April 2), 1871. ] 



JOUENAL OF HOBTIOULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



291 



borders for climbing plants, the essentials of which are to keep 

 the roots of each separate, so that every plant can be supplied 



Fig. 2. 

 with the requisites for its snooessfnl cnlture without interfering 

 with its neighbours. — G. Abbey. 



WORK FOR THE AVEEK. 



KITCHEN GABDEN. 



Box and other edgings having been repaired, the gravel walks 

 should either be turned over, • r a coat of fresh material added 

 after loosening tht old surface. Let the whole be levelled and 



well rolled, repeating this particularly after rain, till the walks 

 become perfectly solid. In reforming them, round them 

 slightly in the middle for rain to pass easily to the sides, but 

 no more than this, except in very wet situations. The walks 

 and edgings having been put in order, if the vegetable quarters 

 have been manured for the season according to former d'- 

 rections, the cropping and general management during the 

 summer need not prevent any deviation from neatness at d 

 good order. Run the hoe between the rows of all crops as socn 

 as they are sufficiently advanced to enable the operator to dis- 

 tinguish the rows. Earth up Beans and Peas as they advance, 

 and stick the latter. A sowing of Kidney Beam may now be 

 made ; selecting a piece of dry, light soil with a south aspect, 

 draw the drills 2 feet apart, and drop the Beans 3 inches apart 

 in the row. A few may be sown in a box, to be placed in heat 

 and transplanted when all danger from frost is gone. Thin 

 Carrots, Spinach, and early Turnips; this should always be 

 done in due time, and at twice ; in the first instance leave 

 double the number yon intend to retain as a permanent crop, to 

 meet accidents that young seedlings are liable to, and thin 

 them to the proper distance when such danger is over. Sow 

 Scarlet Runners and Haricot Beans on well-prepared and dry 

 ground ; it will be as well to sow only halt the quantity likely 

 to be required, and the remainder a week later, for should the 

 weather prove cold and wet they may not vegetate well in cold 

 ; situations. Neio Zealand Spinach may be sown in heat for 

 I transplanting in May, and Vegetable Manows and the Ice 

 Plant, where the latter is required for garnishing. 



PEUIT GAEDEN. 



All trees on the walls should now be looked over and have 

 their wood thinned while in the bud, taking off with the finger 

 and thumb all foreright buds, and others that are not properly 

 situated for laying in. Thin also the young canes of Rasp- 

 berries to the number necessary for next year's crop, by this 

 means the canes will be stronger, and will ripen better. 



FLOWEE GARDEN. 



The cultivation of annuals for garden decoration has, in 

 some degree, given way to the more permanent class of bed- 

 cUng-out greenhouse plants, yet some of the former will always 

 find a place in the best-arranged gardens, and a pretty general 

 selection should at the same time be grown for filling up 

 vacancies in borders of herbaceous plants, bulbs, iSic. In the 

 margins of shrubberies, sown so as to occupy the space between 

 the turf and the shrubs, annuals not only hide the bare soil, 

 but also produce a gay appearance in summer at a trifling ex- 

 pense. For this purpose the present will be a favourable time 

 for sowing, the ground having previously been well dug and 

 prepared. The varieties are so numerous that it is scarcely re- 

 quisite to give names, I will, therefore, only observe that the 

 seed should ,be sown thinly, and as soon as the plants are 

 large enough they should be well thinned, to allow a free growth. 

 No idea of the beauty of annuals can be formed by the stunted 

 patches we so generally see, owing to the common practice of 

 sowing the seed in a patch, and allowing, perhaps, fifty or 

 more plants to grow in a space where two or three only should 

 have remained. Annuals intended for beds should be such 

 as continue a considerable time in flower ; those of dwarf habit 

 being placed near the walks, and the taller-growing ones at a 

 greater distance. Among the former may be named Nemo- 

 phila insignis, Clintonia pulchella, some of the dwarf Cam- 

 panulas, Convolvulus minor, Brachycome iberidifolia, Por- 

 tulacas, Saponaria, Tagetes, Alyssum, Pedia, Zinnia, Tom 

 Thumb Nasturtiums, &c., besides many others, of which every 

 seedsman's list affords a selection. Stocks, as a matter of course, 

 will always be grown, as well as Chrysanthemum-flowered 

 Asters which have bright and distinct colours for beds, with 

 the advantage of having erect flowers. Climbing annuals, as 

 Tropffiolum aduncum (Canary Creeper), Convolvulus major, 

 Loasa, Cobeea scandens, Eccremocarpus, Maurandyas, Lophc- 

 spermums, &o., should be sown in pots, three or four seeds in 

 each, and when strong enough should be planted to cover 

 trellises, rusticwork, poles, walls, &o. Some of these require 

 sowing early as formerly directed, in order to become sufSciently 

 established, while the more hardy and strong-growing kinds 

 will succeed now. Do not forget to make one or two sowings 

 of Sweet Peas to keep up a succession of bloom. As the plant- 

 ing-out season approaches take every opportunity of hardening 

 off the entire stock, that the change to complete exposure may 

 be gradual, and the after-growth progressive. Any plan's 

 which are kept in pots, and which appear potbound, should 

 either be turned out into a frame, or be watered with liquid 



