588 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. {1 Dec., 1901. 
Farm and Garden Notes for January. 
’arm.—The wheat harvest is now over, and the hopes and fears respecting 
the vicissitudes of the season for the past six months are blended into a satis- 
factory certainty. One of the largest crops of wheat and barley ever garnered 
in Queensland now reposes safely in stack or barn. The heavy work now 
begins of preparing the land for future crops. Maize may still be sown, 
particularly on the coast for a late crop, also sorghum, imphee, Cape barley, 
rye, panicum, and cow peas. As an experiment in some very early localities, 
potatoes for an early crop may be sown. They should be planted whole, and 
have plenty of room. But this is more a matter for market gardeners than for 
the farmer who plants largely during February and March. 
Kircnen Garprey.—As we wrote last month, the weather is now too hot 
to look for much success with the ordinary European vegetables. Still much is 
possible to the man who has patience, judgment, and who exercises due care in 
sowing seeds, and protecting both them and the young plants from the fervid 
rays of the sun. Before sowing any seeds, the ground should be in fine tilth, 
and thoroughly soaked. Then sow thickly in small beds, and cover lightly with 
_ canvas or light brushwood. When the plants are up, keep the beds well 
watered till the former get strong. In favourable weather do the trans- 
planting. Choose ‘a showery day, lift the plants very carefully, and set 
out a little deeper than they grew in the seed bed, and firm the soil well around 
the roots; then water well. If suitable material can be got, mulch the ground 
for a few inches round the plants. ‘This will save a great deal of watering and 
hoeing. Mulching is a garden operation which cannot be too highly recom- 
mended. All sorts of stuff may be used for the purpose—short stable manure, 
grass, leaves, litter—in fact, anything that can be conveniently placed round 
the plants. Mulching prevents the ground from baking in hot weather ; it also 
prevents loss of moisture by evaporation, and preserves an equable temperature 
of the surface, and so promotes healthy, vigorous root action. Dig up all 
unoccupied ground, and turn under all refuse vegetable leaves and stable litter. 
If your land is heavy, only roughly break the lumps, and allow the sun, wind, 
and rain to do the rest of the breaking up. Then work the soil well, reduce it 
to a fine tilth, and sow in your seed beds French beans, cress, cauliflower, 
mustard, cabbage, celery, and radish for winter use. Parsley, parsnips, turnips, 
Brussels sprouts, carrots, peas, and endive may be sown. You might ay 
cucumbers and melons for a late crop, but success will be very doubtful. ° 
Gather herbs for drying, onions, garlic, eschalots, &c. | 
Frowrr Garpey.—Those who wish to make their gardens gay and attrac- 
tive during the autumn and winter months can do so with the greatest ease. 
Prepare a few boxes. Make a compost, of which a great part should 
consist of rotted leaves. Fill the boxes with this, then sow thinly the seeds 
of annuals. Keep the surface of the soil moist, and, when the young seedlings 
are large enough to handle, lift them gently one by one, with a knife or a 
zine label—never pull them up by hand. Then prick them out into beds or 
boxes of very light soil containing plenty of leaf mould. Then look out for 
slugs and caterpillars. Keep a supply of tobacco dust on hand. Scatter this 
in the path of the slug, and he will cease from troubling you. 
All kinds of shrubby plants way be propagated by cuttings. Thus 
pelargoniums, crotons, coleus, and many kinds of tropical foliage plants can be 
obtained from cuttings made this month. After putting out cuttings in a 
propagating frame, shade them with a piece of calico stretched over it. Be 
careful not to over-water at this season. Propagate verbenas, not forgetting 
to include the large scarlet Foxhunter. Verbenas require rich soil. Palms 
may be planted out this month. If the weather prove dry, shade all trees 
planted out. With seed boxes, mulch, shade, water, and kerosene spray, all of 
which imply a certain amount of morning and evening work, the flower garden 
in autumn and winter will present a charming sight. 
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