1863 - Speed the Plough: or, the Colonial and New Zealand Farmers' Guide - Garden Calendar, p 126-130

       
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  1863 - Speed the Plough: or, the Colonial and New Zealand Farmers' Guide - Garden Calendar, p 126-130
 
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GARDEN CALENDAR.

[Image of page 126]

GARDEN CALENDAR.

GARDEN CALENDAR.

JANUARY.

Vegetables. --Collect seeds, keep the drill crops well looked after by digging well between them, destroy weeds and insects; lime is useful in killing the latter.

Fruit. --Bud fruit trees, and remove all ill-shaped branches, and such as cross each other.

Flowers. --Bud roses; take up bulbs as the leaves decay.

FEBRUARY.

Vegetables. --Seeds may be sown of most vegetables if the weather is showery. Bend down the necks of onions, this prevents what is called bull-necked; sow onions--the globe is a good kind, also the Spanish, if for pickling--sow very thick in drills, or grow the tree onion; the soil must be very rich, and the manure close to the surface.

Fruit. --Bud fruit trees; plant out new beds of strawberries; this fruit requires changing every three years; when removed do not pull off the leaves, neither disturb the roots.

Flowers. --Geraniums, fuchias, verbenas, may all be struck from cuttings in shady places.

[Image of page 127]

GARDEN CALENDAR.

MARCH.

Vegetables. --Sow early peas, mazagan and Windsor beans, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, and spinach; also, onions for an early crop, and when transplanted put only the roots in the ground, as they are found to keep better; plant out new strawberry beds.

Fruit. --Gather fruit this month. By dividing an apple in halves you will perceive, if the seeds are of a brown colour, they are fit to gather.

Flowers. --Plant cuttings of evergreens; divide flower bulbs to increase the quantity.

APRIL.

Vegetables. --Plant potatoe onions; earth up growing crops; sow peas, beans, parsnips, white stone and early Dutch turnips; plant on a warm border silver skin and ash leaved kidney potatoes.

Fruit. --Prepare ground for orchards, as the following month is a good time to transplant, if sufficient rain falls.

Flowers. --Sow annuals; cuttings of roses may now be struck; plant bulbs.

MAY.

Vegetables. --This is a good month for sowing seeds of almost every kind, except those that require the summer to mature, which applies to all tropical fruits and vegetables. Sow parsnips, turnips, peas, and beans; plant on a warm border early white potatoes; it will be found to facilitate their growth by exposing the sets to the mid-day sun for a week previous to being planted; take up root crops.

Fruit. --Plant fruit trees about the end of the month; sow seeds of the apple, pear, medlar, walnut, and quince; clean strawberry beds.

Flowers. --Plant shrubs, cuttings of fuchias, honeysuckle, and jessamine.

[Image of page 128]

GARDEN CALENDAR.

JUNE.

Vegetables. --If the weather permit, dig all open ground and lay it up rough, as it will be found to work better when you dig again for sowing. Plant potatoes on warm banks; sow peas and beans; transplant rhubarb, and well manure the ground as opportunity occurs.

Fruit. --Transplant fruit trees, remove suckers, and strike from cuttings the gooseberry, vine, and other trees; plant out raspberry beds in shady and moist situations; prune fruit trees.

Flowers. --Plant shrubs, climbers, and bulbs.

JULY.

Vegetables. --This being generally a wet and cold month, the ground may be well manured and prepared for next months' cropping. Continue to transplant and prune; dress strawberry and asparagus beds; rhubarb should be moved to a shady situation and deep soil; the roots may be divided, which will increase the plants; look well after slugs and such pests.

Fruit. --Transplant fruit trees; clean out weeds and dead leaves; manure the ground, and loosen the soil between the drill crops.

Flowers. --Annuals may now be sown; plant out hollyhocks, sweet williams, stocks, &c.

AUGUST.

Vegetables. --This is a busy month for sowing all kinds of seeds, and no time is to be lost. Sow peas, beans, turnips, lettuce, cabbage, raddish, spinach, parsnips, carrots, onions, and celery; also, keep the ground well forked and manured between the drills; transplant cabbage; hoe, thin, and clear out weeds.

[Image of page 129]

GARDEN CALENDAR.

Sow rhubarb seeds, plant asparagus roots, and sow onion seed in drills, one foot apart,.

Fruit. --Keep down blight from trees; sow stones and pips of fruit; plant out fruit trees for the last time, and graft early lands of fruit.

Flowers. --Prune roses, sow annuals, plant flowers, shrubs, and mow lawns.

SEPTEMBER.

Vegetables. --Continue to sow all hinds of vegetables; early peas may be earthed up and staked, and young plants may be transplanted in wet weather; the garden this and next month is fast approaching to maturity. Sow kidney beans, beetroot, vegetable marrow, and pumpkins--the double crown and iron bark are the best kinds, as they keep better, and are much superior to the watery kinds often brought to market. Sow rock and water melons in warm borders. Plant potatoes, sow onions, plant celery in trenches, and keep growing crops clean and well stirred between the drills.

Fruit. --Graft fruit trees.

Flowers. --Sow annuals, and finish transplanting early this month.

OCTOBER.

Vegetables. --This is a good month for sowing the seeds of pumpkins, melons, cucumbers, marrows, Indian corn, sorghum saccharatum, and all semi-tropical fruits and vegetables. Plant potatoes in a shady place; sow peas of the dwarf kinds--they are more manageable in a garden; the marrow fats and late kinds should now be sown; sow French beans, scarlet runners, and other prolific sorts.

Fruit. --Remove all suckers and runners from, strawberry plants that are not wanted for transplanting; disbud vines.

[Image of page 130]

GARDEN CALENDAR.

Flowers. --Keep the flower garden clean; remove all decayed leaves and sweepings from the paths, and place them in the dung pit.

NOVEMBER.

Vegetables. --Sow the same kinds of seeds as last month, but moist ground and well shaded places should now be selected; use liquid manure to the roots of growing crops, which will greatly facilitate their growth, also guano water, or anything to give vigour to the roots. Sow brocoli, white stone turnips, and cabbage; prepare ground for autumn crops, and gather herbs for drying.

Fruit. --Remove superfluous shoots from fruit trees, and keep them well open to the sun in the centre, train them to proper shapes, and thin the fruit on young trees, as too great a luxuriance injures their growth.

Flowers. --Sow quick growing annuals.

DECEMBER.

Vegetables. --This being a dry month, it will be necessary to water your growing crops night and morning, destroy weeds, &c.

Fruit. -- Stop vines, and remove all lateral shoots; the time for stopping is a few days or a week after the young bunch shows itself, and is generally stopped one joint beyond the bunch.

Flowers. --Bud roses, keep garden paths well cleaned up, and borders nicely trimmed.


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