WORK IN THE VEGETABLE GARDEN.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 134, 8 June 1929, Page 6 (Supplement)

WORK IN THE VEGETABLE GARDEN.

This will consist mainly of ground preparation, and this, of course, will depend entirely on the state of the soil. Any rubbish lying about should be cleared away, such as decaying leaves among beds of green crops. Bean and pea sticks should be cleared off and stored away, if this has not already been done.

WORK IN THE FRUIT GARDEN.

I In the fruit garden any trees or ■bushes requiring moving can be seen to and new ones obtained from the nursery can be planted. Do not forget to cut off cleanly any roots that are broken or torn and shorten fibreless roots if they are unduly long. Put stakes to trees requiring them before covering the roots with 3oil. Root pruning may be undertaken where necessary. The winter pruning of all trees should be pushed on. Where grafts are likely to be needed, see that they are correctly labelled when put in tho soil. Fruit borders may be lightly forked over when pruning is completed, but be careful to avoid damaging roots near the surface. Perennial weeds are often troublesome in bush fruit plantations, and now is the time to make an effort to clear them out. AUTUMN TREES. When a dogmatic person loudly asserted at a dinner table that there was only one word in the English language in which an "s" was.pronounced like "sh," and that was sugar, he was disconcerted by the question, "Are you sure ?" "Oh, well," he said, after a pause, "there are two." As a matter of fact, there are at least three, for sumac is another. The genus is a large one, many of its members being characterised by fine foliage, which turns a beautiful colour in autumn They are much more conspicuous in America than in this country, with their crimson leaves and great erect branches of velvety purple and crimson seed vessels. The handsomest species are Rhus glabra laciniata and R. Ctebeckii. The latter has very large leaves. Another tree planted for its colour in autumn is Liquidambar. Presenting the deepest crimson on its more or less star-shaped leaves, this tree is of smaller size than the maples, tulips or oaks, but is one of the half dozen thoroughly excellent autumn trees. It is round-headed, has a straight, rough stem, and is altogether a very characteristic American tree. All the leaves do not redden at the same time, many of them withering and falling while the others are still green. This rather spoils the effect; still it is a good tree for the small lawn. I

BRETT'S GABDENING GUIDE.

In, answer to "Flowers," Onehunga, in the issue of May 25 the price of "Brett's' Gardening Guide" was given by mis-' take as 5/8 posted. This should be 6/6 posted. " I

SINGING WORMS.

The "Average Man,"' writing in "Garden Life," eaye: "We are for ever finding out new facts about this wonderful world in which we live. I read the other day, in a foreign newspaper, that a German professor had discovered that worms are in the habit of singing. One is tempted to inquire how many stoiips of > local ale our friend had consumed at the time he heard his musical worms; or to attribute his impressions to eoine disturbance in a neighbouring wireless. Still, perhaps he is right, though the discovery may add a new terror to gardening; or a new joy if one is inclined that way. I hope ths worms in my garden, if they take to vocalism at all, will do better than the singing duck so amusingly exploited some time ago; and I trust that they will begin with something easier—mare wormlike —than the selection from Wagner, attributd to Wiesbaden or Heidleberg worms. Of course, we all know people who ought to have been worms, and who sing,, but that is beside the point. Seriously, however, I suppose worms do make noises of their own, as agreeable to them and their friends as the average amateur vocalist's efforts are to his human acquaintances. One can imagine wormlike outbursts that would be at least as soothing to the savage breast as some of the things we hear gramophoned when we walk through suburbia, or thrown in with our birthday supper by dusky gentlemen from Louisiana or Kentucky. Most of us who have a noticing disposition, must have been im-. pressed at some time, by the immense current of invisible sound. We attribute it mainly, no doubt, to winged insects. Possibly the worms —the wind worms we call them —were doing their bit? It is a fascinating speculation. One meets lots of folks nowadays, who say they see eights or hear sounds that are not obvious to the rest of us. Maybe they are developing eenses that one day we shall all possess. It ought to be so if the evolutionary theory is correct, albeit that theory works both ways, presumably, depriving ue of capacities as well as inducing their expansion. For instance, we are supposed to hear and smell less well than Red Indians and other primitive or degenerate types. The day may come when we shall be able to talk to the ant and consult the earwig in a. sort of Esperanto, and to reproduce, from a record, the eong of a green fly. Life a hundred years hence looks like being extremely vivid. Whether it will be pleaeanter than that portrayed by Austin Dobson ha the case of good John Leisure is anothuc question. What with Professor Low and this German gent, and a few others, personally, I think I shall be rather glad when I am dead. Besides, if one may believe Mr. Hannen. Swaffer's book about Lord Northcroft, in the next phase we can choose pretty much how we arrange things. His lordship, according to the mediums, has a splendid garden in Paradise, with conservatories all complete, and grows his own fruit, vegetables and flowers. Yes, on the whole, I should much prefer the next world as depicted by Mr. Hannen Swaffer and the Rev. Vale Owen to this world as Professor Low and Mr. H. G. Wells see it. in the twenty-first century. Apart from all else, I gather that by 2229 we shall have crowds of blue and green rosea and pink and yellow delphiniums, and other atrocities all a , growing and a' blooming around us—or rather our unfortunate grandchildren will. "Average Men' and 'Norman Lamberts' will have left off squabbling about the relative scents of old and new rosea because the rose will have ceased to have a perfume at all, in a soundly utilitarian and wholly artificial world, and the use of the human nose will go out of fashion. Thanks to Professor Boee, we shall know exactly what our pet pear tree is thinking of us for cutting it about so, and failing to give it enough time last autumn; and the inner life of the ivy on our walls will be revealed by the aid of an instrument looking half like a bath thermometer and half like a corkscrew! Yes, on the whole, I would certainly rather be dead than live in the beatific nightmare of the prophetic eouls. The singing I do not mind so much, but these other things-—!"

CYCLAMEN. *

j The beat plants of cyclamen are nearly always Ihose that are reared from seed every year. With proper treatment they como into bloom about twelve months after sowing, and will continue for months. Plants from seed sown in early autumn will now be ready to go into small pots. They grow slowly in the early stages, but if kept moving steadily they give the best results in the end. Make up a compost of equal

parts of loam and leaf mould, with sufficient sand to make it porous. A shelf close to the glass in a greenhouse is the best place for them, and if kept in a temperature of about fifty-five, degrees they will make satisfactory growth. Do not overlook them with water, because the small pots soon get dry. A careful watch must also be kept for thrips and red spider, and at the first signs the plants must be either sprayed or the house fumigated.

SAY IT WITH: FLOWERS. An old Chinese proverb says:' "If you have two loaves, sell one and buy a lily." There are plenty of people who are rather ashamed of spending money on flowers, which, fade all } too soon, and feel that to have too many cut flowers in the winter condemns them as terribly extravagant, even wicked. Yet the joy the flowers give is something which cannot be reckoned in terms of pounds, shillings and pence. "Say it with flowers" is a very sound maxim. "Sympathy in grief," congratulations on happiness, cheer for an invalid, are all expressed by flowers better than most words can garb our feelings'. And if we welcome these flowers as gifts from friends because they make us happier, comfort us in loneliness and grief, cheer us when we are ill, why should it be too extravagant to make ourselves gifts of flowers, too, even in these expensive winter days ? The money is well spent when we are heartened on the worst days by the sight of a glowing mass of colour, by the appearance of tiny new leaves on a flowering plant, by something that reminds us that even if the wind blows keenly there are growing things to whisper that the annual mystery of springtime and summer time and the rebirth of the world goes on, as it has gone on from time immemorial The state of pleasure indueed by flowers and other beautiful things is more than aesthetic; it has a distinct curative value, and this is coming more and more to be recognised.

MANURING- I«ARGE TREES.

When manure is to be applied to a large tree, euch as an apple or pear, there is not much use in spreading it on the ground merely close around the trunk, for this would not be of much benefit. Every plant has its receiving stations where it takes in all its food supplies. They are not situated, as might be supposed, at the tips of the roots. Each tip ,is covered with a mass of loose tissue, called the root cap, whose function is not to gather in food, but to lead to places where is,is to be found. For some distance behind the tip the root is clothed with hairs, these are the actual gatherers. Food is taken in by them and nowhere else. The rest of the root, by far the largest part in the case of a tree of any size, is merely a channel through which the supplies are passed on to the stem and thence to the leaves. If, therefore, manure is to benefit the tree, it must be applied within reach of the tips of the roots, and fliat may be a long way from the trunk.

CUTTINGS AND . ROOT

FORMATION.

An article "which appeared in a dailypaper some time ago contained some remarkable statements, one of them being that silver sand. "needs washing before it is .tised for cuttings." The advantage of sand for this purpose is said to be that, "being in separate particles, it is easily pushed to one side by tender roots in search of food." But ia not other soil in separate particles, and do roots search for food? The real advantage of sand is that its particles, being larger than those of clay, they do not fit bo closely together, and therefore the- spaces between them contain more of the air which is required by the roots, whose growth proceeds, not in search of food, but where food actually exists. One important exception, however, must be noted. A cutting when first inserted cannot obtain any food from the outside. Until it has formed roots it must depend on its internal supplies, and these it gets by transferring to the wounded base the materials stored up in the neighbourhood of the buds. These, if all goes well, are sufficient for the production of the callus and the incipient roots. But as soon as they are used up growth must cease, and the cutting must die unless it can procure food from the outside. And this it cannot do if it is in sand alone, for pure sand is entirely destitute of food. Hence, the ordinary practice of mixing soil and sand, or putting the latter at the bottom of the hole for the base of the cutting to rest on. Another statement in the article is that "no foliage on cuttings should be buried." This probably means that the lower leaves —those whose stalks would be in the soil —should be taken off. Gardeners generally do so, but the wisdom of this practice was questioned some years ago by Professor Bailey Balfour. He pointed out that the leaves helped in the formation of roots, those that were nearest naturally helping moat, and while he admitted that they would eventually decay when in contact with damp soil, he suggested that they should be allowed to remain so long as they were likely to be useful, and only removed when they had withered. .

GROWING BEST QUALITY

FRUIT.

A correspondent writing from St. Helier's Bay, bemoans the fact that the best quality fruit is not grown here simply because the most .of such varieties are not heavy bearers. In other words, it is crop .not quality.. He says:—"Nurseryme'ri in New Zealand have only commercial' growers to , rely on for the sal* of trees. There are no people here who grow tip top fruit, whether heavy bearers or not, and few professional gardeners for private people. , The consequence is the best quality fruit is not grown, and cannot be bought; it is a heavy yielder that is sold. Take Sneed peach. What a rotten peach! But it is a eure cropper and gives a large crop. Otiher early varieties are forgotten and cannot be bought. Poonnan oranges, all pips, thick ekins and flavour fit only for marmalade. A good Poorman is equal to "grape fruit." Beautiful. I want a few of-first-class quality (never mind yield) peaches from February to May, and I cannot get them. It's all for commercial purposes. When we get a little older these things such as quality may be desired; meantime a meal of. turnips seems to fit the average taste." .No doubt there is more sense, than poetry.in,our correspondent's remarks, but. why hit at the poor nurseryman. I ain sure he would grow varieties that were Al quality, even- if they never did such a thing as bear a crop, if he could sell the trees. As regards the fruit specialist, no doubt at present we have not a large number of growers such, as Rivers, Wilke, Bunyard, Laxton. or Thomas amongst us. The fruit classes in the local shows are poorly patronised, but then the majority are only interested in the commercial side of the question; they would not be in the game if they could collect the dividends without it. In any case why not grow good quality fruit on trees that will bear, and if we ihave no varieties that combine quality and cropping capabilities why not eet to work and raise them? Varieties that wilf not bear ere only useful as ornaments or firewood, and should be cut out of the list of fruit trees that are grown for fruit or have a black mark put against their name. After all there is a lot of truth in the statement made by a British M.P., "The commercial spirit is at the bottom of it all."

There is a splendid opening for the amateur fruit enthusiast to set to work with, half a dozen varieties of apples, pears, peaches, oranges, whatever may be his fancy. By crossing, recrossing and rigid selection, he would find a work that would occupy his time and mind for the xest of his life. Should luck favour him, as it probably would, he could give to the fruitgrowing and fruit-eating community something that they would remember Mm by, even after they had forgotten his name and address. We etick our teeth in a "Cox's Orange Pippin." apple and remark oil the flavour, but never think of the why or wherefore of its origin. This variety was raised at Golnbrook Lawn, near Slough, Bucks, by a Mr. Cox. It originated in 1830, and.is said to have been from a pip of Eibston Pippin. For nearly 100 years it has stood supreme, and is still the "best" in spite of hundreds of so-called "equals" that have appeared, and, disappeared. Not only is it of good quality but it is a good cropper and is also the best commercial apple to-day, therefore combining quality, crop and popularity.

THE ROCK GARDEN. Perhaps no form of gardening has caught on so well as what is known as rockery or alpine gardening, no doubt due in a large measure to the keener study of natural conditions, and the discernment of the. principles which underlie successful treatment of the plant suitable to this form of gardening. The advantages of a rock garden are many. It is suitable for the smallest plot, for it is possible to have a good rock garden in a plot no larger than the kitchen table, or, on the other hand, it can assume enormous proportions. No matter what the size of the garden a collection of plants can be got together, some of which will be in flower the whole twelve months. Once properly prepared it can be kept in order without any hard labour. Plants of various sizes suitable for every position can be found. The rock garden of former times was, as a rule, a heap of stones overgrown with periwinkle, and with a few ferns doing their best, to get a frond or two out to see the light of day, and the whole a damp, dark, dreary rubbish heap, the home of slugs and snails Beauty there wae none, and little wonder that under these conditions rock gardens ffere . jnto gomers...gggi

not "considered worthy of attention. Today rock gardening is an art, in which the genius of the. landscape gardener, the artist, the botanist, and the expert cultivator has been joined. A position is found for each plant ae natural as possible, and is given a treatment ae nearly natural ae means can devise. The result is the most aristocratic form of ornamental gardening that is at present in vogue. It is within the scope of the poor man as much as the millionaire' and givee as much joy to the cottager as to the owner of a castle and perhaps more. It is essential to give the plants all they like in. soil, and let the stones or rocks be but an accessory, or as a frame is to the picture. No expensive system of strong epikes. and pinmvelae is needed. You cannot be. too simple and inexpensive in your ideas. Very little stone is needed; it is easier to have too much than too little, and a very fair alpine garden can be made without a visible piece' of stone. The only essential part of stone ft'om an alpine plant'd point of view Is that it should be buried underground, eo that the roots may cling along ite sides and penetrate underneath in search of the moisture that is there. With a few little blocks sunk well into the soil, some quite small slope or elevated bed in a small garden can show for, ver7 little cost or trouble a good display.