The June Number of . . 
The Nustralian Gardenet 
Flower Garden— 
Planting——Drives and Walks—Pruning— 
Shrubs — Edgings—Lawns—Seedlings 
-—Sowing Seeds. i 
Roses in 1905. 
Carnation Breeding. 
Night Blooming Jasmine. 
Japanese Periimmon. _ 
Preserving Decaying Trees. 
A Vine for a Low Wall. 
Evergreen Grafting. 
CONT AINS— 
The Orchard— 
Selection of Trees, 
Burton. 
A Grand Oak for Parks, 
Agriculture— 
Cultivation in Regard to Fertility by 
Professor Angus. 
&c., by Mr James 
‘The Dairy— 
Milking — Best Dairy Cow—Feeding— 
Recording Milk — Heed'—Breed—No 
Dogs—Shed —Weeds—Beets—Herd — 
Lucerne— Profits. 
The Poultry Yard— 
Poultry by D. F. Laurie — Scratching 
Sheds _Hatching—Disease—Purchas- 
ing Poultry for Export—Poultry, a8 
Change of Diet—Judging Table, Birds. 
South Australian Utility Poultry Club, 
The Mighty Egg. 
Miscellaneous. ° 
Etc. Ete. 
TEE FLOWER, GARDEN 
acl loriculdure, 
Planting. 
Shrubs, trees, and all hardy border perennials 
should be planted by the end of this month, and 
in all cases water should be. given to make sure 
that the soil is well settled amongst the roots. 
The soil should first be.pressed round the plant 
with the foot, as firmness is a most essential point 
in planting. 
Drives and Walks. 
The forming ‘or regravelling of drives and 
walks should be done now, so that they may be 
well raked whilst in a wet state. 
Pruning. 
Pruning generally should be carried out during 
the month. Many shrubs and even trees are 
allowed to become overgrown, which gives them 
a thin, meagre appearance. By keeping them 
judiciously cut back a more dense, even surface is 
secured, which gives them a much nicer appear- 
ance, Ornamental trees are often spoiled through 
neglect when young, Care should be taken to 
encourage one central shoot only, so that the 
developed tree shall have a single stem; some- 
times two or more stems are allowed to grow and 
the mischief is unnoticed until past remedy. 
Shrubs. 
Finish layering choice shrubs, including can- 
nias, ceonothus, laurels, myrtie, veronicas, escal- 
lonias, coprosmas, and Jaurustinus that are easily 
propagated by this' method. With these plants 
no preparation of the branches is recessary, They 
are simply laid in the ground 8 in deep at the 
lowest. part, Jeaving from’6 to 8 in of the tips of 
the branches out of the ground ; LEead the soil 
firmly above the parts buried, 
Edging. 
Cuttings of edging plants as bax, rosemary, 
lavender, and fairy rose may now be put in. 
When planting curves the eye must be the guide 
but in straight places a line should be used for 
planting. Ground is first prepared by digging to 
a fair depth a strip some 12 inches or more wide, 
treading firmly. and then stretch the line. <A 
small trench is then dug out on the border side, 
which hould be made 5 in. deep. In this the 
cuttings are set sloping slightly towards the line, 
with about 2in of the tip of each cutting stand- 
ing above the ground level. The loose soil is then 
raked into the trench and trodden firmly against 
the cuttings, a good watering given, and the work. 
finished off by raking in a little loose soil. Tue 
cuttings should be set not more than 4 in, apart. 
Hdgings that are established: should be trimmed, 
Where long straightilines are to be cut, the best 
way is to first,run the shears a!ong the top, 
reducing the edging to a proper height and then 
to stratch a garden line along the top, clipping 
the sides to an equal distance from the line, 
Lawns, 
Lawns of couch and buffalo grass may be laid 
down; where the soil is poor it should be well 
manured to ensure a healthy rapid growth. The 
ground should be dug deeply and made firm, the 
surface raked perfectly level, and the roots dibbled 
in about 4 in apart each way, 
Seedlings, 
If the seed boxes were placed in a warm house 
and on a bench with pipes underneath and the 
seeds were geod, the seedlings will show in lusty 
grey or purplish rose above ground in from two 
to fifteen days, most varieties within a week from 
sowing, a few not before three or four weeks, all 
according to, what they are. It is then time to 
expose the seed pans to all the light possible. 
There is nething better for them than raised 
shelves, a foot or so from the glass . And now we 
have reached the most critical stage in the life of 
seedlings. “While ‘there are a few species that 
will grow very like weeds and are really hard to 
kill, most of the kinds, which are to grow into 
valuable stock are such as need constant watching 
and careful watering at this period. , Any exce:s 
in either direction, too dry or too wet, may cause 
the loss of every seedling of some good variety, 
and the work will have to be done over again, 
As it is with water, so it is with air. Fresh 
air is the chief essential in promoting and main« 
taining the health of young plant growth, but it 
must be admitted with caution, Cold currents 
through a warm house may not kill fnlly grown 
plants at once, but they are a sure death to the 
young seedlings as the well-directed strokes of a 
club. Changes of air in a house are first of all 
and most directly felt near the glass and trays 
placed on a high bench or on shelves, ‘ 
Seedlings most readily yieldingto a wholesale 
damping off, such’ ‘as {asters, ‘stocks, tcrenias 
and calceolarias, should undergo a transplanting 
from one tray into another as soon as tho first 
leaves offer a fair hold for thumb and finger, 
This pricking off is the surest safeguard so far 
discovered. Besides this it is a means of conyerts 
ing. thin, spindly weaklings into*strong sturdy 
plants, and where the seeds have been scattered . 
too thickly and the seedlings are a dense mass, it 
becomes the only remedy All. others with plenty 
of elbow-room and not. over tender or sensitive 
may remain in the’ seed boxes until they are of 
suitable size’for small pots or for hot bed and 
frame. But of whatever kinds they may be, or at 
whatever time they are raised, they should always 
be kept on a steady, uninterrupted and energetic 
forward move. 
Sowing Seeds. 
Most of the seeds fingered by commercial 
florists are started in shallow wooden boxes or. 
seed trays of a size convenient for handling and 
moving about. -An inside depth of two or three 
inches answers the purpose very well, A soil suit- 
able, with few exceptions, for all kinds of seeds 
should always be prepared ahead of time, being 
made up of a good brand of fresh, friable Joam; 
somewhat sandy and but sparingly enriched with 
thoroughly decayed manure or the material from 
a spent hot bed. 
Seed boxes must he provided with well-working 
drainage material, unsifted, coarsely broken up 
turfy soil, as a first layer is usually all that ig 
needed for the purpose. On this the regular 
sifted soil is placed, evened and made ready for 
sowing. 
Now the seeds are dealteiea over the: surface, 
pressed into the'soil firmly with a flat, smooth 
piece of board and then watered down with a rosa 
watering can, going over it with care several 
tinies until the soil is wet through, - 
If the seeds are as Jarge as nasturtium, canna 
or cobova seads, each one should be pressed inte 
