onal, Practical, and Amateur Gardeners, 
WOU. 11 —No, 33 (HSI W GES Mee) WEDNESDAY, FEB. 
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Correspondence. 
Mr. L. H. Howell, of Mount Victoria, 
New South Wales, writes to say that last 
season he sold every bulb of his mixed 
Gladioli, and that the 20,000 mixed seed- 
lings advertised are all grown from seed 
selected only from the fruit blooms, and 
every one of the bulbs will bloom in from 
12 to 14 weeks after planting. -The new 
bulbs offered are not the tiny little bulbs 
about the size of a large pes, but are from 
1 to 2 inches, plump, and full of vitaiity, 
_ and every bulb will grow. 
We can yerify the foregoing statements 
from our own growing of Mr. Howell’s 
bulbs. 
The Mower Garden 
FOR FEBRUARY. 
OPERATIONS 
[By J. Cronin. ] 
During February the most important 
work in gardens, particularly thuse in dry 
districts, is watering and frequently stirring 
the surface, to prevent evaporation, and 
maintain as low a temperature as possible 
in the soil. A thorough soaking of water 
should be applied, and as gcon as the sur- 
face soil is dry it should be broken up by 
the hoe or cultivator. 
Where water is scarce the ground should 
be mulehed with stable litter containing 
plenty of straw, which is one of the worst 
conductors of heat. In the warmer and 
drier districts, the first consideration should 
undoubtedly be to keep the soil cool and 
moist, however unsightly the means to do 
so may be for the time being. ‘This un- 
sightliness may be greatly wmollified by 
scattering soil enough to cover the mulch of 
straw litter, weeds, cr whatever material is 
available, and also prevents the mulch 
being dispersed by the wind, 
Light waterings should not be applied 
overhead on hot sunny days. 
A smooth, even, well-pulverised surface 
is a necessity in the summer cultivation of 
garden land generally, preventing the for- 
mation of capillary tubes in the surface 
soil, and the ensuing loss of moisture. . 
Temporary rough shelter should,..be 
erected over plants that suffer trom the 
direct rays of the sun. This applies par- 
ticularly in the case of young plants that 
have been raised in frames, etc., and where 
plants have not made sufficient growth to 
shelter the stem and soil near it. In a 
suburban garden some fine plants of 
Daphne Indica rubra are grown that are 
shaded during the summer months. Be- 
fore the shelter (which consists of a few 
light boughs or tea tree, fastened on a 
rough frame slightly larger than the plants) 
was provided they failed to grow satisfac- 
torily, but are now fine specimens, flower- 
ing splendidly in season There are many 
desirable plants that fail to thrive in some 
districts, owing to need of some’ such 
_ shelter that can easily be provided and 
removed when it is no longer required. 
Chrysanthemums should be securely tied 
to stakes as they grow; where fine blooms. 
are desired all lateral growths must be re- 
moved as soon as they appear, leaving only 
the few shoots (from three to six) that were 
selected from the first break in November 
to form the plant. Most Chrysanthemums. 
break into lateral growth fonr times during 
the season, owing to a flower bud forming 
in the point of each shoot. After the plant 
is formed, only the leading growth bud 
should be allowed to remain to continue the 
growth of the shoot. During February the. 
third break into side growth occurs, and 
instead of allowing the growth shoat to 
continue, all growth shoots should be re- 
moved, leaving the flower bud only, which 
is rounded, and occupies the centre of the. 
point of the shcot. ‘This is known as the 
crown bud, and produces the finest bloom in. 
almost all Chrysanthemums. Care should 
be tahen to remove the lateral giowtilis as. 
soon as they appear with a shaip pointed 
