GARDEN NOTES

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 241, 29 June 1918, Page 13

GARDEN NOTES

(By "Kowliai.")

LIIIUMS. Planting time for iiliuma has arrived, but boforo ordering the bulbs the ground where they aro to be grown should bo prepared. In doing this the first thing that should be borne in mind is that liliuins hate disturbance. Once planted, they liko to remain in the same position for many yeais, increasing in beauty with each succeeding year, But as Boon as ths clumps begin to throw up a largo number of thin slcms bearing small flowers, we know that tho bulbs have become overcrowded and that the food supply is spent. We must therefore carefully lift them, sort them out, and replant them in wellenriched ground. Deep digging is very necessary, and a gOod quantity of decayed vegetable rubbish or matured cow manure should, be buried at least two feet below the surface of the soil. Cover this over with <i few inches of flue soil, mixing with it a fair quantity of bonedust, and the site is then ready for the bulbs.

In planting, it must bo remembered that some lillums have a double system of rooting, for in addition to tho roots helow tho bnlb they malic, just before flowering timo, a set of roots above tho bulb at the foot of the flowering stalk. This second set of roots plays a very important part in the quality of tho flowers, so that in planting the bulbs care should be taken to havo them deep enough to ensure this top set of roots being a few inches below the surface Eoil.j A layer of sand should be provided for tho bulbs to rest unon, and it iB a safe practice to dust the liulbß well with flowers of sulphur at the time of slanting an a preventive against lily disease. As soon as the bulbs are planted sprinkle a little bonedust over the surface of the soil, and spread a mulch of well-matured cow manure or well-decayed vegetable rubbish. A further mulch mpßt be irovided when the flower-stems havo pushed up through the soil. Tho following lilinms have this double system of rooting:—Auratum, Batemanii, Brownii, Croceum, Elegans, Hansoui, Henryi, Kraineri, Longiflorum, Speeiosum, and Tigrinum. The Madonna lily in already well above the ground. Its nlanting timo is early in the autumn. Belladonna lilies are planted, as a rule, about November. At present their foliage is actively engaged in storing up food for the übb of their next autumn's flowerß.

THE NECESSITY FOR MANURE. Early spring iB essentially the time when amatour gardeners systematically dig thoir gardens, anil .before it is too late I should liko to impress upon tliem the abßoluto necessity l'or manure. "But we can't get it," is the cry of many owners of little town and suburban gardens Tot overy week the dustman comes along and carries away in his cart bins full of most precious food, food sufficient to feed all the little starving plants in the' strips of garden around the house. Who. does not know Dickens's story of poor llttlo Oliver Twist? And how, in Bheer desperation, he took his little well-licked gruel-bowl up to Bumble, and tremblingly and wistfully asked for more? How intense must have been the craving for food to force him to such a step!. "Poor littlo chap," we say, and a feeling of hot resentment surges'through us as wo think of the old hoixor who starved the littlo human flowers entrusted to his care. Yet iu tlio garden world, oven to-day, there are many Bumbles. lii very many gardens, plants aro forced to drag out an unhappy existence through want of insufficient food, while all the time, as I have already said, material that is stored with invaluable plant food is weekly carried away in the dust-cart. I havo a friend living in a suburb who lias a vegetable garden that anyono might envy. Yet during all tho years that ho lias cultivated his little plot he liaß never once ÜBed animal manure. This is what lio docs: Tho garden is divided into.two plots. In No. 1 plot he marks off a strip two feet wide, and opens a trench two feet deep. In this' trench goeß everything that* will rot down—asheß, vegetable peelings, waste food, weeds, dea-d leaves, dead flowers from the house, fruit peelings, washing-up water, slops, the water that vegetables have been boiled in, tea-leaves, and in fact anything that might bo termed waste material. Such things as docks, . ca.bbagc-stumps, hedgo clippings, bones, old boots, etc., aro burnt in a slow lire, and the aslies aio added to the top soil at planting or sowing time. What need has he of the dustman?

A handful of sail or lime is frenuently sprinkled over the, contents of the trench as a precaution agaiiist any nasty Bmell. As soon as lie thinks.he has just sufficient rubbish into his trench, he marks off the next strip two feet wide, and throws the soil from it on to' the now completed trench of the first strip. But beforo doing so lie sprinkles a little bonedust over the rubbish that is to be rotted down. So lie proceeds until ho comes to the end of No. 1 plot. - There is,nearly .always.nn open trench waiting-to. swallow up every scrap of waste material from tho house and garden. Meanwhile the rest Jf No. 1 plot iB not lying idle. No sooner is a trench covered up than it is planted with seedlings or Hown with seeds. Into this plot go all his cabbages, Bilver beet, cauliflowers, Brussels sprouts,' lettuces, neas, and beans, a .little bonedust being added' to the-drills ai the timo of sowing or planting, and nitrato of soda being used qs growth progresses. No. 2 plot does not have waslo material buried in. it the- same year. While No. 1 plot is bcinf used as a burying ground for rubbish,. No. 2 plot is being used to grow root crops, such as parsnips, carrots, potatoes, etc., for the..buried malter, unless thoroughly decayed, wouid spoil the shape of the roots.' In Iho following year, however, No. 1 plot is ready for tile root crops, and needs only the addition of bonedust in tho drills at sowing time, and perhaps a little superphosphates as soon as the seedlings are up. Meanwhile No. 2 plot undergoes tho -treatment that was accorded to No. 1 the preceding year, and. takes its turn at being tho home of tho cabbages, peas, and beans, etc. In. this way the garden iB being constantly stored with valuable plant food. Tha cabbages, peas, and beans, 'being gross feeders, love tho newlytrenched ground, and push their roots down into tho fast decaying matter, finding there the food and root-moisturo that are so necessary to their well-being.

In the following year the' waste matter is thoroughly decomposed, and when the plot is forked over becomes well miiul with the soil. It is then just-the place for root crops. . All that iB needed is the addition of some fertiliser such as bonedust, and parsnips, beetroot,. carrots, potatoes, onions, and turnips that are grown there will be a credit to any gardener.

Bnt vegetables are not tho only inhabitants of the garden world who lovo this mode of manuring. ; Liliuras, sweet peas, dahlias, violets, punsies, mignonette, delphiniums, rhododendrons, azaleas, and many animals simply crave for such a rooting ground. So, ray gardening frionds who cannot get manure, there is really not much excuso for your poor, little, half-Btarved plants. "Our soil is so poor," is another everready excuse. As if plants live on soil I In a house even the best-built cupboard is badly stocked in tho hands of an incdkicmt housekeeper. And the soil is simply like a cupboard. It is merely the receptacle for tho food upon which the plants live. In the beginning of things, Damo Nature stocked the great cupboard with all that was necessary to plant life, ■ and,, if left to herself, she ■ replenishes that food in her own way. But we .hi our methods of gardening, frustrate Nature, and plants are left to exist as bctt they may in soil from which every atom of plant food has been absorbed. Tlici wo blame the poorness of the soil, when as a., matter of fact it is our 'own fault for not'providing tho necessary food manure. Now is tie time when impoverished soil can most easily be improved. Plants may be lifted with a good ball of soil and placed aside while the gardenbeds are being renovated. Do not di" up the whole bed at oncc. Do a little at a time, and do it well. Begin to-day! Open up a trench for vegetables or sweet peas, and begin with to-morrow's ashes and potato peelings. Do you want to grow thick-petalled, velvety-faced panßies? Then, open ud a hole, bury a good supply of rubbish, sprinkle it with bouedust, and, in case of insect pests, some insecticide, such as vaporito. lteturn tho top-soil, adding some soot from the kitchon llues and a little superphosphate, and then see what pansieß you will grow! Or is it uerlups a bed of fragrant stock, with massivo heads of glorious bloom, or a clump of tall-growing handsome liles, or a'Daze cf richly-hued dfclpliiniums that you desircP Then open up a trench or a hole, and begin at ouce to collect the food that will give you tho result you long for. Begin to-day! No more waste! No more dustman! But flowers and vegetables that will bring you endless pleasure! Jfcnicsia. phlox drummondii, asters, dahlias, Michaelmas daisies, stocks, violets, tansies, polyanthus primroses, sweet peas, mignonette, liliums,- hyacinths, and many other common garden (lowers all call for food, plenty of food, and without it thoy are not worth growing. . And when next you meet the dnstmar, and see his well-filled cart, you will bo able to say:. "There goes a cart full of plant fond, lint thank Heaven he has not got mine." "Garden Notes" next week .will contain seasonable mil/s about:--l!oses, routine work, and vegetables.