QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JouRNAL. [1 Mar, 1900. 
Horticultural Notes. 
By PHILIP MAC MAHON, 
Curator, Botanic Gardens, Brisbane, 
VEGETABLES. 
THERE is, 1 think, no more pitiable sight in Queensland than the neglett 
appearance of the gardens of so many of our bush homes, when with ene 
and forethought there could be raised around everyone of them sufficl ss 
vegetables of the very choicest kinds to place upon the table of the poor” 
luxuries only attainable in less favoured lands at great expense. sty 
Few of those to whom a supply of fresh vegetables is a daily neces! 
realise the debt they owe to venturesome men who first introduced them ” i 
distant lands, and to patient laborious men who acclimatised them, and, ¢ at 
by painstaking selection and skilful cross-fertilisation, improved them and ™ A 
them fit to endure the changing climatic conditions of their new home® 
short list of the original homes of some of our principal vegetables will oN, 
interesting :—Bean, Persia; beet, Southern Europe; broccoli, Italy ; Brus 
sprouts, Belgium; cabbage, Britain; carrot, Britain; cauliflower, Op ef 
celery, Britain; endive, East Indies; Jerusalem artichoke, Brazil; *™, 
bean, India; kohl rabi, Germany; leek, Switzerland; lettuce, Asia; Ona 
Africa; parsley, Sardinia; parsnip, Britain; pea, Levant; potatoes, - 
radish, China; rhubarb, China; salsafy, Britain; sea kale, Britain ; Spe 
Northern Asia; tomato, South America; turnip, Britain. Jed 
So you see that the inmates of your kitchen gardens are much-traye 4 
plants ; and in coming here to Queensland with the descendants of sturdy he 
Crusaders and conquerors who so long ago tore them from their native home ; tor 
are, many of them, finding climate and soil more like those which their progen 
lived in. And they show it. For some years I judged at some of the gre 
horticultural shows in England—at Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, She! fall 
York, &c.; but I have never seen anywhere vegetables as fine as some vias 
have seen at horticultural shows in Queensland. A pity it is that those wh? 4 ri 
such magnificent vegetables do not learn the art of presenting them for exhi i 
in some more artistic manner. Itis quitea commonthing to see splendid dishes F 
collections of vegetables quite spoiled from want of ordinary care and tas’ 
the staging. When will the grower learn—as in the older countries he has dges 
taught by that greatest of schoolmasters, competition—that the buyer The 
largely by look, and that quality with an uninviting appearance is often valle 
by for mediocrity with a tasteful exterior. Beauty and virtue in a Cin oa 
garb are all very well, but most people, out of a fairy tale, pin their faith ef 
smart frock. 1 of 
A few brief notes on the vegetables which you may sow in the mors the 
March will interest you. The quantity of seeds usually allowed per acre ° alll 
vegetable garden is given under each head, but, of course, this will vary eae ' 
in different cases, and the information is only given for the benefit of the aM 
Thus a beginner starting with a garden of one acre which he intends to devad 
to vegetables would not be far astray in procuring the quantity of eae 
mentioned below. ; 
Some vegetables are sown in the places where they are to finally gro, the 
produce a crop, but many are best raised in seed beds and transplanted, one pe 
prepare of the seed bed needs a good deal of care. ‘The soil shout | 
Ny 
riable sandy loam, deeply cultivated, very clean—that is, free from roottal 
18 
seeds of weeds or other plants. It should be made fairly rich with thore™ 
rotted manure and leaf mould. Jt should not fall away readily from the © 4) 
of seedlings when they are lifted, but above all it must not be clayey, 8° 
