TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 279, 24 November 1928, Page 6 (Supplement)

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

MUG (Mount Albert) asks the following questions; (1) I want a good display of bloom for- cutting and show purposes during the latter part of April and May. What seed should I put in now? Could I get success with sweet peas? (2) I have a bed standing Idle in which I wish to raise seed, which I shall plant at the end of January. Can I sow dwarf beans or peas in it and then dig in the foliage before I need the bed? (8) What is the best ninmirinl preparation for anemone and ranunculi seed beds. (•)) The best time to'plant Iceland poppies to flower in winter?t-(1) You could sow zinnias, salvia bonfire, cosmea, mignonette, calendula, Sweet peas sown in February might do all right if the weather was suitable, but as a rule sweet peas are not a great success in autumn. E.M.M. (Morningslde) writes (1) This year my bed.of pansies will not flower. The buds reach the half open stage and then shrivel up as if scorched or eaten. I can find no trace of insects. The bed was well prepared, was surfaced dressed with lime, and. later with White Island Product, (2) Are Humca elegans and a flower I have always known.as "Ichium candicans" identical? Mine has a pink flower, and there is a blue variety.— (1) I 'cannot see any reason why your pansies should not open. They are not much bothered with fungoid diseases, and if no insects are present the blooms should open. Many of these little troubles are in a measure due to heredity,' and seed from a poor strain of plants will often fall a victim to these ills where other plants would succeed. It may be only a temporary trouble, due to excessive vigour. Bud' dropping in sweet pens and other plants is more or less due to this, and as the season advances the plants correct themselves. . (2) I- expect that Ichium candicans is "Echium candicans." This has a blue flower, the leaves covered with a silky silvery down. "Echium creticum" has a reddish violet flower, and the leaves and stem covered woth coarse hair, giving them a rough feel to' the touch. Humca elegans is entirely different. It is a mucli taller plant, sending up a large, loosely branched terminal drooping panicle of small brownish flowers. It grows live or six feet high. A.D. (Xapior) writes: (1) I am enclosing leaves and blossom of a creeper I have It does not 6eom to prosper, the loaves drying up. I found some small insects on it. I have enclosed a specimen. Can you suggest treatment? (2) I have a rhododendron which has never progressed. The leaves seem hard and lifeless. Some time ago I wrote you re geraniums and nollyhocks, . and you advised White island Product No. 1. It has been very benoficial, and this year the plants are •Zlnl-n, 1 thoUßh J would treat the ems t w Wilh "• ftml tllis ™* " is anite A'°PM ° U growtl1 ' a " u t"«-e died nff n W Browth Where bcfore thev rig t now?° ?Sf , h,n ? they wiU " e "" fi. n , <<J) Is Japanese marigold he name of enclosed buds?-(l) Spray with lime sulphur solution or a nicotine spray. The little fluffy insect is ~! fly which attacks passion vineVanVs m lar plants during the summer. It £ not seem to have much agalnst.it as a destructive insect. (2) I should not like to recommend White Island Product "or rhododendrons, but seeing that Vmi have done so and with apparent success I should like to hear if the improvement continues. A little nitrate of soda would do the. plant good, a teaspoonful of nitrate in half a kerosene tin of water about every two or three weeks. (3) The ulant sent is Gazania splendens, i a 0 not inow Japanese marigold.

J.E. (Papaknra) asks: When is the right time to prune a hakea saligna hedge?— time now. If you intend to cut it hard, it can be done at once, but if you only intend to trim the hedge, leave it until about the middle of December

TANGITANA (Morrinsvllle) sends a leaf and a piece of a flower stem for identification ?—Specimens are too small to be certain of 'the correct name. The leaf ia apparently off a acer, and the fiowcr appears to be a variety of thalictrum. -

J.B. (Mount Eden) writes: Last July a pot of eyclataen was given us. It has flowered till a week or so ago. Will you kindly tell me what to do with if Can I leave it In the pot on the window sill?— Reduce the water but do not dry it off completely. It should ho kept in the pot, but the pot should be stood in the shade. It will cease growing for a few weeks. About the end of January it will need re-potting, and must be gradually given more water as it starts to grow again. H.S, (Takapuna) writes: I wish for a cure for mealy bug, which has just made a show on ,my grapes in a glasshouse.— You can do but little to check the mealy bug while the grapes aro in fruit, The best thing is to have a bottle of methylated spirits and a small brush, and whenever you see a mealy bug touch it with the brush dipped in the methylated spirit Next winter thoroughly clean the house and vines by spraying with an oil spray and rubbing the glass and woodwork with a disinfectant.

L.D. (Taihape) sends a flower for identification, and wishes to know If it needs any fertiliser. Sweet peas are commencing to bloom and are dropping their buds Can anything be done to prevent it?--Vcronica Halkcana,' one of the best of tho native veronicas. It is one of tlie best specimens I have seen and I am sure no fertiliser is necessary, as It is doing so well, The bud-dropping of the sweet peas is not unusual with vigorous growing plants. It will stop as soon as the weather gets warmer, and the plants have lost a little of their initial vigour.

NEW CHUM (Epsom) writes: (1) I have difficulty in growing lettuce in light volcanic soil. Both seedlings and plants obtained from nurserymen i develop an extremely large root system, but even after weeks refuse toomake any top growth. Tomatoes in the same ' soil show a similar tendency? (2) Is there a remedy for curly loaf in peach and nectarine trees? (8) What are the < best crops to grow for green manu.'o?— (1) On light volcanic sail it is difficult to get lettuce to do well during the hot weather unless: ample supplies of . stable or green manuro are added. There is a need of humus to hold moisture, i and to give the soli firmness. The , remedy is to dig in plenty of green vegetable matter or stable manure. (2) Curly leaf can be controlled by spraying during the period, just before the leaf bud bursts until tho full-sized leaf is formed. Bordeaux or lime sulphur solution is the spray used. The first spraying should be given just as the leaf buds begin to swell, the next when the buds burst, the next just before the dowers open, and the next after the • petals have dropped. The first two are the most important, as the spores pass the winter in. the outer scales of the iln ', nml if tlloso spores are rendered killed the infection in cheeked. Spraying S2 , m" re(,llee t,lc chance of infection y killing some of tho spores that will earW Jn M( \ ° n , tlle mfcctc(l IM ™B. but MmLf pray A" g ls tIll! only cure. (8) make ?£s, l m % M VOn quickly and ' o lenf u «?" be US0(1 . but

'LILIUM (Auckland) asks the following questions.—(l) Liliimi auratum, of which sample is enclosed, turns brown and bulbs disappear. The disease spreads over a largo bed and kills all but a few bulbs. What can be clone to stop it? (2) Iris tnngitana is about half dried off, are they lit to lift? llow long should they be kept out of the ground, and should they be dried in the sun? Should the stems be tied together and the bulbs hung up to dry in a shed? Last season I put them iu the sun for three or four months, and rather overdid it? (3) When is the best time to head back Lawsonlanas, aemona, puriri and karaka? The idea is to tnke say live feet oft' the top of trees llfteen to eighteen feet high. (4) Carnation seeds have been sown in the open, lightly covered with sifted soil, shaded with newspapers and watered. Sown a fortnight ago there is no signs of the plants. Docs the seed require to be sown under glass? (0) Instead of providing a. stake for each toniato plant would one bo likely to get a crop by planting or sowing seed in the place where the plant is to grow, and allowing only two bunches of fruit to each plant. If the main stem is cut off above the next leaf immediately above the top bunch of fruit, could the plant be kept down to that Height and prevented from making more branches. The plants to be a foot apart in the row? Would the plants get away and make a tangled mass. Perhaps this method might be as troublesome 4 as the staking and tying? (1) The trouble is the "lily disease," or "lllium rust," caused by botrytis cincren. It is one of the worst diseases that attacks liliums. Spraying with Bordeaux will ward off attacks if started in time. If very bad the proper course to pursue is to cut down the affected lilies and burn every scrap. The ground shouia be sterilised by having a rather heavy dressing of White Island product No. 1, or some similar soil furaigant. Once it has made its way into a garden an attack should be anticipated by spraying all liliums periodically from the time they first appear above ground. It appears first on the leaves, the spores passing the winter on the ground, but if neglected will find its way to the bulbs. (2) I should leave the iris for a week or so longer then lift them. Let them get thoroughly dried iu the full sun, a week or so of good weather should be sufficient, then store on a cool dry shelf. Once thoroughly dry there is no need to leave them out, although the bulbs will stand a lot of exposure to the sun without harm. They could be tied together and hung up, the only trouble being that ns the tops dry the bulbs fall away. (3) This work can be done now. Early summer is the best time to head back evergreen trees. (4) The seed should germinate in the open; no extra heat is required, You are rather hasty, allow them a few more days before condemning them. (5) I have never seen such a method tried, but should think that the suppression of the shoots would entail n lot of work, and would outweigh the trouble of staking and tying. Why not try the method on a few plants, and let me know the results. It would be interesting even if it did not came up to expectations. ASTER EOLIAGE CURLING. In the cultivation of Asters it happens often that when handling the plants for bedding-out purposes, if not earlier, many of the leaves are curled, others crippled. There are several causes for this. Sometimes it is the result of fungus attack, but this is generally more troublesome later in the season

after bedding, or tlio plants may have suffered a chill from frost or a sudden drop in the temperature. Most frequent, however, arc the attacks of green fly. If such is the case, it is an easy matter to mix up a quantity of insecticide and as each plant is handled for hedding to immerse the plant in the insecticide, allowing it to become thoroughly drenched. Use plenty of soot in soil for asters.

Although less prevalent of late, rust disease may still be regarded as the dread of cultivators. It attacks the foliage in the form of rusty patches, really pustules, chiefly on the underside, though visible from the surface, in the form of pale spots. Under suitable conditions the spores fruit and spread rapidly, so those whose stock is clean should endeavour to keep them so by an ocea-

. RUST IN CHRYSANTHEMUMS. sional spraying with sulphide of potassium, 10/. to two or three gallons of water. At the first signs of infection the plants should be destroyed. If an attack is mild it sometimes suffices to remove the affected leaves, but then the plants should be removed from near healthy ones.

What is termed the "natural" break in chrysanthemums is generally made about now. A bud forms on the point of the growth, with the result that several growths issue from the stem. The bud should bo removed, then three of the

FIRST "BREAK" IN CHRYSANTHEMUMS best growths left, and all others rubbed off. Varieties that arc shy in breaking naturally must have the point of the growth removed in order to encourage them to make fresh shoots. After choosing the growths they should be encouraged to grow vigorously. A series of buds arc produced during the season by chrysanthemums, and success in culture depends, upon knowing properly how to treat them.. NEAT PATH EDGINGS. Path edgings made of wood always rot first where the ends butt together, but if a piece of tin or zinc is backed over the

NEAT PATH EDGINGS, joint with lin French nails, it not only holds the wood together, even when rotted, but also looks very neat. Tin can be cut from old tins. _ _,_ u ._.

GROWING GOOD LETTUCE.

If you would liav6 really good lettuce do not rely on one sowing only. It is better to sow a little seed every 10 days or so, than make one sowing only. Do not sow thickly. Try the plan of manuring a shallow trench, covering it with fine soil and then dropping two or three seeds at given distances, say, four inches apart. Little thinning will be required and the plants will make- uninterrupted growth. These will mature quicker once they get a start than transplanted plants.