Practical Gardening.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 143, 16 June 1917, Page 16

Practical Gardening.

By DIANTHUS.

Correspondents will greatly tblige by observing the following rules in sending questions for publication in these columns: — J. Letters should be addressed Garden Editor "Star" Office Auckland 2. Write one one side of the paper, and make all communications a» concise as possible 3 Flowers, etc., sent for naming must be sent separately and, if possible, racked in a tin or wooden box — cardboard boxes are very liable to be broken ,ii transit and the contents damaged. 4. The full name and address of the sender must always be sent, but a boot de plume or initial may be given for jmhH^atian. THE WEEK'S WORK. THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. Planting, pruning and spraying of fruit trees should be done now. Digging and trenching are the chief operations on the ground at the present time, as the weather permits. Clean up all rubbish, and either burn or bury. It does not pay to grow weeds to dig in as manure, but all that can ! be collected can be used for this purpose. ' This does ot apply to perennial weeds such as docks, sorrel, oxalis, ' etc. These should be collected and burnt. No vegetable matter, whatever its origin, should be lost or thrown away. Burnt, it is a source of potash, and. buried to decay, will i i produce humus. ' 1 Whenever the ground is fit the hce should be put between any \ \ growing crops, but do not attempt it when the ground is very i i wet. \ Clean up the asparagus beds, being careful to remove all seeds. i Look over any stored Potatoes, etc., and remove any showing signs of decay. ! THE FLOWER GARDEN. Keep the hoe going amongst growing plants. Whenever opportunity occurs plantings of Pansies, Sweet Peas, I; Canterbury Bells, Nemesias and such like may be made. Clip Box Edgings and plant new ones where required. Chrysanthemums are over now, and the tops should be cut down, leaving about a foot of stem. If the ground is required the old stools can be lifted, and either boxed or replanted. Use a nice light soil for this purpose. The digging of herbaceous borders and beds should be continued at every opportunity. The planting of Roses and Shrubs should be done as soon as possible.

TO COKBESPONDEWTSi. T.B. il'evonport). —It Is liar<l to say why jour ne.-tariue falls to carry a crop 01' iruii unless one knew all ihe details. You say it has been well pruned and sprayed and is well sheltered. As the fruit set-s and drous off » heu about tile niztf of iiazel nuts, it may be due to a lack of lime <v atoning" time. 1 should advise you tv sive a good dressing of lilm , . about - ur :Slb tv tiie square yard, and fork it iv tlie soil. Now is the time to , apply. , I.NXIOUe W:E lEpsoun.—The Choisya teruata shouts arc L-aleu by a small grub, wiili-u is al.-o ijiescut in a chrysalis stage. Jfick oIT aU sboola and barn ■ them; then prii.urv some "Herbas." a Bl.ra.vint: oil, aud xpray the planus witii is nbuiuable a: any seedsman's in stuail quuntitii-s. ; iud reuilily mixes with water. ; E.H..1. iL»argavUlej.-Tbe »«rb«ra [oliatfi-! sent is attacked by a rungus. the ijciemifl ■ name of which 1 have not yet lmeu a.blu to nnd out. ion will liutl thai spraying ■ with Unit aulijhur. one yari t.o partii lour mouths will control the dis«i«<\ Lime snlpUur solution is obtainable from J.W.D. (iMorrlnevlUe).—Sweet corn is a variety of uittize, and should receive similar imiiment. The seed should not be »cwu until October or November, it fc a hot weather plant, and shoiil.l not >be tiowii until there is a certain amount of warmth iv the soil. Weil manured ground should be used, and the seeds should be sown a foot apart in rows eighteen inches apart. A light soil suits the crop best, but an average resu-lt can be obtained in any well worked sround.

PLANTING ROSES IN SANDY son.. The rose loves a heavy, rich loam, but in some gardens this is impossible to secure. In such cases procure some good turf 4or 5 inches thick. Dig out the hole for the rose, and place in the bottom of it a piece of the turf, grass side down; with the spadt chop this up a little, and then tramp it linn. Spread a thin layer of earth on top of the turf, place the rose in position, and fill up with more of the turf, chopped rather small, being careful to keep the grass side downwards Tramp the whole firmly. A little cow manure, well rotted, will bind the mass t.ettc-r. lint do i»>L bring it into direct contact with the roots. STIMULANTS UNDER GLASS IN WINTER. It is nrressiu-i- to give stimulants at all seasons to plants which have filled their pote with roots and are forward for flowering. There are many plants which flower naturally in winter, and these want help in their period of greatest activity a.s well as those plants which flower in summer. Bulbs, for instance — take the narcissus family, which are very strong rooting—the flowers are now within the bulbs, and their size and brilliancy depends upon the nourishment given.

BANXSIAN ROSES. | This is a small teotion of roses that t, comprised of two nineties, n yellow ami a white. They arc tall climbers. ' ami will clinili over trees an<l up n support to a height of 30 of 40 feet. They , carry hunches of small double Mowers. Kor the ordinary small garden they are of little use. because to flower to perfection they require a largo space to ramble over. Where there ia a shed, old tree, or something similiar that requires covering up a Bankeian rose "v the thins;. | Bankeias require a sunny and warm poai- j tioii, firm soil, and no digjring about t!ie roots. If the soil m good do not feed with manure, or the wood growth will be too strong and eoft. Neither must it be pruned in the ordinary sense of climber pruning. Only remove the old wood, and not too severe at that. When it pets overgrown remove a goodly porjtion of the old wood and tie in the' stror.i: young wood. Do not water unllees the position is exceedingly dry. STATICE (SEA LAVENDER). j Statice is the most beautiful of the i everlasting flowers. The branching ' liabit of the flower, and the delicate' colours, make it graceful and dainty. If ! Lthe (lowers are cut at the right time '■ i and dried, they will last in the vases ! I throughout the whole winter. The mauve variety is beautiful and retains' j its colour wonderfully. Young plants j should be planted in deeply-dug soil, and I left undisturbed for a number of years, j They send their roota down to such a i depth that disturbance must necessarily break the roots and spoil the plants. The time for planting is during the I winter, or if seed is obtained it should be sown in the spring, and the seedlings i kept growing, when they should be ready for planting out next autumn. KHTJBAKB. Xcw roois of rhubarb may be planted during this month and the rrext. The ground should first be well dug and richly manured. The best rhubarb for owners of small gardens to grow is "ToppV Winter." This benrs during the while winter at a time when fruit for i pies. etc.. ir scarce. It i.- quite hardy, and the flavour is good. Plants that are coming on now will be benefited by an application of the following liquid manure:—Three ounce,? of soot, and six ■ ounce-; of superphosphate, placed in a . piece of coarne bag. ging or scrim, and I then allowed to stand in ten gallons of i water. Give each plant a good soaking. i Remove decayed leaves fr mi lid plants, ! fork round thorn, and cover '.hem with a J mixture of decayed leaves and manure. llf stable manure cannot be procured, 'work into the soil round the plants some bonedust, and then cover with decayed leaves. Old stools of rhubarb may be lifted, divided, and replanted in new ground. Rhubarb should not require lifting and transplanting for several years. If you require to increase or extend your rhuibarb bed, all that is required to be done is to cut off some of the side crowns and pbint them, leaving the original stools undisturbed. You may transplant, now; the sooner the better. DRAIN OB TRENCH. Those who have a heavy, wet soil are unable to enjoy the delights of winter gardening, but at least they should seize every chance to thoroughly drain or trench tbeir plots, and by so doing, next year, they may be able to raise and enjoy crops of vegetables all through the winter. ..

I BROAD BEARS. This is a crop that owing to the , ravage* of "rust" has not been a success of late years. This is especially so on i light soils. The broad bean likes a heavy coil, and those who have a heavy soil, even if bordering on pure clay, will find that this crop can be grown with a certain amount of success. They should be sown now, putting the seed in ainjrly about aix inchea apart, and keeping the rows about three feet apart, ' CURRANTS FROM CUTTINGS. Although in and about Auckland red currants are not much grown, as they do not do too well, yet a lit lie south they arc more often seen. They seem to do better whilst young, and for this reason, where any attempt is made to grow them a few cutting 3 should be in-

tn take out a narrow trench some 4 or 5 in;'tiM deep, as shown in Fig. 2, anil after putting a little road grit or sand

Pig. 3. in the bottom, arrange the cuttings in position anil fill in the soil, making it firm by treacling. Fig- 3 shows how to prune a rooteil cutting the first year. MOSS ON FRUIT TREES. Old fruit trees, especially when growing in a damp situation, very often Ret the stem and uinin branches very largely ragged and scaly bark. This mossy covering, besides being a splendid liar hour for all manner of insect pests, while the scaly bark will suit the codlin moth well tor its cooon, is very detrimental to tin- well-doing of the tree, as it closes up the air pores of the bark. An exeeUent and cheap wash for cleansing trees from moss and rough useless bark is made by dissolving one pound of caustic soda in 10 gallons of cold water—rain water for preference. As the wash is of a caustic nature, care must be taken to keep it. off the hands and face. Leather or rubber gloves for the hands are very useful, but if these arc not available, a good coating of grease should be need. The wash should be used in a very line spray, and with considerable force, thoroughly washing out the spray pump mid the hose with plenty of clear water after using, THE CARE OF GARDEN TOOLS. To keep tools bright and clean is one means, and an important one, to minimise the accompanying "back ache" that waits upon many who are not accue.tomed to garden work, and even to those who are. To have clean, bright tools to work with reduces the labour by onehalf, and instead of it being drudgery, makes it a pleasure. We know how essential it is to keep a mowing machine oiled, and it is just as essential to keep the fork, spake ami hoe bright and clean. Probably the best means of keeping the hoe and spade bright is by continuous use, and by ao doing weeds are reduced and the soil kept in the best condition. It pave to leave off work in time so that ths tools can be cleaned and put away, and not left lying about dirty.