September 1, 1909 
Sowing Seeds. 
One of the most common mistakes con- 
nected with this matter, especially in the 
case of vegetables and salaas, is that of 
sowing too much seed at a time, and not 
making provision for successional crops, 
one sowing taking as much seed as should 
have lasted the season. Thus all the 
ground is cropped at once, and no space 
left for other crops to follow. The 
consequence is that there is a feast of 
good things; followed by a long fast. 
Now, in cropping a garden, whether it 
bea small one or one of large extent, 
there is nothing like sketching out a 
rough ground plan beforehand, and 
marking on it the exact position and 
number of rows required of- each crops 
and also the crops to follow. 
One often finds the owner of a garden 
who can alweys have plenty of vegetables 
and salads from the same ground area 
that his neighbour finds quite inadequate 
to meet his wants. This is, in a great 
measure, due to the greater amount of 
skill brought to bear, not only in growing 
the crops well, but, above all, in getting 
them in the very nick of time, so that 
there is always something fit for present 
use, and plenty coming on. 
We often find a seed-bed of Lettuce, or 
‘Cabbages, in a small villa garden that 
would have supplied plants enough for 
the largest establishment, and if this one 
‘sowing had been divided into three, at 
intervals of a fortnight or three weeks, 
‘a prolonged supply would have resulted ; 
but, the seed being sown at one time, 
‘three parts of the crop were useless, 
The same with Peas, Beans, Cauli- 
flowers, and other crops; one good row at 
atime will supply a small family with 
‘succulent vegetables, but if treble the 
quantity be sown, it is pretty certain 
that for two-thirds of the season the 
owner will get Peas and Beans as hard ag 
bullets. 
A seed bed half-a yard square will give 
‘enough plants to supply the garden of 
any ordinary family with abundance of 
Vegetables and salads. 
a 
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THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
Vegetables under Fruit-Trees. 
Although we have known many 
instances where heavy crops of fruit were 
obtained from land planted with vege- 
tables, we have seen few cases where even 
fair crops of vegetables have been grown 
under fruit-trees. The causes of failure 
are generally manuring, 
planting the wrong kinds or wrong 
varieties of vegetables. and not allowing 
sufficient space for the plaut to make up 
in leaf expansion what the organ loses in 
impaired functional activity from deficient 
light. 
Early Potatoes will do fairly under 
trees. They can be planted earlier than 
in the open, the branches of the tree 
giving shelter from frosts. Then the 
plant will have extra time to make up for 
slow growth. 
Late Brocoli also do well, as they do 
their principal growing while the leaves 
are off the trees. The branches afford 
them shelter. 
Early Turnips will succeed, too, and 
salads in the summer-time. 
insufficient 
Hoeing between Crops. 
Hoeing should not be delayed till the 
weeds are nearly fully grown, as many 
people think, judging by the appearance 
of their gardens; the work should be 
carried out as much as possible when the 
weeds are quite small, 
If the whole of the surface of the 
ground between any kind of crops be 
lightly stirred with the hoe, not only the 
weeds showing plainly, but many only 
just pushing through will also be 
destroyed. 
There is yet another important advan- 
tage attending this comparatively light 
work, Many soils, especially where clay 
exists in large or small quantities, are 
apt to bind badly in wet weather, and 
this is followed by cracking in dry, hot 
weather. Keeping the surface loosened 
with a hoe prevents the rapid loss of 
moisture by evaporation and the conse- 
quent cracking, and also admits the 
warm, moist air to the roots of the 
plants. 
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17 
Ii will thus be seen that the more often 
the hoeing is repeated the better it will 
be for the crops—in fact, it is advisable 
to use the hoe three or four times early 
in the season rather than delay this 
operation till the weeds have gained a 
strong foothold, when merely hoeing 
them up will not be sufficient to destroy 
them. 
Summer Lettuce. 
There can be no question that Lettuce 
to be crisp and succulent require to be 
grown without check from the first 
sprouting of the seed until pulled up for 
use, and the best way to ensure such a 
condition during the summer months is 
to sow the seed where it is to remain and 
avoid transplanting, for, while plants are 
getting over the check occasioned by 
removal, those left undisturbed will be 
nearly fit for use. The best plan is to 
sow rather thinly in drills one foot apart, 
and, as soon as the plants are large 
enough to handle, to thin them out 
partially, and by pulling out the largest 
for mixed salads as they become fit for 
use a succession of crisp Lettuce may 
be kept up with very little trouble. The 
main thing is to have a deeply-cultivated, 
well-enriched piece of ground dug up 
some considerable time before it is wanted 
for sowing, in order that the surface may 
get mellow and friable, for on loose, 
freshly-dug soil it is useless to expect 
Lettuce to grow freely in dry weather. 
‘A sowing of White Cos and All-the-Year- 
Vound Cabbage Lettuce made about 
once a fortnight will yieid a constant 
supply, and if the same course is adopted 
with Radishes and Mustard and Cress 
there need be no fear of the salad supply 
running short. 
RRINTING 
“Australian 
Gardener” Office, 
Corner Pirie & Wyatt Sts. 
Send us along a trial ordar. 
