ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 77, 1 April 1931, Page 18

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

?'Ncaio." —As you are starting a new garden, the soil of which is mostly clay, I should suggest that having dug It over you give a dressing of superphosphate at tho rate of from 4o'z to 6oz per square yard, and sow down with blue lupin for digging in later. This will supply, to some extent, the humus which will be needed. The superphosphate being a quick acting manure will encourage good growth. When digging in the lupin a dressing of agricultural llmo mißh't be applied. This form or llmo . s slow in Its action, and. does not burn out the humus as quick-llmo does. If you Intend to plant any trees, shrubs or fruit trees, don't be tempted to do so .without preparing the ground properly. Such things once planted will remain in the snmo position permanently, and it is far belter r.olic> ro delay the planting for a year rather than skimp the «'ork. It Is aUvlsable to , endeavour to-trench or dig lo two ss deep 1 at least somo portion .of the groundl enicli ■ year until the whole is done. Better results will be obtained from all classes oi j nlants if the soil Is deeply worked.. The &? gardening book obtainable for, your ; purposes is "Brett's Gardening Guide, ob- J . talnablD anywhere. "DaVft Bay."-Tou might try molted leaf mould In Place of stablo manure. Make the bed 2 tt. > same way as for stable manure, and mil in 6oz of sulphate of ammonia to the Srrowful of leaf mould.. I can't guarantee that this will prove satisfactory, but it would be worth trying.'

In this climate the autunw. is the best season to sow down lawns, as the young grass has the whole of the winter 'to become established, and will make rapid growth.as soon as the weather commences to get warm. It is a mistake to imagine ttat it is sufficient to scratch over the surface soil, -and sow the seed. Certainly the seed or some of it may germinate, but the result regarded as a lawn will inevitably.be disappointing. The ground should be properly dug, oven 'trenched, and at Ihe same, time any necessary drainage should be attended to. A good lawn cannot be expected if the ground is waterlogged. The surface soil^ must be worked up lo a fine tilth. Digging it over several times gives the beat results, but if time does not permit of this any lumps must bo broken down with the rake. The plot should be raked and re-raked several times until a perfectly smooth surface has been obtained and the levels adjusted. . ' Give a dressing of equal parts ot basic slag and bonedust at the rate o± 2oz to the square yard, and rake it iti Having got the surface smooth and the levels right, thoroughly roll. It is a good plan to roll m all directions, as the surface must be made quite firm before sowing the seed. During the rolling it .will probably.be found that some parts have gone down more than others, in which case the hollows must, be filled up and the roller run over them. 'Finally rake over again and then the lawn is ready for sqwing. . , Always buy good seed—cheap seed 'is liable to be full of weeds, and will probably contain a big proportion of coarse grasses unsuitable for lawns. The usual quantity of/seed advocated is lib to 30 square yards of lawn. Choose a calm day for sowing, and to ensure an even distribution ■ sow first from end to end, then across tfie plot. After sowing give a good raking, andprovided the soil is moderately dry, run- the roller over it. It is always best to sow a lawn mixture containing several varieties of grasses, some of which do best at one season and sonic at another. In this way you can be fairly confident of having a good green sward the whole year round. ESTABLISHED LAWNS. Most lawns requiro a certain amount of renovating at the end of'each season. Bare patches appear and weeds in some cases get a hold. The first thing is to remove as many of the bad weeds, such as daadelions and docks. These must be taken-out by the roots or poisoned, so that the roots are killed. It is useless to merely cut them off below the surface —they come away again stronger than over. Having got rid of the weeds,, give the whole lawn a good hard raking. This appears to do a lot of damage, tearing the 'grass up by the roots, but the final result will justify it. After raking, run the mower over it, and sow down any bare or worn patches, first having filled in any holes or depressions with fine soil, finally give a dressing of fine sifted soil to a depth, of half an mc hover the whole lawn, and roll. It is. as well to add to the top-dressing soil some basic slag and bonedust, about Soa of each to.a barrowful of soil. As soon as rain comes the soil'and manure will'get washed down to the roots of the grass, which will make a fine even BwaTd in the spring. PRXJIT TREES, SHRUBS, ETC. The time for tree planting is fast approaching, and every effort should be made to have the ground in readiness so that the trees may be planted as soon as they arrive from the nursery. It should always be borne iv mind that trees are planted for all time, and provision, should be made accordingly. It is necessary to prepare the-soil in such a way that the roots can get a free run to a good depth until such time as the trees have besomo well established, after whigh thay are able to look after themselves to ». great extent. The absolute need of making adequate provision for drainage cannot be over-emphasised. To dig holes 2 or 3 feet deep in solid clay without making1 provision for water to get away is fatal to any tree planted in it. In such case the water lodges in the hole, and being unable to get away causes the soil to become sour, and the roots of the tree to rot. A plentiful supply of humus should be worked into the SLEEP TO-NIGHT! ' ~ ... ' END INSOMNIA. Restful Sleep Assured Without ' Narcotics. Tew know'that two genuine Bayer Aspirin Tablet 3, before retiring, insure peaceful, restful sleep,- but be certain you take only the genuine Bayer Aspirin. Bayer, in 1900, 'told the medical profession of their new discovery, called Aspirin. Bayer asked physicians throughout the world to adopt it in insomnia or sleeplessness; having demon-; strated that it would quiet excited and overwrought nerves without harmful effect. Now millions find repose without the use of narcotics and habitforming drugs. Don't experiment! Be sure you obtain only the genuine Bayer Aspirin sold by chemists.in boxes containing 12 tablets and bottles of 24 and 100" tablets —the Bayer Cross trado mark appears on every tablet. Bayer Aspirin costs no more than the uncertain imitations ai>l loudly-advertised substitutes,tvhich physicians would not think of prescribing.—Advt.

I soil, especially; the lower spit, and also | some manure, which should, however, be placed well below the roots. Never crowd your trees. To get good results sufficient space must be allowed for the trees to develop fully, and for a free circulation of air. Distances to allow va.ry according to tho sizo and nature of tho subjects to bo planted. SCABIOUS. • A wonderful improvement has been made in recent years in scabious, and .the types now obtainable are hardly recognisable as belonging to the same family as the old pincushions. I am now referring to the ordinary largeflowered type, the improvement on. the old-fashioned variety. Of all the scabious there is nothing that can approach Scabiosa Caucasica and columbaria, for beauty. The former is a soft lilac blue, with a row of outside florets and a centre somewhat like the other varieties. Columbaria has flowers son/ewhat similar to Caueasica in formation, the colour being rosy lilac. Both these varieties are perennial, and succeed well with out' disturbance for several years. Latterly there have been great improvements made in Caucasica, some of the modern flowers being much more frilled and; the colours varying from very pale blue to deep lavender.