Broccoli

If Broccoli, and other kinds of winter Greens, have been planted between Potatoes, the crop of which is now being lifted, the plants should be made thoroughly firm by levelling the soil and treading it round the stems. The dwarfer, the harder, the plants get now, the more likely they are to pass the winter safely. Tall, drawn, loose, flabby plants are nearly sure to be killed if a mild autumn is followed by a severe winter.

Cabbages

Sowing for spring use has been advocated already, and it only remains to say that if not already done there should be no further delay. Plants from earlier sowings will now be up, and should be protected from birds with netting until they get a few inches high. If the soil is hoed weekly the plants will grow rapidly, and be quite ready for planting by October.

Fig. 68. - Pruning Raspberries (p. 318).

a. An old and a weak young cane, both must be cut away.

b. Young canes that must be retained.

c. How to prune a newly-planted cane.

d. Basal buds.

Cauliflowers

The autumn crop ought to be making steady progress towards maturity, and regular hoeing will help it. Liquid manure will be beneficial. It is the practice of some growers to sow seed now for a supply in early summer of the following year, and the old variety Early London is a popular one for the purpose. If transplanted in autumn in a sheltered place, they often stand the winter; but in view of the uncertainty, other growers make a practice of sowing in heat in January, hardening the plants in a frame, and putting them out at the end of April.

Celery

Much can be done to improve this valuable crop now. In heavy, naturally moist soil water will not be necessary, but in light, dry land it will have a great influence for good. A weekly soaking of liquid manure will help also, and this may take the form of water in which an ounce of superphosphate per gallon has been dissolved. Half-developed plants may be tied top and bottom with raphia. Early crops may be earthed by drawing soil up to them as high as the tips of the stems; care should be taken that soil does not get into the hearts. Later crops need not be earthed for another month.

Cucumbers In Frames

A good crop of fruit may have been cut already, but the plants will keep on bearing for a good while yet if they are properly tended. It encourages continuous bearing to cut all the fruit while it is quite young. When the Cucumbers are allowed to grow to a great size, bearing is checked. One thing that may be done is to thin out the old growths and encourage new shoots by giving a top-dressing of fresh soil. They will soon begin to bear, and the shoots can be stopped a leaf beyond the fruit.

Com Salad

Some gardeners use this as a substitute for Lettuces in winter and spring Salads. Seeds for that purpose may be sown now in drills nine inches apart.

Leeks

Growers of Leeks must blanch the stems, just as in the case of Celery. There is no need to earth up at present, so far as plants grown for general use in winter and spring are concerned, but if a few specimens have been grown in a trench for exhibition in late summer or autumn, they may be earthed up. Blanched stems about a foot long and two inches thick throughout - not bulbous at the base and thin above - find favour with judges.

Potatoes

All the early crops, and perhaps some of the second earlies, may be lifted now. The tubers should be allowed to lie on the ground for twenty-four hours Tor the skin to set and get dry. Later crops are hardly likely to be ready for lifting yet, and so long as the tops are green and growing they may be left in the ground. It is not a bad plan, however, to lift a few roots while the plants are still green if sets are wanted for planting next year, because it has been found that immature Potato sets make better seed than ripe ones. They are not so good for eating, of course. The Potatoes which are to be cooked may be put in a store and covered with straw, or placed in a mound in a well-drained spot in the garden, surfaced with a 6-inch thickness of straw, and the whole covered with soil. There should be a vent-hole, stuffed with straw, to permit of moisture escaping.

Tomatoes

From now onwards all the energies of the plants ought to be concentrated on developing the crop. The tips should be pinched out if the plants are still growing, and the lower leaves trimmed or removed. Water and liquid manure will be helpful.

Turnips

A sowing of Snowball or White Model may be made for use in autumn.