The March Number of 20.99 
The Nusgtralian Gardenet 
Flower Garden— 
Horticultural 
Roses—Insect Enemies, 
The Orchard— 
Plums and Peaches. 
Origin of Luther Burbank Produc- 
tion. 
Prize Essay of the Burnley School 
of Agriculture. 
— CONTAINS— 
Agriculture— 
Dairying—How to COmmence— 
Rearing Calves—Breeds—About 
Milk and Cream—The Herd. 
Stock— 
Treatment of Milk Fever 
Vegetables— 
Vegetable Experiments in Texas, 
The Poultry Yard— 
Raising Poultry for Profit 
Information about Eggs 
Keeping Poultry Healthy 
Raising Turkeys 
Beware of Carbolic Acid 
Ete. Ete. 
THE FLOWER G&RDEN, 
Horticultural. 
Notes sy THE OBSERVER. 
Avonasr the most prominent flowers at present 
are antirrhinums, balsams, amarants, celosias, 
carnations, convolvulus, coreopsis, dahlias, del- 
phiniums, erythrinas, bouvardias, gladioli, holly- 
hocks, gomphrenas, lilies, sunflowers of all sizes, 
cosmos, plumbago, phloxes, pentstemons, por- 
tulacas, petunias, zonale pelargoniums, pansies, 
statice, russellia, tagetes, tecomas, verbenas, zin 
nias. These and all others require a good deal 
of water to produce the best results. 
The best way to apply water is in trenches 
about 3 inches deep, which should be kept filled 
for some time, so that the water can soak in, 
and then refilled with soil. The next best way 
is to apply frequently with the whirlijig, but iz 
is rather wasteful, 
Sow seeds of all kinds of hardy annuals and 
perennials in nursery beds for early planting 
when the first heavy rains occur. These must be 
raised in nursery beds, because birds, slugs and 
many other enemies of plant life would prevent 
the young plants becoming large enough for 
use. The birds scratch up the seeds at once 
when sown out of protection, or they will eat 
the germs directly they come through the sur- 
face, Slugs and snails devour the plants from 
first appearance until they are in flower, 
Drought, heat, wind and other causes prevent 
rapid growth of young plants in the open beds, 
and it requires no end of time to go round and 
water them as they should be watered. In the 
nursery bed all this risk and trouble is mini- 
mised, therefore grow everything in nursery 
beds. 
Plant anemones, crocns, gladiolius, hyacinth, 
iris, ixia, narciasi, ranunculus, tulips, sternber- 
gias, and numerous other bulbs, tubers and 
roots for early flowering. A little sand should 
first be thrown in where the bulb, etc, is to lie, 
then the root should be put in and covered with 
a little sand, then soil put on. True bulbs 
should be buried with their own length of soil 
above them. Ranunculi and anemones should be 
soaked 24 hours first, and then covered with one 
inch of light soil. 
Cyclamen should be only half buried in 
similar soil, and gladioli just barely covered. 
Sandy soil, with plenty of decayed vegetable 
matter, preferably very old manure from a 
cowyard, is best for all this class of plants. 
Old clumps of babiana, lilies of a hardy 
nature, snowdrops, snowflakes, ornithogalum 
oxalis, amaryllis, crocus, tritonia, arums, Richar. 
dia, etc., should be taken up, divided and then 
replanted in fresh places. 
Everyone with a garden will purchase seeds 
from a seedsman, and every seedsman gives 
away a catalogue of the best varieties, with 
a description of colors, heights, and other par- 
ticulars—many new varieties are also described 
—therefore it isuseless taking up space here to 
enumerate particulars which can be secured in a 
compact form from your seedsman, 
Plant out any remaining autumn annuals, or 
purchase some at the seed shop if none available 
at home. 
Many annuals will make fresh growth and 
produce second crops of flowers if they are cut 
back a little. Most plants will do better and 
yield new flowers if the old ones are cut off 
directly they are fully expanded. 
and petunias are allowed to run at will they will 
run right out and die. It is usual either to peg 
the runners down and cover the pegs with soil, 
when roots will be produced in a fortnight, so 
that the pieces can be removed to fresh spots ; 
or the plants are cut back to the bud or piece of 
young growth nearest the roots, when a fresh 
start is made. ‘This layering shoald be done 
when the plants have more than 18 inches of 
growth on them, even if covered with bloom. 
Tf verbenas 
‘strangled by the bandage. 
When annuals become old and scraggy it is 
well to remove them, as they may scatter seeds 
which will cause trouble later on. Seeds of such 
that are worth saving can be secured from a 
few of the very best plants. 
The seeds of perennial plants, especially our 
natives, should be gathered and laid on large 
sheets, when they will expand in a few days and 
the seeds can be shaken out. 
Seeds of hakeas, eucalypts, calothamnus, 
casuarinas, melaleucas, callistemons, proteas and 
similar plants are worth saving for exchange or 
sale, provided the name of species and variety 
are appended. : 
A lot of weeding can be saved in the future 
by adoptiug preventive measures now. Manure 
the spare ground at once, even fresh from the 
stable, if none other is ready. Dig this in and 
mix well: then water regularly and bring all the 
weeds up. When the bed is wanted for the 
seedlings now being raised in nursery beds, dig 
all the weeds under, work the soil into a perfect. 
condition, and plant out, with a certainty that 
there will be very few weeds to cause trouble. 
Evergreen plants may be cut back a little if 
' they are tvo rampant. 
OK KOK OK 
Roses 
can be budded when the sap is rising freely in 
both stock and bud plant. Sap can be forced to 
rise by liberal watering a few days previously, 
and better results can be secured by liberal use 
of very old manure from a cowyard. 
A week after budding the ties should be 
loosened, else the growth will probably be | 
Cotton wick is the 
best for ties or bandages, because it keeps cool 
and slightly damp whilst raffia or bast is dry 
and hot. i 
Suckers will arise from roots and stem of 
roses that have been budded, but these should 
at once be removed. The stems of standards 
should he protected against the afternoon sun, 
else the bark will be burned. Buds should be 
inserted close to the stem, else the new growth. 
may be removed when cutting back at the end. 
of the season. 
