16 
About Vegetables. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
Operations for the Month. 
The kitchen garden should be making 
something of a show by this time, for 
with the advent of warm days and nights 
the soil is losing its chill, and everything 
in the vegetable line is showing its 
appreciation by awaking from its dormant 
state. 
— Hints on Seed Sowing. — 
Seeds should never be sown when the 
soil is wet and sticky, and the extreme 
opposite of dryness should also be guarded 
against, It is most important that new 
We have 
amongst us many seed firms of high 
and pure seeds be obtained. 
repute, whose interest is to sell only seeds 
of the best quality, and it is better to 
rely on these rather than on some others 
who may offer their goods at a trifling 
less price. But the seedsman is often 
blamed for failures without any real 
reason. The amateur gardener may sow 
his seeds too deep, or when the ground is 
not in a fit condition for their reception, 
Sither too wet or too dry. Always sow 
n drills rather than broadcast; the seed 
goes farther, it is more evenly distributed 
and the labor of thinning and weeding is 
more easily done. Seeds should not 
come in contact with manures, the latter 
is better placed inches below the surface. 
Seeds are often sown too thickly, and 
this means considerable labor in thinning 
out the superfluous plants. For the 
reception of all smaller seeds the surface 
soil should be brought to a fairly fine 
tilth ; for peas and beans this is not 
necessary. : 
ASPARAGUS BEAN, 
Tf you have not done so, make a small 
sowing, and in doing so follow the cul- 
. tural directions “given below for the 
French Bean. The plants grow about 
six feet high, and require sticks. or will 
grow well against a wall. 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
Frencu Beans. 
Make sowing of the immensely popu-- 
lar French Bean. Any good garden 
soil will grow them. but the best crops 
are obtained from good loams or alluvial 
The drills should be a few inches 
deep, varying from 2 to 4 inches» 
according to the weather and state of the 
Make the rows 3 feet apart, and 
put the seeds at least 6 inches apart in 
soils. 
soil. 
the rows. 
Lina Beans. 
Lima Beans are a good crop to grow in 
the summer months, as they will stand 
any amount of heat and dry weather, and 
continue in bearing for a very long time. 
The dwarf or bush Jimas are perhaps the 
best to grow, as they require no poles, and 
consequently give less trouble, Lima 
beans may be planted during this month, 
and will continue to grow and bear until 
Dwarf 
limas may be planted in drills 3 feet 
cut down by the frosts of winter. 
apart and the seeds 18 inches apart in 
the rows, or in hills of 4 or 5 seeds 3 feet 
apart. each way. The seeds should not 
be planted more than 2 inches deep, and 
should be placed in the ground edgeways, 
with the eyes down. 
The Lima is a shell bean, the part used 
for food being the bean itself, and not 
the pod. They may be used green or 
allowed to ripen and stored for winter 
use. They will keep for a long time, and 
only require soaking in water before 
cooking to render them soft. and pala- 
‘table, They are the most delicious of the 
pod beans. Lima beans should be more 
extensively cultivated than they are, 
because they will succeed in dry seasons 
when other beans fail, and continue to 
bear right through the summer. 
A good manure for those planting on a 
larger scale is a light dressing of farmyard 
manure, 4 to 6 cwt. of superphosphate, 
and 1 cwt, of sulphate of potash (or 4 
cwt. of kainit) per acre. The use of 2 
cwt. of nitrate of soda per acre gives a 
a very substantial increase of crop. 
Runngr Beans. 
This class of bean was fully dealt with 
in our September issue. 
be sown if required. 
More seed may - 
October 1, 1909 
———— 
Broccout. 
Seed may be sown in small b.ds or 
seed-boxes, and theseedlin.s transplanted 
when the young broccolis are large 
enough. Sow thinly in little drills. 
CABBAGE, 
The Improved Heading Chinese 
Cabbage is a good variety for present 
sowing being both vigorous and rapid. 
The leaves are Jarge light green, and of a 
mild, delicate flavor. 
An article dealing with Cabbage Aphis 
appears on page 18. 
Carzt GoosEBERRY. 
There is still time for a sowing of the 
above if required. See our last issue for 
particulars as to its cultivation and uses. 
Cress and Musrarp. 
Sow for succession about once a fort- 
night in light rich soil in drills half an 
inch deep and 8 inches apart, and sow 
thickly. 
CUCUMBER. 
“We dealt fully with the Cucumber in 
our August issue. More seed may he sown 
in order to keep up a succession. 
EaG PLant. 
This excellent vegetable was described 
in the July issue of this journal. More 
seed may be sown lf required. 
LErruce. 
More seed may be sown for succession, 
and the plants large enough planted out. 
Water Metons. 
We went fully into this subject in our 
last issue, so it is sufficient to say that 
more seed may be sown. 
Rock Metons. 
Of the many members of the cucurbi- 
tacess order or cucumber family, the rock 
melon is the most tender. The word 
rock is often misapplied to these fruits ; 
originally, it was applied only to thos? 
kinds having a rough or rocky surface, 
but now we find the smooth-skinned, 
musk, green, and scarlet flesh varieties 
all coming under the name of rock 
molons. Good crops of these melons are 
produced by plants which have bee? 
raised from seed sown in the open, but 
the fruits usually ripen late in the 
