GARDEN NOTES

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2669, 15 January 1916, Page 15

GARDEN NOTES

[By "Kowhai."] ANSWERS TTO CORRESPONDENTS. "Amateur," Woodville, writes"l liayo a small garden with two or three trees, • ono of which is Cox's Orauge Pippin. It is very healthy, and makes a largo quantity of wood every year, but bears only about a dozen tjmall apples. The tree is unite ten years old. Can you account for lto not bearing? I h aT ® a '" most decided to cut it down shortly. Can you give uio the name of a sweet mellow apple to replace it, and one that is a euro cropper?". Try summer pruning the tree for a couple of seasons, leaving; winter pTunmg quite alono in the meantime. Your treo is evidently making too much growth, and wants opening up t>y cutting out some of the growth iu '}he middle of tho .tree. It you are not experienced in pruning, vou would be wise tt> get a man accustomed to orchard work to do the pruning for you. The following apples arc sweet and mollow, and good oroppors: Delicious, Stayman Winesap. Kome Beauty, and Sturmer. FOXGLOVES. For beautifying an ugly clay bank or brightening a shady corner foxgloves are delightful. They will grow in any soil, and flower well either in sun or shade. Many a clay bank that is left in possession of weeds may be made beautiful by planting numbers of foxgloves about it. A'o prepartion of the soil is necessary beyond breaking up little pockets in which l to plant ilie seedling foxgloves. Once the plants become established and lower, they will seed themselves about, and so keep up a constant supply of plants. One needs to see foxgloves in masses to realise their full beauty, and a mass of them flowering on a bank is a very beautiful eight. Many peoplo in New Zealand have a little native bush in their grounds, or perhaps a few native trees and tree ferns m groups about tho place. Here, growing at the edge of the bush, and especially among. ferns, foxgloves are delightful. They should be planted in bold groups wherever it is possible. Many a little strip of eoil in a backyard where nothing' else will grow satisfactorily may be filled with foxgloves, and for a time at least there will be beauty in w ! bat must otherwise be a dreary spot. Seed should be sown now to provide flowering plants for next summer. The merest pinch of seed will produce quite a number Of plants. The seed should bo 60wn in moist, sandy soil in seed pans, and the seedlings should be planted out as soon as possible, to give them a chance to grow into strong plants before the flowering season,

STRAWBERRIES. Those who are intending to make new strawberry beds this autumn should begin preparing tho soil at 4 once, to give it time to eettle down before the plants are put out early in April. Strawberries love a deep, fairly rich Tooting room, therefore the ground should be .trenched, and should have plenty of good oMiiure (tug into it. Mark out thij space to be given to strawberries, then remove a strip, about two feet wide, of the top soil, and wheel it away to a spare place. Thoroughly break up the sub-soil thus revealed, and work into it animal manure or green manure, in tho form of weeds, etc., and, in the case of heavy soils, road-grit, 6and, and cinders, to make it more porous. Now throw the top soil from the next strip on to this well-worked sub-soil, :>nd proceed to treat the new strip of sub-soil revealed as you treated the first. The last 6trip of sub-soil will be covered with the top soil that you wheeled away to a vacant place. Strawberries, although they like a deep-Iv-dug .rooting place, also very much' dislike being planted in loose soil. Hence the importance of preparing the beds beforehand in time to allow the soil to become firm. Before putting out the plants In April, the surface soil may be lightly forked over, and a dressing of bonedust,

ASTERS. ASTERS. ASTERS, Is. 6d. "doz. Tour la6t opportunity. Also Cosmos, Is. 6d. doz.; and Carnations, 2s. doz: Note.— Just received new shipment of Bird Poods etc. Buy now. The Wellington Seed and Nursery Co., 106 Willis Street. 'Phone 257. PALMER'S CHICK FOOD MEANS BIGGER PROFITS. ALMOST every incubator -will hatch etiong lusty chicks, but it takes good, nutritious, nourishing Palmer's Chick Food to rear them. Check Chick mortality by using Palmer's Chick Food. Made by a special process, each ingredient is cleansed of all indigestible matter, and every particle gives health and vitality. Palmer's can 6hoiv. HUNDREDS OF TESTIMONIALS. Poultrvmen all over the Dominion are rearin; healthier, stronger chickens with this well-proven food. Adopt "Palmer's" —try it out—the result will be apparent in your bank balance. Write us NOW! A. J. PALMER AND CO., PALMERSTON NORTH.

| about 4oz. to the square yard, worked in. Those who already have strawberries growing will now bo thinking about layering Tunners to provide new plants l'or next year. The plants send out sevoral runners, which form little plants at intervals' of abolit a foot. It is the plant nearest tho parent plant 011 each runner that is wanted. AH others that are formed beyond these should be removed. At tho point where the first little plant is formed, tho runner should be pegged to the ground, Mit first a little heap of damp sand and rich loam should bo placed under tfie plant for it to root into. As soon as the new plant shows signs of having Tooted, it should be separated from the parent plant by cutting the connectW stem. In propagating, care must be taken to use only strong vigorous stock. Ola, worn-out roots will not produce vigorous plauts. Sometimes, too, plants are barren, although exceedingly healthy, and any plants propagated from theso would be barren also. The plan of treating strawberries as annuals has much to commend it. To do this it is necessary to have always a . feiv plants that are used only for increasing stock. They must not bo allowed to fruit, but should be allowed t° uoMor so that it may be known whether they are barren or fruiting plants. As soon as the fh'6t truss ot Mowers appears nip it out. Immediately runners will be thrown out. Stop these as 6oon as the first little plant is formed, and peg them down according to directions given above. In this way early plants are secured. Only two or three plants should be taken from each parent plant. The new plants should be plant, ed out during December or oarly in January, and a good place for them is on ground tlmt was richly manured for an early crop of peas. Beyond forking in a little Jionedust, no other preparation is necessary. A few of the new plants should be grown in a spare corner to provide strong plants to propagate from next spring. Plants tha 1 t are treated as annuals in this way bear a nice crop of large strawberries the following 6pring, and, as soon as they have borne fruit, they may be dug, up and their' places taken by a. crop of French beans, or somo other vegetable. The few plants put aside for propagating from, will meanwhile be providing the new plants for the following year's crop. In planting out strawberry plant* care must bfl 1 taker, to spread out the roots nicely, and jhl COYGr them very firmly with fine. soil' - The plants should not be planted too deeply. look at the plant before mak--5 ing the hole, and then havo it so that 3 the crown of the plant iust rests on the j top of nice, firm soil. The should 1 be neither buried, nor left high above '» the surface soil. Keep the plants free s from weeds at all times.

GYPSOPHILA. When cutting gypsophila for drying, the flowers should be fully onen and the steins rather wiry, Remove the leaves, tie the flowers into bunches, and' suspend them, head downwards, from tho ■ncilina of a cool room. Statice (sea lavender) and everlasting daisies should be out when' the flowers I are half open, and dried in the same way aa gypsophila. VEGETABLES. Early crops of onions will now be ready for harvesting. As soon as the bulbs are fully grown bend over tho ■haulm at tho neck and tread it firmly down. This will cause tho bulbs to swell still furtYier and mature. In bending down the haulm care must bo taken to do it thoroughly, as otherwise new prrowth may set in and spoil the onions. Another' point to be considered is the time for bending down the haulm. If done too scon, that is before the onions are fully grown, new growth will spring up from _ the necks of the onions, and so ruin the crop. As soon as tho haulm is withered, the onions may bo lifted and spread out in a cool, dry place to dry before being stored away.

SHALLOTS, As soon as the haulm turns yellow, shallots may be lifted and spread out to dry in a cool, dry place. FRENCH BEANS. Where French beans are being sown during the hot weather of January and February the ground should be specially prepared. Plenty of vegetation, either. green or half-rotted, should be buried about a foot beneath the surface of tho soil. The plants should be thinned out to about 0110 foot apart as soon as they are up. Steady growth should be encouraged by constant hoeing. As scon as tho flowers appear give the ground about the plants a good soaking with clear water, and follow this up with liquid manure (Joz. of nitrate of soda in 1 gallon water. As soon as the ground ifl dry enough, daily hoeing should be continued until the next weekly watering and feeding. Plants so treated will bear fruit freely during the hottest and driest weather.

Gardon Notes next week will contain seasonable uotes about roses, routine work, and vegetables.