The Flower Garden. 
September is upon us. Almost as soon 
; we have disposed of our tea the shades 
( evening approach, the sun goes down, 
someone exclaims, “Bless me, how the 
finings draw in.” As if it were anything 
< raordinary for the sunshine to disappear 
£>ut 6.30. Still, I consider we have every 
nson to feel discontented. The amount of 
• lshine this season has been all too small, 
;i after a full trial of the month of Au- 
;st I must say it has been little if any 
Iter than the previous months. To have 
i continuous series of gales in August 
■lich, owing to lack of rain, have accen¬ 
ted the dryness, makes one utterly he pe¬ 
ls. Add to this damp driving mists and 
,.d nights, and we almost get a replica of 
tober. Well, well, let it pass, the sooner 
<: better, but if we go on as we have and 
t winter in autumn what may we expect 
len winter really arrives? So far as I 
ve read, September, is not likely to he an 
?al month, but still there is work to do. 
trnations. 
Lt is time to think about preparing Car- 
tion beds. The layers will, or should, 
rn be fit for severing. I don’t say they 
e. Anyhow the ground should be well 
.g and a fair dressing of well rotted 
inure given, together with some lime 
bble, if such is procurable. Make sure 
.5 soil is free from wireworm, or there 
11 be trouble. After digging well firm 
s soil by trampling. Set out the plants 
out 13 inches apart. I might add that I 
rch prefer to winter my Carnations in pots 
frames. Providing air is given on all 
ssible occasions the plants do better, and 
irt away more freely in the spring, 
imp is the great enemy of Carnations, 
ilb Planting'. 
I must put in another word about bulbs, 
st them and plant as soon as possible, more 
irticuiarly the early rooting things, such 
Daffodils and Lilium candidum. Crown 
iperials are rattling fine things, and none 
3 well known. The bulbs should to 
anted without needless delay. Plant in 
e borders or anywhere where they can 
ake root. They are not at all particular, 
^p the hollow side uppermost when 
anting. 
ise Cuttings. 
I have often referred to own root Roses, 
id now is a very good time to insert cut- 
ags. Procure good, ripe growths that have 
Jwered. The cuttings should be about 
inches long, and after trimming off the 
■wer leaves, sink them two-thirds their 
agith in sand}’- soil where they can remain 
ntil next autumn. Very often cuttings will 
pwer the following summer, but it is ad- 
isable to stop them, as it checks growth a 
reat deal. The Americans are great on 
oses from cuttings, and the majority of 
te wonderful glass house blooms which sell 
: such enormous prices during February 
'awards are produced from own rooters 
aout 12 months old. Most of the plants 
:e thrown out after flowering, 
ahlias. 
I have referred to the difficulty sometimes 
epenenced in getting roots of Dahlias pur- 
iased the previous season to start owing to 
€ absence of growth buds. Those who 
have had the trouble will probably have 
taken cuttings a month ago, but there is 
still a chance to secure some. Short sturdy 
growths inserted singly in thumbs, and 
kept in a closed frame, will quickly root, 
and if kept free from frost they should 
make small pot roots for keeping over the 
winter. Dahlias are now blooming well, 
and the plants should not be neglected. If 
not well secured, many of the growths will 
get torn off by the boisterous winds. 
Violets. 
Violets may now be shifted into frames 
after removing all runners. Lifting should 
be done carefully, and the frames kept close 
for a day or two. 
Chrysanthemums. 
Early-flowering Chrysanthemums promise 
well, and if respectable weather follows 
there should be some fine blooms. Disbud 
freely if good flowers are wanted, and keep 
the plants well secured to stakes. 
Gladioli. 
Gladioli are by no means over, and it 
will .be advisable to give them attention, 
especially if flowers are wanted for exhibi¬ 
tion. Moisture is essential, and liquid 
manure will greatly benefit the corms of 
these that have flowered. 
Sweet Peas. 
Sweet Peas that have been well looked 
after will still be giving first-rate flowers, 
but so far as I have seen, the late flowers 
are not so fine as last year’s. Keep all seed 
pods cut off, unless wanted for seed. 
Sports, of course, the enthusiast will save, 
but always endeavour to improve upon ex¬ 
isting sorts. Plenty of second-raters are 
abroad, which it will be utterly useless to 
save, seeing what beautiful things there 
are likely to be introduced. The saving 
of a sport is a queer game. I saved a pod 
or two of the plum-coloured sport from 
King Edward VII. last j f ear, and' not a 
single plant is true this season. On the 
c \er hand, by saving seed of one or two 
badly-mixed novelties of last season I .have 
this year got them true. 
The Fruit Garden. 
Alll Strawberry plants should be set out 
without delay. 
Early Apples like the Gladstone should 
be picked as scon as fit; also Pears and 
other fruit that lose quality rapidly. 
All old Raspberry canes should 1 be cut 
out, together with weakly growths of the 
current season. 
See that all fruit trees are fully supplied 
with moisture, especially if bearing 
heavily. 
Late Plums will require heavy netting, 
to keep birds off. 
Make sure that no odd corners are being 
used by weeds for seeding purposes. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
Potatos. 
Potato lifting is one of the chief items 
just now. Get the crops up as soon as the 
foliage is going off. If left in the ground 
some of the more vigorous, or early varie¬ 
ties may start into growth. 
577 
Autumn Onions, Spinach, etc., should be 
thinned out early. 
Cabbages. 
Set out Cabbages as soon as large enough. 
Watering and feeding will greatly assist 
Autumn Cauliflowers and Runner Beans. 
Keep the latter picked closely. 
Celery. 
Earth up Celery that calls for such at¬ 
tention. 
Round Beets will have made good growth 
by this time. Get them up and store, be¬ 
fore they become too large. 
Keep the hoe going among all growing 
crops. 
Marrows. 
'Marrows are great drinkers, and water or 
liquid manure is always appreciated. 
Onions. 
Bend over Onions that are slow to encour¬ 
age ripening. 
Tomatos. 
Keep Tomato fruits fully exposed to sun¬ 
shine, but do not cut away a lot of foliage. 
Scare off blackbirds, which, to my mind, 
become a worse pest every year. They have 
actually dragged out Potatos this season. 
Horti. 
The Amateur’s Greenhouse. 
Pot Lobelias. 
A most excellent plan for obtaining a 
true stock of Lobelias for bedding out, or 
growing in pots for greenhouse decoration, 
is to keep the flowers cut off from a few 
pots all the summer, and then divide uip 
the plants about this time of the vear. Even 
for bedding out, this plan is far prefer¬ 
able to lifting plants from the flower beds, 
as the latter are more or less exhausted by 
summer flowering. In splitting up these 
unflowered pot plants now the plants 
should be knocked out of the pots and pulled 
into as many pieces as are required. These 
pieces may either be placed singly in small 
pots, or dibbled in about 2 in. or 3 in. 
apart in pans or boxes of light, sandy com¬ 
post. If kept warm and well syringed 
they soon establish themselves, and grow 
into vigorous specimens for wintering. If 
wanted for greenhouse decoration, a num¬ 
ber of the plants may be potted' on early 
in the } r ear, and wil/1 soon give some capi¬ 
tal and most effective edging material. 
Tulips and Roman Hyacinths in Boxes. 
An excellent way of growing the main 
batch of Due Van Thol Tulips, and Roman 
Hyacinths is to plant them thickly together 
in boxes; those used for bedding stuff an¬ 
swer very well. Such bulbs are found ex¬ 
tremely- useful for supplying cut flowers, 
or, better still, for making up pots, bowls, 
and vases for decorating the dwelling 
rooms. For this Hatter purpose 'the bulbs 
may be lifted from thie boxes just when their 
flower buds begin to show, and their de¬ 
velopment in the house may then be watched 
with pleasure and in comfort. The chief 
advantage of this system is that the grower 
can always make up his vases or pots with 
bulbs at the same stage of growth, instead 
of having some coming into florver and 
others onlj'- in leaf, as happens when dor¬ 
mant bulbs are potted up. The boxes should 
be plunged beneath ashes outdoors, as prac¬ 
tised with pots, and the cultural treatment 
does not differ until the bulbs are read} T for 
lifting and potting'. 
Repotting- Ornamental Asparagus. 
Many plants of the so-called Asparagus 
Fern are lost during winter by allowing 
them to get into a bad state in summer and 
then neglecting them. If taken in hand at 
once repotting and any necessary cultural 
operations can be carried out in perfect 
safety, as the plants will have plenty of 
