Practical Gardening.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 240, 7 October 1916, Page 17

Practical Gardening.

By DIANTHUS.

Correspondents will greatlt, sbliffe by observing, the fottoving H*fes i» .ffmding questions for publication in these columns: — J. Letters should he addressed Garden Editor "Star" Office Auckland Z. Write one one side of the paper, and make all communication* as tondee at possible S Flowers, etc, sent for namimg must be sent separately and, if possible, packed im a tin or icooden boa — oardboord boxes are very liable to fee broken in transit amd the contents damaged. ■i. The full name and address of the aemder must ohooy Iβ »c**, but • pom de plmme or initial maty be given far publication. I THE WEWB 'WORK. i R "^~"™" — I THE FLOWER GARDEN. ? I. Clean the Carnation plants of rusty foliage. | I Hoe the beds and borders. 's I Annuals such as Coreopsis, Larkspur, Escholtzia, Godetla, 5 I Gysophila elegant, Sunflowers, may be sown now. j I Give Sweet Peas attention, keeping the growths to the supports. i g Keep a sharp look-out for slugs on the young Delphinium shoots. i I Spray Roses for mildew. | I Prepare ground for Chrysanthemums. I Spray Chrysanthemums for rust. s • Divide old stools of Chrysanthemums. 5 THE KITCHEN GARDEN. I Continue to sow successional rows of Peas. I I Plant Potatoes; earth and spray those already up. i I Plant Cabbage, Cauliflower and Lettuce. . ; § , Sow seed of Tomato, Celery, Marrows, Pumpkins, Runner Beans, \ I Dwarf Beans. \ |. Onions may still be planted. Sow now for pickling uses. § I Sow Parsnips and Carrots, if not already done. '

TO CO-RESPONDENTS,

INQUIRER, Mount Eden.—lt Is very difficult to suggest a remedy for broad bean ruEt. Once the plants are attacked there seems no hope but to <pull up and burn the plants. Spraying -with a fungicide such as vennorite, bordeaux or limesulphur would check the disease. The difficulty lies in the fact that broad boans axe growing and are attacked during fhe late -winter and early spring just when the weather is shpwery and generally damp, and opportunities for spraying are not as a rule frequent. I would suggejt you spray with vennorite once a week, and note the results, wliich you might communicate to mc. The undersides of the foliage must be well sprayed, as this is where tie trouble chiefly has its origin. When using the vermorite mix an ounce or so of soft soap into the spray mixture; this will help the s-pray to cover the fodiage tetter. A.S., Henderson.—<l) Move the honeysuckle into a damper and. heavier Boll; the present position appears to be too hot and dry. (2) The reason of your anemone seedlings being so largely single the seed was saved from double flowers —is because the blooms were cross-fertilised toy the bees from single flowers. To save the seed properly you must cover the blooms with thin gauze or cheese-cloth, co that i>ees and other insects cannot, gain access to the flowers. The hlooms should be protected whilst in the bud stage, 'mere is no need to hand fertilize the flowers; ivigorously ehake the blooms about midday when the sun is oat and the flowers are dry. A certain 'proportion of tne seedlings ■will come single no matter how ■well the blooms are protected, bet the large majority should -be double. (3; The sweet peas are apparently attacked by a collar rot. A similar diseaee attacks aster and antirrhinums. The best means of control is to pull up and bnrn infected plants as soon as noticed. The disease Is usually due to infected soil; hence, if possible, do not grow sweet peas in the same sell for more than two years. If change of soil is not possible, the bede Kbould ±>c soaked with a solution of formalin In ■water in the proportion of one pint of formalin to twelve gallons of water. One gallon of the mixture shonld b* allowed, to each square foot of soil.

After watering the soil should be covered for two or three daye with oM bags or coarse sacking to keep In the fumes. The ■watering should be done after tne ground I is ready for planting or sowing, and a I week or ten days should be aJlowed between the watering and the planting to ! allow- for the complete escape of the for- ■ xnaliu fumes. I H.W.T., Kangatana.—(l) Wood ashes ere I beneficial to All plants, some more than j others perhaps, but of valoe to ail. The should be kept dry until used,, as the potash contained in them is very soluble. <2) I wonld certainly advise you touse them on ground for potatoes. (3) Nitrate of soda to beneficial to the majority of vegetables, but mostly to roots and green vegetables, such as caWbage, cauliflower, carrots, -turnips, parsnips. 'It is of little value for peas or bea Dβ, and in some casee is injurious, consequently ltls best not to uee it for these crops. The quantity to .use varies somewhat, but a good rule is to use a*out ball-ounce to. the square yard. A teaepoonrui equals Just about half-ounce. Or as a liquid man-are use a. dessertspoonful (about one ounce) to the kerosene tin of water, and water the plants with the solution. H) Sheeu manure is first class for the vegetable garden. Soot obtained from an open fire is all right, bnt the dust from a. flue would toe of Jlttle, if any, value. Tn any case the manurial value of soot Jβ the nitrogen It contains, and as nitrate of soda supplies this cleaner and easier "'there is little need for soot unless it is very easily obtained. SLUGS. Writing from Stanmore, Sydney, X.S.W., Mr F. M. Clements says:— "I find a solution of soft soap—one pound to eight gallons of water, and a quarter of an ounce of sulphate of ammonia added—very effective, the haonte being -well watered with this!solution. 'It drives all the slugs out on to the pathe, and ailso quantities of worms. "The solution does not appear to hurt any plants, except glaucous-leaved ones, and it invariably causes their leaves to fall off."

SHHUJ3Y POPPIES. ' ■ Frail,-frail are the flowers of all the poppies, yet how lovely with their crumpled petals shining like satin in the sun. If cut early in the morning as the bude .are bursting they stand in vases of Trater. The Eeeds are very tiny, and it is difficult to sow them thinly enough. It is a -help to mix them with dry sand and then sow sand and seed. Cover very thinly, and when the seedlings are up thin out to a foot apart. If left too long before thinning the leaver get entangled and plants are epoiK. v The seedlings do not transplant very well, 'but as the seed ie cheap this is not of much consequence. A packet of Shirley poppy seed sown now wfll give a delightful bit of colour to the mixed border. AXONSOAB. There is a graceful charm and daintiness about these lovely plants, usually offered as hardy annnale, but true perennials in Auckland district. They are useful either in the border or on the rockery, whilst they are as useful for cut flowers. In colour they vary from white to orange-scarlet, and perhaps the best of the group is A. Warscewiezi, whidh is about 18 inches high, and hae charming scarlet flowere. Seed can be sown now, and if the plants are transplanted -when large enough to a good sunny position, and to fairly good soil, the results will be very satisfactory. The plants are more or less always in bloom, although not in any way a rampant grower. As soon ac the bloom is over the old flower spikes should be cut off, and the plant will commence to bloom again. The alonsoa is particularly welcome during the winter, when a clump in flower is not passed without a favourable comment. TOMATOES. Although tomatoes have been grown so extensively of late years, it is remarkable the quantity of badly-grown plants, and consequently of crop failures that meet the eye every season. There is the tall, weakly, starved plant, and just the opposite, the extra strong, heavy foliage plant, but both alike, nearly devoid of fruit. Let mc try to make clear the cause of these results. The first-mentioned was brought about ■by ueing plants that had been drawn up weakly in the seedling stage, and then planted in too poor a soil. To prevent a recurrence of this, obtain some good, strong, sturdy plants, and use a coil that has had a liberal dressing of super- | phosphate, or bone flour. When the first j two tranches of fruit are set, give ani other dressing of come kind of phosphate I manure, and if the plants are pale in tie leaf, or making stunted growth, add a little nitrate of soda or sulphate of ammonia, but be sure not to overdo j the nitrates. These applications can be ! given from time to time. The cultivator niuet 'be entirely guided by the growth of the plants. The second cause ifi generally the outcome of overfeeding or planting in too Tich a soil in the first stages of the plant's growth. The result is the fruit fails to set, and a.large (juantity of unprofitable growth is produced instead. POINTS IN TOMATO GKOWING. The chief points in tomato growing are to get the first bunches of fruit to set, by gently tapping the plant about noon, when in flower, and then feeding the plants, so as to obtain a nice, strong, evenly-balanced growth. The chief requirements for successful tomato culture are a good, firm, yet poroue soil) and a plentiful supply of phosphate*.

A GOOD HINT. A ve.y .useful book to have handy is a large "Where Is It?" about nine inches by six inches, in which all cuttings from gardening papers can bo inserted under the initial of the plant mentioned. Newspaper cuttings have a way of getting lost or burnt, unless safely put away. , HINTS ON POTTING. Many writers, when describing the preparation of pots for sowing seeds, or potting plants, advocate placing a layer of coarse leaf-mould over the crocks. A few dead, dry leaves will be found much more efficacoue in preventing the soil filling up the drainage hole, and afford an excellent rooting medium, as the root* go right down to the leaves, which gradually form a humus of themselves. A NEW USE FOB EGG SHEZXS. Half fill seed boxes witfr a mixture of leaf-mould and soil, and press into the mixture empty egg-ehells, broken so that three-parts of the shell remains intact. Pierce a hole in the bottom of each, and then fill with well-sifted soil—a mixture of sand, leaf-mould, and loam. Sow in each some two or three seeds of whatever plants are wanted; sift with very fine soil, cover the whole with a sheet of glass, or paper, to check evaporation, and put in a cold frame, on a hotbed, or even under a sheltering wall outside —according to the kind of seed sown. Keep the whole moist, and soon seedlings will appear. Thin to one seedling in each. These seedlings can be left till quite strong, for even if they outgrow their small seed-bed, their roots will be safe in the leaf-mould below. Sturdy plants can be safely lifted, egg-shell and all, and planted in their permanent quarters when the weather ie warm enough. It is well to crack the shell before planting. Shirley poppies make fine plants grown so, and a. dozen or twenty planta will fill quite a good-eized patch of ground, flowering very early. ZINNIAS. Some years ago these gorgeous flowers received far more attention than now, a reason for which it would be difficult to assign. Certainly the proportion of muddy tonee that occur is sometimes large. The blooms are also stiff and formal, and have no value for cutting purposes. At the earn© time a bed of well-grown zinnias is very pretty. Do not sow too early, for they do not like a low temperature, and especially one that fluctuates to any extent. Sown now, beginning of October, will be quite soon enough. Good rich soil ie necessary from the start if first-class blooms arc required. The seed should be sown in boxes of good soil. Place the seed thinly and evenly over the surface and then cover with fine soil, protect with a pane of glass from iheavy rains. The seedlings soon make their appearance, and must be kept damp but not wet. Sturdy healthy growth must be encouraged by growing them as natural as possible. It will, however, be found a great advantage to protect fxom heavy rains or cold winds until the iplants get large enough to put out. When laTge enough the plants should be planted out in beds or borders; allow a distance of twelve to eighteen inches to each plant. The coil in the bed cannot be too rich if fine double flowers are required. During the ! summer the hoe must l> r kept going amongst the plants, and the continuous removal of the fading blooms most be practised. Where fhis is done the plants are most floriferoue, and continue in bloom for an exceptionally long period.

AN ELEGANT BED TO SOW NOW. Yellow and crimson harmonise well together, and a bed of these colours is easily obtained by sowing some of the ; varieties of annual coreopsis, which are hardy and easy to raise by sowing seeds directly in- the places where they arc to bloom, and severely thinning out the resulting plants when they are large enough. The (lowers of C.'tinctoria are bright yellow, with a crimson-brown ring, and the plants are two to three feet high in good soil. This should be sown in the centre, and ehould be followed by C. atfosanguinea. with velvetyred flowers. To tone down this dark sow a line of C. Drutnmondii (eighteen inches high, and golden yellow with chestnut centre). The outer line should consist of C. nigra nana, or crimson king, lese than a foot high, and of velvety crimson colour. When in full bloom these colours, blending as they do in the bed and in each individual flower, are charming. They bloom so profusely that large quantities can be cut without -spotting the bed. The flowers last well in water, and are elegant and dainty. The above effect can In a certain degree be obtained from- a packet of mixed seed, but it is not equal to a, bed of the different sorts in order. GLOXINIAS FROM SEED. The cultivation of these showy and useful plants from seed affords. much pleasure to those who may liave - a greenhouse. A pinch of seed ehould be sown every year, so that there is : 'an unbroken supply of young plants. Young plants do not throw so -many blooms as old tubers, but there is always the possibility of striking some new form or colour. To sow the seed procure some clean 6in pots, and fill them half :fjill'of clean broken crocks, carefully placed in, and a good sprinkling of fine ones on top. On these place a little rough soil or leaves, to assist drainage. ' "Prepare a compost of one-part sand, one part loam, and two parts leaf soil, passing it through a lin sieve. Thoroughly 'mix, and fill the pot to within half-an-inch of the rim, press lightly, and leave the surface slightly higher in the centre. Water the pote with hot water, and, when cool, sow the seed thinly, and slightly sprinkle some very fine soil over it- Label the pot correctly, and cover with a sheet of glass, which also cover with paper to shade from bright sunshine. If the soil becomes dry, -water by standing the pot to within an inch of the top, in water. ■As soon as the young seedlings appear, remove the glass, but keep them shaded from direct sunlight. When large enough to handle, prick off into other pots, using a similar compost, with the addition of a sprinkling of sand on the surface, taking care that the pot:-< arc properly crocked. Water carefuHy, and keep tliem growing; a moist atmosphere and a shady position is required. When they have three or four rough leaves they should be potted into small 2Aiji pots, using a similar compost and paying some attention to drainage. Continue to grow the plants in a moist atmosphere, shaded from bright sunshine, never over-watering, never allowing them to become dry. When these email pots arc full of roots re-pdt into sin pots, using a similar compost, but of a coarser texture, and with the addition of a little bonedust. When the plants are sufficiently rooted, weak manure water or a weak solution of a good fertiliser may be given. Gloxinias delight in an open, porous soil, with plenty of leaf soil or peat in it. Anything of a 'heavy, retentive nature will not suit them at all. To be successful, they should not be potted too firm.