650 
THE HARDENING WORLD. 
August 1, 19u3. 
WORK OF THE WEEK. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
Cucumbers which are growing in pits and frames will require 
constant attention by way of thinning out the old growths and 
surface-dressing. A suitable mixture for this will be finely 
chopped turfy loam, horse-droppings, and leaf-soil in equal pro¬ 
portions. Cut all fruits as soon as ready, place the stalks in 
about 1 in. of water, and stand in a cool place, when these will 
keep good for several days, providing fresh water is given 
every other day. By treating the plants liberally with manure 
water and syringing freely morning and afternoon with tepid 
water, these will continue to bear freely till the end of Sep¬ 
tember. Fumigate with XL All immediately aphis makes its 
appearance. A good sowing should be made at once in small 
60 pots for keeping up the supply during autumn and mid¬ 
winter, as these should be well established in their quarters 
early in September. Free fruiting varieties of medium length 
should be chosen for this sowing, and these will have to be 
grown in the Cucumber house, where plenty of heat is at 
command. Ridge Cucumbers growing in the open will need 
plenty of moisture at the roots during diy weather, or the 
fruits will be bitter and of little use. Should black aphis 
be troublesome, syringe the growths with insecticides to 1 ex¬ 
terminate them, and apply a little patent vegetable manure 
about every ten days. 
Mushrooms. — Collect plenty of good fresh horse-droppings, 
which should be placed under cover, an open shed for choice, 
and turn eveiy other morning to sweeten. Care should be 
taken to place the outsides in the centre of the heaps, and 
the hottest parts from the middle on the outside each time. 
As soon as the heat is on the decline, the beds should be made 
up in the Mushroom house, which cannot be put together too 
firmly ; very much depends as to success or otherwise in. rela¬ 
tion to this. Loosely made beds are never satisfactory, and 
will continue to bear only for a very short time. Beds made 
up in the open during spring should now be bearing away 
freely. Fresh stable litter should be used for covering - about 
every ten days, and when they show signs of becoming ex¬ 
hausted give a thorough soaking of farmyard liquid. Damp 
over the litter twice daily. 
Tomatos. —Make a sowing of some reliable winter fruiting 
variety in heat for giving a supply during the short days of 
winter. I know of no better variety for this purpose than 
Sutton’s Winter Beauty, which is very free, of good colour 
and shape, and has a good constitution. Eveiy encouragement 
should be given these to make good sturdy plants by keeping 
them near the glass in a medium temperature. Plants which 
are in full bearing under glass should have a liberal supply 
cf manure water to induce them to swell up their fruits. 
Remove all lateral growths as they appear, and keep 1 the fruits 
cut' immediately they show signs of cankering, and finish ripen¬ 
ing in a warm place. 
Those which are being grown in the open should have all 
their leading growths stopped; remove all surplus shoots, 
shorten back the leaves, and expose as much as possible to the 
light and sun. Very much will depend on the kind of weather 
which is in store for us whether these will finish properly or not, 
for, unless they receive plenty of heat and sun, these are 
seldom of little use without the aid of glass. 
Capsicums and Chilies. —A good top-dressing of half-decayed 
cow manure will now be of great assistance to- these when grow¬ 
ing in 5 in. and 6 in. pots. Each plant should be supported 
with a strong, neat stick. If growing in cold frames, which 
is the most suitable place for them during the next month or 
six weeks, the lights should only be placed over them during 
cold, stormv nightsi, as the more gently these' are brought 
along at this 1 season the longer will they last through the 
winter, when they are extremelv serviceable for decorative 
purposes. By thoroughly syringing the foliage twice daily, 
little trouble will be found in keeping them free from insect 
life, such as red spider, thrips, black and green aphis, each of 
which have a particular liking for them. 
Winter Greens of all kinds which have been planted be¬ 
tween Early Peas should now have the latter removed from 
them and the ground nicely forked up between. Fill up all 
vacancies, from the seed-beds, and if late apply a small dressing 
of patent manure. 
Continue to plant out Lettuce of sorts and Endive on a 
south border as they become ready. Make the main sowing 
of Cabbage. Ellam’s Early, Flower of Spring, and Carter’s 
Model are all excellent kinds. Sow a good bed of winter 
Spinach on good ground, and apply a dressing of soot and wood 
ashes. 
Herbs for winter use which will be required in a dry state, 
such as Mint, Sage, Marjoram (both kinds), and Sweet Basil, 
should be cut or pvulled up, dried, and tied up in small bundles 
and hung up in a cool open shed. E. Beckett. 
Aldenliam House Gardens, Elstree. 
Fruit under Glass. 
Pines. — About this date a rearrangement in the fruiting 
division becomes necessary ; those plants whose fruit has been 
cut should be relieved of all suckers large enough for potting 
and the old steels thrown away, thus making space for suc¬ 
cession fruiters. If the plunging material has subsided some 
fresh should be brought in, thoroughly mixing the old and new 
together before replunging the plants.' Those whose fruit is 
forward must be handled very carefully, and no. attempt made 
to tie the foliage erect; in fact, it is unwise to do this after 
once the fruit can be seen pushing up, as they are easily 
damaged in so young a state. The plants should stand 20 in. 
to 24 in. asunder when once in their fruiting pots, and the 
foliage should be fairly near the glass roof to prevent the 
same from getting elongated. The bottom heat for these 
fruiters should be between 80 and 85 deg., and all the fruiting 
plants, if possible, should he got into one structure, and have 
weak manurial waterings at the root when in want of water, 
examining the same twice weekly. 
This rearrangement will afford more space for succession 
plants, and any requiring more root space should be shifted on 
within the next few weeks, using good fibrous loam as the 
principal ingredient, adding a little charcoal and bone-meal; a 
4-in. potful to a. bushel of soil will suffice, wanning the whole 
before using. Avoid over-potting, and keep' the plants rather 
more shaded, also closer for a. few days until the roots, make 
a fresh start, and, above all, do not over-water, but lightly 
dew the plants overhead- twice daily in bright weather. Place 
suckers in 5 in., 6 in., and 7 in. pots, according to size, and 
afford similar treatment, for two or three weeks until they 
emit roots. Afterwards treat as for succession. Support, with 
two neat stakes the fruit before it has a, chance to bend over: 
and plants during their flowering stage must have a diy atmo¬ 
sphere overhead, but paths,' etc., may be damped down as usual. 
Peaches. — Late houses will be swelling up its crop of fruit, 
and full ventilation must be afforded day and night if it is 
necessary to retard the crop. See that, the borders are kept 
moist, and the trees well syringed twice daily until ripening 
commences, when it must be discontinued. Unheated houses 
that have been pushed on with the assistance of sun-heat will 
now be yielding a supply of fruit, and should have a constant 
circulation of air. Early morning isi the best time to get off 
the ripe fruit, which must be handled with great care, so as 
not to bruise them, or their keeping qualities will be impaired, 
and dci not pluck any that do. not part freely from the tree. 
Those not required for immediate use should be placed in the 
cool fruit store and stood on wood-wool or cotton-wool, where 
they keep fresh for several days. 
Strawberries. — Those layered the second week in July will 
be fit to be severed from the parent plant. I prefer them to 
be well rooted before cutting them off, then they can with 
safety be stood in an open, position. Keep them moist at the. 
root, and within a week repotting may commence, doing the 
