THE GARDEN.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 201, 23 August 1905, Page 7

THE GARDEN.

(BY HOBTUSJ tion^° r n S ta lUn & to answer any QuesCorrespoudeiits must give their rca: dcaU-n-Y ad<lrea߀S ' tiou * a aot *« pubTO COHBESPO-vDENTS American Blight. - ibid. - Obliterate every vesuge of this pest with a painter's Drc-h dipped in turpentine. If you do so on its first app arance, aud as often as it shows subsequently, you will have no difficulty in keping it under. Neglect on its appearance leads to its spreading so that it seems hopeless to contend with it — a very mistaken idea. HINTS. Laehenalia. — To form a good bloom. spikes must be maintained on sunny green hurse shelves. Gre_i_ouse asparajrus. in variety, comtneueinsr to grow freely, may be divfded if really necessary, or receive a shift. :'S is deemed necessary. There is many _ -unny side or back wall in gre •■here the taller forms planted" out in tc •'tis would Sourish and make fine fac- ( iadioLi should all be now planted. It is • t :o insert the cores at least two inch s ■ •t.uv.- the surface of the ground, and dro. a littl • sand into the holts for their :o rest upon.by which means a considers percentage may be kept from rotting, ow.az to the wet state of the ground. Celery ire -ihes, where ground space exists, should bo .tig oat. manured and pre pared soon, espeuiaUy fcr the earlie-i rows, as by so doing time will be go in'•_ at a more busy season, and crops of spin ach, lettuce, rad-__.es, etc., can be forth with sown or planted b"«ween them. The rrencces should be ift asunder and 14 tc 1_ Inches deep. Cucumber seeds should all be deflnitel> sown by all in possession of sufficient > vrarm structures. A favourite meuho. of sowing the seed is to place two inches of roughish soil, consisting of three parts of fibrous loam to one of decomposed stable manure, into four inch pots. Th - seed is to be pressed, one tv each pot into this, then the pots are to be plunged in heat. Beet, carrots, and sslsafy should be sown for main crops immediately the surface ot z'ae ground is dry enough. Sow the first _ foot asunder in drills, and an inch deep. As this c-rop will uitimat ly be thinned !• -ight or t.'n inches apart, the somewhat :_r;re seeds should be dropped a couple tr aether at ahont five inches apart. Sow car-i-oots in shallow drills ten Laches apart, ai?d ivoid too thick sowings, which cause unnecessary work in thinning the after s eu--ngs. Make a point of sowing the grand j . ruproved intermediate variety. Sew sai- ! iafy also in drills nine inches asunder | Zinnia elezans is a splendid half hardy annual, a native of Mexico. It grows to "i .•••ight of two feet, well branched, aDd .orms a handsome bush. The colours of th lowers are extr mely varied both in single and double kinds, aud are always bri, ! lant. It is a plant of gr:at beauty, and ! jf branching habit. They are most euec- | rive grown tcjietber in beds o: border . ] •:"eed may be sown in gentle heat, or out- I .de in a sheltered position at th. end •<■ I ac- month. It is very rapid in growtrv .ad should be grown on without a check. | .nd planned out in rich soil, and in a sun- j iy position. Zinnia llesicana is dwar; n habit, being only one foot in height. I .t is a fine bushy plant. The peculiar pleas- j ug and brilliant colour of this plant, com- I ined with its fin j blocming character. ' trongiy recommends it. The seedlings are | -ardeaed off iv the same way as all other I :aif hardy annuais. ana are planted ou I t the end of November in rich soil, plant 1 :ng at l:a_t one foot apart. They are usp j vi for cutting, lasting a long time in ;v_t_rWaterings, in gnu nee tion with ail pot plants, require circumspection, in view of luricipating the wants of each, before any ecome too dry. yet not giving any until | .£ is really wanted- If gre n moss forms | .pon the surface of the soil in any pet. I . romptly stir up the same and remove it: i*. if similar growths exist on the ontide of the pats, promptly wash them oth prove there is too much root mois cure in the soil, and the evil will be u< - "nttuited unless the superficial proofs en tnerated are removed. Meantime, be ir I nderstood, many thriving plants — cotbly lonian azaleas, camellias. henths, an. _.c like, having their pots fairly full o: oots, will not show that they thirst otherise than from the drooping of the exremities of the young shoota. This must .>e avoided by anticipating their requ'r, laents, so that there is never any defi iency of latent moisture in the soil, nor .: any tune a long standing excess c water. Capable growers intuitively knou j ,-_.e wants of each plant, and if they havt ,ny doubt in regard to any. they uecide ..he matter by rapping the pot with the __iuckles, when, if dry, they give off _ .ight hollow sound, if wet something mort resembling a thud. Early peas are best stieked aa soon as finally moulded up. because the sticks af ford them some slight protection against old winds. In finally earthing them trp, the ground beside the rows should be wen need and broken up into fine mould. Draw this towards the rows so as to form a ridg on each side of the row, with only sufficient crumbs failing towards the base of the plants to bury the base of the stau-s. but not the leaves: because If these last are covered the base of the plant will become blanched and enervated. The suggested ridge will form a kind of basin, .vhereby rain waters will be confined t. the actual roots. The sticks are best inserted so that the two rows slant in opposite directions. Fix the sticks at the same distance apart, top and bottom; not drawn together at the top, as is sometimes dove. Always insert, upright, a necessary screen of brushwood, or branchlets between th" main sticks at their base, to conduct the olants upward until they secure the support of the main sticks. By this means fewer sticks will be required- and the best results obtained. Vegetable seed sowings are in too general a way late and behind hand this season, particularly as regards amateurs in allotments, etc. The worst of such de ay is that the rains which have prevailed during the early part of Angust have made lands too wet for working upon and for efficient seed sow'ngs, whereas most of July was favourable for ground work. Not a day must be lost now (beyond what is necessary to get the ground in proper ord_r). before all important main crop seeds are sown. By way of neutralising the wet state of the ground, upon the first fine dryins morning scuffle the surface of the -r-und with hoe. rake, or fork, and towards the afternoon draw drills and sow the seeds, but do not tread npon the seed bed" more than is necessary. Freshly dug lands will break down finely by above treatment, and fairly light lands so treated may be forthwith sown. The difficulty of sowing newly dug ground with onion seed is that it is too light and must bt trodden over before the very shallow drills are drawn, and the seed must be pressed into the latter with the foot. Peas also should always be trodden into the drills before they are covered over.