a4 
grews about 4 ft. high, and is very produc- 
tave. The bean pods are very fine and ten- 
eer. It is worth atrial. 
Beet (Red)—Sow a few rows of this 
wegetable, which is so good that no one with 
a vegetable garden should be without it. 
Lhe globe varieties are the best kinds to 
grow, and are likely to keep their shapes 
Setter than the long-rooted kinds. Sow the 
seed in drills about 18 in. apart. As the 
seed generally takes a long time to germi- 
mate, or “come up,” it had better be soaked 
am water for a few hours before sowing ; 
and then the ground had better be water- 
ed well after sowing, that is if it be dry. 
Sf nice and moist, you need not bother 
2hout the watering. Should the seeds come 
aip thick, thin out the plants well so as to 
give them plenty of room’to grow. Use a 
thoe of some kind pretty freely amongst 
the beets, and they should grow well and 
speedily. 
Beet (Silver), sometimes known as” 
spinach, is a fine vegetable, and a most use- 
ful one for summer use. The seed may 
ibe sown in a seed bed, and the young beets 
planted out when they are large enough 
to shift ; or it may be sown in drills like the 
zed beet, if preferred. The soil should be 
anade rich with good manure for this veget- 
able, and if some liquid manure be supplied 
eluring its growth occasionally, if it does not 
seem to be growing as it should, it is likely 
to be much improved. 
Kale, known also as Borecole, is a good 
and useful vegetable, which will sometimes 
succeed well where its relative the cabbage 
will not do nearly so well. It prefers cold 
«climates to warm and dry, and if it be just 
touched with frost it will be improved for 
the table. It is not often grown here, 
but it deserves a trial. — Like all the cab- 
bage tribe, it is a gross feeder, and needs 
good soil, or abundance of manure, if it be 
desired to grow it to perfection. 
Cabbage—There should be sufficient 
young cabbages on hand for successive 
plantings during the month—a few at ai 
time. 
tual motion sort of business. Once get it 
im. order it is easy to manage. It has a 
parallel in Mr. Ellis’ duck farm at Botany, 
where ducks are always laying, eggs al- 
ways hatching, birds always maturing and 
always being sold off. Sow a little seed; 
plant pricked-out plants which are large 
enough to a heavily manured bed. Take 
plenty of physical exercise with some sort 
cf a hoe amongst the cabbages, and the 
plants will probably attain great perfec- 
tion. ._ The best hoe to use for a small 
garden is a medium-sized Dutch hoe kept 
in good order. For a good-sized garden 
obtain a Planet farm hoe, which is an 
extremely useful implement, for with its 
warious attachments all sorts of operations 
«an be carried out at a°minimum of labor. 
_ Cauliflower and Broccoli can be treated 
man much the same way as cabbage. Both 
are great feeders, and need good manure 
_in abundance, and they should be grown 
without any check whatever. It is worth 
while taking some extra care with these 
vegetables, for they will well repay it. Sow 
seed of both, but not too much at a time. 
Celery.—Sow a very little seed in a pat, 
This successive method is a perpe- ° 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER.. 
seed-pan, or box. A. kerosene tin will 
serve the purpose just as well, if not bet- 
ter, but some holes should be made in the 
bottom, so as to allow surplus water to 
drain away. Seedlings should be pricked 
out like cabbages for transplanting when 
they have grown to a height of 6 in. or so, 
or they may be moved when very much 
larger; but a good many of the roots and 
leaves should be trimmed off before plant- 
ing. Earth up well-grown plants, taking 
care not to allow any soil or dirt to fall in 
between the leaf stalks. Use liquid manure 
occasionally, and plenty of water if the soil 
is ab all dry. 
Rhubarb.—Those who would care to 
raise rhubarb plants from seed can do so 
this month. The plants raised now will be 
ready for putting out in the early spring. 
Tomatoes, egg-plants, okra, and capsicum 
seeds also may be sown if supplies are re- 
quired. These seers had better be sown 
without delay. 
Leek.—Plant out a few, if any young 
leeks are ready to shift. Feed all growing 
leeks liberally, for they are greedy feeders 
and need abundance of water if the soil be 
at all dry. Sow a little seed. 
Radish—Sow a little seed occasionally 
during the month, and make use of the 
radishes whilst they are young and tender. 
EFFECTS OF FERTILISERS ON SEED 
GERMINATION. 
Since the importance of a scientific inves- 
tigation of the various problems of plant 
life has been fully recognised numerous 
experiments have been made for the purpose 
of ascertaining the means by which the 
germination of seeds can be the most 
readily accelerated. Apart from hastening 
the germination of the seed@jin the soil, it 
has been felt that a knowledge of this kind 
would be useful in enabling seedsmen and 
cultivators to ascertain within a compara- 
tively short time the percentage of seeds 
containing the requisite vitality previous to 
sowing or selling it, as the case may be. In 
the course of the experiments that have 
been conducted during the past quarter of 
a century, the treatment of seeds with 
various chemicals has perhaps received the 
largest share of attention. The results ob- 
tained suggested the’ enquiry into the in- 
fluence of chemical fertilisers on the germi- 
nation of the seed when the seed and 
chemical compound are distributed along 
the drill simultaneously, in accordance with 
the practice which obtains in sowing certain 
crops. ‘The question to bs answered is, is 
the practice beneficial or otherwise? This 
question is of greater practical interest to 
agriculturists than horticulturists, but it is 
one that has a bearing upon the work of 
the garden. As far back as 1876 the late 
M. Henri de Vilmorin endeavored to eluci- 
date this point, and in the course of his ex- 
periments he found that when the surface 
soil contained a material proportion of 
nitrate of soda or sulphate of ammonia a 
considerable percentage failed to germinate, 
while the remainder germinated very slowly. 
Other experiments were made by this dis- 
tinguished horticulturist, and these were 
conducted in pots containing soil to which 
various chemical fertilisers had been ap- 
March 1, 1904 
plied in proportions varying from 0°5 to 5. 
per cent. According to these the germica- 
tion of wheat and beet seeds was retarded 
when the nitrate of potash, nitrate of soda, 
and phosphate of lime was equal to 5 per- 
per cent. When the nitrate of soda was. 
equal to 10 per cent. the whole of the 
wheat and nine-tenths of the beet failed to 
germinate. ‘These percentages far exceed 
those which would be found in the soil, ex- 
cept when the seeds and fretilisers are drilled 
simultaneously, in which case they may 
be closely approached. Subsequently some 
experiments were conducted by MM. 
Claudel and Crochetelle under conditions. 
similar to those which obtain under field 
culture. The results obtained from these 
showed conclusively that potash | salts 
retarded germination, and that sulphate of 
ammonia and nitrate of soda had an inju- 
rious effect. Phosphates, in the form of” 
superphosphate and slag, which are acid and 
alkaline respectively, were tested, and the 
superphosphate in the proportion of two 
parts to one thousand parts of sand accele- 
rated germination, but reduced the per-— 
centage of plants obtained. On the other. 
hand, the slag appears to have materially 
promoted germination, more particularly in 
the case of leguminous plants, and the 
favorable effects of the slag is considered to 
be due to the alkaline properties checking 
the way of phosphoric acid given off by the 
seeds in the process of germination. More 
recently still, numerous experiments have - 
been conducted under the auspices of the 
United States Department of Agriculture. 
In these experiments, to which we can only 
briefly refer, the fertilisers used were 
muriate of potash, nitrate of soda, lime 
made from powdered oyster shells, and bone - 
black, rendered soluble by treatment with 
acid, and a double set of trials was made— 
one in which the fertiliser was mixed with 
the soil, and the other in which it was 
placed in contact with the seed. Except in 
the lime experiments, germination was. 
throughout retarded when the fertilisers 
were in direct contact with the seed, while 
a larger percentage of plants was obtained 
where the fertilisers were mixed with the 
soil. The general conclusions, based upon 
the American experiments, are, briefly 
stated, as follows:—(1) Muriate of potash 
and nitrate of soda, used at the rate of one 
per cent. and upwards, are more or less 
injurious in their effect on germination, 
whether mixed with the soil, or in contact 
with the seed. (2) Phosphates are less 
injurious to germination than muriate of 
potash and nitrate of soda, and if not in 
excess may be harmless. (3) Artificial 
fertilisers should not be brought into direct 
contact with germinating seeds. (4) The 
effect of treating seeds with chemicals 
before sowing is no indication of the action 
of these chemicals when used as manure. 
(5) The chief injury to germination from 
chemicals is inflicted upon the young 
growths when they leave the seed coats.. 
(6) It is improbable that either potash, 
phosphates, nitrates, or lime actually pro- 
motes germination. The results that have- 
so far been obtained both in Europe and 
America show that the use of chemical 
fertilisers for the promotion of germina- 
tion, while it can do no good, may prove 
disastrous. 
