Practical Gardening.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 64, 15 March 1919, Page 20

Practical Gardening.

By DIANTHUS.

Correspondents will greatly iblige by the foltowing rale* in eendinu questions for publication tn these columns: — '/. Letters should be addressed Garden Editor "Star" Office Auckland i. Write one one side of the paper, tnd make all communications as concise as possible ;S Fhicers, etc., sent for naming must be sent separately and, if possible. packed in a tin or ipooden box- — cmrdhoard bores are vert/ liable to be broken %n transit and the contents damaged. //. The full name and address of tlu; sender must alv»ys be *eni, but a bom dc plume or initial may b? given for publication. % THE WEEK'S WORK- % * * * THE FLOWER GARDEN. * ■T- 'p J Water copiously durina dry weather. % '£. Hceing is one of the most important job* just now. There should be few % weeds showing. : ; : •Jf. start making roots early. -Aif Plant Anemones; choose well-manured and well-worked ground. ■'£ * Chrysanthemums must be disbudded. Keep the growth tied up securely. * * Give applications of liquid manure. ;;• T Disbudding, tying, and feeding of Dahlias must be kept going. ;. T Sow a few varieties of hardy annuals for winter and spring flowering. X !£ Most gardens are suffering from the want of water, and where mulching is Jj; possible it should be done. £ ; L: Sow Winter Sweet Peas and Ten-week Stocks at any time now. :J: :> Water the ground before sowing, and shade untl! seedlings are up. -J,-, :■-. Tie up Cosmos securely. We shall soon have the equinoctial gales. * ;;: Preparations for planting Carnation layers should be made. They should be : ; : ■'f planted as soon as rain comes. * ¥ I THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. * *k )k X Lift and store Potatoes before the rain comes. ; 1 : Clear off and burn all spent crops, eld leaves, and rubbish. Beans should be kept picked, and the plants should be well watered. :'.- Sprinkle a little Superphosphate along the row and water it in. 4: >•: A sowing of Dwarf Beans may be made; they will come in late. * :;: Keep Tomatoes picked, sprayed, tied, and all laterals removed. * * Give Leeks and Celery a good watering, and some hquid manure if possible. J * Vegetable Marrows should be picked off as ebon as large enough. For * ; storing purposes they should be cut when full grown, and just as the X jj outside skin boqins to harden. '£ ;[; Make a sowing of Cabbage, Cauliflower, Lettuce, Beet, Carrot, and Turnip. X_ It will be best to wait till rain comes before sowing. J

TO CORRESPONDENTS. AMATEUR (Pukeroai sends a seed noil picked off a plant purchased for a wi«tnrln, and wishes to know if it 1h a true wistaria: also what is the best manure to use. Tlie wistaria lias a Jiot! similar to enclosed, but you can easiiy tell if your plant Ik a wistaria by the towers hansing in long raoKueH <>r hunches, and the follat'c- beinjj divided Into leaflets. 1 should say from the seel pod that yours is h true wistaria. The best manure to u.se is stable manure, hut if that is not procurable substitute it with wood ashes, bnnedust, and lime, mlXPil in e<iual quantities, and the mixture applied at tinrale of two or three liaudfuls to the square yaril about every month. Well hoe In the manure. SHRUB iClty) lias ;, liuildlcia Veiti'hiana, ' and wishes to know how far to prune it ha.-k. You can cut it hard back (hiring the early winter. 1 rr.unut say for certain, but ! should think y<.u would l>e wise if you cut it back In about three feet from the (.'round. It should have all the current ypsr'n jrrnwth cut back to the I.l*l two or liirc-c -vves." or bud.<, at the lul«l\ r-K1.1.N (Ain-kliiiuli «i>li,- :,, know Hie Knit-!i.-l! riiinic ror "I'l'lin Itiwln-M'c," a Dalmatian plain similar to a sunflower, i am ufrald 1 cannm oblige yon. for unless one is well verwd in 1..eal eojditlons it Iμ impossible to attempt tn decipher native plant names. Perhaps some of our readers may be able to idve the English name. KOVICE (Mount RoskilU wishes to know what varieties of jrriiss are im-luded in: AIS V UrL ' of s «=edmen-s "lawn grass." nlot° -Si quantity is required to sow a «eem hv " is impossible to tell vnr?«, ■ ' l ; nl '-'-"S(-;, P t,- analysis what like"J«ei re hi;?S? S 1 - n " "I 1 S( "- 1 " e(lsD '- ---sep.lsHiin ..'.i c '''Tereni mixtures. Tli c >-.d !lu?la s h^r u p ;' r . t 1 1 '" I '"' '■"'"•I you in. iron, ,„„. -o Wish - Yo » rauv use "f that S i ze S.™f ot on i plot ami to h t l,, e - tQ cho2e nm S &Ti inlckly, sowing win be found ,„ f 6,1 * ,he thicker mlral although it Slav moSt econ °- euantltj to use on ""J^P* r a l arge

<t.J.-H. wishes to know wlint Is the trouble with his carnation, of which lie sends some specimen buds. About throe weeks jijjo the tips of the buds become diseased, nnd when the blooms unfolded all the <.nter ertjsee were withered and diiicolomed. The tips of t!ie petals are stuck together, preventing the flower from unfolding unless rolled till lue petals part. The trouble Is due to the "caraatlou inagKot," which is an insect that seems to be on Uie Increase. A ! small lly, similar to il house fly. lays an ege, which lmtflitw tint in « few week* into the-»nih. which eats his way Into.the centre of the (lower mid seals the tip of the petals to prevent the tiower opening, and exiposius his place of nbmle. In .< few weeks he turns Int> a small linwn rlirysnlfs, from which eventually emerges a small fly to continue the circle. There is only one sure cure, and that is handpicking. Arsenate of lead may oatrh any that are entins their way in, but the majority are Inside nnd free from its effects.' Illnuk leaf 40 is about the best I have used, as this seems to act as a deterrent to the fly lnyln? the e?ss. Salt dl«Holved at the rate of Inz to the. srallon of water is said to be effective against it. SCHIZANTHTJS. Sclii/.anthus seeds may be sown now to produce, plants to flower next springThe seals should be sown thinly in pots or pans filled with light sandy soil. As soon as they are large enough to handle they should be pricked out into pans or boxes, potting in singly as soon as large enough. As the plants are rather impatient of heat, they should be grown in a cold frame and kept close to the glass to prevent them getting drawn. Plants of large «ize in iy be obtained by potting on into large-sized pots, but they must never be allowed to get pot-bound until they are in the pots in which they are to flower. The variety Wisetonensis is the most suitable for growing in pota, the habit of the plant being most graceful and the colours varied and pleading.

CHRYSANTHEMUMS. To set ofl" the flowers to the best advantage should be the aim of all cultivators, and to accomplish this there must be nn atmosphere of neatness and general tuliness surrounding the plants. All decayed or diseased foliage should be removed, stakes placed so as to support the principal stems, and the remainder looped neatly with green raflin. There should not be an overabundance of i stakes or bamboo*, merely sufficient to keep the growths in an upright position. IJamboort dyed or painted green are best, being less conspicuous, and they should always be neatly pointed at the bottom, so as not to sever the roots when inserted in the soil. When growing in pote, as soon as the surface of the soil becomes matted with white roots is the best time to give the plants a final topdressing. It is also the worst time to give liberal supplies of nitrate of soda or sulphate of ammonia. All these little roots are easily destroyed by an overdose of either of these fertilisers, whereas liquid animal manure, if not too fresh, does no harm to them—in fact, is beneficial. The two thingn to avoid just now are, giving thick soot water and sprinkling white or grey coloured fertilisers on the soil of the pot. The soot water gives the surface of the soil a dark appearance, so that it does not show when it wants water; indeed, it never appears to want any. while on the other hand, in the case of grey or light coloured fertilisers being used, the soil always looks dry and parched, although it is not requiring water. There is a right and a wrong way of doing everything in a garden. The beginner who makes mistakes must not be discouraged, because it is failures which teach us the I right methods, and lead up to future j successes. One common mistake is to I give plants liquid soot instead of soot liquid, that is water in which a bag of soot lias been steeped. The many month* j ;of continuous work and attention are all forgotten when the flowers are coming into bloom, and the enthusiast will make a list of the varieties to grow next season. This is a very essential ! point, us it is wise to discard some of the ;older ones and add a few names each year. CHRYSANTHEMUM BUDS. I fn many cases the contour of large J blooms is spoiled by the bud not being j secured in an upright position. All too I frequently this apparently trifling dej tail of culture is Tightly regarded. A j one-shied flower will often be the means lof a .stand not being in the prize list on the exhibition table. Anyone who is familiar with shows knows only too well the prevailing weakness of exhibi- | tors to set up their blooms with their most presentable side to the front. AH the blooms are judged individually, and the setting of the best side to London is of no avail. Ninety per cent, of lopsided blooms can be prevented by keeping the stems on which the buds art" developing in an upright position. Small stakes can be lashed to the large stakes when the-e are too short, the small stakes should reach to a'bor.t two inches from the bud and can remain there till the bloom is cut. NERINES. It will not be long before these autumn owering bulbe will be pushing up their flower spikes. They are J amongst the best of autumn bulbs, for I not only do they bloom when there is little else, but they are hardy, stand ! rough usage, and will practically succeed without attention. They will be assisted greatly if the bulbs and the soil about them be given a few thorough soakings of water. Aβ soon as the buds appear weak liquid manure and plenty of water should be regularly supplied.

NARCISSI. The planting of narcissi and other spring-flowering bulba forms the most important part of the work in the garden at the present time. Experienced bulb-growers aro all agreed upon one point— the necessity for early planting. It has been proved that narcissi like plenty of moisture when they arc growing vigorously, but that they like the moisture to pass through, and not lie stagnant in the noil. To eecuro these conditions it is necessary to dig thoroughly, not only the top soil, but also the sub-soil. Very dry sandy soils cannot hold sufficient necessary moisture. I A layer of well-rotted stable manure or i decayed vegetable rubbish should, therefore, be placed about twelve inches below the surface of the soil to act a« a sponge. It ehould also be remembered tliat narcissi like eomo gritty material, such as sharp sand or road grit, in the soil, and they like wood-nehes. Thefic two eubstancee should be mixed with the soil. Although narcissi like deeply dug or trenched soil to live in, they at 1-he same time resent being planted in loope soil. Hence the necessity for the early preparation of the coil. Ground that has been only recently dug or trenched should, while the soil is dry. be well trampled upon to produce the necessary firmness. When planted, the depth of soil above the neck of the bulb should be one and a-half timee the depth of the bulb itself. The bulbe should be placed on a firm base, and, if poseible. on a layer of sand. The soil should be placed firmly round the bulbs, and the surface soil should be kept loose. Bonedust is perhaps the safest manure to uee for narcissi. It may either bo mixed with the coil at planting time, or used as a top-dressing to be lightly pricked in directly after planting. j Expensive varieties are best planted in beds by themeelree, and, as the beds look very untidy when the foliage is dying down, it is best to relegate them to a part of the garden where they will not be too noticeable. For making a show in the garden bold clumps of commoner kinds may bo planted in mixed borders, where their I I untidiness at the ripening stage may be concealed by other plaits growing about them. THE NARCISSUS FLY. Garden pests increase in numbers, and their attacks in virulence, as the ecienee of plant selection is carried out to finer and finer extremes. So it is that the narciseue fly. mcrudon equestris. which was seldom heard of until recently, is becoming more common every year, and ' causing increasing trouble in the flower garden. Examine new bulbs before they .are planted, and reject and burn those | which have a suspicious softnesß; close ! examination will probably reveal a tiny | hole near the base or perhaps at the i side, and dissection of the bulb may show | the grub inside. ' The fly appears generally about the lend of August; egg« are laid near the ; plant towards the, end 'of the flowering season, and every female is able to deposit from a dozen to two dozen eggs in a season. These eggs soon hatch out into tiny larvae or grubs, with appetites of insatiable voracity; they bunow into the very heart of the bu-Ib and make their home there, betraying their preeence by a premature yellowing of the I leaf and the peculiar softness of the bulb {already mentioned. After a life of destructive gluttony the larvae become I quiescent, and pupate in the soil near i the plant, emerging as insects. ! No reliable cure has yet been found for this pest. Bulbs should be lifted and deetroyed when they are showing signs of the presence of the grub, while the coil should be well hoed and raked throughout the winter to bring the pupae to tne

surface co that the cold weather may kill them. A little peat dust saturated with a good strong in-ecticide or 'nixed with a soil fumigant may be spread among the plants when they are in bud, in order to keep the fly away. Spraying

NAIU'ISSrS FLY. (aI insect: (b) pupa: (rl larva or Rmb. Actual size of specimens about i inch long. with insecticides will also serve to reduce their numbers, but the constant repetition necessary leads to increased expense. Oaslime has been used with some success, but this poisoned fumigant must bo applied with caution or the bulbs suffer a great deal after its application. MIGNONETTE. With very little trouble a succession of pots of (beautiful mignonette may be obtained for standing in one's rooms during the winter and early spring, and this old favourite is so sweet a flower that everybody who has the time and convenience for the few extra details of culture above those which summer plants require should grow some plants for winter flowering. Seed of a really good strain ehould be purchased, and the well-known Machet variety is excellent for the purpose. A supply of perfectly clean four inch pots and clean crocks should bo obtained, and a compost consisting of good loam and leaf soil in pqual proportions, with some well broken up old mortar rubbish mixed into it, ehould be got ready. Sowj ings can be made from April to the beginning of July. The pote are filled to

TOT FOR MIGNONETTE SEED. within Half an inch of their rim with the compost, made firm and nicely moist and the seed (only hulf-a-dozen of them) dropped on the surface at as even a distance apart us possible, and just covered with a sprinkling of fine sand. The pots sliou'd be covered with a piece of glass \intil germination is effected and should be .stood in a cold frame or a cold lioiirc shaded from sunshine until the seedlings have come well through. If watering becomes necessary it should be done by standing tho pot for a few minutes almost up to the rim in a deep pan of water. It is necessary at all times to keep the soil in the pots moist. The seedlings should be thinned out to three, and when they are well rooted, sturdy little plants of aibout two inches in height, they should be transferred bodily into sire-inch pots of the same compost, in which they will flower. Re-pot them very firmly, taking care to disturb the roots as little as possible in the process. Water sparingly until the plants begin to grow away strongly and then give water with increasing freedom. Let them have plenty of fresh

air. When the plants are three inches high pinch off the tope. Thai will induce bushy growth and a greater quantity of bloom. Keep the pots near the glass in the greenhouse, giving fresh air whenever possible and supplying! moisture ac required and stake each! plant neatly when a height of about I five inches has been attained. On the j appoarance of the flower spikes some i stimulant ehould be given once or twice ' a week. Weak liquid manure, guano, | and water, or ammonia at the rate of a quarter of an ounce to the gallon of water are about equally ■beneficial in securing line heads of flowers. CHEAP DAFFODILS. Looking through a price-liet of narcissi one ia struck with the many highpriced bulbs, and, to the novice, it would appear that growing daffodils is the hobby of the man with a large puree. ' Certainly if one ie to make a collection of new varieties it is so, but there are ' plenty of good varieties that are cheap and practically at a price within the men ne of the many. As showing the value in which many of the old, and cheap, varieties of daffodils are sCiiheld in f'pite of the large influx of new specimens, the following list drawn up of the best 24 varieties for the garden, by vote of the R.H.S.'s Daffodil Committee, will be useful: — 1. Barri Conspicuous. 2. Lucifer. 34. Fairy Queen 3. Mine, de Graaff. 15. Horace. 4. Empress. 16. King Alfred. 5. Wlilte Lady. 17. Ponrleur reenrvus. C. Emperor. 18. Weardale perfection 7. 'S!r Watkin. 1!). Beauty. 8. Argent. 20. Bernardino. 0. Lady Boseawen 21. Beauty. 10. Autocrat. 22. Cassandra. 11. Blackwell. "-J3. DuUe of Bedford. 12. Oloria Mundi. 24. Stella superba. 13. Seagull. It will be noticed that Beauty ha-s been included twice, co that there are only 23 varieties named. It is also noticeable that the only really expensive one is the Bernardino, a new variety of outstanding merit. With very few exception* these may be purchased for a few pence per bulb, and could not be counted an extravagance even in these times when economy should be carefully practised.

BURN ALL RUBBISH

At the present time there is in most gardens a lot of rubbish, dead leaves and such like. Now is the time to get this raked up and burned, which can be done quite easily whilst the weather is so dry. All epent crops, hedge cuttings, weeds, in fact anything that can be, should be burned and the ashes scattered over the garden. The ashes are a valuable source of potash, a manure which at the present time is very scarce.

MEASURING ARTIFICIAL MANURES. In recommending the use of artificial manures it ie often given for them to be applied at the rate of, say, one or two ounces to the square yard. It is easy enough to measure the length, but it is not so eaey to guess at the weight and

4 . it is far from convenient to have to carry a pair of scales and set of weights about :the garden. The following are not absolutely correct, but are true enough for ( all ordinary garden purposes:— ■| One teaspoonful equals ioz. j One dessertspoonful equals loz. 1 One tablespoonful equals 2oz. I With light manures the spoons should jbe heaped, but with heavy manures they j should be level. ONION GROWING. For the highest results in onion growing autumn preparation of the soil is desirable, ground got into shape at once will yield splendid crops. Bastard trenching is the best method, plenty of good farmyard manure being worked between the first and second spits. Basic slag (2oz to the square yard) should be eprinkled over the bed and the soil left I rough if it is heavy. On sandy soil add manure or moisture-holding and stiffening matter if you have it; at any rate, ( give 2oz of kainit to the yard at once and ji third of that amount of superphosphate of lime at the end of April or I early in June.

of April, and if extra seed of a cheap sort is sown it means plenty of green onions for salads throughout the winter. Endive sown now will produce plants for salads during winter. Sow some seed of lettuce, both the Upright or CO3 and the cabbage varieties may be sown now. Celery planted now will make nice tsweet, small sticks. Beetroot of turnip rooted varieties, carrots of the shorthorn section, and turnips, especially the GoJden Bali variety, can all be sown, and will give a supply of young succulent roots by the winter, which will give variety, and make up the lack of vegetables so often felt by email gardens during winter. RESIN WASH FOR CABBAGES. The cabbage aphis is very troublesome just now, and is a very difficult pest to control, one reason being that it is very difficult to get ordinary insecticides to thoroughly wet the leaves, the smooth glossy leaves shedding the liquid off .13 readily ac water runs off a duck's back. A wash that can be used with good effect is a resin wash. Some of the old washes are first rate, but as they require some litle trouble and time in the making they are put on one side in favour of leas elective preparations, because they can be prepared by measuring out a quantity, and by mixing with water they are at once ready for use. The resin wash is most useful, too, for controlling the thrip that attacks peas. The foliage and stems of peas are like cabbage leaves, very difficult to wet by spraying, owing to the waxy covering of the leaves. The formula for making the wash is as follows:—lib resin; Jib caustic soda 98 per cent., 2oz whale oil soap, 2Joz fish oil, 7 gallons water. Place the above ingredients in an iron pnt with two gallons of water. After bringing to the boil allow to simmer for about two hours, then add hot water slowly to make up to four gallons, stirring " well. Sufficient water to make seven gallons may then be added cold, or, if it is not intended to use it at once, it will not deteriorate by keeping, and the full quantity can be made up as wanted The wash should be strained through a Strainer, with a fine me*h or a piece of sacking. •

To Grow fine onions nest year, trench or deeply dig the soil, add manure to bottom, and suot to upper spit, leave surface rough. On all soils (medium soil is most suitable) a dressing of soot and salt—2oz of soot and Aoz of salt to the square yard—must be given for first-clas3 onions in August. On a dry day afterwards the soil should be neatly " raked level, rolled firm—the lighter the soil the heavier the rolling should be —and the onions planted. August planting is the best, generally speaking; and rows 15 inches apart, with nine inches between the bulbs, are usual. Opinions differ ac to the wisdom of shortening onion roots when planting out; shortening the leafage undoubtedly does good. Sow seed by covering half an inch deep out of doors; plant as shallow as possible. Hoe often, but do not draw soil to the bulbs; only their roots should be below ground. LATE-PIAIfTED VEGETABI.ES. It frequently happens that planting is delayed owing to a dry spell such ac we have just experienced, and the result k that vegetables have become scare* and particularly is this so in regard to the supply for the winter. As soon as the weather changes and rain comes planting may be done to overcome this for the ground is warm and seeds or plants put in now will come away very quickly. A sowing of French beans of an early variety, such a 8 Ne Plus Ultra will m most cases mature a crop. Cabbage seed of the small quickly-maturing varieties will come in during late autumn and winter spinach will also give a quick supply of green vegetable. Leeks planted now should be ready for usins in midwinter. Onion sowing will ibe done about the end of the month or beginning