« 
July 1 1909 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
RUMSEY’S OUR OFFER. ~The A.B.C. 
A Sample Packet containing a mixture of 
of 50 varieties of Tomatoes, large and AUSTRALIAN 
HONEST small, yellow, red, and purple, or a mix- 
ture of 100 sorts of Flower Seeds, and a VEGETABLE 
copy of our Vegetable Book, all post paid GROWING, 
SEEDS. 
CATALOGUE FREE. 
for 1/6. 
HERBERT J. RUMSEY, 
44 Adderton Road, Dundas. 
By H. J, Rumsey. 
1/2 post free. 
The Vegetable Garden. 
Operations for the Month. 
The present is the dullest time of the 
year for seed-sowing, and only in light 
soils and warm situations need there be 
much done in this line. But we are fast 
approaching the busy season of spring, 
when lots of work fall in; therefore, if 
there is anything that can be done now 
at this quiet period to relieve the pressure 
which is bound to come in a few weeks’ 
time, it should be taken in hand. 
— Chiefly about Edgings. — 
At this season there is usually much 
bare ground in the garden waiting for the 
spring cropping, and the opportunity is 
afforded of making any alterations that 
may be needed in the laying out of the 
various beds and walks, How best to 
lay out a new vegetable garden needs 
some consideration. No fancy work is 
required, simply straight lines in the beds 
and paths only as a rule, but there is no 
objection to curves occasionally, although 
they need a trifle more trouble after- 
wards, The main walks should be edged 
with some material. When a good 
edging is down there is no straightening 
needed of the margins of the beds, which 
often got awry in the absence of a per- 
manent edging. Live edgings of dwarf 
parsley, thyme, sweet marjoram, or other 
suitable herbs look nice, and are useful 
for the kitchen, but they are objected to 
by some, because they want annual trim- 
mings, replanting, and they also afford 
good harbour for slugs and other vermin. 
Garden tiles or slates look well, and 
bricks may be used, but very neat and 
serviceable edgings are made by using 
long lengths of serviceable battens, say, 
3in, by #in., firmly fastened to blocks 
fixed in the soil. 
. several months to come. 
— How to Make Hotbeds, — 
Ii is now time to see about the making 
up of hotbeds in which to raise early 
tomatoes, &c. Before starting hotbed 
work, one should be assured of a constant 
supply of suitable material for heating 
To start a 
forcing bed now, and then by and by 
have to stop short for want of proper 
manure, would be foolish, because the 
plants raised would perish from the cold. 
Hotbeds are usually made from fresh 
stable manure, but they are also madefrom 
tan in a state of fermentation, also from 
fresh leaves, or from leaves and manure 
combined. 
The small amateur gardener often dis- 
penses with the hotbed, because he does 
not care to incur the necessary expense 
of the dung, but the money spent in 
purchasing it is by no means wasted, for 
after it has served the purpose of a hot- 
bed, it is not much deteriorated for use 
as garden manure, which generally has to 
be purchased, For hotbed work wooden 
frames and glazed sashes are indispen- 
sable, and these are useful at any period 
of the year for the raising of seeds, the 
striking of cuttings, and tho culture of 
plants generally. 
The main thing in the making of a 
hotbed is the proper preparation of the 
manure. The quantity needed must, of 
course, depend on the size of the hotbed, 
and this again by the size of the frame 
to be placed upon it. For an ordinary 
sized single light frame measuring, say, 6 
feet by 8, about four. good loads . of 
manure will be required; this should be 
fairly fresh from the stable. The time 
usually occupied in preparing the manure 
and making it into a bed is from seven to 
ten days. 
heap for three or four days it should be 
_After the manure has lain in a 
15 
turned completely over, and every lump 
or patch which adheres together should 
be divided. 
good watering will be necessary. A 
In the absence of rain a 
second turning-over is generally neces- 
sary in three or four more days, and 
then the heap will be sweet enough for 
the making of the hotbed. The size of 
_the hotbed must be governed by that of 
the frame which is to be placed upon it, 
but it should be at least a foot wider on 
either side than the frame. The height 
of the bed should be at least 3 ft.—4 ft, 
would be better—and the back of the bed 
should be six inches higher than the 
front. In making the bed the manure 
must be regularly placed in layers, well- 
shaken, and beaten down with the back 
of the fork. When the frame has been 
placed in position, in a day or two, a lot 
of steam will arise. To permit of this 
escaping the sash must be tilted a little, 
and, as soon as danger from overheating 
is past, the manure inside the frame 
should be covered with a few inches of 
rich soil. 
In a few weeks’ time the heat of the 
hotbed will commence to decline, but this 
must be prevented by applying linings or 
coatings of hot fermenting manure, laid 
on all round the bed to the whole of its 
height, and these linings may be about 
20 in. thick. A second lining is often 
necessary, ‘and then it will be necessary 
to cut away a portion of the old bed, but 
not to interfere with the body of the bed, 
and place fresh manure in its place. The 
position of a hotbed is of some mpor- 
tance.. While it should be open to the 
sun, it should be sheltered from ‘cold 
winds, which, by lowering the tem pera - 
ture, cause a waste of material. 
GLOBE ARTICHOKE. 
Plant out any seedlings large enough 
in rows about 6 feet apart, 
CHINESE ARTICHOKE, 
This vegetable was fully described in 
our May issue. If desired you may 
plant more tubers in rows 18 inches 
fo 2 feet apart aud 9 to 12 inches apart 
in the rows. 
JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE, 
Plant more tubers if required in rows 
3 feet apart and 1 foot in the rows. 
