Practical Gardening.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 31, 5 February 1916, Page 17

Practical Gardening.

SiTfiriTmation .„ and News>*£or Amateur and Professional.

By DfAN'THU'S.

win greatly oblige bit observing-the following rules in VStußng questions for publication, in these coUmxt: — 1. Letters should be addressed Garden £a%*or, "Star" Office, Auckland. on one side of the paper, and-make-all wtt-wwmicwttotw as concise S. Flowers, etc., sent for naming mast ie sent separately, and, if possible, rSP**ea m a tin or wooden bote—cardboard boxes are very UabUi to be broken Pia\<transtt and the contents damaged. A The full name and address of the sender must always be sent, but a i»«*.*-de plume or mitial may be given for publication.

TEE WEEK'S WORK. , ; . THE) "FLOWER GAUMI**.-. . Tlie -rains ot the past week nave been 'very welcome, and have brought joy to the foearts of the small gardeners. The ground is now nicely moist, and any •filling of empty spaces In the tieds, or any {planting, can be done at once. ■Dahlias must receive daily attention, for the moist weather has made the plants Igrow very fast. Tying *H> the -rapports must be done as soon as required, for tbe si ems are so brittle that a wind soon plays havoc with "them. Chrysanthemums are growing fast, andneed constant attention to tying. Should "rust" put in an appearance, the jplants should be sprayed with Bordeaux ■misuirej 4 —1 —10. Pansies aud violets that bave been flowering all the summer' should have the long wom-ont growths cm off. This will cause young shoots to spring up, which twill c&rry good blooms. These young growth make excellent cuttings if gently pulled away. They soon root if put in some sandy leaf soil ia a Ehady position. These rooted cuttings will be excellent *tor planting out In the autumn, and wUI be equal to seedlings in vigour. Tnis method is the way to perpetuate a stock of a good variety; seedlings, as a *Cule, cannot tie trusted to come true. Violas, as well as pansies, can be propagated in the same manner. -Hoses will be putting, forth growth that will,, produce some fine autumn blooms, and if the best is wauled, it is a good plan to •give a dose of manure. Either liquid manure made from cow or isheep droppings and soot can be used, or, as an alternative, a dressing of Clay's fertiliser •pr Carmona can be given. The latter are iuuvh cleaner and sweeter *c> use than liquid manure, and in districts •where houses are fairly dose together, a .tub of liquid jnanure is inclined to make •Che neighbours Inquire where the smell and "tire mosquitoes come from. The ground for winter-flowering sweet **peas should be got ready at once. Pfae end of the mootli should see some of the seeds in, and the ground is the better lor being -prepared some time before the seeds arc planted. 11 *bo*fbs~are going to be lifted this season, they should be started on with at once. The sooner they are lifted and replanted tie better. There is no need to lift every -year. The best way is to arrange it that fculf are lifted one year and half the next. Wataonias and other spring-flowering fculbs are also better for being lifted periodically. 11 left too long, the clumps get matted together, and the bulbs cannot give as •good flowers es they should. Lrias, Sparaxis, and Babianas are spring bulbs that can be lifted and divided now. A few anemones can be planted now. Anemones can be made to give blooms over «a very long period If the planting is done *it different times from January- onwards. w _"riHB TBGBTABJjE GAEDEjN. The rains of the past few days. If hav--3*25 ca-naed incorrveiiieirce to hoUday-maJters, Slave at least made gardeners rejoice. It has given plants and crops in the vege- ' -le quarter a new lease of life, and green a pa. that were stagnant and were suffering •from attacks of fly, should get away afresh.. A dose ol nitrate of soda at the rate 0. •an ounce to the yard, given to green crops each as cabbage, cauliflowers, celery, gpinarn, etc-, will work wonders. Cabbage seed should be sown now—the gTonnd is in beautiful heart—and the seed Should be up in a few days. Many buy their plants by the dozen from •the vendors, but noching beats the game of raising your own. ■Do not sow more than you want; one <*an as" easily sow two dozen seeds as two thousand. A small packet costing two or" three ■pence can be made to do three or four sowings. Cauliflower, parsley, carrot, turnip and spinach may all be sown vow. These are ji 11 crops that are of great utility in the garden; in fact, can be considered as absolutely essential. Beans of the dwarf variety Rbould be sown again; they will give a crop later on. Plant a lew potatoes in .1 warm, sheltered spot. A few new potatoes are' not lo be despised in the autumn. Gaelic, shallots, and onions should be harvested and stored as soon as ready. l>o not let the bulbs He out for the .sun to scorch through. They should be dry; after ■that sunning does no good. THE CELERY FLY. Much damage is caused to celery by the larvae of the celery fly. The female deposits its eggs on the leaves, and feeds upon the juicy substances, causing •blistered, yellow patches.. Prevention

5s better than cure, and the object should be to make the plants distasteful to the female flies, to prevent them depositing their eggs thereon. This can be done by dusting the ground plants with finely powdered lime or soot -whilst the foliage is damp. Spraying with tar •water or kerosene emulsion is also effectual. In cases where the pest has made its appearance all infected leaves should be pinched off and burnt, whilst ,the growth of the plants should be hastened and encouraged by being well watered and "iven a dose of nitrate of soda, at the rate of one ounce to the gallon, •about once a week. "~ JJXXUfS. CAaXJEDTTM. Lilium candidum, or the Madonna Lily, as it is commonly called, is probably the oldest known lily in existence. It is a native of Southern Europe, Turkey, Caucasus, Palestine, etc. In Great Britain it is undoubtedly the most commonly grown lily, for almost every cottage garden has a clump or two. In some of these gardens old clumps may be found with bulbs matted together in a solid mass, many of them half out of the ground exposed to sun, wind, frost, and rain, and yet flowering year after year. It will grow and flower in dry hungry

places where the ground is full of roots, as, for instance, under a macrocarpa, which means something, {or if there is one place where gardening is impossible it is under a large macrocarpa. If this lily had no other qualification it would be worth planting in large quantities in such positions. If transplanting of this lily has to be done, it should be undertaken at once. The resting time of lilhim candidum is unusually short, and the transplanting should be done within a few weeks of flowering. Although this lily will grow and flower in dry places, as already mentioned, it does much better if planted in the open ground in full sun. The position should be well drained, and the plants enjoy a fairly stifl soil almost bordering on to pure clay. The bulbs, when planted, should be put in 4 inches deep and 9 inches apart. The bulbs should not be kept out of the ground any longer than necessary.

PROTECTING GRASS EDGINGS. A handy and "easily-made contrivance for preventing injury to the edge of lawns when wheeling a barrow on and off of them is shown in the illustration.

It consists of a good-sized block of •wood, tapered or wedge-shaped at one end, together with a piece of board screwed to the top, and so arranged that it projects a few inches beyond the edge of the block. The block is "placed on the path close against the edge oi the grass, as shown at fig. 2. When the barrow passes over the edges are in no way cut I up or destroyed. ROSES IN WAR TIME. | (By E. and M. HOCKXIFFE in "Rose I Annual," 1915.) (Concluded from last week.) But what of the gardens where roses grow? The writer onoe visited a garden of a famous rose grower. It was a ■wonder and yet a disillusionment. A rose garden—the very combinatipn of the words suggest beauty. What could be more lovely? What is, in fact, more disappointing, viewed as a whole, than a rose patch? The rose grower's rose is, indeed, a beautiful thing. Pick the 'bloom and bring it indoors, and what can compare with it? But the rose grower's tree to tell the truth is stiff, ugly and inartistic. Let us have the blooms if yo-u like, hut let us hide the trees. The long lines of stiff growing stalks, each crowned [with one large bloom arc' frankly ugly, and they should be put a-way in the paddock. For our gardens let us go for a lesson in grace and beauty to an English lane, ivhen the hedgerows are clothed in the garment of the new June rose. In the growth of the tree lies half the mystery. Put Frau Karl Druschki upon the scrap heap, we have no use for stiff, military looking roses, -with no scent and German names. Keep Bessie Brown for the exhibition tent if you think her worth it, or send her to Potsdam. But tend and cherish in a place of honour in your garden GustavoRegis—what more lovely phan its just opened flower .with the dew upon its petals on a sunny morning. It is beautiful always—the bud, the full bloom, even its wide open petals. A bowl of it should always be in the house, sweet, delicate, exquisite in form —a flower to live with, a flower fpr a bride tp carry on her wedding day, a flower to strew the graves -of those whom the gods have loved and -whp haive died young. Its growth may be a little stiff and ungainly —'What a pity that it has not the grace and freedom ,of Gruss an TepUte—how hideous these names are—perhaps some of them -will he changed now. All the single and half-single roses are charming, and they should be grown in the herbaceous border. They bloom freely, their colour is delicious, they make among the stronger growing herbaceous blooms a fine contrast of delicacy and refinement. The -writers have memories of a delightful pld-fashion'ed garden where no new roses were ever grown, where there -was no special rosebud, yet the bushes grew and (lowered happily among j masses of common herbaceous plants and annuals —all were grown together in geuerous soil and "well oared for. There iwas nothing in the garden to attract the scientific gardener's eye, but the heauty of it "was # the delight of many an artist in days when the owner, an artist alive, and (when his artist friends -would often come to see him there in the closing years of a long life. What a lovely thing is Marie Van Houtte if you let her alone—from one good tree you may pick numbers of .blooms, especially in autumn, tbe season when, -perhaps, in some ways, this rose gives us of its best, and what a splendid figure it makes in the herbaceous border. So do Anrne Olivier and La Tosca. They grow freely and splen-

didly if yon will permit them to do so. They give you a constant -wealth of blooms, and if you are not content with ■ their size then you are not worthy to grow a rose at all. Caroline !Testo*ut and Madame Abel Chatcna? -will do as finely if you will spare the knife. -The cult of tho large Iblopm sppils us fpr •the beauty of the tree, and a.rose that •will grow into a bush is in itself a charming thing, with its pendant or upstanding blooms. If these are not quite as large as the three or four you will grow on a cut (back plant, they are often quite as perfect, and yoa will gather hundreds instead of tens. From quite a few trees of newer roses treated in much the same way, cut down a little these, but not much—Edit Meyer, Richmond, Liberty, General McArfchur, Dorothy Page-Roberts, and the Lyon, rose. *

There are so many rose 3 now that bloom all through the autumn that if you have but a small garden you will be wise to buy no plants but those which possess this admirable quality. And let us, who rarely sec a rose show express our gratitude to the altogether excellent official catalogue issued by the Society. We have found it always a most trustworthy guide. A glance throush it reminds us that we have forgotten that exquisite old favourite, Vicoiintess Folkestone—so well worth grpwing, not merely because she makes a fine bush, but because her flowers last so well. The fully-opened rose is lovely, more beautiful in the freedom of its lines, more graceful perhaps then than at any moment-of its ilowcring. This is a most useful quality that some roses have. Some are so short-lived, and those who have but a narrow plot of garden ground will be wise to plant trees whose blooms possess this power of lasting without loss of colour. Roses that have this character might well be starred in the catalogue. Lastly, if you possess a retaining wall in your garden, plant wichuraiancs at the top, and let them hang their groceiul festoonß down the wall. They clothe it- in due time with a wealth of beauty and make a delightful background to tbe border below. One more word of warning—beware of Juliet —the name suggests every quality that this rose seems not to possess; it is fragrant, it is true, but the colour is coarse aud crude—it would probably satisfy the sense of colour of a Hun.

And this conjecture brings us back to the thoughts which just now are never far away. It is a consolation that even in times like these, we may still give the honour due to poets and artists ami I sculptors and grcners of beautiful flowers and makers of gardens, even the humblest who try to keep alive the spirit of beauty. They are doing useful work—work not so essential, maybe, to our existence as that of our soldiers and sailors, but still work which, should it cease, would leave us as a nation poorer than before. POULTRY MANURE IN THE GARDEN. There is a large proportion of readers who keep poultry or pigeons, and, although neither are typical friends of the gardener, they supply what is by no means a bad fertiliser. The manure from these corresponds very closely to guano of the second class, and is therefore a valuable and invigorating fertiliser; but it needs more judgment in use than Ls generally accorded. Much, of course, depends upon what they consume, just the same as it docs with other animals. The ordinary grain and vegetable matter does not produce so good a manure from fowls as with a good run for insects and worms, helped by bone-meal and meat refuse. Peas arc supposed to alford the most valuable dung from pigeons, but the droppings from these arc not so variable or large as from the fowls. I ouly wish to give a hint as to the better and safer use of clearings from the fowl-run and pigeon loft than they frequently receive.

Like guano, fowl manure is very quickly dissolved in water, and provides equally rapid plant food; therefore it should be kept dry until ready for use. The ammonia arising from damp fowl manure is its most valuable part. Note what a difference there is in the smell of perfectly dry fowl droppings and when they arc damp. This is from the ammonia escaping into the air and greatly robbing the manure of its value in the garden. You will now sec how much better it is to use it. either in a liquid state, and so secure the greater part of its plant food being in the ground at I once, or covering it with some soil. A great deal of this loss can be prevented; by sprinkling some soil and ashes iv the fowl run from time to time. This not only prevents loss, but is far more, hcaithy to both birds and owners.

Lime is about the worst thing you could use so far as the manure is concerned, because it hastens the escape of the valuable gases. If you have only pigeons, add some wood-ashes to their clearings, and store dry until wanted.

The failure in using these manures really lies in ignorance of their great strength. If treated as suggested you have one of the most valuable;- and a little used to young plants cannot well be beaten, as it gives them soluble fopd immediately. Small doses frequently repeated are far better than risking an overdose; besides injury, the excess means considerable waste, because there is more than tbe roots can assimilate.

A little sprinkled pn the surface pf pot plants and watered in is quite as efficient as guano or other manures. It should never be used in the kitchen garden during winter, or placed deep in the soil. This only means waste. It is a good manure for carrots, parsnips, onions, cabbage, and lettuce. I

th H AMATEUR GARDENER OF TO-DAY. I have planted, and weeded, and watered, I've been Paul and Apollos in one; I have prmied, I have pinched, I have slaughtered Till it seemed I should never have done; But at last I can rest from my labours, And wait the good will of the sun.

Ah, no! —here's a stake badly wanted, . And there is the need of a string! And this little wretch that I planted Is like Omar's bird —"on the wing"; He'll be gone very soon; I must save him! Maybe "salt ou his tall" ls tbe thing!

Tbe peaches have all got the "curlys"; The roses have grub, and have "spot'; I turn till my head ln a whir! is, Endeavouring to doctor the lot! I must be a "mls'rable sinner," For there's nc rest for mc here, God wot! —H. M. WAITHMAN.

Capain Smith, of the Durham Light Infantry, attached to tbe Royal Flying Corps, was burnt to death whilst flying at Farnborough. last December. The aeroDhrne was seen in the air, with tiie airman trying to effect a landing. The machine, however, crashed to the earth, blazing so furiously that no assistance could be rendered, and tbe unfortunate officer perished in the flames.