The complete Indian housekeeper & cook

February. —Sow squashes, cucumber.s, and melons in the open ground, and sowings of native sjhnach and other vege- tables for early crop, especially brinjdh. Make sowings^of parsley in pots for the hot weather. March. Remove old soil from asparagus, cover with old manure, and water. Plentifully manure artichokes and plan- tains. Continue sowings of hot-weather vegetables. April. — Begins the dead months; but the first crop of briujtih, cucumbers, &c., should be fruiting, and tomatoes be in full swing. Now is the time for bird-boys and scarecrows, as mangoes, plums, pears, pomegranates, &c., are swelling. Sow millet for the cattle. May. — Sow maize and millet for the cattle. Plant Jerusa- lem artichokes and ginger. This is the summer of discontent in an Indian garden, and the gardener’s mind must be given up to watering the plants he has raised. June. — The same. Keejj what you have got as well as you can. Lawns. — Grass can be grown anywhere with care, if there is a supply of water; therefore, the horrid Indian fiower- garden, consisting of mud cart-wheels, divided into contortions by ridiculous little mud paths, should never be countenanced. 'To secure a good lawn, have the ground manured and levelled; water, level again, and then plaster over with the following composition ; Chopped doob gra.ss with j)lenty of roots one j)art, fresh cow manure one i)art, earth two jiarts, mixed into a mortar with water. This never fails with good watering. It is most successful in the raitiy months, and least from November to February, when the cold prevents the grass Housekeeper and Cook 143 sprouting. If bald patches come on a lawn^ manure with liquid manure, and sprinkle with a mixture of sand and soorki. (red brick dust), or ashes, and water morning and evening with a watering-can. In short, make the grass grow. Twice a year top-dress the lawn with leaf mould and fresh manure. Then flood with water. When dry, remove the rubbish and make neat. It is also good to loosen the roots onee a year with a three-pronged fork. Treated thus, the law’ll will be a pride to its owner. Beds. — To grow good flowers, beds must be like large pots, full of good pot mould, eaeh varying with the flower to be grown in it. They should be raised two inehes above the grass, so as just to escape flooding. Pots. — Pots should be shallow in proportion to their breadth, and are best with three holes, not at the bottom, but close to it on the sides. Lump charcoal is the best substratum. In sowing seeds the earth should previously be w'ell w'etted Avith w'ater, and rubbed up to an even friable state with the hands and put into the pots damp. The pots should not be filled with dry powdery earth and then Avatered on the top ; nor should the pots be quite full of earth. In repotting her- baceous plants, it must be remembered that only those Avhich have fllled the pot with roots require it ; and that repotting should only be done when the plant is beginning its most vigorous growth, the object being to supply it with more food. The best soil for pots in India is Avell enriched leaf mould, garden mould, and Avell-rotted manure mixed together, and more or less sand added according to the plant for which it is required.