748 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
September 5, 1903. 
WORK OF THE WEEK. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
Unfortunately very little if any improvement in the weather 
can be recorded ; at the time of writing, after two fairly fine but 
dull and cold days, it is raining hard, with every appearance 
of a. wet night. We have been digging our main, crop of 
Potato®, and, sad to. relate, the tubers are very badly infested 
with disease.; some. varieties are .so much affected that the 
crop will hardly pay for lifting, and I fear this is pretty 
general. 1 intend taking up the whole of our crops speedily 
with thei hope of saving a.s many as possible, and I strongly 
advise everyone to do ; the same ; place under cover’ and look, 
them over weekly, removing all that have the slightest sus¬ 
picion of disease before finally placing away for future, use. 
Celery has made a, splendid growth, and with careful man¬ 
agement by way of earthing and blanching this should be 
exceptionally good this year. Celery revels, in a. wet season. 
Continue to. earth up on fine days: all the earlier plantings, but 
before doing so remove all side growths and split, leaves, and 
each time place a little fresh soot about the plants, break up 
the soil as finely a,s possible, and place it firmly around the 
plants., but in no. case should it. be put above the hearts. That 
required for late use should not have any earth placed to it. 
for some time to come, as. it. will be found to. keep, much better 
when not blanched too early ; however, all suckers should be 
removed and the soil stirred up between it. Give a, slight- 
dressing of vegetable patent manure and soot about, once a 
fortnight. 
Onions. — Lose no time in. hastening the ripening process of 
these and place them under’ cover, putting all those which are 
not properly developed on one side for immediate use, using 
great care not to in any way damage or bruise the specimens, 
or their keeping qualities will be much impaired, especially so. 
with larger specimens. Onions, after ripening, should not be 
stored in too. warm a place, for even if frost, reaches them. no 
harm will follow. Those which are expressly grown, for pick¬ 
ling purposes should be ripened under glass; a cold frame 
will answer the. purpose well, removing the light on. bright, 
warm days. 
Autumn-sown varieties which are just coming through the 
ground should have the Dutch hoe rum through between, the 
drills, and give a good dusting of soot and wood aishes occa,- 
sionally. 
Cabbage.— Early spring Cabbage is generally much appre¬ 
ciated, and every good gardener- is proud of a fine bed of these, 
and to ensure a good supply at least three plantings should 
be made. Tire first should be on a. south or 1 west, border, and 
the ground thoroughly manured with that from the farmyard 
and either deeply dug or trenched. I know of no. variety equal 
to Ellam’s Early for planting in; such a position, a.s it possesses 
every good quality, being of medium size, excellent, quality, 
and seldom runs to. seed. Allow a. distance of 18 in. between 
the rows a,nd 1 ft, between, the plants, when, every other one 
can be cut quite early, and in case of a very severe winter the, 
cron is assured. 
The sites which have been occupied with Onions form ideal 
places for later plantings, and as in all probability the ground 
will have, been trenched during last, winter, this, if wed manured 
and deeply dug, will be quite sufficient. Allow a distance of 
2 ft, between,^the rows, and the plants 1 ft. During some 
seasons the brown, grub is very troublesome, eating off the 
plants just under the surface. These should he searched for 
and destroyed, and the vacancies made good. Where the land 
is addicted to clubbing, fill in the holes with finely sifted cinder 
ashes—a good preventive—and where slugs abound, as they do 
in, many places this season, place, some around the plants. 
Turnips are good this, season, the flv being little in. evidence 
during so much wet. Continue to thin, out the young seed¬ 
lings as they become ready to a, "cod distance apart, and: fre¬ 
quently hoe between them. Make further sowings once a 
fort,night during the present month, but before, doing so rake 
down to a fine tilth and strew the surface with wood ashes and 
soot. 
Endive and Lettuce. —Tire, late sowings of these should now 
be planted at the foot of a south wall or in skeleton frames, 
where protection can be afforded them, and tie up to blanch 
on, fine days those which are large enough. 
Parsley. — Thin out late sowings and plant the surplus seed¬ 
lings. in cold frames near the glass, old hot-beds being very 
suitable, E. Beckett. 
Aldenham. House Gardens, Elst-ree. 
Hardy Fruit. 
The Peach Wall.—Owing to such a cold, wet summer out 
of doors., Peaches and Nectarines are slow in ripening, and 
those that .are nearing that stage are showing signs of cracking 
at the apex of the fruit, which is soon taken advantage of by 
the wasps and flies, these quickly spoiling the best, of the fruit 
As a, bait for these, soda-water or ginger beer bottles- should 
be three-parts filled with a, mixture of beer and treacle, tying 
the same on, to, the trees., which will trap a host of them. These 
should be emptied once a week, straining the liquid through 
a fine hair sieve, when, it can again be returned to the bottles 
with a little fresh mixture added, and burying those that have 
been, placed hors de combat. Expose the fruit to what bit of 
sun we may get by tying back the foliage or tucking it under 
the. wood. Earwigs often, do a. deal of damage to these soft 
fruits; these are best caught by placing pieces, of Bamboo oi 
Broad Bean stalks. 1 ft. in. length among the trees and examin 
ing them each morning, and crushing the contents after blov¬ 
ing the same into, a. pail. If the fruit has to be sent am 
distance, it should be gathered before fully ripe; while fo: 
home consumption, ripe fruit will keep several days in a coo 
fruit room if placed on. cottonwool or the newer material, wood 
wool, a, very clean soft packing material. 
The Fig-—We have a, nice sprinkling of fruit against th 
south wall, gathering our first dish on, the 20 th of last montl 
the. variety being Brown Turkey. A net had to 1 be, placed ove 
the, trees, as the thrushes and blackbirds began sampling Ion 
ere the fruits were fit for dessert. Trees with no crop ai 
making much more wood than is necessary; tins should l 
thinned out. freely, and the, remaining growths made fast i 
the wires 5 even some of the old branches may be cut away no 
there -is no fruit on many of them, if deemed necessary, so ; 
to give thi.si year’s wood a, better chance of ripening. Wit 
such a small amount of sun this summer, overcrowding 
shoots should be avoided. 
Apricots. —Now the fruits are cleared a good hosing or was 
ing with the garden, engine would clear away all filth from tl 
trees, and 1 all sub-laterals .should be removed back to the fir 
leaf, except in the case of very young trees, in which case 
is often advisable to let- them grow at will, with a view, 
checking over-luxuriance of growth, root-pruning later on. bet: 
the best cure, unless the trees are entirely replanted, both i 
which methods will be treated upon in a. coming issue. 
Loganberry.—Those having a, few plants of this will fil 
the fruit most serviceable this season, either’ for cooking c 
jam-making, and may even, be used for dessert when fully ri] ■ 
It is an. American fruit allied to, the Raspberry and Blackber. ■ 
and is borne in clusters, the individual fruits, being long ai 
nearly black when ripe. 
Wineberry. — Another usefid fruit for jam or jelly-makir. 
comine: in to succeed the summer-bearing Raspberries, ai 
should be netted to ward off birds. Both these and the Log., 
berry are robust growers and require very similar treatnn t 
to that of the Raspberry, cutting away all old canes after to 
fruit lias been cleared off. The Wineberry (Rubus, phoenic 
asms) is a very showy Bramble, having quite red canes and n e 
foliage, and may well be planted in the wild garden in c) 
junction with R. leueodermisi, the. Whitewash Bramble,, wh 1 
also bears a, veiy similar fruit, but a trifle smaller with us. 
