632 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
July 25, 1903. 
WORK OF THE WEEK. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
Potatos.—Many of the early varieties will by now have com¬ 
pleted their growth, and no time should be lost in lifting and 
storing them. No harm will happen to these, even if the skins 
become partially rubbed off, as they quickly heal up, and are 
none the worse for general use. Those required for cooking 
purposes should be first taken care of, and immediately they 
are sufficiently dry place them away, keeping the air and 
light from them. Any which may be required for next season’s 
planting should be laid out thinly on shelves to green, and the 
very small ones make excellent food for pigs or poultry. The 
whole of the haulm and rubbish should be burned on the 
ground, providing no other crop has been planted between 
them, and if such is the case 1 clear it off and bum on the 
smother fire, which should be kept going at this season in the 
rubbish yard, the ashes of which make excellent material for 
taking back on the land. Potatos are generally looking well 
this season, and so far m this locality are free from disease. 
The haulm of later varieties required for exhibition should 
be kept in an upright position by placing in strong stakes, and 
stretching stout tar cord along them. Apply slight dressings 
of fresh soot in showery weather—a splendid fertiliser for 
the Potato, and at the same time does much to keep the tubers 
clean and healthy. 
Coleworts.—Choose a good open position for the early plant¬ 
ings of these. Probably few green vegetables are more ap¬ 
preciated during the winter months, and, being quite hardy, 
are most valuable in every garden. The ground should be 
well manured and deeply dug, and the plants put out 1 ft. 
apart all ways. Make quite firm, and when the land is ad¬ 
dicted to clubbing fill in the holes with fine cinder ashes; well 
water in, and, except frequent booings, little further trouble 
will be needed to bring them to perfection. Rosette Colewort 
and London Hardy Green are very excellent varieties, and 
both should be grown in every garden. A well-grown bed 
of the Rosette when true, in addition to being useful, cannot 
fail to be admired. In my opinion, this way of ensuring 
plenty of delicate flavoured small Cabbage is far preferable 
to keeping over the old Cabbage bed for producing Sprouts, as 
these are not only unsightly, but do a considerable amount of 
injury to the ground, and these generally suffer much in severe 
weather. 
Turnips.—Generally speaking, Turnips for winter use should 
be sown from the middle of July till the middle of August in 
the more southern parts of the country, but so much depends 
on the weather we get during autumn that it is never safe to 
trust to any given dates; far better to make small and 
frequent sowing from now onward till the end of September 
or first week in October, sowing the latest on south borders. 
These smaller bulbs will prove to be much hardier than the 
larger ones, and if of no other use the Greens are generally 
useful and much liked in early spring. Turnips should always 
be sown in drills, the ground made quite fine, and the surface 
dressed well with soot, wood ashes, and lime in equal propor¬ 
tions, before putting in the seed. If possible choose showery 
weather for sowing. 
Spinach.—At this season of the year the New Zealand 
Spinach forms an important item in the kitchen garden, and 
its value to those who have to keep the kitchen supplied with 
Spinach during summer can hardly be over-estimated. Though 
quite distinct from ordinary Spinach in appearance, it is much 
the same when cooked, and a small bed will continue to give 
large supplies, during summer, just when it is most difficult 
to obtain summer Spinach. This should be much more largelv 
grown in private gardens than it is at the present time. It 
is always at its best during very hot, dry weather, and should 
be planted on a dry border. 
Carrots.—Thin out late-sown beds as they become laro-e 
enough, leaving them, however, fa.irly thick, so that young 
roots, so much liked on the dinner table, can be pulled as 
wanted. Make more sowing of the short, quick-growing 
varieties in cool pits or frames. Two very good kinds for 
sowing at this date are Carter’s Forcing and Sutton’s Inimit¬ 
able. Sow in drills 10 in. apart, and keep well watered. 
Celery. —Continue to earth up the early kinds little by little, 
breaking up the soil quite finely; first remove all side growths 
and thoroughly water. 
Sow and plant out in rows on a warm border Lettuce, both 
Cabbage and Cos, also Endive of sorts and Com salad. Pump¬ 
kins and Gourds, whether cultivated for use or from an orna¬ 
mental point of view, will require to have their growths regu¬ 
lated, exposing the young fruit to the sun as much as possible, 
and apply plenty of water, both clear and liquid manure. 
E. Beck STT. 
Aldenham House Gardens, Elstree, Herts. 
Notes on Hardy Trees and Shrubs. 
Summer Pruning.—In the shrubbery at the present time 
much attention will have to be devoted to the summer prun¬ 
ing, this being a matter of primary importance if the shrubs 
are to present a pleasing appearance and develop in a satis¬ 
factory manner. With young shrubs judicious annual prun- 
ings are absolutely necessary to induce them to make a good 
foundation upon which to build up shapely and healthy trees. 
Trees and shrubs differ greatly with respect to pruning, some 
being rendered more vigorous by the operation, while others 
very much resent hard cutting back. Such things as many of 
the Rhododendrons, of course, require little or no pruning 
unless they are becoming too large, and thereby overcrowding 
other subjects. In the case of R. ponticum and hybrid seed¬ 
lings, however, exception can be taken, as these are often 
greatly improved by cutting back the hard wood within a few 
inches of the ground. This, of course, applies to plants when 
they become bare of foliage and unsightly. Especially is this 
the case oftentimes after the plants have been replanted, or 
after exceptionally hot weather, and by treating them in this 
way, either in the spring or at midsummer, young shoots will 
break forth abundantly from the bottom, will grow away vigor¬ 
ously, and in a very short time make handsome specimens. 
Overcrowding should never be allowed on any account, for, 
though the intervening spaces may be filled more quickly, the 
harm done will soon be apparent. The aim of eveiy culti¬ 
vator should be to let every tree and shrub stand well apart 
from its neighbour, as I have often referred to, so that each 
may form a perfect specimen in itself, whether dwarf or treated 
as standards, or naturally taller growing. When the various 
subjects are permitted to form a densehnass, this may for a| 
time look very well, but the lower branches will before long: 
lose their vigour, present a sickly appearance, and ultimately 
die, with the result that quantities of limbs have to be re¬ 
moved, and, consequently, no idea can be entertained- of any 
well-formed specimens being made. Especially does this apply 
to the Coniferae, for once these have lost a limb no more wiil 
appear in its place; whereas, in the case of deciduous shrubs,] 
by properly pruning, the former vigour may be restored, and 
a good specimen result. 
At this, season of the year it is a capital plan while the 
plants are in active growth to carefully go through the shrub¬ 
bery beds and borders, mark each plant which should be re¬ 
moved at its proper time, and at the same time name it in the 
note-book, stating the variety and the position in which it is. 
* hie.can form a much better opinion when the trees and shrubs 
aie in full leafage as to which ought and which ought not to, 
be removed than in the winter months, when the deciduous 
trees are bare of foliage. 
If this is done before the summer pruning takes place, the 
knifing will be done accordingly; thus, instead of cutting in| 
ve ' 1 hard to perhaps prevent two plants spoiling each other, 
the slightest shortening back of the shoots will enable them to 
remain for the present season practically uninjured. 
Ruthlessly clipping back many of our choicest shrubs with 
