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April 24, 1909. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
267 
The Flower Garden 
Bulbs. 
This has been a very trying season for 
bulbs planted in the flower garden. Only a 
! very short time since Crocuses were strug¬ 
gling-to blossom in the cold east winds; 
there was scarcely any leaves visible, and 
only a portion of some of the flowers were 
1 above the soil level. 
Then more congenial weather came, but 
still the chilly winds prevailed, and but 
little progress was made by bulbs growing 
in the more exposed gardens, but in sunny 
corners, the sun traps, lovely displays of 
blossom gladdened the hearts of the culti¬ 
vators. May-flowering Tulips will, no doubt, 
be very satisfactory, though late. It is a 
good plan to keep the surface soil loosened 
regularly every week, as this work promotes 
free growth. The loosening must be done 
with the Dutch hoe, and the work always 
carried out on a fine day. During showery 
i weather slugs will be very troublesome ; they 
will eat away the outer portions of the 
leaves, and must be prevented by an applica- 
> tion of sifted coal ashes. Just scatter a few 
1 of the ashes around the base of each plant; 
the sharp particles will prove too much for 
the slugs and thus the plants may be saved 
from attack. 
I may also mention here that the coal 
j-j ashes should be used in a similar way around 
many kinds of herbaceous plants that are 
now growing freely. The young shoots are 
tender and fall a ready prey to the sneak¬ 
ing slugs. Renew the dustings of ashes 
i every week until the stems and leaves of the 
plants are well advanced. 
Planting- Hollyhocks. 
Young plants, raised from seeds last year, 
i should be put out without delay. The Holly- 
: hock is quite hardy enough to withstand any 
frosts that may come now. Indeed, old 
: plants will survive a fairly severe winter 
without any protection being given. 
Fig. 1 shows how to plant Hollyhocks in 
a herbaceous border. The plants look very 
well in such positions-, and should be placed 
1 there early so that they will have time to be- 
I come established before the hot, dry weather 
comes. Make the soil very rich, so as to in- 
■ duce a strong growth and so escape the 
dreaded disease as much as possible. 
It always attacks weakly specimens sooner 
than healthy ones. Use well rotted manure 
' and thoroughly mix it with the soil to a 
; depth of 18 in. at least. 
Make holes 24 inches apart at the back of 
; the border as shown at A. B shows a strong 
plant, one which will produce a sturdy flower 
spike this yeg.r. Do the planting while the 
soil is moderately dry and press it firmly 
j around the roots with the hands. 
The Lawns. 
There is plenty of work to be found now 
on the lawn. The young grass is growing 
rapidly, especially where rich surface dress- 
1 ings were put on as advised in The Garden¬ 
ing World in previous issues. 
It is a difficult matter to put on the top 
dressings without also including in them 
j stones and other foreign matter. The 
I manure and the soil has now practical dis¬ 
appeared, being firmly fixed around the roots 
' of the grass, but the stones are clearly visible 
and should be swept up before any mowing 
machine is used. In many instances this ne- 
, cessary work has already been done. 
Rolling, as well as mowing, must be done, 
as it improves the surface and makes the 
work of mowing much easier. 
New Lawns. 
Where turves have been laid down, make a 
point of closely examining them now and 
fill up all cracks between them. Keep the 
soil moist where grass seeds have been sown 
and protect the seedlings. 
Fig. 1 shows how to -plant Hollyhocks in 
a herbaceous border; A, holes made 24 in. 
apart for the plants; B, a strong -flowering 
plant ready to put out. 
Fig. 2 shows how to disbud Peach and 
A ectarine trees; A, a spur. The young 
shoots with, dark lines across them must be 
removed; also those on the branch B. 
B 
A 
B 
Fig. 3 shows how to grow Beetroot in 
beds of heavy soil; A, the lines of Beetroot, 
with drills 75 in. apart; B, B, spaces Q in. 
from the edge of the bed to the drill; C, a 
path 1 ft. wide. 
The Fruit Garden. 
If we escape late frosts, as I sincerely hope 
we may, a very fine crop of hardy fruits may 
result this year. The Pear blossom es¬ 
pecially is very abundant. I have rarely 
seen the trees with so much on. Of course, 
where trees are smothered with flowers the 
latter often drop off wholesale; this is na¬ 
ture trying to balance matters, but my ex¬ 
perience is that sufficient “ set ” to give a 
very good crop. 
It is a good plan to carefully remove some 
of the flowers on trees of choice varieties ; 
snip off the outside flowers of tne truss, as 
the central one is generally the best and 
“sets ” naturally. 
Disbudding-. 
This work must be attended to without de¬ 
lay, that is, directly the young shoots of 
Peach .and Nectarine trees are long enough 
to handle nicely they must be duly thinned. 
There are spurs on these trees—in some cases 
—as well as on Pear trees, and so careful 
disbudding is necessary. 
At A in Fig. 2 a spur is shown, and the 
two shoots with dark lines drawn across them 
must be rubbed off. At B a young straight 
shoot is shown, and the buds with dark lines 
drawn across them should be removed, thus 
leaving one at the point, one near the centre, 
and one at the base. If there is not room 
for three new shoots to be eventually tied in, 
then leave two, one at the point and one at 
the base. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
Here, again, we find plenty of work await¬ 
ing us. Even the very small kitchen garden 
requires a great deal of attention at the pre¬ 
sent time. In the first place I suggest that 
every opportunity should be taken to keep 
down weeds. On one fine day much can, and 
should, be done in this direction. 
Very often weeds are allowed to grow to 
a large size in the beds of seedling vegetables 
before they are assailed. This is a mistake. 
Make it a part of your business this week to 
kill all the tiny weeds possible; then your 
future work will be rendered more easy and 
the crops more healthy. 
Beetroot. 
Seeds of Beetroot should now be sown. In 
light, sandy'soils it is not necessary to make 
raised beds; but where the soil is clayey it 
is, because the young plants are then grown 
in a warmer soil and make good progress. 
Stunted seedlings are rarely satisfactory. 
A, in Fig. 3, shows the lines lor the seeds, 
the dotted lines represent the drills, which 
must be drawn but about 2 in. deep and 15 in. 
apart; B, B, represent spaces 9 in. wide 
from the edges of the bed to the first, or out¬ 
side drills. C shows a path 1 ft. wide. Sow 
the seeds thinl} r . 
Winter Greens. 
In many parts of the country Winter 
Greens have fared badly during the past 
winter. It is always wise to have a good 
stock of plants. Sow seeds of Broccoli, Cot¬ 
tagers’ Kale (which is always so useful, as 
also is Sprouting Broccoli), Brussels Sprouts, 
and Savoys. Leave the surface of the seed 
bed in a rough state ; the small lumps of soil 
will protect the t'oung seedlings from cold 
winds. 
Foxglove. 
The Amateur’s Greenhouse. 
Work for Odd Moments. 
Insects always increase very rapidly 
about this time of the year, and every means 
must be taken to prevent their ravages, both 
in the greenhouse and in the frames, where 
a great number of promising }xmng plants 
may be spoiled in a very short time if the 
