May 1. 1909 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
The Vegetable Garden. 
Operations for the Month. 
Wherever there are vacant spaces in 
the garden there should be a clearance 
made, and the ground that is not wanted 
for immediate use shonld be manured 
and dug-up roughly Stable-manure is 
frequently improperly treated ; it is often 
spread out on the surface for a long time 
before it is dug in, and should the 
weather be dry, much of the virtue of 
the manure is lost; besides, by this 
process, any seeds it may contain are not 
destroyed, as they would be handled as 
ig should be. Many persons condemn 
the use of natural manures, because they 
very often contain seeds which germinate 
and become a great nuisance, and they 
pin their faith to seme condensed 
artificials, which, doubtless, are excellent 
fertilisers ; but they give no consistency 
to the soil in the manner that farmyard- 
manure does The proper system is to 
give preference to dung; but to use bone- 
dust, superphosphates, and other manures 
as well, 
It is almost impossible to keep weed- 
Seeds out of the food that horses eat, or 
out of the bedding that they are provided 
With ; it is, therefore, necessary to destroy 
these seeds by heat and fermentation, and 
this can easily be done by stacking the 
Manure into hesps large enough to 
Produce fermentation sufficient to kill 
Seeds of any weed or plant that may be 
Present, Tho fermenting of dung is best 
done in the open air, as more steam is 
Senerated than when under cover. The 
fermentation also causes the straw or 
other material to decay rapidly, Where 
Cattle manure is available, it should be 
Mixed with that from the horse, as both 
Combined make a splendid fertiliser. 
Heaps of dung should be turned over 
nce or twice, so that all of it may receive 
the benefit of fermentation. 
ARTICHOKE, 
Tf you did not do so last month it is not 
too late yet to sow a row (one will probably 
© sufficient) in light, rich deep soil, and 
plant ont in rows about 6 feet apart. The 
artichoke will succeed fairly well on 
moist soils, if not too dry provided the 
ground be well manured. The heads 
ought to be cut as soon as ready, and not 
left to ripen on the plant, as that will 
exhaust it, and no more heads will be 
produced the same season. Heads are 
unfit for culinary purposes after the 
flowers expand. 
Cuinese ARTICHOKE. 
Try a little of this vegetable, which 
was introduced to Australia by Messrs. 
E. & \\, Hackett in 1890. The tubers 
range from one to two inches in length? 
-and are about half an inch in diameter 
They are pearly white, and eaten raw 
they are intermediate in flavor between 
a succulent Radish and Jerusalem Arti- 
choke. When cooked, by boiling, 
steaming, or roasting, and served with 
melted butter, they are delicious in 
flavour, and make an acceptable dish. 
The soil should be well pulverised to 
enable the roots to run freely and the 
tubers to swell. Plant in rows 18 inches 
to 2 feet apart and 9 to 12 inches apart 
in the rows. As the tubers become 
rather discoloured when they are exposed 
for any length of time, they should be 
covered with soil until required for use. 
JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE 
This is not a true Artichoke; it is so 
called from the resemblance in flavor of 
the tubers to the Artichoke. The stems 
grow tall and upright, and bear a flower 
like the Sunflower. The tubers are 
baked, boiled, or roasted. It is propa_ 
gated by tubers, which may be planted 
in rows 3 feet apart and 1 fot in the 
rows, The ground should be deeply dug 
or trenched, and manured previous to 
planting ; earth up the same as potatoes. 
ASPARAGUS. Go he 
Advice was given last month to have 
some ground made ready for this good 
vegetable. If this work has been dolayed 
set about it as soon as possible. Sow in 
nursery beds, and when the plants dre 
large enough (say in the following winter) 
15 
transplant into richly prepared beds, 
as advised in our April issue. Plant in 
rows 15 inches apart, good, strong, one 
or two-yeur-old plants; we prefer these. 
to three-year-old. Keep weeded, and in 
the winter time mulch heavily with well- 
rotted stable manure, and a scattering of 
kainit or salt. Care should be used not. 
weaken the young bed by cutting till the 
plants are vigorous and well established, 
which should be in two years after 
planting. Only cnt the strong and 
vigorous shoots, and these sparingly to 
begin with. An Asparagus bed properly 
made and regularly attended to should 
last for very many years, 
Broap Bgans. 
Sow largely this month in rows from 2 
_to three feet apart, according to the 
variety, for the dwarf-growing kinds may 
be sown closer together than the tall, 
The seed should be sown about four or 
five inches apart in the rows, and two 
inches deep, 
Brut Rep, (Long and Turnip), 
A further sowing may be made if desired. 
Full particulars regarding the cultivation 
of Red Beet was given in our March 
issue. 
Brussets Sprovurs. 
Transplant to well dug up but not too 
heavily manured ground that has been 
prepared for them. The growth must no 
be forced, or else the young sprouts will 
not form well. Plant in rows about two 
The plants to 
stand about two feet from each other in 
feet six inches apart, 
the rows. 
CaBBAGE, 
Sow more seed, and plant out the young 
cabbages that may be available. They 
should not be pulled out of the seed-bed, 
but taken up carefully, without breaking 
more roots than can be avoided. To 
produce really fine Cabbages the soil 
must be fresh and rich, either naturally, 
or by means of manure, The highest 
_and best drained portions of the ground 
should be selected. The after culture 
consists in keeping the ground free from 
weeds, and loosening the soil by means 
of fork or hoe. 
- Carror. 
More seed may be sown if needed. The 
