 

 completed, the ground between the various 

 fruit trees and bushes should be lightly 

 forked over. On no account carry out this 

 work during frosty weather, and avoid 

 approaching so close to the roots as to 

 injure them. Small annual weeds may be 

 buried during this operation, but do not 

 fail to remove large weeds, and those with 

 perennial roots. 



THE KITCHEN GARDEN 

 General Work. This is perhaps the 

 busiest month in the whole year for the 

 kitchen gardener, and the work consists 

 mainly of sowing seeds of the various crops. 

 Attention should first be directed to making 

 good any failures from sowings earlier in the 

 year. Then the work of providing for the 

 main crops can be undertaken with confidence 

 Planting Jerusalem Artichokes. This 

 crop may be usefully employed as a screen 

 in the garden, but it needs better soil than 

 is usually provided, as too often this profit- 

 able plant is relegated to an out-of-the- 

 way corner. Plant shapely tubers 6 inches 



