Work is not very active in the kitchen garden during the early part of September, but the work of clearing ground of mature or exhausted crops goes on steadily.

Celery

The main crop may be encouraged by giving water and liquid manure, and also by tying. There is no necessity for earthing yet, as frost is unlikely, and the plants will grow faster without soil about them than with it.

Endive And Lettuce

The progress of plants in seed rows can be expedited by thinning and hoeing. The most forward plants can be put out a foot apart.

Onions

Small Onions, grown from seed sown out of doors in spring, will ripen quickly if they are drawn from the soil and left lying in the sun for a few days; but much larger plants, resulting from seed sown under glass in winter, and planted in very deep, rich soil in April, will need more attention. They cannot be left safely unchecked after the middle of the month, because if the weather should turn wet they would be liable to start growing afresh, and that would be disastrous. If they have got a very firm hold of the soil owing to the roots having struck down deeply, they can be checked by bending the bulbs sideways day after day, thus breaking the roots by degrees. This, combined with laying over the tops, will bring growth to a standstill. If the bulbs are very large they will require a good deal of ripening, and had better be exposed to all the sunshine that there is throughout September, but put under cover at night, and in wet weather.

Potatoes

What is called supertuberation, or second growth, in Potatoes, consists in the production of small new tubers at the end of the season, when the plants have apparently finished growing and matured their crop, or in fresh outgrowths on the large tubers. In the latter form it is particularly objectionable, because it practically amounts to deformity, and greatly impairs the value of the crop. Second growth is very common in a wet September, and it is the liability of it which makes lifting as soon after maturity as possible advisable.

Spinach sown a few weeks ago ought now to be up, and ready for thinning. The plants should be left quite clear of each other, or they will get crowded and run to seed.

Tomatoes

Accelerate the development of outdoor Tomatoes by reducing the foliage on the lower part of the plants and round the fruit. Individual fruits that have grown to a satisfactory size may be removed and ripened off the plant, either on a window ledge, or in a box in a cellar. Plants on which the fruits have swollen evenly, and are large enough, may be taken up bodily, and hung head downwards in a cool, clean outhouse. The fruit will colour quite well there. If winter Tomatoes are wanted, cuttings may be struck now. A warm house will be needed for the plants.