I 
April II, 1908. THE GARDENING WORLD. 
The Flower Garden. 
awns. 
It is very often the case that the grass on 
a.wns is greener at the end of February 
oan ait the end of- March or during the early 
art of April, but where such conditions 
revail, owners of lawns should not feel 
iscouraged, as, although the blades of grass 
re brown in colour, the roots are healthy, 
-ometimes the grass appears as if it has 
een seared with, a hot iron; late frosts and 
ot, sunny days following them and the 
irevalence of east winds cause the brown 
int. The first cutting of the grass will 
rove to be a difficult matter, but afterwards 
he young grass will grow freely. 
While the ground is nice and dry, lose no 
ime in getting every bit of foreign matter, 
uch as bits of sticks, glass, stones, etc., 
,-hich may have been brought there in the 
ranure and other material used as topdress 
ngs, cleared off. If left, be sure the mow- 
ng machine will find them, to the detriment 
•f the latter and annoyance of the user, 
lew Lawns. 
Where new lawns are to be made as the 
esult of the sowing of grass seeds, the latter 
hould be sown forthwith. If j'ou have 
aken every precaution to thoroughly clean 
he soil, freeing it from the roots of weeds, 
.nd have procured a pure lawn mixture, you 
lave now an opportunity to secure a perfect 
pass plot. 
Choose a fine, calm day for the sowing of 
he seeds. Early in the morning take a gar- 
len rake and lightty loosen the surface soil, 
.'wo hours afterwards you may tread on the 
pound without risk of picking up any soil 
in your boots. Lay down the garden line 
.nd sow a piece of ground about 3 ft. wide, 
hen move the line, and sow another piece 
>f ground, and so on until the whole is 
lealt with. The seeds should be sown fairly 
hickly and very evenly all over the surface. 
Then roll the plot. You may scatter a small 
luantity of fine soil on the seeds, if the 
oiler does not bury them sufficiently; but 
f pressed down firmly in the soil the seeds 
vill germinate freely, especially in showery 
veather. Keep off the birds by stretching 
•lack thread all over the surface in different 
Erections from short, stout pegs, as shewn 
n Fig. 1. The treatment of the young 
grass will be dealt with in due course in 
his c alendar. 
’ropagating Bedding Plaints, 
Put in cuttings of Lobelia, Alternanlhera, 
Vlesembryanthemum, and similar kinds of 
Hants as rapidly as you can now, so as to 
ecure good, sturdy stuff for planting out in 
lue course. The cuttings will quickly form 
oots now, if the pots be plunged in a hot- 
>ed or propagating frame. 
’otting Bedding Plants. 
Attend to this work also, as any neglect 
I will result in many plants being stunted 'and 
ilmost useless; one sees too many of such 
- svery year. Of course, work is now very 
plentiful; it is important, too, but by adopt - 
1 ng a good system all items may be dealt 
vith. 
terbaceous Borders. 
Man y kinds of plants, such as Pyrethrums, 
-hlox, Delphiniums, Gadllardias, and 
Hollyhocks, may be planted, but it would 
>e well to bring this work to a close as soon 
fig- '■ 
Flow to protect lawn grass seeds 
-from birds. 
'his sketch shoz 
249 
as possible, and to also complete the surface 
pointing of the soil in the borders, and so 
make the latter neat and clean. 
The Fruit Garden. 
Grafting. 
This week I am giving another example 
of the grafting of fruit trees. This mode 
is suitable for the joining of a scion on a 
stock when both are about equal in size. It 
is termed saddle grafting, as the scion, or 
graft, fits on the stock like a saddle on a 
horse’s back. In this case it is an easy 
matter to get the bark of the scion and that 
of the stock to fit on both sides, and so make 
a complete union. 
Young stocks are very suitable for saddle 
grafting. Fag. 1 shows a stock before it is 
prepared, and F.ig. 2 shows it duly pre¬ 
pared to receive the graft. Fig. 3 shows the 
scion before it is prepared, and Fig. 4 as it 
appears when prepared. Fig. 5 shows the 
scion A fitted to the stock B, and now all 
that is required is to wind a few strands of 
soft matting round to keep the respective 
barks of scion and stock a close fit ; then to 
complete the work b} r putting on the wax. 
Where grafting clay is used, it will be 
necessary in all instances to closely examine 
the balls occasionally for cracks, a~s air must 
be excluded from the interior. I find it a 
good plan to wrap some fresh mess round 
the clay balls, and to keep the mess in a 
damp condition. 
Fruit Trees on Walls. 
Persevere with the work of putting on cover¬ 
ings of tiffany, herring nets, and similar 
material to protect the blossom cf Apricots, 
Peaches, and Nectarines, choice Plums, and 
Pears. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
The weather during the month cf March 
has been very favourable for the digging of 
ground and the preparation of the soil for 
seed sowing. Where stiff soils prevail and 
Onions are grown, the seeds should ger¬ 
minate well, as it is a very important point 
in the culture of these bulbs to have the 
seed bed in ideal condition, and such can¬ 
not always be assured everj r year. 
Sowing Peas. 
Main crop sorts must now be sown to 
afford a regular supply of pods during the 
hottest part of the season. Extra care 
should be taken in regard to the sowing of 
the seeds. 
Fig. 3 at A shows the wrong kind of drill 
for the seeds, and at B the right kind. Every 
young plant should have a clear space to 
grow in, and this can only be afforded them 
when the drills are made at least 9 in. wide 
at the bottom. Place each seed about 3 in. 
from its neighbour all over the bottom of the 
drill, and cover them quite 2 in. deep. The 
resultant plants wall then withstand dry 
spells of weather better than those only with 
a thin covering to the seeds. And when soil 
is drawn up to the row?, do not press it un¬ 
duly against the plants, but leave them free 
to grow over the whole width of the drill. 
Thus treated the plants will bear many more 
and finer pods than would be the case where 
the plants are overcrowded. 
Potatos. 
Finish the planting of the tubers without 
delay, and earth up the earliest crops, scat¬ 
tering a small quantity of dry litter on the 
growths during frosty nights. 
French, and Runner Beans. 
Get the soil in good condition for the 
seeds, but do not sow any yet. For rows of 
Runner Beans dig in plenty of rotted manure 
over a space 4 ft. wide ; do not confine the 
manure to the trenches. Foxglove. 
