THE GARDEN.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVII, Issue 3, 4 January 1896, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE GARDEN.

TO COSOUSSPOMDENTS.

By Hortus.

tHortus is willing to answer any queries. Correspondents must give their real names and uddresses though not for publication ,1

Ekrosene Emulsion, etc. (Amateur).—The best way to make this is to take Jib pf hard soap and dissolve it in $ gallon boiling water. As soon aa it is dissolved, add 1 gallon of kerosene, and churn both together for about ten minutes. When applying, dilute the abovo with ton to twenty-fiver times its quantity of cold water. That is to say, if dealing with scale on hard b;irk, ton times will bo sufficient. When dealing with mealy bupr or similar soft insects on .young foliage or soft baric, the histher proportion should be uned, Bordeaux mixture :' Copper sulpliato, 61b: quicklime, 41i>; water, 40 fralioiis. Dissolve fche copper sulphato by potting it. in a bap; at coarse cloth and hangfing this in a vessel holding at. least four gnlions of water, so ihat it is just covered by the water. Rlako the lime in an equal quantity of water. Whon all is dissolved, mix the two together, and add enough water to make forty callon.s ; it is then readT for use. If the above is required for syringing applo trees for codlin moth, ljoz of Paris green can b« added to the 40 gallons, when it will be very effective.

Siikep Manure (Settler).—Sheoo droppings are splendid for making liquid manurn. Plnce about osio bushel of droppings jinto about Im*. K.iilons of water, stir them well togothev and let it lie for ono day, then strain off the liquid. When using mix about two gallons of clean water to one gallon of the mixturo, wliei; you will find that it will greatly n.wist either fiowersor vc.sreta.ble9. Shei'p droppings are also a splendid manure when worked into tho soil either in the early autumn or for spring use. They are easily dissolved and act very quick upon all classes of vegetation.

Strawberry Runners and Old Plants. i During the early parb of the month preparations ought to bo made for the pickir.., out of young strawberry runners. A cool ehady place should ba chosen in which tic make up a bed in the following manner:—A layer of fresh stable manure about) fouiinches thick should first be put down, and on the top of the manure a layer of about three inches deep ot rich light) sandy soil should be spread. The length and width of.tho bed will depend on the number oi young plants required. After the bed is made it should receive a thorough eoaking of water bo that ib may geb well eettl&d down before its iB required for the reception of the young plants. In about a week after I it is watered it should bo ready fur the youDg plants. When it is ready the strawberry plant* should be gone over, ho as to get the young plants which are forming on the runners or tendrils. As these are taken oft, about two inches of the tendril should be left on attached to tho base of tho young plant. This at tiret will keep it in position in the soil of the bed. After a number of bbc runners hare been obtained, they should be taken to tho bed and dibbled into tho soil in rows about two inches apart every way. A sharp-pointed stick should be used for making the hole, and the end of the tendril should be placed, and a little bib ot the base of the planb with ib, just leaving the foliage above the ground. Tho fixing in of one row of plants b.eing complotad, the plant should be watered, and this should be continued till there aro an many plants put oub aa will be required for planting out in the autumn. After all tire put oub they ought to be shaded with the branches of trees and kopt moiab till they begin to grow, when the shading can be dispensed with, but the soil must be kept moist. In a week or so littlo rootlets will push onfc from tho base of the planb and pass through bha soil into the manure below, where they will soon get a good hold, and by the end of March or beginning of April sturdy healthy plants with good roots should be the reßulb of tho above treatment. Where only small patches of a few hundred plants are required for home consumption, the above should ba tried. Good plants for putting out in March can raadily bo obtained, and I have always found that the earlier in the autumn the young plants are pub out the larger the fruib and the better the crop will bo tho first year of planting. Whery possible it ie always better to retain the runners of tho bwo-voar-old fruiting plants. As coon (is tho fruiting season is over, clean and manure and dig round the plants which have frnited only for one season, Rfc:aw- ' berry plants which have fruited for two year? it iV little use retaining, ac the third season the crop will not bo n good one, «net ib is bettor to manure and dig the ground for some other crop as poon at all the fruit and runners are taken off the plants. Hints. Lettuce and radish seed, of the latter the turnip-rooted, ehould be sowu every three weeks., upon as cool a site as possible, provided ib be not unduly shaded. Should there come a rainy period take advantage of ib to transplant any seedling lettuce on hand, whether in seed beds, or resulting from the thinning of rows which ate too thick. Successional cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage seedlings should be transplanted, as tho seedling plants become large enough. If the weather is dry plant them late in the day, thoroughly watering them in. Early celery has to be moulded up euccessionally aa it grows. It is often in demand early in the month of January, hence progress must bo made. Abundant waterings will alone keep ib growing freely uuder the best conditions ofcuitme 6uch a season as this, and muab bo given the day before each moulding, beekien as frequently as necessary at other times. Persist in slightly liming or distributing soot over the, leaves as a preventive of the celery fly laying epegs in the leaves, which shortly produce that dire und increasii>& pesb the celery msggob. There may be a variety of opinions as bo the efficiency of theae dustings. Aa tho fly is likely to avoid euch noxious materials ie is well lo apply them, nevertheless, aa tho only remedy suggested up to date. Unfortunately these same flies deposit their eggs very numerously in parsnip leaves so that they ara increasing iv the country to au alarming extent. Border chrysanthemums, both summer and autumn blooming, planted into fairly good, rich Boil betimes, bave grown tolerably well. Those growers who intend farther stopping of tho shoots of the latter should now do so promptly. Meantime remove all sucker shoots which rise from the roots, and hoe well around them. Then a good root-watering will greatly benefit all. In many pieces these favourite plants are grown against walls and fencos, whore more frequent and liberal supplies of rootwater are fndißpeußable, with the addition gt occasional manorial waterings. Those

latter, moreover, will be vastly benefiibed by early morning and late afternoon syringings or overhead waterings, especially in town districts whero dust showers prevail daring dry weather. See to staking a3 may be necessary, and if dry weather continues place a mulching round the plants and over tho root 3. Waterings. Water is usually the first need of vegetables during the month, and artificial waterings havafc been, owing to excessive drought, an imperative necessity for all maturing crops. It is not enough to give occasional surface supplies, though they are refreshing applied towards evening, but the whole ground to some depth must be thoroughly moistened. Better one such watering as this during real periods of drought than incessant surface stoppings. The former cause a latent moisture to prevail to a goodly depth for somo time boyond tho usefulness of the actual watering. The latter i 8 promptly dried up each morning by hot sunshine—leaving tho ground surface hard-baked and tho crops suffering. Even when these surface dampings are suffi cienfc to cause young rootlets to form they aro generally surface rootlets, or are so shallow &b to be dried up by a long day's sunshine, giving little support to peas, beans, cauliflowers, etc., and perfectly useless and out of place aa regards root crops. Endoavour always therefore, to give good ground soakings, and cither very early in fche morning, or (and this ia far best) —late in the day, in those districts—especially where the soil ia so open and free as to carry continuous supplies from hose straight away down through the surface ground to the gravelly subsoils, ib is well to have some form of distributor attached to the nozzles upon hose, so that as large an area of ground as possible can bo watered ab once, with greater economy in the mattor of timo and water. Mulchings of stable litter, etc., are however, great conservators of water or latent moisture in the ground, beeping the roots cooler besides, and should always bo resorted to. If this is nob practicable the next best practice id to well etir the surface aa soon as dry enough after each watering, leaving it as looae and rough as possible.