THE GARDEN.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 9, 5 October 1907, Page 2

THE GARDEN.

WORK OF THE WEEK. SOMETHING ABOUT HOES. About one in .twelve- of the front gardens that one sees in "passing akiig a street have a nice loose surface. The others are hard and parched, or given up wholly to grass. This should not bo the case. Gardens in Wellington are few enough and small enough and precious .enough to be taken care of; and such' a little care will give sucli glorious rowards 1

Use the Hoe. Before any other work is attempted/ these front gardens —■ and, no doubt, ! the' back ones, too — should bo hoed. , Tho recent drying weather—so bene- ; ficial to. plants gi owing on well hoed ' s °il —is exceedingly trying to those whoso soil has a hard surface. A loose \ , top inch of lino soil forms a valuabl* I mulch to retain moisture and make ! things grow. On well-hoed soil a '■, garden can withstand a very long drought without injury, tho secret of ' which can bo learned by stooping and i scraping aside tho loose top soil. Im- > mediately beneath it the soil will be ; sparkling with moisture, while on ; hard unhocd soil there will soon be - ! nothing but a depth of, dryness,' and "> your best plants will be wilting. Do you, in fact, really possess a hoe? If •not, and'if you are' not disposed to ' buy one, do your ..." hoeing "' with a '* sharp-spado or a table-knife, or anything,'so long as you do it. But don't ' cut deeper than ouo inch. After fiddling for an hour with a table-knffe, ! you will probably decide that a hoe v. ; is worth buying. It may'seem to you''' - ! a small matter—this question of hoe- 1 nig—but in nine cuses out of ten it ' is the only circumstance that makes ' your flowers inferior to those of the man in the next street who takes tho ] show prizes. •; '■ , . .. •< What Sort of Hoe to Buy. . ,'' \ < There are all,sorts of"hoes in Now "' Zealand. There are push hoes and ■-! drag hoes, hoes, with deep, narrow blades, and'hoes with broad ones, hoes with hard, stiff handles, and hoes ' whoso handles "give" with every blow, and whose necks have tho' ';' graceful curve of a swan's neck. But >' most of the fancy hoes have no special ' virtues. The best hoe blade of all is a'compact plain article with a. thin ' blade siu by 3in, and a short neck, which is attached to a plain ring for insertion of tho handle close to° the blade. And tho best handle for this ■ boo is a rather short) stout handle that has no elasticity. ''A short broom handle will do. Tho, Made itself may be got 'at a seedsman's or an iron- - monger's for about a shilling. Jf you buy it this morning you can keep it in your breast pocket till you go home '; from work. < The Art of Using a Hoe. v .. .' -, Make it as sharp as a carving knife ' on a fourpciiny whetstone; anefwhen' i yo.u use.it hoe the ground thoroughly, ; not chopping it at random,-but cut-' ' . ting the surface evenly-with a draw- ~ mg,, scraping stroke. ,If it is correctly i • done, yon should be able afterwards "; to bury tho blade in tho top inch of' > \ loose soil. Wherever the firm: under- I sou.peeps.through,"thoro will bo con- j tuitions loss of moisture. It is worth ! a. little effort to prevent this. But, j really, the art and science of hoeing I forms one of the higher branches of i agriculture, and you cannot •be ex- ■. pected 1 to master it completely at the > first try. The Hoe for Ladies. The most suitablo instrument for ladies is a push hoe,-with a rather .1 long handle, to save. stooping; or a - light spade, even a boy's toy spado, ; so long as it has a metal blade that. ' can be made sharp. These tools are i very suitable for hoeing around 1 hushes, which the blows of a.draw ; hoe might injure. Probably the ladiesof Wellington do most of tho garden- , mg; and if they, could.be .always sure ■ of good results, or. bad more opportunities of comparing notes with gar-' ■. dening friends, they, would enjoy the '■ work and its-. results much more. .'. Gardening is not ..taken' seriously .' enough.: we have hot yet golj the garr dening fever. . Some. societies already ' exist, to encourage the sport, but - '■ - there is room for much more vim.-. ■ '',•...,'.'' ;,'-v '''■'> Most, of the directions given last - .week still apply. The seedsmen are ' .offering plants of stocks, larkspur,cosmos, pansies, wall-flowers, carna- • .tions, petunias, coreopsis', summer chrysanthemums, hollj nocks," astefs, •■ otc. Plants whose roots appear dry, ' .and' whose leaves are wilting, should not be accepted even'as Vgift. " . Some people at this period (or'when tho shoots are three inches long) di- ' vide their dahlias, allowing each shoot a tuber': or a. portion of a tuber, for the purpose of iiicreasmg tho plot; _ Pansies and ■ 'violets may. be increased' l ' 'by division, or by making cuttings 'of • spreading" them . over: more ground, by division, or by making cuttings of • t the side shoots; * or the sido shoots '■'■; ■may bo made to root by placing a' ! lump, of soil on them'. If necessary, •■"> chrysanthemums may-still be> scpar- ; , ated and planned out.' .:•■.'• j The Aphis. Blight. ' . , ,'.'.'., j • Aphides' are: becoming troublesome, 'i on now rose shoots. A good simple ■ , romedy is to syringe the foliage lightly '■.'• with quassia water. 'The bitterness of ; ; the quassia makes, tho little tres- "i passers quit in a hurry. Tho quassia '■■■ chips may be purchased-from a chem-; ' ist: one pound will be sufficient for ■ ten gallons of water.' The chips may "' bo infused in hot,water, or put into ' ; cold water over-night, and the water -.; usbd next morning. .Quassia chips make a good tonic, so you need not ',' fear to test the bitterness of tho con- .' . coction on ■ your tongue. Vegetables, It is still rather early for tomatoes: and, in reality,it .is generally found ]-that tomatoes planted too early are. J inferior to, and no earlier to crop j than, those planted later. However, it is entirely a question of weather, ' so you may, if you like, take a risk with afew. 'John Cljinaman has. not.! yet planted his mam tomato beds. Weed all seed beds/ and keep tho sur- • rounding soil loose on the surface,' i hut avoid disturbing the roots of'tho i seccllings. If any seedlings' are to be ' transplanted, the younger they 'are [ the better. See that tho,y aro planted ; rather tightly in fine, moist, deop-dug | soil. Fresh seed may still bo sown for j late crops of beans and.peas. Choose : early varieties. Celery may bo planted. I Ono sees very little good celery, such i as may bo grown in well-manured ' trenches, with carthing-up to bleach. ' More potatoes may bo planted if ro- ; quired, although this vegetable is not: '' expected to bo dear this season. Fill".. up from your seed beds any gaps you - i , may have made in your plots of cab- ■>• bages, etc.' ■ - >" -.. ' ':■