_Kitchen Garden._--Sow successional crops of Early Seville beans, and
William I., American Wonder or other peas in the beginning and end of
the month; early cabbages to follow the last sowing in August; red
cabbages and savoys towards the end. Sow also Early Horn carrot; Early
Purple-top Munich turnip; onions for a full crop in light soils, with
a few leeks and some parsley. Sow lettuce for succession, with
radishes and Round-leaved spinach, twice in the course of the month;
and small salads every fortnight. Plant Jerusalem artichokes,
shallots, garlic, horse-radish and early potatoes. Transplant to the
bottom of a south wall a portion of the peas sown in pots in frames in
November and January for the first crop. Sow Brussels sprouts in
gentle heat for an early crop.
_Fruit Garden._--Prune apricots, peaches, nectarines and plums, before
the buds are much swelled; finish pruning apples, pears, cherries,
gooseberries, currants and raspberries, before the end of the month;
also the dressing of vines. Keep the fruit-room free from spoiled
fruit, and shut it close. Cut down the double-bearing raspberries to
secure strong autumn-fruiting shoots. Head back stocks preparatory to
grafting.
_Forcing._--Sow melons and cucumbers on hotbeds and in pits. Sow
carrots, turnips, early celery, also aubergines or egg-plants,
capsicums, tomatoes and successional crops of kidney-beans;
cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, in gentle heat, to be afterwards
planted out. Plant early potatoes on slight hotbeds. Continue the
forcing of asparagus, rhubarb and sea-kale. Commence or continue the
forcing of the various choice fruits, as vines, peaches, figs,
cherries, strawberries, &c. Pot roots of mint and place in heat to
produce sprigs for mint sauce. Be careful to protect the stems of
vines that are outside the forcing-houses.
_Plant Houses._--Let the greenhouse and conservatory have plenty of
air in mild weather. Pot and start tuberous-rooted begonias and
gloxinias. Pot young plants of Hippeastrum, and start the established
ones. Propagate chrysanthemums in cool-house or vinery under hand
lights or frames. Put plants of fuchsias, petunias, verbenas,
heliotropes, salvias and other soft-wooded subjects, into a
propagating house to obtain cuttings, &c., for the flower garden. Sow
stocks, dahlias and a few tender and half-hardy annuals, on a slight
hotbed, or in pots. Propagate old roots of dahlias by cuttings of the
young shoots in a hotbed. Sow petunias in heat, and prick out and
harden for bedding out; also gloxinias to be grown on in heat till the
flowering season.
_Flower Garden._--In dry open weather plant dried roots, including
most of the finer florists' flowers; continue the transplanting of
hardy biennial flowers and herbaceous plants. Sow in the last week
mignonette, and hardy annuals, in a warm border, for subsequent
transplanting.