Horticultural. 
Carrots, 
Vacant beds should be raked over and regularly » 
watered, so as to germinate s20d3 of wo2d3 
which can then be dug under, and this save a 
lot of trouble in weeding. Sowa few seeds of 
Several varieties of hardy annuals and peren- 
nials in nursery beds which cin be sheltered 
from hot winds and sun,and be weeded, waterad 
and protected against birds and other destroyers. 
The plants will be ready for setting out directly 
the first soaking rains occur, and tima will ba 
gained. But it is not advisable to sow too many 
of any sortat so early a period, because it often 
happens that such plants fail to develop thair 
perfect character. Pansies do best whan startad 
early, provided they can be protected from the 
great heat and dryne3s. Our most reliable seeds- 
men always publish descriptive catalogues of 
the favorite flowering and ornamantal plants, 
therefore it is not mecessrry to crowd these 
notes. It is worth while to visit the Botanic 
Garden and soms of the large nurseries and take 
notes of the plants best suited to requirements. 
Sseis of autumn flowering plants should be 
gathered directly they are ripe enough, Some 
-of them must be gathered almost before thay are 
Tipe, because the capsules split open at oncs 
when ripe and scatter‘tho seais all over the 
garden. Seeds of sunflowers are very attractive 
to sparrows, and they seldom leave as321 for 
the grower unless the heads are covered witha 
msquito net. All seeds nead to be protected 
against mice, and many kinds ara liable to be 
attacked by weevils. Lf these insects are found 
to be among the seeds they should be pliced in 
ajar, a little bisulphide of carbon put into an 
egg cup among them, but not poured on the 
seeds, then covered to prevent the fumes 
escaping, left twelve hours, then taken out, put 
in a safer place until wanted. Do not smoke a 
pipe whilst handling bisulphide, as it is explo- 
sive and the coroner may have to be called. 
Dahlias require a good deal of water and wil! 
benefit from mulching on the surface, or from 
frequent applications of weak liquid manure at 
the roots. As the top growth is very brittle it 
is liable to be snapped off against the wire sup- 
ports unless these are placed high enough. The 
surface soil should always be kept loosened to a 
depth of 2 or 3 inches, and this remark applies 
to all plants, because air is as necessary to the 
roots as to the leaves and branches. Hollyhocks, 
delphiniums, foxgloves, and similar tall plants, 
should also have stakes to support them. 
Save seeds of native or Australian plants, or 
gather them even where growing in their wild 
state, for exchange with correspondents abroad. 
Seeds of kakeas, callistemons, eucalypts, and 
numerous, others can be easily separated from 
the carpels by exposing them ito the sun on a 
sheet for a few days when they will drop out. 
Plant 2 few gladioli, some Italian tuberoses 
and other bulbs, corms and roots for early 
flowering. All such should be surrounded in the 
soil with a little clean sand to keep them clean. 
This class of plants do best in @ rich, sandy 
loam, not too damp, but certainly not dry. 
Bulbs should be covered with their own 
length of soil; for instance if the bulb is 2 in 
long it should have 2 inches of soil above it, 
Gladioli and other corms willds usually with 
1 inch above them, but cyclamen should have 
the crown level with the surface. 
Continue to bad roses, but previously force 
the sap to rise by liberal watering both the stock 
and scion plants. Wen days later loosen the ties, 
else the new grewth may be choked. Dig in 
some old man @re from a cowyard and supply 
plenty of water. The best material for ties on 
buds is cotton wick. Roses do not like being 
crowded by other plants, but need a windbreak 
» on north and west aspects at a distance of say, 
not less than 25 ft. 
Chrysanthemums, if too tall, may be cut back 
a little, but if pruned too close the flowering will 
be delayed considerably. Give them alittle weak 
liquid manure twice a week, and water at fre- 
quent intervals. Verbenas and petunias, if the 
growth 1s old and lengthy, should be cut back or 
else layered, and the new growth from layers re- 
moved to a fresh spot when well rooted. Loosen 
the surfaca, cover in some old manure, and water 
wall. Any othar plants that aro difficult to root 
fro n cuttings cin be propagated by layers. With 
a sharp knife slip off a little of the bark and 
wood on the underside of a branch or runner, 
then pag it into the soil or into a pot containing 
soil, keep it moist, and in time roots will be de. 
velopsd. When it is considered that the roots 
are strong enough to support the new plant, cut 
itaway from the parant and plant where required, 
Physalis franchetti, or baloon berry, is closely 
allied to the Cape gooseberry, but the envelopa 
and its stem are brilliant crimson, the rest of the 
plant being bright green, The berry itslf is 
crims?a, and the baloon as large as a duck egg. 
Tae plant spreads after the habit of couch grass, 
and dies down in winter. It thrives in a rich, 
sanly loam, if itis moist. Thera are also about 
109 varieties of chillies, bird peppors, and capsi- 
cum:, large, small, and madium, with every shade 
of yellow, green, red, purple, &z., as well as nearly 
black and almost pure white. Soma are annuals 
and others last threa or four years. An assort- 
ment of these brilliant pod-bearing plants would 
make the-garden quite gay at the end of autuma, 
whan flowers begin to got Scarce, more espe- 
cially if variegated beets, kales, coxcombs, ama- 
ranths, chenopodiums, atriplex, and other bril- 
liantly colored foliage plants are associated with 
them....Observer, January 27. == 
Vegetable Garden, 
In this dvpartment, perhaps more than any 
other branch of gardening, we are utterly 
dependent upon the weather, if the weather 
does not supply the necessary amount of rain 
then we have to fall back upon othor sources of 
water. 
Very easy to talk about watering this that 
and the other, if the water is available; very 
easy to talk about planting anything you like, 
but without water seeds are better in paper. [f 
then, and it must bea very big if, under the 
circumstances, water can somehow or other be 
obtained— 
Beans. 
Further sowing may be made time to time 
according to the size of the household, uf dif- 
ferent sorts, French beans, butter beans and 
Lima beans. The #rench bean, Canadian Won- 
der, seems the most fancied, it is a good crop- 
per and has a very attractive appearance. The 
tall Lima beans are very prolific, but require 
high staking, so that gardeners content them- 
selves with the dwarf sort. Butter beansare a 
delicious sort of French bean, far nicer than 
the ordinary kind, but the color is against them, 
Fashion requires a green bean,so the butter 
beans are out of it. 
Cabbage and Cauliflower 
may be sown now for planting out later on, 
though the early plantings of late years have 
been more or less eraieseral owing to small 
green caterpillar which does so much mischief 
amongst them. 
. Cucumber, Melon, and Pumpkin Squash . 
should be by this time pretty well advanced. 
They require a liberal supply of water, and 
from time to time should be stocked and pegged 
down to prevent them blowing about in the 
wind: where they have grown sufficiently for 
one plant to rsaca anther, they generally hold 
themselves together. 
Lettuces 
are an uncertain crop at this timo of the yaar, 
more particularly if water cannot be supplied, 
but there is a better chance of success with 
them if the seed be sown where it is to stand. 
Years ago it was the fashion to drop three seed 
of lettuce at the back of a dahlia stake, for two 
reasons, the lettuce was attractive to snails and 
slugs and kept them away from the dahlia, and 
as the dahiia was planted in rich manure and 
constantly watered, it gave tho lettuce a fair 
show to go ahead before the dahlia got too big 
and smothered it. 
Generally mulch everything with almost any- 
thing available. 
The Cultivation of Tomatoes. 
Tue cultivation must be of the most intense 
kind to secure a good crop. The plants should 
be cultivated both ways, at least once a week, 
and after rain, to prevent a crust forming. In 
time of drought the cultivation must ba fre- 
quent enough to keyp the soil covered with a 
dry earth mulch. 
ff the vines are] staked and tied up tho culti- 
vation should be continued until the fruit begins 
toripen, As the vines grow and branch out 
care 1s necessary in cultivating to avoid drigging 
them with cultivator or swingletree, C ireless- 
ness at this point may cause the young fruit to 
drop off. 
This is an expensive job and many growers 
avoid it. Some phenomenal crops wera grown 
last season without staking, The anti-stakers 
claim that more fruit set on vines uot staked. 
The other fellows say that this may ba true, but 
that the loss from rotting where the tomatoes 
lie on the soil more than overbalances the gain 
by a larger sot of fruit. Tho only sensible way 
to settle this question is by a series of experi- 
ments extending over several seasons. ‘This can 
be done by leaving a part of the crop unstaked 
each season and carefully noting the result. 
f stakes are used they should be four or five 
fect long, and as near as may be one and a half 
inches square. The best time to do the staking 
is soon after planting and before the first cul- 
tivation. Ifthe plants are tall they should be 
tied to the stakes at once. Otherwise the wind 
may break them or whip off the first blossoms. 
Miss Phampsens 
Costumiere. 
0000 
High-Olass Dressmaking at 
Moderate Charges. 
A Trial Solicited. 
Orders promptly and accurately 
executed, 
Address— 
142 Pulteney-street, 
Opp. Wallmann’s. 
wor 
Adelaide 
