IN THE GARDEN.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18920, 8 February 1927, Page 7

IN THE GARDEN.

WORK FOR THE WEEK. (SrECI.ILI.T WRITTEN 70R THE TRESS.) (By J. T. Sinclair.) ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. Limvowl.—As jour montbret'a'; will soon be Howerinit. you should fe»d them veil until the flower* are nearly full out. (live them liquid manure in .1 weak state frequently. Like the farmer, the cardener must be rniutuntlv piittinz into the toil if ho v.ould set the best nut of it. riums-.—Wrichfv Karlv i, : ,„ earlier plum than Rnrbank: h"th arc Japan's"; •'.i.. , s ((olden Prop ii not an early sort, but h one of th" best flavoured, Kiver'c Karly is a cood rooking plum. Tragedy I'runc is early, and a splendid dessert; vi also is Angelina Burden. I'o not know »f any sort.s that ran withstand severe hit" fro-ls. Sometimes fairly larco trees transplant well if lifted with rare. Your best plan would be to visit some of the nurserymen now and seleet the trees. Ask to be shown the largest trees that eould be shifted with safety. VEGETABLES. Turnip?.—lf there is ;i spare piece of ground just cleared of potatoes, a sowing of turnips can be put in. A dustin,'* of superphosphate can be put on and lightly forked in. Golden Hall is a hardy sort, and as it, does not raise the top of the root much above the level of the soil its quality is preserved. Sow thinly, so that the seedlings will require little or no thinning out. Celery.—A few weeks ago wc dealt with the blanching of the early sorts with paper collars. Wc pointed out at that time that (ho collars prevented the soil getting into the hearts, and that if the paper was not placed too high the centre of the plants would suffer no check. One of tho advantages of the collars is that they can be placed on the plants earlier than it. is advisable with soil. Where collars are not used, the earliest plauls will require to be earthed up soon. Itcmovu any suckers that tire springing tip from the bare of the plants. If in the leasfrdry, the bottom of the trench should bo well watered the day before carthing-up is done. Tic the stems together before applying the earth, to prevent the latter from falling into the hearts of the plants. The carthing-up of the early kinds should not bo finished at one time, but should be done gradually at intervals of, say, a fortnight. At no time should the soil be raised higher than the innermost leaves.

Onions. —A sowing of onions to provide drawings for salad during the winter can l>o put in now. As the plants are used in a young state, there need be no special preparation of the ground, so long as the surface is brought to a fine tilth.

Tomatoes.—Some of llic fruit on the plants in the open is showing colour, and where well-developed fruit is hidden by the foliage, sonic of the latter can to cut off to about one-third of its length. It is folly to denude the foliage too much. It is possiblo to get the fruit to colour earlier by removing a good number of the leaves, but the flavour is impaired, and when the tomato is used as salad or, as is sometimes the case, dessert, flavour is the thing for which to strive. All latotals must be removed, and, as any trusses that flower after the middle of tho month are useless, the tops can bo pinched out, so that tho energy of the plants may bo devoted to developing fruit already set.

FRUIT. Ground for Strawberries. —At tho outset it may be. as well to say thero is very little use in setting out strawberry plants in poor, hungry soil, nor is it much uso in setting them out in poorlytilled soil. Tho strawberry is a deeprooting subject, and when wo remember that the plants will remain in the same plot of ground for two or three years, wo should uso every effort to get the ground in first-class order. The soil mtisfc.be both rich and well worked, or tho fruit will bo inferior in quantity and quality. In working tho land for the young "strawberry plants, add plenty of decayed farmyard manure, mixing this with tho bulk of tho soil, so that there will always be plenty of plant food availablo for the roots as they travel downwards. One point must riot be overlooked, and that is, on no account should tho new bed bo mado on the same site as the old bed. Threo years at least should elapse before strawberry plants are set out in ground formerly occupied by their kind. Where "the soil is naturally light, do not stint the manure, and uso cow manure or pig manure when obtainable. When tho site has been worked, leave the land to settle for a week or so, after which the young plants can be got out. FLOWERS. Greenhouse Plants.—Sec the pot nr.aleas, placed in nn ash bed out of doors to complete their growth, are well watered. Dryness at the root is often the catse of their shedding their leaves. If ihrip is troublesome, spray with somo insecticide. Young, vigorous ferns in small pots will be benefited by repotting them in a larger sized pot. Three parts loam, ono part peat, and half part sand will suit the majority. Winter flowering begonias can bo placed near tho roof, but should bo shaded from bright sun. Freesia bulbs potted up for early work should be kept moderately moist. To prolong the ilowering season of gloxinias, streptoearpus, and fuchsias, the spent flowers must be regularly removed. Taking tho Bud.—From now until the end of tho month for Japanese, and the first two weeks of next month for incurved, the growers of largo chrysanthemum blooms will be busy "taking tho bud." This is, perhaps, the most important point of all the details connected with chrysanthemum cultivation, because if the right bud is not taken it is impossible to obtain a perfect bloom. To tho novice the phrase "taking the bud" is very misleading, because, as a matter of fact, tho bud ir. not taken but is left, and the sideshoots taken away. After a bud has formed on the point of a shoot numerous growths will appear on the 6ame shoot, and, as a rule, the threo top ones' of those shoots grow tho fastest. To concentrate all the energy of the .-hoot into tho bud, the side-shoots must be removed, but not all at once, or a blind bud may result: when the "rowths are from half an inch to an inch in length they should be removed about two at a time every other day, so that in about a week or ten days' time all the growths will be removed, and the peduncle or flower stem will be gradually lengthening. The above remarks nnnly to first and second crown buds. There is, however, another formation of buds at the point of some shoots, and these are called "terminal buds." This is the last formation of buds that can take place at the point of a shoot. These buds are quite good iMiniigli to denrnd upon for producing flowers for a late display, and are also to bo relied upon in the case of bush plants. To get a large bloom, all the buds hut the central one must be pinched out in a similar manner as advised above for shoots. Terminal buds do net. as a rule, give such large blooms as crown buds, but the colour is sometimes better,

THE SCHOOL GARDEN. ,By Gl.t.Huj.' I:, ,ho ,jlla!. US tho s,!i,*l instruction is termed elementary apri,,,lt.iro, and :» suc-li it kt»'" rs ' no science work lor Standard VI. proheiemv examination. In drawins "P »| scheme of work lor tho year \>»*™ ™ the three year.s' to.ir.se IS -'" 11 /-\'', Education Hoard it is necessary t° sla *- tho -aim,." On..- of the most iinpo am is to teach Uio leading prinnid->tiY' Iving successful agricultural and horn cultural operation, -a) How to maintain or increase the huinu- centcm. _ u tilled soils. Thi- ,an he > taught in the sen,.! garden by »*•'* of control pl-t, aii'l otlic-rs rc-Milaii> green nianurrd ; ('.O m-thnds ..I <" in K soil moi.-turr: «■) to |r:H. in. it methods of cultivation. suL.-'iliut;, <-u. Aim •-'.-.\.s a garde, to devel-P ho .•esthetic side of pupil- nature t" ciiuivnic habits of order, n-"itii"s-. ami cleanliness. It would be hard *'» "\'7* estimate the valuable intlucn'c »t tno far-reaching effects of grounds and garden on the daily I"c., of the ijiipil.N. , . . . Aim 3.-AS' a Nat.in- -tndysubject to develop habits ..f observation ami reflection—trace, cau.-cs, and ctlects, in short tc make the science work ot the upper standards, it r-st- entirely uith tlie teacher whether it becomes so or not. The ordinary mechanical operation--, of the garden without a. "why" or a "wherefore" lehmd them, from an educational [mint ot view, become useless Aim J.—ln teaching the subject a general aim should be to get tho pupiLs interested in the soil and its products from cither a utilitv or .-esthetic point of view. One of our leading educationists put it this way:—"This is a producing country and we. must interest (lie rising generation in the soil and its products? Tho practical scliemo "t work as carried out in North Canterbury schools admirably serves that object. Furthermore you are adding to tho material wealth of the country." There arc at least three main aspects of the subject—tho educational, tho .■esthetic, and tho utilitarian. It is immaterial which of them tho teacher places first. The utility aspect should Iw first. It is true ''man cannot live by bread alone," but ho must have his material wants supplied. As an educative subject agriculturo is the best in its syllabus, as it embraces chemistry, botany, zoology, and geology. It becomes a .scicncci when taught on modern cducaliro lines.