TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 288, 5 December 1931, Page 6 (Supplement)

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

A.S.G., (One Tree Hill) asks: Ko water melons, should the plant be stopped before the fruit has set or afterwards? — The- plant should be stopped when it has made four or five leaves. This causes the formation of three or four lateral growths; it is on these lateral growths that the best fruits are produced. Once the fruit has set and commenced to swell, stopping the growths is advisable to throw the energies of the plant into the swelling of the fruit The sublaterals are also stopped at one leaf beyond the joint. Of course, in stopping the growth of laterals it must be remembered that a certain amount of leafage is necessary to the fruit, and consideration must be given, that if by accident or insects any of the foliage is damaged stopping must be less severe. There is no particular method of producing longstalked flowers in dahlias, it is largely a matter of variety, some naturally having long stems. In regard to pruning and disbudding: Pruning consists in cutting away weak growths and thereby throwing the energies of the plant into the best and strongest flowers. Disbudding is usually applied to leaving only one bloom to each stem or stalk, pinch off all the side blooms, this acts in a similar manner to pruning. ONEHUNGA writes: For the past two years the carrots in my garden have been affected with some blight which firstly turns the foliage a reddish tint, and then causes it to wither away. The foliage has ■ grown again subsequently, but the carrots are not the same?—lt is due to carrot aphis, which attacks the plants •when very small, and often proves fatal. It has increased in severity of late years, and in light volcanic soils it is getting very difficult to produce a clean seed bed of carrots. Where the aphis is known to exist, the seed beds should have a dressing of powdered naphthalene applied before the seed is sown, using one ounce to square yard. This should be applied and raked into the soil about ten days before sowing the seed. Watering with Restar solution 1-100 would also do. Once the carrots are up should the aphis appear spray with Bestar fluid solution 1-150. It is very difficult to deal with the aphis when the seedlings are small, and every effort should be made to ensure clean soil for a seed bed, by treating it with some soil fumigant such as advised above.

APPLES (Onehunga) (1) Apples falling off Gravenstein tree, what is the cause? (2) How to soften bones bo as to use for manure? (3) Best carrot, lettuce and Sweet corn to sow now?-— (1) Probably due to. too large a setor fruit Nature's method of preventing overcrowding is to shed a portion of the crop when small. (2) Treatment with sulphuric acid. The best method of using bones is to crush small and use them untreated, they will naturally become plant food. Mixed with superphosphate they would soften but with a loss of nitrogen, a valuable part of we bones.. (.3) Carrot, any variety ; lettuce, American Summer, Longstanding or Webb's Wonderful';, sweet corn, Golden Bantam, Country Gentleman. CARNATION (Russell) sends a carnation bud for examination. The buds develop far enough to show the tips of the petals, but then die off. —Carnation bud-wilt as not at all unusual, but seldom develops into a very serious thing. As a rule it is of an heredity origin, and the best method of dealing with it is to pull out the affected plant and burn it

E.Q. (Birkenhead).—l planted a number of lemon trees about two months ago and . have noticed that some of them are withering, the leaves shrivelling. lhe others are doing well?—I think it is only due to the roots being unduly disturbed when transplanted, probably they will recover later on when they have made new roots. It is usual for some to suffer more than others. A good watering and a mulching of leaves or cow manure will help them.

K.G.H. (Great North Road) writes: Will you tell me when to spray outdoor grapevines? I have a good crop, but have caught one or two caterpillars in the bunches.—Tou can spray with lime sulphur, I—l2o,1 —120, adding aoout a teaspoonful of arsenate of lead to each gallon of spray. The dust spray, consisting , of about a pound of flowers of sulphur and a teaspoonful of powdered arsenate of lead is more easily handled and applied when only a small quantity Is required. You can get sulphur especially prepared for dusting purposes. Mix the sulphur and arsenate together, .and dust over the vine in the morning when the foliage is wet with dew. A thick coating is not necessary ; a thin film of sulphur and arsenate particles is all that is required. This can be done now and repeated again in about ten days or so should such be necessary. It would be veil, however, to give two or three dustings to ensure immunity.

T. W. FIELDING writes: I desire to make two small rock gardens, approximately four feet square, in the corner of a lawn which faces the street on two sides. I can procure some broken concrete, large stones and bricks. Would you recommend some bright coloured rock plants?— The size actually prevents the formation pf what can be termed a rock garden, and the use of concrete and bricks la also entirely out of place in a rock garden. Apparently you wish to make some kind of a corner ornament to the lawn, and I think if you were to erect a pyramid of soil, using the bricks and concrete to hold it In shape, plant it with such a plant as ivy geranium, you would find that it fitted in well with its surroundings. Brightly coloured subjects that would be useful for the purpose are alysosum saxatile; aubretias, various; gazarias; helianthemums; mesembryanthenrums; dwarf nasturtiums. The ivy geranium, however, you would find, would give the best display, being almost always in flower and seldom gets untidy or weedy looking. KOHI (Mission Bay) sends a leaf of African marigold affected with leaf spot—The trouble is due to a fungoid disease. It is not usually of much trouble, but you seem to have struck a badly-affected lot of plants. Give them a spraying with wettable sulphur, or dust them in early morning when wet with dew, with flowers of sulphur. Two or three dustings at intervals of about a week may be necessary. Use the sulphur especially prepared for dusting purposes. KA B (Te Kuiti) sends some azalea twigs for examination? —The twigs have developed fleshy irregular swellings. Tliesc are caused by the attacks ot a small insect which, puncturing the skin, causes this abnormal growth or gall. Spray with black leaf 40, this will get rid of the cause. There is actually little harm caused by this, but azaleas do suffer from red spider and thrips, and a spraying with nicotine or other insecticide is usually a necessity. BRUSSELS SPBOUTS. Plants resulting from an early sowing may now be planted out into their permanent quarters. A firm soil produces a firm growth, and this is required with the Brussels sprout. The system of planting in the furrows after the potatoes have received their final earthing is worth following, also, planting in the rows of onions; the onions will be harvested before the sprouts are very large. Both these methods are useful where ground is not in over-supply, and the results are often quite satisfactory, but not equal to that when the. plants have an area allotted to themselves.