HINTS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIV, Issue 2, 2 January 1903, Page 6

HINTS.

Petunias, verbenas, etc., must still be pegged down. Judgment and care is necessary to produce the best results, for whicli reason they should uot be pegged down too severely, or it will check the growth of existing flowering shoots and hasten over robust shoots to grow up from the base of escb plunt. Pegs should be so used as to influence the heads to maintain an apparently natural position.

Weeds have grown apace among vegetable crops owing toftnore recent moist weather, except upon such grounds as have been constantly stirred with the hoe. Every effort should be made to destroy them during such fine, dry wpather as the present month has in store. Upon hard surfaced, neglected lands good hoeiogs should be given before the crust becomes too solid with dry weaTuer, advantage being taken Of the latter to stir them, and if the weeds are green and numerous, rake them o£T. Foul quarters occupied recently with peas, dwarf beans, etc., past bearing, are best dug over, the weeds buried, and some late crops planted.

The orange Is of comparatively modern Introduction in horticulture. It is not mentioned in the Scriptures, nor by Herodotus, who lived five centuries before Christ, and wlio wrote a list "6f fruits then known, nor by Virgil, who wrote much about such matters 100 years before the Christian era. The orange came originally from the south of China, Burmah, and India. It is found growing wild ioi the jungles in vaHous Darts of India. The Arabs introduced the orange to their country, ana thence it got tc Syria.and Southern Europe. This was probably the bitter orange* The sweet variety was brought to Europe about the fourteenth century by merchants of Genoa or Portugal. Thence the tree was passed by the Spaniards and Portu*guese to the Azores and other parts of the "New World," and found congenial condit'ons. Hexleo, Florida, California, proved to be highly suitable. The St. Michael orange originated in the Azores; the Pernambuco and Bahia (or Navel), were both named after provinces in Brazil. The oraage is now found growing m nearly every country where there is enough sunlight and' absence of severe frosts. Grapes will now be at the colouring stage or near thereto, and should be given every encouragement. Afford full supplies of water, though a good surface mulching, Bweetened horse droppings, or stable litter free from the straw and thrown in a heap, and when hot turned inside to out-•side,-and top to bottom, answering well when" not more than a couple of inches thick, continuing the supplies of nourishment until the grapes are well advanced In colour, for most,late grapes,,take a long time to perfect 'thoroughly, and some are not so up to the shank even when apparently finished, wtiicu is often a consequence of too early stopping the supplies of nutrition, and im some cases the consequences of too short supplies of food ana moisture are manifest in the grapes shrinking, as not unfrequently occurs with muscats, and in the doings of the vines the following season. All late grapes require time, and all ought now to be colouring, or close on, while no harm will come to those advanced therein as regards- keepIng afterwards. In order to effect perfection of berry in size and finish, a fair amount of air moisture with a circulation of air constantly is imperative, diminishing the air moisture as the grapes advance in colouring. Poverty of finish is the chief cause of grapes shrivelling, cracking resulting of a close atmosphere, following a period of drought or ventilating injudiciously. Afford a temperature of 70 deg. to 75 deg. by day, 80 deg. to 90 deg. with sun, and close sufficiently early to increase to 90 deg. or 95 deg. When the sun is losing power, put on enough top and bottom ventilation to insure the circulation of air, allow the temperature to gradually cool, which rests the vines, and increase the ventilation early with the advancing temperature. The hot water pipes shoula, if necessary, have a little warmth in them to prevent the temperature falling below 65 deg. at night.

Artiiicial Manures.—Of late years gardening has made wonderful progress, but in one thing gardeners have lagged behind—namely, in knowledge of the use and application of artificial manures. The various mixed garden manures and special fertilisers offered for sale are of great value. The.numerous plants a gardener has under his charge have very different requirements, and a study is not only profitable but extremely interesting. Speaking broadly, farmers know what special fertilisers their crops require and why should not gardeners? All plants require mixed manures, but in the mixtures for wheat, oats, and barley, and plants of the same class, nitrogenous manures predominate;' for turnips and Swedes, phdsphatic manures; for potatoes, potassic and nitrogenous manures; ior clovers and leguminous plants, phosphatic and potassic manures; for mangolds, nitrogenous manures and salt, and so forth. If gardeners had their crops roughly mapped out in the same way it would be advantageous to them. The matter is not, however, so simple as it looks, for even in manures of the same class there are great differences. Take the two nitrogenous manures in most regular use, namely, nitrate of soda and sulphate otf ammonia. Although they supply the same kind of plant food.nameiy, nitrogen, they often act in a widely different way. Sulphate of ammonia, though the richer of the two, is much slower in making its presence felt, and its specific action appears to be to develop the flower and seed. Nitrate of soda, one o€ the quickest manures at our disposal, on the other hand, appears to develop the leaf and stem. Herein, then, is room for great diversity in practice. Plants may be assisted or damaged by ihe manure used according to the purpose for which they are grown. Nitrate of potash, better known as saltpetre, is a quick-acting, valuable manure when applied in small quantities. It supplies not only nitrogen, but potash, two elements of plant food often deficient in soils. The best general artificial manure la genuine Peruvian guano. It contains all the different kinds of plant food usually lacking in soils, and in such form that they become available as the plant requires them. In poor or worn-out soils it is a manure that can scarcely come amiss. There is great choice amongst phosphatic manures. Bones, raw, dissolved, boiled, and steamed; mineral superphosphates; basic slag; phosphatic guanos, and others. Ground raw bones are slow in action, but promote healthy growth; dissolved bones are quicker, but do not usually give such sturdy growth. Steamed bonemeal and flour are intermediate and valuable. Mineral superphosphate hastens the maturity of plants and gives bright, clean growth. Basic slag is the slowest o<f the lot, and, containing a large percentage of free lime, is excellent on sour soils; in these it neutralises the acid vegetable matter and induces healthy growth. Potassic manures include muriate of potash, sulphate of potash, and kalnlt, the latter being commonest and cheapest. Wood ashes

also contain a considerable percentage of potash. Potash is said to assist in the formation of starch, hence its value, "it is usually on light, sandy soils that this class of manure is most effective, clay soils being- comparatively rich in potasl£ There are, under these, many manures that cannot be mentioned in the space, at disposal. There is one more aspect ot the question to-be briefly discussed,nam&. ly, Have artificial manures, or chemical, substances, much influence on the colom of flowers? "We know that iron gives \a blue hydrangeas; manganese is said to deepen the tint of blue flowers, and gen. erous feeding brightens the colours of some others. Beyond this our knowledge is circumscribed. It is, nevertheless, an Interesting- question, and deserving of more inquiries and experiments than have yet been extended to it. If these few remarks draw attention to artificial feN tilisers, they will have served their pur* pose.