infrequently, necessary watering is forgotten. Do not aim to grow immense cabbages, which are suitable only to feed to cattle, but grow small and medium sized kinds, for they are much more palatable and better flavoured. Plant out some young cabbages, if you have any large enough to transplant, to a well-dug, well-drained, and well-manured bed. Use a good dressing of dung, if possible thoroughly rotten. Plant in rows about from 2 to 3 feet apart according to richness of soil. If the weather is dry, water the cabbages well as they grow, and also give them occasional supplies of liquid manure. Cultivate frequently between the rows, and keep the plants quite free from weeds. The more the hoe is used amongst cabbages the better they will grow. They prefer a rather stiff soil, but will thrive, with a little care and plenty of manure, almost anywhere.

Cauliflower will succeed best at this time of year in the coolest districts of the Colony. Follow the directions given for the cabbage. Plant out a few plants, and also sow a little seed in the seed-bed.

Carrot. A useful vegetable for many purposes in cookery. Sow a few rows of the short as well as medium and long varieties. The ground should be dug up deeply, but not freshly manured. The best kind of soil for the carrot is a fairly rich, sandy loam, well drained. The rows should be about 1 foot to 18 inches apart. Be careful to separate the seeds before sowing, and cover them with about half-an-inch to an inch of fine soil. As the seed generally takes a long time to come up, care must be taken that the tender young seedlings are not crowded out by weeds.

Celery. Sow some seed in a small seed-bed or box. The soil should be made very fine. If sown in a box take care to make holes in the bottom of the box, put in a layer about 2 inches deep, of broken stones, crocks, charcoal, or something similar as a drainage, before putting soil into the box. Make little drills with your finger, as straight as you can, and sow the seed, which is very small, as thin as possible. Cover with fine soil, and spread over this some broken up, old, very dry cow-dung. As the plants come up thin them out if they appear to be growing too close together. When they are about 2 or 4 inches high transplant to a well-prepared small bed. Plant about 4 inches apart, so that they can grow into strong little plants for further planting out into trenches later on.

Cucumber. In the warm districts seed may be sown towards the end of the month. The ground should be thoroughly well dug up, well manured, and well drained. It is a general custom to make holes about 3 feet or so in diameter, and manure the holes, but it would be a much better practice to manure the whole bed set apart for the cucumbers. The plants may be raised in a seed-bed or box, and afterwards transplanted when their second leaves have grown. This is, perhaps, better than sowing in the garden, and more certain, but it takes a little more trouble. If the seeds are sown in the garden, put in at least half a dozen seeds in each place where the plants are to grow, and if all the plants come up they can be thinned out to one or two, and those thinned out can be planted in some other place if needed, It is always better to sow a good many cucumber seeds, as they are generally unreliable, and numbers fail to germinate. Although special holes need not be made for the purpose of being manured if the whole bed has been prepared as above suggested, it would be well to make shallow depressions or basins an inch or two deep in which to sow the seed, for this will be of assistance if watering the plants should be necessary.

Endive is a kind of chicory used as a salad generally, although it may be cooked as spinach. It is a good wholesome vegetable, but is not used as much as it deserves to be. Seed may be sown this month in a warm corner

where frost cannot attack it. When the seedlings are large enough to handle they may be transplanted to a well-manured bed. Plant out in rows about 15 inches apart, and let the plants stand about 1 foot apart in the rows. Keep down weeds, and when the plants have grown to a good size tie up the leaves together in order to blanch, or make white, the inner leaves. All the plants need not be tied up at the same time, but a few now and then, as they are likely to be required for use.

Leek.-A most useful vegetable, and exceedingly wholesome, generally used in soups, but excellent boiled and served with white sauce. The plant is a most greedy feeder, and needs plenty of manure; in fact it may almost be grown in manure. The best kind of soil for the leek is a sandy loam, moist, but well drained, but it will succeed well on almost any kind of soil if it be well manured. The seed should be sown in a seed-bed, and when the plants have attained a height of 6 or 8 inches they may be transplanted to a bed that has been well dug and heavily manured. Plant deep in rows 18 inches apart, the leeks to be put in at about 9 inches from one another. Water well, and from time to time apply liquid manure. The thick stems are generally blanched by "earthing up" the soil about each plant some time before they are required for use. A little experience will soon show the length of time required to blanch them.

Lettuce. A most useful vegetable for salads. The seed is generally sown in seed-beds in a similar way to cabbage, but at the present time of year it is preferable to sow where the plants are intended to remain. Sow in shallow drills about 18 inches apart. When the seed comes up thin out the plants to about 1 foot apart. The ground should be well manured with rotten dung, and as the lettuces grow give them frequent applications of liquid manure.

Melons, Rock-Seed may be sown in warm districts, in the same way as was directed for cucumbers.

Melons, Water.-Sow seed also as above, but the plants must be allowed considerably more space.

Okra or Gumbo.-A vegetable bearing a succulent, gummy, or mucilaginous pod, which is used for thickening soups. Suitable for warm climates. Sow seed in a box or seed-bed, and when the plants are large enough to move shift them to a well-manured bed. Let the plants stand about 2 feet apart each way.

Onions. A good supply of this vegetable is very desirable. The ground should be heavily manured with well-rotted dung. Take care to drain well and make the surface soil as fine as possible. Light, rich, sandy loam is best suited for the onion. Besides rotted dung, soot, blood-manure, ashes, and bone-meal may be used with good effect. Soot mixed with coarse salt is exceedingly useful as a top dressing when the onions have attained some size. Sow the seed in rows 6 inches to 2 feet apart, according to the size of onion it is required to grow. The seed should be merely covered with fine soil, in fact hardly covered at all. When the plants are an inch or so in height, thin them out and transplant, if you like, to another bed. Keep as free from weeds as possible, and stir up the soil occasionally between the plants.

Parsnips.-Sow a few rows in just the same way as was advised for carrots. They are very deep-rooting plants, and the soil should be dug to a considerable depth.

Peas. A few rows should be sown from time to time, especially in the cool parts of the Colony.

Pepper (capsicum).—A plant or two is all that will be needed in a small home garden. The seed may be sown in a box, and the seedlings transplanted when they are a few inches in height. They come to the greatest perfection in the warm climates.

Potato.-Every garden should have a few rows of potatoes if possible. Manure the ground heavily with dung, drain well, and dig deep. Use medium-sized, sound potatoes to plant. Discard small ones altogether. If you can only obtain large ones cut them into two or three sets, and let them be dried by sprinkling with wood ashes and a little lime or dry soil. Make the rows 2 feet 6 inches apart or wider, and plant the potatoes about 6 or 8 inches deep in the soil, 1 foot from each other in the rows. Some of the best varieties are, Brownell's Beauty, Early Rose, and Kidney.

Pumpkins. Sow a few seed in ground to be prepared as for cucumbers, using plenty of dung. Sow the seed 6 or 8 in a hole; the holes to be about 8 feet apart, or even more.

Rhubarb.-The present is a good time to sow seed of this vegetable. Roots are generally obtained to plant out and time is thus saved, but in many localities it is difficult to obtain roots when they are required. Sow in drills in a seed-bed, and when the seedlings are large enough to handle transplant to a well-dug and well-manured bed, where they may remain until large enough to plant in their permanent places. There is no necessity to sow much seed, as a dozen plants will suffice for an ordinary family.

Tomato.-Seed may be sown in the open ground in all the warm districts. The best plan is to sow the seed in a box or seed-bed and transplant the young tomatoes when they are large enough to move. Dig the ground well, but there is no occasion, unless the land is very poor, to apply much manure. This vegetable should on no account be forgotten, for it is useful for a variety of purposes. The small fruiting kinds are perhaps the best to grow, as their fruit has a better flavour than the large varieties. The latter are the most ornamental and useful for marketing purposes, perhaps because appearance only seems to be the general guide in the purchase of such things.

Turnips. Sow a few rows in drills about 18 inches apart on well-manured ground. It is customary to sow turnips broadcast in vegetable gardens, but this is a mistake, for they can be better attended to, weeded, and thinned if sown in drills. Do not cover the seed with more than half an inch of fine soil.

Vegetable-marrow and Squashes.-Sow seeds in the warm parts of the Colony. The sowing will be the same as that recommended for cucumbers.

Flowers.

During the month of September plants of all kinds make rapid growth, and the garden becomes beautiful with fresh young foliage and numerous flowers. Those who have been watching with interest for their new plants to flower will soon be gratified, for during this and the following month (October) all the spring flowers will have expanded. The anemones, ranunculuses, daffodills, forget-me-nots, pansies, hyacinths, violets, some camellias, early roses, and many other plants should be in bloom. One of the most welcome of little flowers is the sweet violet. Everyone likes the violet, and very properly so, if only for its delicious fragrance; but the best kinds are not always grown, for there are many varieties of more or less merit, and amongst the best are the doubles which succeed well in cool districts. It is

a great mistake to allow violets to grow for years in the same spot without taking them up sometimes, dividing and replanting after the ground has been well dug and manured. In some cases it would be advisable to throw away all the old plants and obtain healthy new ones.

Comparatively tender plants, such as bouvardias, may be planted, and they will soon push ahead and make good plants. Bouvardias bear very pretty flowers indeed, and are easy to grow. If the soil should be very dry they will need watering or they will probably die away. There are many varieties, and some of the best are Brilliant, bearing flowers of a bright red colour; Candidissima, white, one of the most useful of the bouvardias; Dazzler, scarlet; Elegans, brilliant scarlet; Hogarthii flore pleno, rosy-salmon, double-flowered; Humboltii corymbiflora, large white sweet-scented flower; Laura, pink; Longiflora Glammea, rose; Maiden's Blush, a very useful one, flowers pale pink; President Garfield, pale peach, double flowered; Priory beauty, rosecoloured; Triomphe de Nancy, orange-salmon, double-flowered; Umbellata carnea, blush; Vreelandii, white; Jacquinii, scarlet, a most useful but old variety; President Cleveland, deep scarlet, single, one of the best of the bouvardias.

Prune back rather hard any old plants of bouvardias there may be growing in the garden.

Plant out pelargoniums or other evergreen plants or seedlings which may be in stock, but be sure to water them well and shade from the sun until they become well established.

Sow seeds of tender annuals and perennials either in the garden or in boxes, or kerosene tins, or anything that will contain soil, so long as it has an opening in the bottom to allow of surplus waters draining away. Anything planted out this month will need a good deal of care and attention, if the weather is hot and dry.

Orchard Notes for September.

THE Commencement of spring is a very important time for fruit-growers, as the success of the season's fruit crop will depend largely on the care, bestowed on the orchard now for the prevention of fungus diseases. The early spring is the commencement of active plant growth, and it is also the time that the spores of the various injurious microscopic fungi which are so prevalent throughout the Colony, and which cause such an amount of damage to the fruit industry, start into growth after having remained dormant during the winter, and it is at this stage of their life history that they are most easily and effectually destroyed, or at any rate prevented from doing any great amount of damage, by spraying the trees affected with efficacious fungicides. If the spraying is delayed till the fungus causing the injury has become firmly established, then it is generally too late to save the season's crop; but the right time to spray for the shot hole or scab of the apricot, the scab or Tasmanian black spot of the apple, or the scab or Windsor pear blight of the pear is first when the buds are swelling, and secondly when the fruit is setting. And these two sprayings, properly carried out, will nearly always prevent damage to the crop, or at any rate so minimise the evil that the damage to the fruit is insignificant. The best all round fungicide to use is the Bordeaux mixture, the recipe for making which has been published many times in the Gazette, but as this is the time to apply it I will give it again. Bordeaux mixture is made as follows:

Take 6 lb. of bluestone and dissolve in two gallons of boiling water, using a copper, wooden, or earthenware vessel in which to dissolve it, not iron, tin, or zinc, which are destroyed by the bluestone.

Take 4 lb. of unslaked lime and slake it in 2 gallons of water, stirring well. When cool, pour the lime and water, well stirred up (not the clean lime-water) through a fine gauze strainer to keep back any grit or dirt which would tend to destroy the valves of the spray pump, and add the strained liquid to the bluestone water, stirring well. Now add water to the mixture to make the whole up to 22 gallons, and it is ready for use.

To apply it use a powerful spray pump and a Nixon nozzle, using as much force as possible so as to drive the spray into every crack and crevice of the tree. Keep the mixture well stirred when using, and cover every part of the tree, but do not flood it. If very thorough work is wished, apply the spray to the tree twice at an interval of an hour or so. The first spraying will then have time to become hardened on the tree, and the second spraying will reach all spots missed the first time, so that the work done is much more perfect. The secret of success in spraying for the prevention of fungus diseases is not to regularly flood the tree, but so to spray that the tree may retain the largest amount of the fungicide used with as little waste as possible, and so that every part of the tree is covered with the fungicide. Where codling moth is troublesome it is advisable when spraying for the scab on the apple or pear to add 1 lb. of Paris green to every 160 gallons of Bordeaux mixture, at

E