Practical Gardening by Dianthus

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 23, 28 January 1922, Page 20

Practical Gardening by Dianthus

Correspondents will greatly oblige by obserrtßc the folloniue mips In senriln/? questions for publication In these columns: — . 3. Letters should Lj addressed Garden Editor, "Star" Offlcp. Auckland. 2. Write on one side of the paper, and make all communications as concise as possible. ; S. Flowers, etc., sent for namlnx must be sent separably, and. if possible, packed :In a tin or wooden box—cardboard boxes are very liable to be broken lv transit and tlie coe tents damaged. 4. The full name and address of the sender must always be sent, but m norn d» plume or initial may be siren for publication. I THE WEEK'S WORK. I I [fc i THE FLOWER GARDEN. N $ Continue to use tho hoe freely. £ a Stake, tio and spray ChrysanthemumE. r i Dahlias need constant attontion to tying and disbudding. r' 1 Layer Carnations as soon as possible. f- | Prune Climbing Roses as they go out of flower. t : Spray Roses for Mildew. p ] Make late plantings of Celoeias, Salvias, Phlox Drummondi. *■ i Lift Daffodils, Narcissi, etc. |L k Plant cuttings of Geranium, Pelargoniums, Pentstemons, Antirrhinums I Sow Hollyhocks, Canterbury Bells, Aquilegias, Antirrhinums, Pontstamona. F 9 Prune shrubs as they go out of flower. j£u THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. £ 1\ Sow Dwarf Beans for succession. jjt ; Lettuce, Onions, Radish, for salads, should be sown. 1 Keep Runner Beans closely pioked. f. : A Plant Leeks and Wintor Greens. k, ■i Plani Celery in trenches. ■ Runner Beans will need liquid manure and abundance of water. 'f ■j Lift Kumara tops, to prevent rooting. "««■. j Make a small sowing of Silver Beet. :'i Support Asparagus tops, to prevent breakage. o Harvest Onions and store in a cool, dry shed. fc

to Correspondents. G.UtDEXEU (X-gnruiuvaiila) sends two ■rpc.-iir. us fer i'UiHlUiatii.n. TUc reil flowi-r Iα Tenima riullciins*; the white Howfi- is Maloye graudiflora alba. G. fWalpapa) writes: 'The leaves ot my Apple, trees are withereil and rusty also n good part of tliu fruit. Tlie lMunis arc as bad.—There is very little description Liven to gu oil, but the trees, both Apple and Iluius. uoc-d spraying with lime sulphur, 1 part l<l T-". parts water, or Bordeaux miiture, 4 —1—40. IXQI7IRKR (TakapntKri sends a loaf or Aspidistra, and wishes to know what disease is attacking ii and Uiiw to -otitrol it l"he trouble is tlirin-. They ;ire sniali insects Hint often do ti lot of flauniae to fnllii«p In the hoc wcutlirr and on plania indoors. S|i,,nuv the f..liaso v.Ltlt some warm snapy water. This will dean them off. Thi' folla«e should be every two or three weeks. T.C;. lAValraiirie) wrllps: -Knelospd is a speriuicu of Delpliintuni, which was in Idonm and 111 twelve Lours was dead for no apparent reason. Another Hump has heen atrarked in the sa:ue way: also AutirrUiimui aurl Zinnia." I think the trouble is "wlii," a Imi-trrliil disease that iitliieks many dllT.Teiit kinds of plants. takiut' then] off just when about to tlower or in flower, tio far there is no Isnowu .-lire, but as a preventive idve rhe soil n Kficxl dressiiiß of powdered sulphur and Mule. Do not grow tlie same kind of slon. Hum all "arfei-tei] "plants." s'KWCnrU f.Manurewni asks: ill At what ace does the Ilnkea Salijriia bear sewl? V2> How ran I increase my (iooseberry bushes liy plains or cuttings, and where can I pet thi'in? \:<\ If planted nmv, will Lopanrba do a'l ri-.'lit. Mi Name ot fii.-los.-d cTPpper. ill Ir depends how uell it S r,,ws. but ji! si.v or seven years it should bear seed. (-) Yon can increase the Gooseberries by cuttings or plants. I Think plants would bn best. Yon .-an Lopamh.i n-niild not do transphiiileil now. but seed could lie sown now. I should ■think .yon would he well advised not to transplant m all. lint sow seed. (Il Dolicbos Lablab albus. C.r,.C. (Mount Eden) asks: ill Should the tips of Water Melons be pinched off in order to create laterals as soon as they commence to run, the same as cucumbers? C) What is the cause of flowers fnlllns from Tomatoes? The three first fruits out of six will set. the others drop. (SI) Where should I'otatoes be stored? My experience Is that ail the top ones began to tun, Rreeil. They were not exposed to •the sun. but pla<ed In a box under the bouse, a> riuebiue the tips of Water Melons to cause the irrowtli of laterals is <in;t.. i-orroft. IJI Tlie fallinj.' of the Tomato (towers can lie due to several pauses— dryness or ex'-esa of moisture at •the root or bad fruHhit.- varieties. -Pro- £££ J«i S th " I " tt, " r '• n " sp if l °e plants but nroVnf' , ' 1 "; 1 if so ll ca,lllot ,l(> nlten-d. <3) JWtoet shonfn 0 . vurie, - v " < - s, season. «»-«. t js%aajifu Eli

I lIRDUB fOnflhungul writes: "The licJcp • Tu-ut the inrloseil twigs off mi. ~l t : brick laxl May, ami till December did well i-in.-,. i 1,,.,, <>j le ireo |,a» died .-,,,,1 sevwai I otliers are soing the same. Could you tell m<. i 1,,, enuse of the blight , ln .| what to ' ».-e tor if.' —Tlje trouble is at the root ur In the stem. There is no l.li"ln on- , Hak,. :l salisn.,. wlji.-h il..es S " off wlth•l m 1 ," uy ."i'I iarol " reason. y,, u ,-. lv dll [I p,.; 1 , 1 , 1 ; I "'' b,li remove and burn the dead ■ I CKLKUV iWbangarrii asks: ril i,, i ast soap. When thoroughly mixed It U ready varieties wuuitl suit jour* pm'l" ". "'' THE ROSE GARDEN. Climbing Roses to be looked over, and tied to trellw or trained into position: and do not allow them to suffer for want of water: bone meal worked round them will show results next year Rose beds to In- enlt ivated ' and watered to prepare for the fall bloom. It oranw Hist proves troublesome pick off affected leuves and burn them. Spray with a fungicide and give general good cure. J! the. disease reappears year after year, remake the bods with fresh plants. Cuttings taken from firm growths and put into gritty soil in frames will root well. Growths that have just borne flowers are best. Cut into lengths sixinches Ions:, retaining the leaves on the upper half; insert in frames two inches apart both ways. HOLIDAYS AND PLANTS. To save room plants when on a holiday, get a bucketful of rainwater, and some strips of flannel one inch wide, and about two feet or two feet >i.\ inches; long. Place the bucket on ilie table with | the flower pots around it. Tiien secure! the atrips of flannel with a weight in- j side the bottom of the bucket, and put j one strip of flannel to each plant. By this means one can keep the soil moist for some time. . .

BUDDING ROSES. i This work is best carried out in 1 January. A light touch, :i steady hand, ' a iloar eye and a tharp knife are"needed. • When lunldiiifr dwarf stocks it i* necoß- < sary to remove the soil at the ha*c—tin- • "collar'" a* it is often called—this Ihmiil; ' the (lurtiun of the stem immediately ' above the roots. This part is then rub- I r bed with n cloth or piece of packing until | S clean. The buds it is intended to insert i ' should bf obtained from a that has ' just flowered and is in ripe condition, which i.* evidenced by the fact that the thorn* rul> off easily. The pressure :. should be applied to the thorns from the , £ j side, of course in ivMcli way they are [ :; \ easily removed without risk of hurt to , •the operator. The buds nearest the tip i , ? should not be used as a rule, but nice I', f plump, healthy-looking buds from lower I ( down, though these must not hebe , ■ ! "titarted" , —they must be "dormant." The ! : I lower part of the leaf stalk must be left .' :!on to serve a.s a iiandlu when moving t lie j', - | buds. The shoots can then be placed in , i j water until wanted, though it is better ; not to leave them more than an liour or \ so. To transfer the buds to the stock

i tied ttrmly, lmt noi tightly, into posiion with ratlia. worsted or "soft cotton. '.'hen tying be careful not. to cover the ciual hud itself. In about n month licse ties' must tic loosened, and if the ud is plump and ratliPi- red-looking all ( well, uiui another lmt loosrr tit? mu-t c put on. If tlie 1.n.l is dry and the hichl falls auay when untied it is no oo<l, and another bud should lie inserted !i ;inotlier place—tiial i-. if the mieuli 3 not too fur advnnoet!. WREATH MAKING When making wreaths during tin" r-um lor month* great troulile is found to «-ep the bloom- from flagging. When iring up the. Mowers place a *ma]l piece f moss, around the steins, then tsvUl nund between linger and thiltnh before inding the flowers to the wire. Thw an lie dour after a little practice nearly s quickly a> 'by the old way. It i« al^'i great help when Lining tender stemmed uwrs. Take care to wet the frameork well before using it, then the moi«lire will get up to the bloom*. Wreathone. this, way should last three or four ays. POTASH FROM SUNFLOWERS. Those who arrow sunflowers, and also erusalem Artichokes, should preserve ml burn the old stems and heads, ixty-two per cent of the a-lie- of Siinowers consists of notash. tfARVEIXOTJS POTATO CROPS. ICardcnrr.-' lalea are sonift exraordinary. In a letter recently pulished in the •'.'Jar-kti Mapizine," tip riter stated that, in a rompPliliou romoted by liis local liorticultur.il X'iety, for the birgeet crop of Potatoes rown from a pound weight of •ed tubers, he bail last, year gained ie pri/.e. with—eight hundred and ■venty-six pound*! \"ery nearly eijrht unrlredweight from a single pound.! rodigiou.i! He had eompeteU several mes previoiiely. In li'l7 he obtained iroe hundred and twelve pounds, hut ur beaten by another competitor; in US, he was "more successful with five iindred and eighteen pound.-: In 1010 lere was no competition; and I'lOll ime the climax of eirrhr hundred and ■venty-six pounds in'lo2C. Has thi•ev been exceeded? We doubt if it has ri'T been approflched. He ettt tip liin ]Und of seed tubers into single eyes, ot neglectinft even the small side-eve.*, llicll can uften be seen Xt the has;' of ie larger ones, and in this way lie it one hundred and seventy-live plants, f thcue twenty-nine plant* finled, so • was left with one hundred and fortyx. every one of whic!\ did well, some ielclinnr no ] ( tliiin twdvc jiouiuls. lie average weight per jdant was asjnishinpj; by a singular coincidence, it orks out at exactly .-ix pounds. The iotuueo between tlie plant* was t»o ■et, and between the rows three feet, ig manure was dug into the ground. ud artificials were al.-o used, though ".' i" largo ipianti-iie.-. .\uthing'i> u<l whom spraying, lmt obviously Jt're <-an have been no disea-e. due nportant point is omitted by the nter— the. of the individual tubers c suspect that, though numcrcue, vcr> any of them were small, for that is ie usual result of planting small ;Vided sets. TOMATO CHUTNEY. To make Chutney from green Toma>es take six pounds of green Tomatoes, iree pints of vinegar, one pound of igar, one ounce of pickling spice, half i ounce of Mustard r.eed. one dessertloonml of all-spice, three large Onions liced). three-fourrhs pound of Annie?, id half a pound of Kaisins or Sultanas, ice the Tomatoes, pprinkle them with It. and let them stand for a. night or • o and then drain oil" the brine. Now i ace all t,he ingredients together and j iil for one hour. Fill into jars when Id and tie down. This. Chutney is >ar and can be seen to be Tomatoes iv ass jars.

t , ! Vie 1: Rmlrlinß wnorl. Fie. 2: How the f . l.iid is cm Fβ : The Im-Mon in the i •! tittK-k. Flk. 4: Tim lunl in position (1: I ig. »: rmtmillnc hark trimmer! away a i.l Klg. (f: TUe bud tlfil. ' ' i » or foster parent first an incision little * v more than an inch lung is made length- ' ; 1 wise in tin; bark of the stuck, tlien a ', I" cross-out is marie at the toj. of the \ ; - lengthwise cut, forming a figure like the 1 , letter T. Be careful to only cut through " t the bark and not into the wood of the ' plant. At this point a bud is removed « from one of the stalks by cutting from s a point about an inch above the bud to sI a point about half an inch be.low it. The thin shield of bark containing the bud * is held by the stump of leaf stalk, and ' the bark of the stock at the cross mci- f I j-ion is raised by the back of the knife » -j or the thin end of a "budding" knife, s I land thus holding it up. If the sap is ( 1! rising freely the mark will lift easily | a 5 (if not it is no use going on) ; the lower S i J end of the shield of bark containing the si !' bud is inserted and gently and gradually t -1 pushed down into position. The bark p ;j in some cases will have to be helped with b ■ the knife. When it is properly seated c< any bark protruding from the cross mci- cl sion is cut away, after which the "bud" I g

RED SPIDER ON ROSES. I Periods of dry weather arc very liable ito favour thi , r;ipill multiplication of red i spider on climbinj; Roses upon wiill*. Ii he. best plan tor keeping tln-in down | ;is to sjrinpo them vi H ,,rou>.ly with cold ( \.ator. IVinj: the jot is thu must fore- 1 ible way to sjrinp.. f,, r the water strik- '. j injr apaimu the wall ri bound* anil wi-ts : ] l lit- under hiirfat'e of Ihe leave*, whi-re most of the jH-.-t lies concealed. EARLY APPLES AND PEARS. Karly varieties of Apple* and I'eara "ill require closu attention to gather I them before they «.■; t<»> ripe, because. some of them soon turn mealy. Such varieties as Gladstone. Worcester l'enrI main. and Red Astraehan. are best gathered from the tree and used directly, as t hey deteriorate when stored. A little practice in gathering will won show when the fruitr- mc in the best form

I for tho (able. Many fruits on the same ■ troc «ill lianp safely for days longer than others. The *ame applies to pears, gui'li as Williams' Bon tlui-Uen, flajip's Favourite, Louie Honiie de Jorecy, and Jargonelle. Cut ojien a fruit or two to see if the seeds are brown. Another test, of maturity is to lift the fruit into a. horizontal position (see illustration), and if ripe 'lie stalk will part readily. Jf a few sound fruits fall, that is auotlier proof that they are ready. SUMMER PRUNING. Tree.-, that bear their fruit on spurs should have their I'tu-rgy directed to the building up of the buds at. the base of tin current year's shoots, and those who have not rlnne tlieir summer pruning should carry out the work at once, cutj tins the shoots bark to five leaves.— I 'Garden Life." J. AND S. HOPKINS, LIMITED, Seedsmen and Nurserymen. STUAY WITH .\r«onn»p "t Lvml ami Black r.c-af -11 , . to ikxtri.y llie I'abbagu l'!>. .■mv NOW—niiMnrln. Nemesia. Wiaier riowprlnc: StiM'ks. Karl}" Flowering Sweet Tens. I'aiw.v ai«l AntirrUluum. ADDHESS: < QUCKN STItKKT fOi.p. •■Herald" Offi.-e>. ALTKLAXD. S CHRYSANTHEMUMS AND DAHLIAS. OKDEK NOW— OfK rOLI-EPTIOX OF YVEI.t, ROOTED PLANTS CONTAINS ALL TOE LATEST ANU BKST VARIETIES. ARTHUR YATES & CO., LTD. LOWER ALBERT STREEI, AUCKLAND. f< PLANT NOW— K:iiin)i,-urns. Anomonrs Kroesias | !l.v:i.-lntbs, Tulips. Ixiiis. Daffodil!). Iris, Etc. ! SOW NOW— ! Onerarla, Pans.v, special srraiu*. Neoiesin, Stock.-, winter flowering. Sn-eet lea*, winter flowering ct<EVERYTHING FOR THE GARDEN AT j GILBERT J. MACKAY"; OS, QUEEN STREET (Op* Baßk X.Z.). S

BOTTLING OF VEGETABLES. A simple met h..d ...f bottling vegetables may be of iiee to those who wish to eonUervo sup|ilie.-i of rurlain kin.l, for next ■.lutumn an I winter. In tin- lir-t place yiiiinp. fro-Ii vea«'tahle* should lie .-m.-hi. They should be washed an.l prepared a.s if fur cioking. uuil white voK.Miihle.- rliould lie kept under water -is much as [.osr-iMe to preserve the colour. They shoiil,! tii.-n be put into ;i poi of boiling shli<>,l wuter, one ten spoonful of salt per .plan of water. 3nd allowed tn remain in ii frwu one In rivo minutes nceolding to the vt-pi- ,- ta'ble e.ji.. I'cas and t'.ie more deSic : ..,e -on*; one minute, anj others T:ie vegetables should then k> pla.e.l in v larjji. , hoenn of cold water in cliwk the cooking and to make t liem f.rin. Tiiove tliey siuiuhl remain until col.', i.e., f:oin five to ten inimit.-. Then t'i<>v -h,.r!d he paeke.l a- thinly n« in , , vacuum bottles, one tea-pooiiful of 8 ., i, being placed on the top of the content* of each bottle. Kill the bottles to overflowing with (old water, and pine. , on the rubber ring, glass cap, and ,-i-nnv band to .Hp. Screw up. ii:en y,.i, ~..,. slowly, to allow air to escape during tile next stage of the process, which is to. place tin? bottles in a saucepan -with a f»L-e hottinn, covering them uith coll water, which should lie 'hroujiht slowly to boilinir point, and kept lmilinfj for' two hours. When liie operation iw com-' pleted the bottles ahouM be screwed down lightiy and stood a.-He to cool, when they can be stored. ;

HINTS FOR FRUIT GROWERS. s J in , fcUci-eM of next year's fruit crop - dopi'iids, to a much greater extent than | t, tunny amateurs imagine, on tlie treat-, "'l'"', tlieir Upps receive at this season; It i< by Jin means uncommon to tind 1 trees allowetl to tuke care of themselves ■ v.iiii,. tin: fruit is ripening- and after il . linn been gathered. Want of attention «t this «(.;i*.on is ihe i-aiij-e of the buds Inf I'pai'lie.s dropping later. The aim of ■ tlie fi uitprowor should be thoroughly to : . ripen yomig wood that will bear fruit nc\; year, and :ill the shoots that have bonn , fruit this year should be removed ■nt the earliest opportunity. Thus the ■ fi'liaj;.' on the remaining shoots will be i'Vpii-ed to litflit an,l air. which are neees- j ■•!!■. in enable the leaves to perform ll'.ir ititii'tions unhindered to the end' if the -ea-on. TO DESTROY ANTS. ! hi nr.ler to <le~lroy insect*. \>h: i ;:n inverted garden pot over n.",r. jtnrl the ants will work into it. Re-1 iiioM' tin- put in a day or two by putting .i -|'.! le underneath it, then plunge it, wi:':i its eoiitents:. into boiling water, and repeat the process if necessary. j Ants may h« kept away from wall ' fruit, and piiicr fruit while ripening , , by drawiiiff hronil band with chalk along tin , «all near th.- , ground, and around the -ten: vi the trees. Ants may also be destroyed by pourinsf boiling water on j the ne.~i, or by a mixture of sugar and • terr, to ulii.ii arsenic has 'been added ' I