Your Problem

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 86, 12 April 1941, Page 22 (Supplement)

Your Problem

Chrysanthemum Thrips E.G. (Westmere) asks bow to control aphU te chrysanthemums? Spray with nicotine solution **ere aphis are present. Scale in Hedge "BLACK BIRCH" (Auckland).—Will you please tell me why my black birch hedge is covered with a substance like soot. Could you state cause and remedy? . ~ . The hedge has been attacked by the black scale It can be easily controlled by spraying with slimmer oil at 1-60 strength. Apple Identification MR H. JOHNSTON (Mount Eden). —The apples wju forwarded lor identification are Edward Lippiat and McLiver's Winesap. Both are frooti eaters and cookers. Hydrangea Tints LM.B. (Mount Albert).— (1) The common honeysuckle is damacinc a stone wall. What chemical would ynu advise to kill the roots? (2l Hydranpeas crown in volcanic soil have turned from pink to pale blue. What treatment do 5-011 advise to keep biue. pink and mauve fast colours? (1) Spray with sodium chlora'e. Severai applications may be necessary. (2) The blue shades of hvdranseas will predominate where the soil is acid, and the colour can be intensified by watering with a solution of alum or sulphate of Iron as soon as growth starts in sprinc. The pink shades need a neutral soil, and one means of effecting this is to supply plenty cl lime or old mortar rubble. Fly Attacking Parsnips • PARSNIP" (Manurewa). —Our parsnip crop Is affected cach vear with a disease (sample forwarded). Could you advise us as to the cause and suggest a remedy? The outside of the parsnip is pitted, and In placcs is like coarse sandpaper. This condition has been caused by the carrot rust fly. The only way to control this pest is to keep the flies away from the young crop with light dressing! of horticultural naphthalene. Appiy this first when the plants are only an inch high, and continue every ten days as required. A large number of applications may have to be made. Small Kamaras "PUZZLED" (Auckland}. —My kumaras planted four months ago. are a mass of healthy foliage, but the tubers are only the size of one's little flnger. What is the reason for the failure? I am not sure that they are a failure. Some varieties produce the tubers deep down, especially in volcanic soil, and the last lew months are usually marked by very rapid growth of the tubers. But. if what you say is correct and the kumaras have gone all to top. the trouble will be too much nitrogen in the ground. Fine crops of kumaras are now being grown in the Auckland district, notably at St. Helier's and Avondale. A suitable manure is superphosphate (two parts) and sulphate of potash (one part), used at the rate of 7cwt to the acre. A mixture of blood and bone, super, sulphate of ammonia and sulphate oI potash is also recommended. Restoring Lawn "TIMOTHY" (Papatoetoe).—l have a lawn which. I think, has been somewhat neglected. It is somewhat weedy and in some places bare. One of* the chief weeds is a small-leafed plant of the trefoil • variety. There are also moss, paspalum and other weeds. Could you suggest a remedial treatment? The first thing to do Is to give the lawn a thorough raking, especially the moss-grown parts. This area should then be treated with lime. If the moss is bad a garden fork should be used tc loosen the turf. With the exception of uaspalum the other weeds can be disposed by of applying sulphate of ammonia at the rate of 2oz per square yard. Put an extra pinch of powder on stubborn weeds. This should be done when two or three fine days can be expected, and at the end of this period use the hose if there is no rain. Paspalum will have to be dug out by hand. A topdressing of sand and soil and a prepared fertiliser before winter would do the lawn good.