TO CORRESPONDENTS

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 33, 8 February 1930, Page 6 (Supplement)

TO CORRESPONDENTS

Correspondents will greatly oblige by observing the following rules In sending questions for publication in these columns:—

I—Letters should be in not later than Tuesday to be answered the same •week —addressed to Garden Editor, "Star" Ofllce, Auckland.

2 —Write on one side or the paper, ana make all communications as concise as possible. 3—Flowers, etc.,- sent for naming, njust be sent separately, and, if. possible packed In a tin or wooden box—cardboard boxes are very liable to be broken in transit and the contents damaged. . 1

4 —The full name and address of the sender must always be sent, but a nom de plume or Initial may be given for publication.

PLUM (Kaiwaka) sends a nlum for identification. —It ls 4 Hale, a variety of Japanese plum.

FiW. (Marton)-writes. —Will you please tell me when and how to bow freesia seeds. We had a few bulbs last season and let some Y>f the flowers go to seed. This is our first attemnt at gardening and we have derived great assistance . from this page.—Choose a sunny position and sow the seed in shallow drills about an inch deep so that the seed is covered with about an Inch of soil. The seeds caq be sown now. Sow thinly; if you only have a few seeds sow them one at a time, allowing about an inch between each seed. The seedlings can remafn till they flower; .some will flower next spring but some may not flower till the following season. The seed leaves come up like an erect blade of light green grass. You will need to keep the seed row clear of weeds.

G.G. (Westmere) writes.—l have a Gravenstein tree which is five years old; so far it has carried no fruit although it flowers every year. It appears to be healthy. Does it require manure or is incorrect pruning the cause? —It is rather unusual for a Gravensteln not to fruit, as It is an almost sure croppec and usually fruits at an early age. If the tree is growing well it is not manure that it requires, unless it is a small quantity of a potash manure such fis sulphate of potash. The pruning may have been too severe and caused, an excess of growth. I should recommend you get a little sulphate of potash and apply about iin, ounce to the square yard of ground around the tree; about four ounces would be enough for the tree you'mention. As regards pruning l do not prune it this coming winter, but let It go and give a summer pruning next summer.

F.B. (Kingsland) asks: (X) When to put in onion seed to get plants for August and September. What manure to use? (£) My cauliflowers run to flower Inßtead of heading; can you say the reason ? (3) I have tried to grow carrots, but although they come up well they go off. — ■Sow the seed about the beginning ot March. I should not use any manure, for If the ground is in fair condition it should be good enough for onion seed. Better to treat the soil with White Island product or a dressing of sulohur to keep the mildew away. This latter has been the cause of a lot of failures with onion seedlings this last year or so. (2) X should say it was due to bad. seed, unless your ground'ls exceptionally light and poor. (3) It is no doubt due to aphis, Treating the soil with White Island oi some soil, fumlgant and also treating the seed by immersing it for a few hours in a solution, of 1-1000 mercuric chloride is the best method. When the seedlings are up a spraying along the rows with lime-sulphur would get the plants over the stage when they are most liable. Once tlhe carrot aphis Is in the soil to keep, on sowing seed is only feeding the pest and it is either a case of giving up carrots or getting,rid of the aphis.

PUMPKINS (Waihl) writes: My pumpkins are fully loaded with flowers, but as soon as the pumpkins are as big as an apple they wither and rot off. The leaves near the root are also withering away.—The trouble is mildew. Owing la a measure to the wet season this has been v6ry prevalent this summer; usually it does not put in an appearance until well on in the autumn, when the crop has nearly matured. Spraying with Bordeaux mixture ot* lime-sulphur solution will check it. l"ou will have to give two or three sprayings before it is under control. ' '• ROSE (Belmont): (1) Hose foliage for examination; (2) can cuttings of fibrous begonias be taken now?—(1) Mildew. Spraying with lime-sulphur or Bordeaux will check it. It is much more prevalent this summer than usual, owing to the wet and cold. If the plants are pruned hard in winter, all fallen leaves cleaned up, the soil dressed with a good fertiliser, or a good dose of lime, and then turned over, it will "go a long way towards keeping away mildew. (2) , Yes; cuttings will root freely now if put in sandy soil and shaded. j AMATEUR (Ponsonby) (1) sends a few leaves of chrysanthemums for examination. (2) What is the best way of keeping dahlia flowers when cut? (3) How to dry everlastings.—'(l) It is due to rust. Spray with a fungicide, such ns lime-sulphur Bordeaux, or atomic sulphur. C 2) As soon as the.blooms are cut. burn the ends of the stalks in the tlame of a candle or stand them in about an Inch of bpilins water; both methods seal the ehds of the stalks; burning Is perhaps the best method. Directly after sealing the stems, stand the flowers in plenty of cold water (the water should come quite half-way up the stems) for two hours or so. Treated thus the flowers will stand for a day or so. (3) Everlasting flowers should be cut when ■about half open; tie them in bunches and hang them heads downward in a dry, airy position. By this means they will dry straight and stiff.

PARNELL writes:' (1) Some pest is attacking my clematis plants. It looks as If the shoots have been savagely gnawed. I cannot see any caterpillars. (2) Some young liouhere trees have blight like American blight This seems to be associated with small slaty blue moths. Would soapy water get rid of them? (3) In Jast Saturday's paper "Grey Lynn" inquired about a non-spreading blackberry, it is possible that this is what was known years ago as the Cape blackberry. The plant grew in long rods, much as the loganberry does, did not spread at all, and the fruit Were extremely large and almost seedless.—(l) From your description I should say that it must have ! tvi.i more than caterpillars that did the (..image; it sounds as if a horse or some such animal has been at work. (2) A spraying with warm'soapy water will clear them oil. (3) You are probably right as regards this variety of blackberry, and if its rambling brother, or sister, had not brought such disgrace upon the family name it is possible we could have looked on a non-spreading sort with favour, but I am afraid that the name blackberry is sufficient to condemn it to the nether regions.