Practical Gardening.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 49, 26 February 1916, Page 17

Practical Gardening.

and News for Amateur and Professional.

By DIANTHUS.

Corrcpondcnts will greatly oblige by observing the following rules in sending questions for publication, in these columns: , J. Letters sliould be addressed Garden Editor, "Star" Office, Auckland 2. Write on one side of the paper, and make all communications as concise as possible. 3. Flowers, etc., sent for naming must be sent separately, and, if possible, packed in a tin or icooden box — cardboard ooxes are very liable to be broken in transit and the contents damaged. s 4. The full name and address of the sender must aluxtys be sent, out a oom de plume or initial may be given for publication.

TO CORRESPONDENTS. BOiRS. New (Lynn.—TUe plums should foe budded at once with tti? varieties you mention, and if the fauds do not take you can graft the trees early next spring. -The plum is not a treo that "takes 'kindly •to any serions heading "bnck, and it •would pay you to procure- new trees of the varioties you wish to head the trees over -with. Recraftins and budding of established trees in some cases is a success, but more often it is otherwise. ■The varieties you mention axe very g°°<l varietias of English piums. and H this Is the class of plum you require you could not improve upon them.

THE WEEK'S WOBS. THE FLOWER GARDEN. The weather is still very hot and dry, and the flower garden is suffering very much from the effects. Where water can be obtained in abundance the effects of the dry weather will not be felt so keenly, but water is scarce there is little possible to be done. Dahlias nre growing fast, and are now beginning to bloom, although the flowers ire not of good quality as yet. develop properly. The best plan, unless the i blooms are urgently required, is to remove them. ■ If caterpillars put in an appearance, give the plants a spraying of arsenate of lead, one ounce to the gallon. "The plants should be kept staked and tied, otherwise a gale will cause havoc, as , the plants are very sappy. -".'A dressing of superphosphate, at the rate of-about one ounce to the plant, will help i rthem considerably. This should be watered In, or wait till a shower. " " Chrrsanthemums are showing buds now, : end will take a lot of feeding; twice a week ■ Trill not be too often. As soon as the buds can be seen, disbudding should take place. Tying up will be required to be carefully - done, and needs attention every few days. The plants need a lot of disbudding: if allowed to go on they prodnce an enormous number of buds, which can never develop properly. Two. or at most three, buds to each shoot Is quite sufficient. Pests must be watched for. and at the first sign means taken to eradicate them. If rbst Is present, no matter in how small a degree, spray the plants with Bordeaux jnirture 4-4-40 or lime sulphur, one part to • 100 parts water, or sulphide of potassium, " half, an ounce to a gallon of water. ? fa7iSs sha"t were put down in . ' January have made some good roots by I now, and will be ready to move as soon us ".the weather is favourable. '■"-'■ "Where the plants can '>c watered it is '■' possible to move them at any time, but a '. few days more alongside the parent will do them no harm, and planting with artificial watering is poor and laborious com- ■ pared to a few dull days and .1 soak of rain. The earliest layers—that is, layers that have been down six or eight weeks, and can be seen to be making growth—can be severed from parent plant. ■ Cut through the stem which joins the ■ layer to the plant, but leaving the layer . Btni in the ground. Wheu you require the layer you will then only have to lift the plant The above method is recommended by many as preventing undne checks, but I lave planted out hundreds without this "severing before lifting." and have never tad any trouble or noticed any detrimental effects. Still, if our readers have a fancy there Is no reason that can be said against it, and there are many that can be put forward In its favour, and undoubtedly those who advo- . rate this practice have good reasons for so doing. Weeds seem to have a charmed life, for after hoeing every week or so'one is amazed ■lo find how many weeds they can find every time they go round. The winter flowering or perpetual carnations that were struck from cuttings last September or thereabouts are just beginning to throw up blooms. Disbudding shouid take place; in fact, many of the buds this toot weather will fail to mature, and if this is so the ..whole flower shoot should be removed at once. It is no use letting the plants produce poor sunburnt flowers—bejter to make the plant a little late by removing the flowering shoot, and wait for another one to be pro- . duced. Staking of these should take place. I find the best way is to put three or four stakes around each plant; a few ties with raffia ionnd the stakes will keep the plant erect. Bulb planting should be pushed on; it is time they were in the ground. The following, bnlhs are best planted at once: Narcissi and daffodils of all sorts, also I Ilium longiflornm (or Christmas lily, as it is often called), lilium cajididum, montbretias, watEonias, tritonias, babianas, freezias belladonna lilies, etc.

THE VEGETABLE GAEDEN. Things in the vegetable garden are more or less at a standstill. Where there is plenty of water there is a certain amount of growth. W/here there is little or no water there is mot much growth, and in consequence not much wort-. Where there are any empty spaces these should be turned over with the spade. A good summer fallowing will do no harm. Soil turned up for the snn to bake will be far better than if allowed to lie solid and crowing weeds. There arc many spaces which can be turned, np now. The ground where tho onions, potatoes, nnd various other summer crops have grown should be available to be due up. Any old spent crops should be cleared off. At this time in the year, when pests are ioaving the time of their life, no effort should be spared to destroy everything which harbours or feeds them. Old cabbages, pea haulm, potato tops, and many other kinds of rubbish which, if left lying about, is the harbour for untold diseasts and pests, if dragged together and a match applied would be the meajis of destroying myriads of pests, and the ashes provide potasl) for the next crop. Hedges should be cut, and the trimming "ragged on to an empty piece of ground in the kitchen garden and burnt. This is the best means of turning what is a valueless Product into a valuable one. Wood ashes should be kept dry if It is Intended to preserve them for future use. but as potasJi, which is the valuable part of wood ash, is retained in the soil, the best method is to spread the ashes directly on to a piece of ground, and let the rain wash in- the potash. The gronnd that will carry next year's crop of onions should receive a dressing also the ground for peas or beans should lave a dressing.

IOMATO BLOSSOM-END ROT, OK BLACK SPOT. In "Phytopathology" for October, 1814, C. Brooks writes: "This rot is well known, and is characterised by the appearance of a blackish spot near the style when the fruit is one-half to twothirds grown, which rapidly increases in size, finally spreading deep into the fruii tissue. The affected tissue boeomes ■ black, bard, and leathery, and the tomato much flattened. The disrasn thus charappears to !/."• i'ic common 'Black :■-.,-:■: of to!r..U'./i toe. well known

in this country. It has been ascribed to a of causes, principally totfungi or bacteria. The author carried out a large number of experiments with the object of ascertaining the exact cause of the trouble, and concludes that the disease is not primarily due to bacteria or fungi. Plants are most susceptible when in a condition of great' activity, and either excessive watering or a sudden check in the water supply may produce the disease. Sulphate of ammonia, dried blood, cottonseed meal, and heavy applications of horse manure all increase the disease, while nitrate of soda and lime decrease it. Raising the soil temperature of greenhouse plants increased the disease. The author believes that the increase in the disease from heavy watering is due to the development of harmful humie and ammonium compounds, and an accompanying decrease in nitrates. Susceptible tissue has more starch and more oil than normal tissue, and its cell sap has a higher asmotio value."

biantjiue roB flowering SHEU3S. The following is given as a good mixture of artificial manures for flowering and other snrubs and trees: Superphosphate eight parts, sulphate of ammonia four pajrts, sulphate of potasn four parts. Apply in spring at the rate of H-2oz per square yard.

EDGING TO SOWN LAWNS. The time for making preparations for the laying down and sowing of lawns is here. The illustration shows a very good hint to be remembered when doing this work.

When making a lawn by sowing seed, it is difficult to get a good, firm, true edge, and the best plan is to procure some turf and lay an edge of about 6in -wide. This keeps the edge true, and prevents the loose soil edge from breaking away. The seed can then be sown without scattering over the paths and other places. PEAR OR PLUM SI,TJG WORM. At the present time many plums, pears, hawthorn. and cherry trees are suffering from an attack of the pear saw-fly or slug-worm (Selandria atra), a 'detestable pest, that does much mischief to pears, cherries, and thorns, and in its

SLUG -WORM AND SATV-iiILY (Sclandrla atra), ■Jug-worm condition has an objectionable odour. The saw-flies are brownish, ! and appear soon after midsummer, when the egg 3 are soon deposited on the upper sides <jf the leaves, where they hatch out in four or five days. The lumpy larvae is largest just behind the head, asd U furnished with ten pairs of feet. About four or five weeks after birth the slug-worms cast"their dull bottle-green skins and appear as dull yellowish caterpillars. In the slugworm state Selandria atra is very destructive, eating all the substance out As soon as they arc detected—and tbcy may be found any time from midsummer to March or April—the trees should be of the leaves, and skeletonising- them, dusted with quicklime or a spraying of arsenate of lead (*oz to the gallon of' water) is effective. If lime is jraed, two or tliTee dustings at intervals of three or four days should be given. Should the insects put in another appearance later on, similar measures should be taken. If watch ia kept, and a dusting or spraying given as soon as one or two insects are noticed, the pest can easily be kept in, check. RAISING CARNATIONS FKOM SEED. The growing of carnations from seeds h very simple, and failures in most instances can he traced to the -fact that seeds are not fcesh, or to some detail in attention, such as overwaterißg or under-watering. Raising carnations from seed is very interesting, for although thie is a large element of chance in it, there is. always-the of a good variety appearing. Seedlings as a rule are moxe-vigorous than named varieties, and if a -good strain of seed is obtained it will give a goodly number of plants that will give an abundance of bloom, which, if not-up to show-standard, will be very valuable for cutting or garden decorative purposes. The seed should be sown in shallow boxes about three inches high, which should be filled as follows: —In the 'bottom put a half-inch layer of moss or leaves. On this place soil, which should be -largely composed of leaf soil and sand. Fill up the 'box to within half an inch of the top, press down the .so.il firmly, making it smooth over the entire surfjee, then water it. ■/

When it has drained sow the seed very thinly over the 6urface, then cover the seed with about a-qnarter inch of finely sifted soil, the same mixture as was used for filling the-boxee will do. Place the bos outdoors, cover with a pane ot glass, and cover the glass with a sheet of newspaper, to prevent the eun drying the surface. The surface should be kept damp by an occasional sprinkling irom a fine rose watercan or a syringe. As 6oon as the seed has germinated, the paper and glass must ho gradually removed. If tho seed has been sown thinly the seedlings can stand in the box till they have made four or five leaves, and the plants are about one inch high. As soon as the seedlings are ready they should be transplanted into similar boxes containing the same sort of soil as before. The plants should l>e set from three to four inches apart, and watered whenever they need it. When large enough, that is, when about three inches ihigh, the plants can be put out into a prepared bed, allowing about la •to 15 inches between the plants. Seed sown now should produce plants that ■will flower next summer.