April io, 1909. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
24 1 
The Flower Garden. 
There is plenty of work now waiting the 
attention of the gardener in all departments, 
and, unlike the autumn work, the spring 
work cannot be put off from day to day 
without harm, more or less, resulting. Thus 
the gardener is face to face every day with 
much urgent work requiring his attention, 
and the problem is, how to tackle one branch 
without allowing another to suffer. 
As far as possible the daily work must be 
done in a systematic manner, and a keen eye 
should be kept upon the weather so that any 
changes of a sudden nature may be duly 
noted and the requirements attended to with¬ 
out a moment’s delay. 
Bedding-Out Plants in Frames. 
Work among these is very urgent now. 
Hourly attention to (them is necessary in 
order to have them in the very best condition 
for bedding-out at the proper time. 
Seedlings in pots and boxes and newly- 
potted subjects will need lightly shading 
when the sun shines powerfully. Watering 
is another important item as also is the venti¬ 
lation. Air must be freely admitted to some 
plants, not so freely to others. Seedlings 
just pricked out will require syringings and 
waterings more frequently than established 
plants; the latter, however, must receive a 
good soaking each time water is required. 
Merely wetting the surface will not do. The 
half-hardy subjects required for the summer 
bedding must have abundance of air on all 
favourable occasions. 
There are so many little jobs to do and 
they all take up time; but it is the little 
things that tell in the end. It never pays 
to neglect them, and I am quite sure that 
the enthusiastic readers of The Gardening 
World only need to be reminded of such 
work when it will be attended to and car¬ 
ried out thoroughly and with whole-hearted 
pleasure. 
In the Flower Garden Itself. 
The flower garden must be maintained in 
the very best condition. At this season even 
a small quantitjr of rubbish, such as broken 
sticks and leaves, left lying about makes 
the whole garden appear very untidy. If 
the lawns and paths have not been swept 
lately, attend to them this week and after 
the sweeping has been done use the roller 
freely. While engaged in sweeping the 
paths be careful not to brush small stones on 
the lawn as they would be a danger to the 
mowing machine. The grass will very scon 
need cutting in sheltered gardens, but before 
the machine is used roll the lawn several 
times, and see to the working of the mowing 
machine. Even if it has been well cared for 
during the winter, all its bearings should 
be examined very closely now and oiled 
thoroughly. Do not attempt to cut the grass 
very low down at first; set the machine high : 
the second time you may set it lower, better 
work will be done and with greater ease, 
too. 
Plant Border Carnations. 
Rooted layers, wintered in a cool frame, 
should be planted in the open borders in 
warm districts at -once. A week later will 
do in colder parts, but it is not wise to lift 
any plants very late in the season when they 
have commenced to grow freely. If the beds 
have been duly dug and manured as pre¬ 
viously advised, put out the plants in rows 
as shown in Fig. 1. Select a fine day for the 
planting when the surface soil is nice and 
Fig. 1. Plant border Carnations now in 
rows lb in. apart , and 14 in. -from plant to 
plant in the rows. A, plants in one row; 
B, plants in the next row; C, path; D, a 
strong, well-rooted plant. 
dry. Make the soil firm around the roots of 
the plants and give water ; then allow the 
soil to get fairly dry before applying more. 
The rows should be 16 ins. apart and the 
may be treated in this way. 
plants in them 14 ins. asunder. The plants 
in row A must not be directly opposite those 
in row B. The path is shown at C and a 
strong, well-rooted layer at D. 
Fig. 3 shows how to make up beds for sow¬ 
ing Asparagus seeds. A, A, beds 4 ft. wide; 
B, B, drills to be drawn where the dotted 
lines are shown; C, C, C, paths. 
The Fruit Garden. 
The work of grafting must be done each 
week until all the trees are dealt with. 
Very often obsolete varieties of Pears are 
found growing on walls. Old specimens 
generally take up a great deal of valuable 
time in the nailing, disbudding and pruning 
of the branches, and when the fruits are 
practically worthless a loss is the result. 
These old trees may be cut back and grafts 
of valuable varieties inserted as shown in 
Fig. 2. The future tree would be fan¬ 
shaped ; but as many Pear trees on walls 
are trained horizontally the branches may 
be cut back and scions of good up-to-date 
sorts grafted on just the same as if the old 
specimens were bushes or standards. 
Strawberries. 
Young plantations may now be made. I 
prefer to put out the young plants in August 
or September, but it is not always conve¬ 
nient to do this, and as many readers may 
be wishing to commence the cultivation of 
these luscious fruits, they need not hesitate 
to put out strong plants from pots at once. 
Choose a sunny position, trench the soil 
deeply, plant the Strawberry runners in 
rows 20 inches apart and 18 inches asunder 
in the rows, and put on a surface mulch of 
littery manure. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
Asparagus. 
Sow seeds, or put in plants of Asparagus 
at once. Fig. 3 shows how to make up the 
beds. A, A, beds 4 ft. wide; B, B, drills 
to be drawn out where the dotted lines ap¬ 
pear, thus three rows of seeds may be sown 
or three rows of roots planted. C, C, C, 
show the paths, or alleys between the beds. 
Cover the seeds nearly 2 in. deep, and the 
crowns of roots that are planted, 4 inches 
deep in light, sandy soil, and 3 inches in 
heavy soil. 
Spinach. 
Sow more seeds each time Peas are sown: 
the Spinach forms a valuable crop between 
the rows of Peas ; but where it is not con¬ 
venient to sow Spinach between the rows 
of Peas, select an open piece of ground and 
sow the seeds in rows 2 ft. apart. Thin 
out the early Spinach plants so as to secure 
big leaves on stout stems. 
Salads. 
Salad plants are ver) r valuable, and at 
this season one should make every effort to 
keep up a good succession. Adopt a good 
system, have certain plots of ground set 
apart for small beds of salad plants, and 
commence now in earnest to obtain a regular 
supply of Lettuces., Radishes, young Onions, 
Celery, Tomatos, Mustard and Cress, etc. 
Potatos. 
Protect early Potatos now showing on 
warm borders. Dry litter will do. 
Seeds to Sow. 
Sow Peas, Broad Beans, Leeks and 
Onions. Foxglove. 
The Amateur’s Greenhouse. 
Sweet Contemplation. 
If the amateur has taken time by the 
forelock and made an early start, the great 
bulk of spring w'ork, such as propagating 
the various subjects intended both for green¬ 
house decoration, and bedding out, will be 
completed, that is, so far as sowing the seed 
and striking the cuttings are concerned, 
although of course, one must be constantly 
raising fresh plants for indoor use if a 
succession of flowers is to be kept up. 
Between the intervals of boxing off and 
potting on he will have time perhaps to 
