: 
~S 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. . 5 
MAIZB—NBAPOLITAN. 
a 
The Vegetable Garden: 
Operations for the Month 
The growing of vegetables becomes 
rather difficult during. the hot dry months 
of summer in those parts of the State 
where the supplies of water are insuffi- 
cient to permit of the watering of the 
plants, In such cases the best method 
to adopt is to cultivate the surface of the 
soil between the vegetables as frequently 
as possible, no matter how dry and dusty 
the soil may be. Fer this purpose the 
Planet Jr. hand-hoe will be found most 
effective, but if this cannot be obtained, 
an ordinary hoe or a good well-set Dutch- 
shoe will answer the purpose, but the 
work cannot be carried on perhaps quite 
SO speedily. 
A heavy mulch of farm-yard manure 
will prevent evaporation and serve as 
useful plant food as well, and when dug” 
‘into the soil after it has served its pur7 
pose asa mulch will prove valuable: not 
only as plant-food, but, during its process 
of rotting, will perform important work 
in making the soil better adapted for 
plant growth. — } BTS, 
Beans, Hrench or Kidney. = This 
vegetable may be sown to as great an 
extent as may be required. The best 
plan to adopt {is to sow a row or two 
once a week, or perhaps it would be better 
to sow a row, wait until the plants have 
come up, then sow another row, and so 
on. The ground should be well dug in 
the not 
naturally sufficiently rich, it should be 
heavily manured with well-rotted farm- 
yard manure. It may be as well to state 
that if the so-called. chemical cr artificial 
manures are used, sulphate of ammonia, 
first instance, and if it is 
nitrate of soda, or manures known as 
nitrogenous or ammoniacal manures, are 
of little if any use for French beans. - 
Lime, gypsum, potash, or sulphate of 
lime are the best substances to apply, but 
it is hardly possible to do better than 
use plenty of well-rotted stable or farm- 
yard manure. When sowing, make 
drills about 2 feet apart for tall-growing 
varieties, and sow the beans about four 
inches apart in the drills, covering the 
seeds 1} inches deep. 
Beet, Silver.—Sow a row or two of 
seed in well dug up ground, and trans- 
plant from the seed-bed if there are any 
plants large erxough to move. The leaves 
only of this plant are used, and they 
make a very palatable dish, if properly 
boiled. 
Borecole or Kale. — Make early 
sowings. It belongs to the Brassica or 
cabbage family. The seed should be 
sown in seed-beds or boxes. and the 
seedlings sfterwards transplanted. The 
soil should be made rich with well-rotted 
stable manure. Plant in rows two feet 
apart each way. 
Broccoli.—This resembles the cauli- 
flower, and might easily be mistaken for 
it ; in point of fact, it is a variety which 
takes longer to arrive at maturity, and 
there are other differences which are 
very apparent to one used to 
vegetables, Tt should be 
sown either in boxes or a seed:bed, which 
should be shaded and watered. When 
the plants are strong and hardy they 
should be planted out, about 3 or 4 inches 
apart, in a small, well-prepared bed, in 
order vhat they may develop well for 
further planting out in their permanent 
places. 
Brussels Sprouts,—This is another and 
excellent variety of the cabbage, but 
growing 
which differs in a most marked degree 
from that vegetable. The stem grows to 
a considerable height, and bears numbers 
of miniature cabbages, It is very 
suitable for cool districts and should be 
grown wherever it will thrive, for it is 
one of the best of vegetables, and can be 
grown as easily as an ordinary cabbage. 
Seed should be sown in a box or seed- 
bed, and every care should be taken in 
watering and shading sufficiently. When 
the plants are large enough they should 
be moved to well dug up but not too 
heavily manured ground that has been 
prepared for them. The growth should | 
not be too rank, and the plants must no % 
be forced, or else the young sprouts will 
not fortm well. If the ground is naturally 
rich it may, perhaps, be well not to 
apply manure. However, if they do not 
thrive, manure can easily be applied in 
a liquid form. Plant in rows about two 
feet six inches apart. The plants to 
stand about two feet from each other in 
the rows. ; 
Cabbage.—Sow a little seed occasion- 
ally, not much at a time, but just sufti- 
cient to keep up a continuous supply of 
plants. Plant out a few strong young. 
cabbages from the seed-bed te some well- 
manured ground, 
