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to help one another, and no one is better 
able to help a small gardener than another 
owner of asmall garden who has gained 
experience in dealing with the many diffi- 
culties that have to be faced. 
— Leaf-Mould. — 
A.M., Mitcham,— Leaf-mould is cer- 
tainly an aid in gardening, and what you 
have read is right enough. When it is 
used in pots, however, gardeners some- 
times adopt the plan of putting it on 
- ~ damage—which i 
NeCHarpanstiadelltor damage—which is doubtful. 
Our aim is to geb cur 1eaders ~ 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
May, 1910. 
top of a furnace or in some similar _ 
position, to destroy any slugs or other 
insects there may be about it, but the 
term ‘ baking’ hardly seems to express it 
properly. Perhaps there is a more than 
usually plentiful supply of insects in 
your soil, 
* * ® * * * 
— Making Use of Bones. — 
A.Y,, Kilkenny.—Burying the bones 
in large pieces in the kitchen garden 
would have very little effect indeed, for 
decay would progress very slowly, and 
the benefit to be derived from the appli- 
cation would be-inappreciable. The best 
thing you can do is to bury the boncs in 
a heap of manure; the fermentation will 
soften them, and after a couple of months 
or so they can be crushed with compara- 
tive ease. There are other and more 
rapid methods of dealing with boues, but 
where there is only a small quantity this 
is the most convenient and the least 
expensive, 
* * * % * * 
— Garden Fests, — 
G.B., Prospect,— Which is 
You do not make out any case against the 
earthworm by saying that the crops are 
spoiled by ‘worms, snails, and cater- 
pillars,” unless you can fix upon the 
worms alone as having done some of the 
But there 
is no doubt that in your case it is neces- 
sary to do something to destroy the 
suails, and if the worms are destroyed at 
the same time it cannot be helped. We 
aie surprised that the gas lime did no 
prove effectual, and one of two things 
inust be the cuse—either the dressing was 
insufficient or you have been guilty of 
neglect in allowing the pests to increase 
at such a rate since the application, 
Remember that the rate of increase in 
insect life is enormous, and the one fly 
or caterpillar which you did not kill last 
week may be represented in the near 
future by thousands—in some cases it 
would not be wrong to say millions. You 
must attack the pest steadily, Pick off 
all the caterpillars aud snails you can 
find at all times, burn all rubbish, and 
apply to individual crops the’ special 
which ? 
remedies which are suitable. If you 
make use of gas lime again this winter, 
and let it lie on the surface, you will have 
an opportuniry of making a fair start, 
and we hope you will be more successful. 
But remeinber the ‘ stitch in time’ 
ok x x * * ® 
— Spirza, — 
‘Subscriber,’ Port Wakefield.—You.do 
not say what Spirea it is you want to 
grow, but assuming that your plant is the 
common Spireea japonica—which is most 
probable—there is no reason why you 
should not succeed in growing it in your 
window. An essential in the culture of 
this plant is that it shou’d have an 
supply of water when in 
growth. Provided that the drainage is 
free, you can hardly give it tooj much 
and in warm weather the pot may even 
be set in a saucer containing water—a 
course which would be injurious in the 
case of most plants. If you have a garden 
attached to your cottage, plant out the 
Spireea for the summer, and take it up 
and re-pot either in the autumn if you 
want carly bloom, or at the beginning of 
the ycar if—as would be best in your 
ease—you are content with bloom some 
time during the spring. Do not make 
the mistake of giving a lot of water until 
growth commences; when it is active a 
little liquid manure will be useful. 
abundant 
* * * * * * 
— Management of Rough Land, — 
‘Amateur, Hyde Park, — As _ the 
ground has never been dug up before, the 
best course will be to trench it up 18 
inches to 20 inches deep, burying the 
weeds at the bottom. Give it a dressing 
of lime to kill. the insects, and, if very 
poor, manure it just before cropping, in 
spring, forking in the manure. The fist 
season we should recommend the greater 
part to be cropped with Potatoes for the 
purpose of cleaning and freeing the 
ground from weeds, etc. Afterwards, 
with good cultivation and liberal treat- 
ment in the way of manure, you may 
grow anything ; and, if you wish to make 
a profit, grow those things which are 
most in demand in the neighbourhood, 
A good bed of Rhubarb often pays well, 
