r.4l 



tempt vto get through the sawdust, and 

 birds will not touch the poas, even when 

 ti\oy ap|)'car through the soil. Sln;js aic 

 ahsolutely bewildered by the sawdust ad- 

 hering to them. To prevent wirewonns 

 or other insects harbouring in the saw- 

 dust a little lime or salt may be mi.xed 

 with it. 



Birds are seldom troublesome until 

 the peas are coming through the ground, 

 and by that time the rows should be 

 covered with fine wire-netting. As si>on 

 as the peas arc 6 in. high tiie birds won't 

 peck thetii. The wire guards are then 

 removed to the next succession of peas, 

 which should then be coming through, 

 and -so on. If a coil of wire-netting of 

 the length required was procured and 

 cut into 6-ft. lengths, then each length 

 cut longways through the centre, and 

 bent by placing one length after the 

 other over tlic row, a very handy guard 

 is supplied, wlxich will soon have paid 

 for the cost and trouble. 



^> 



Exhibiting Vegetables. 



Obviously it is useless to spend a 

 great effort in the production of fine ex- 

 hibition vegetables and then to undo it 

 aJl by a poor preparation when the cru- 

 cial titne arrives. There has been a 

 marked improvement in many of the 

 suburban and country shows in the past 

 few years in the manner that vegetables 

 are staged for exhibition, but some 

 shows are lamentably deficient in this 

 particular. Let us then begin to prepare 

 at least a week before the show. 



Potatoes— Wash the potatoes with a 

 sponge carefully, not to scratch them 



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with any grit that may he clinging to 

 them. Use several lots of cold, clean 

 water. Having prepared a li))eral 

 amount by washing clean, proceed to 

 select the exhibition specimens. Have 

 an ideal and try to get your tuliers as 

 near as possible to your ideal, medium 

 size, shallow eyes, clear skin and perfect 

 freedom from bruises, scab, wormholcs 

 or other l)lemishes. Then every potato 

 should be as nearly uniform with the 

 rest as rigid selection can make them. 

 The specimens having been selected, 

 carefully wrap them in tissue paper and 

 lay away in a dark cool cellar till the 

 day of the show arrives. 



Beets, Carrots, and Parsnips may be 

 washed and selected the same way, per- 

 fect form, uniformity and freedom from 

 lilemish being the ideal, as well as being 

 as large as possible. 



Onions — The onions may be selected 

 and rubbed carefully over by the bare 

 hand to remove any rough, loose skin. 

 The tops should be bent over and neatly 

 tied with rafla or string. The ideal here 

 is : size as large as possible, a smooth 

 skin, well ripened and conformity to 

 type. Handle the onions with care, as 

 they bruise readily. Common newspaper 

 makes a fine wrapper for them, and each 

 l)ulb should be wrapped separately. 



The foregoing having all been cleaned 

 and selected some five days to a week 

 before the show we cortie now to the 

 more frail kinds. 



Cauliflower may be cut a couple of 

 days ahead and wrapped in wax paper, 

 I)ut first see that there are no slugs or 

 worms in among the leaf stems. Trim 

 off all the leaves except a few of the 

 youngest, which may be left till staging 

 time, when they should be trimmed off. 

 A good cauliflower for exhibition meas- 

 ures from six to eight inches in dia- 

 meter, is round, convex, solid, and as 

 nearly pure white as possible. 



Leeks should be peeled, cleaned of all 

 rougli or dirty skin, then sponged with 

 cold water and wrapped with wax paper 

 till staged. 



Glolje Artichokes may be cut and the 

 stems put in water a day or two prior 

 to the show, if necessary to protect them 

 from the weather. 



Egg Fruit should be uniform in colour 

 all around, large and good shape, and 

 the several specimens shown should 

 match as nearly as possible. Don't show 

 one large one and two or three small 

 ones if you can avoid it. Egg plants 

 may be gathered some days ahead if 

 desired, as they keep well. 



Brussels Sprouts should be round, 



solid antl dark green. They will stand 

 picking a little in advance, and should be 

 soaked for an hour or two in clear cold 

 water to clean them and fill them with 

 moisture, then lay them out thinly in a 

 fiat an<l cover with paper. 



Celery should be full-hearted, brittle, 

 crisp, and clear of rust or slug marks, as 

 well as perfectly blanched. A good 

 soaking in cold water and sponging will 

 clean it and keep it fresh. Then after 

 pulling off the coarsest outside leaves 

 tie it with a piece of rafifia and when 

 staging trim off the roots. 



Tomatoes should be as nearly a per- 

 fect ball as possible, bright and clear of 

 colour, uncracked, firm, medium and 

 uniform size, and showing a fresh green 

 stalk attached. Pick not more than a 

 day ahead, and wrap them separately in 

 two or three thicknesses of tissue paper. 



Peas should be reasonably full, young, 

 free from rfiildew and a good variety. 



Beans should be as large as possible 

 so long as they are tender, crisp, and 

 young. Every pod should be perfectly 

 straight. 



Cucumbers for exhibition should be 

 green, straight, uniform in thickness, 

 round and fresh, carrying a good bloom. 



Lettuce should be large, fresh, and 

 solid, having the outer leaves all in per- 

 fect condition. 



. <^ 



Asparagus. 



As Asparagus is usually left in the 

 same position for a number of years 

 it is well to bear this in mind when 

 preparing the ground they are to oc- 

 cupy. There is isome difference of 

 opinion as to the best method of 

 doing so. The older plan in home 

 gardens at all events was to dig deep 

 trenches up to four feet deep, four 

 to seven feet wide, as long as re- 

 quired. This great trench was filled 

 with the best possible material and 

 the roots planted thickly, so that the 

 preparation of an asparagus bed was 

 with reason regarded as a somewhat 

 costly laborious business. It must be 

 admitted that many amateur gar- 

 deners got splendid results for their 

 trouble. The newer idea is, that as 

 asparagus is a comparatively shallow 

 rooting plant, this extreme depth of 

 cultivation is perhaps unneccessary 

 and that as the roots spread probably 

 two feet all round the plant it is 



