232 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



November, I9l3 



Vegetetble OE^rdeiv 



Vegetable Calendar. 



Hurry in late sowings of mar- 

 rows, melons, trombones, pump- 

 kins and, all kinds of summer veget- 

 ables. N.Z. spinach, although not 

 one of the most delicate of 

 \|.;getables, is one of the most 

 prolific. It certainly pays well 

 for any space or attention given 

 it. vSilver Beet is always a handy- 

 stand-by. It can be sown now. 

 A bed of nice, free,, sandy soil, not 

 too far from the water tap, can 

 hardly be put to better use than 

 growing a crop of sweet potatoes. 

 Pots of rooted cuttings are ob- 

 tainable and the}' are no trouble 

 at all. Small sowings of celery 

 may be made but most amateurs 

 will prefer to buy the seedlings 

 later on. Salads are all the 

 sweeter for beinjg home grown. 

 Lettuce, of course, we get in such 

 abundance and of such excellent 

 quality from the hills, that few 

 attempt growing them in summer. 

 It can be done with a well and 

 deeply dug soil, a liberal mulch 

 and a mist spray nozzle close at 

 hand for the hot and scorching 

 winds. Onions, mustard, cress and 

 radish are less exacting, they 

 should, however, be grown quickly 

 othe^-wise thev lose tlie freshness 

 and sweetness which the home 

 garden salads should possess. 



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 CURRIE STREET, ADELAIDE. 



COLONIAL PRODUCE EX- 

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 on Commission Only. 



Special attention given to the 

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Woodwool, Apple Wra])])ing Paper, 

 Apple Cases, Pear Trays— in the 

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All Orchardists' requisites suppled 

 at Lowest Rates. 



Agent for — 



The Harvey Orchard Ploughs ant) 

 Cultivators. 



HAVE-U Motor Power Spray Pumps. 

 On view at our North Terraoe Store. 



Tomatoes. 



To fertilize tomato llowers hold 

 the bunch of llowers with the left 

 hand, place the nail of the thumb 

 immediately underneath the flower 

 so as to make the pollen fall upon 

 the thumb nail ; then gently press 

 the end of each flower in turn into 

 the pollen on the nail. When the 

 pollen is used up, more may be 

 obtained in the way described. If 

 every flower is thus treated, a 

 good crop of fruit will be assured. 



♦ 



Runner Beans. 



This is a very excellent veget- 

 able, especiall}' for cooler situa- 

 tions. With plenty of water they 

 do well on the jjlaius. As the 

 plants are voracious feeders and 

 appreciate a cool, moist root-run, 

 no pains should be spared in pro- 

 viding them with these essentials. 

 The stout roots also penetrate the 

 soil to a considerable depth, so 

 that it well repays to break it up 

 at least two spits deep. With the 

 lower spit plenty of partially-de- 

 cayed manure shoidd be mixed. If 

 the soil contains a preponderance 

 of sand, cow or pig manure is 

 best ; but if clay is the principal 

 element, " that from horses is pre- 

 ferable, , though in many cases the 

 beginu'er has to use the best that 

 is obtainable. With the top spit 

 it is a good plan to mix some 

 .superphosphate, ar small handful to 

 each yard run of row. In addi- 

 tion, if the soil is very stiff clay, 

 some sand, some burnt earth, old 

 potting soil, road scrapings, or, 

 indeed, anything of a i^orous na- 

 ture that will . tend to render it 

 m'ore friable may be added, taking 

 care to mix it well with the soil. 



When the seedlings appear, steps 

 must be taken to guard them 

 against slugs, which are particu- 

 larly fond of them. A])art from 

 trapping the p\;sts, which is the 

 most satisfactory method of all, 

 some fine coal ashes, soot, or soot 

 and lime may be sprinkled rather 

 thickly round the plants. As soon 

 as the plants begin to run, stout 

 stakes, twine, or coarse netting 

 must be placed for them to climb. 

 Six feet is a reasonable height for 

 the supports, though the plants 

 will climb nearly twice that height 

 if .supports arc available. The sys- 

 tem of topping Rimner Beans is 



not one that we would ad\'<)cate 

 foT garden cultivation ; wherever a 

 pod rests on the soil its flavour is 

 impaired. Besides, a well-support- 

 ed row of Runner Beans makes an 

 exceflent screen in the garden, 

 a point that ought not to be lost 

 sight of in selecting the site. Dur- 

 ing hot weather, and particularly 

 when the plants commence to 

 flower, copious supplies of water 

 must be afforded, and once a week 

 should be supplemented with weak 

 liquid manure. In addition, an 

 o\ erhead syringing \vith clean 

 water will prove highly beneficial 

 and keep that most dreaded of all 

 pests, red spider, at bay. When 

 the plants reach the tops of their 

 supports, the growing point oi , 

 each may be nipped out, an oper- 

 ation that may have to be re- 

 peated several times. 



♦ 



Propagating Seakale and 

 Root .Cuttings. 



There are two methods of pro- 

 pagating this subject, one by seed 

 and the other by root cuttings. 

 Raising Seakale from seed is an' 

 easy, cheap and satisfactory me- 

 thod of propagation, although 

 much slower than that of cuttings. 

 Make drills i foot apart in well- 

 prepared ground and the seed sown 

 about i% inches deep and 6 inchea' 

 apart. This is a better practice 

 than sowing thickly and subse- 

 quently thinning out the resulting 

 seedlings to 6 inches apart. Later 

 on remove each alternate seedling, 

 thus leaving the plants i foot 

 apart ultimately. Two years at 

 least are required for the plants 

 to be suiFicient advanced to lilf 

 for forcing. Sow in winter. 



Seakale crowns, however, may. 

 be obtained for forcing within a 

 year. Any old plants obtainable 

 will answer our purpose admir- 

 ably. The thong-like roots, , or 

 " thongs," as they are term.ed, 

 may be cut or broken off from the 

 main root quite easily. The strong- 

 est plants are always raised from 

 root cuttings, and these are ob' 

 tained from the severed portions. 

 The severed thongs vary in thick- 

 ness. Some are as thick as, 

 man's foTefinger, others are nearer 

 in substance to that of the small 

 finger of a lady. These are cut 

 up into lengths of about' 4 inches. 

 For exceptionally fine forcing roots 

 6 inches is thought the better size 

 but either size will give 'satisfac- 

 tory results. 



The upper or wide end of each 

 length should be cut straight 



