GARDENING FOR THE WEEK.

Evening Star, Issue 14535, 10 December 1910, Page 10

GARDENING FOR THE WEEK.

Our contributor, a tcell-known gardener, will be glad to answer qvtsti&ns, which must be received not later than Tuesday 0/ each week. —The Vegetable Garden.— Watering and weeding will be the principal work in this department during this month, and both must bo done in earnest. Hoeing, if carried on. systematically, will not only prove benohcial to the soil by as-tasting to retain the moisture, but will so destroy the weeds and weed seeds that an incalculable amount of labor will be saved in the shape of weeding later on. Watering is a work that should be well done, oT, on the other hand, should not be attempted. Ordinary sprinklings are often injurious rather than beneficial, for the simple reason that they are only half done. Where water is scarce it is better to withhold it as long as possible and then give it in abundance. Peas and runner beans should bo staked aa required. Very suitable material for staking these is hirgo 6in-mesh sheep who netting, with stakes driven in through tho meshes on cither side and brought together ut the head, but for the runner beans long stakes are best.

Plant out cabbages and cauliflowers as the weather permits. If the plants aro strong and ready for planting the safestplan is to give the plant bed a good soaking and pull tho plants with care, and with as much soil attached as possible; then plant, and give a good soaking immediatelyafter planting, (.live frequent, waterine.* until they have got a good start. Neglect of plants in their young stage will almost surely prove fatal in such seasons as we have been experiencing for some yjars back. If they once got a [;ood s f art neither blight nor elubroot will be so liable to attack them. The losses to these crops have of late years, through want of water, been very great. Sow for succession peas, French beans, lettuce, radishes, short horn carrots, young anions to be sown and early-sown ones carefully thinned. The best "onions for keepin _' aro tho muderate-sized ones, perfectly ripened, therefore the thinning should not ae too severe; but for large exhibition aibers 6in apart will not be too much. Sow also parsley for winter use. and spinach should, be sown' fo- . oiuicg in late in autumn. Turnips should be sown for sucicssion. Give good fresh and well-manured ground for tins sowing, as poor, slowgrown turnips at this season of the year -.ire. not worth eating, as thev are very ttroug and bitter, but if well and quickly grown they are very different. —Tho Flower Garden.— Anemones: Those who grow this flower from seed should make a sowing us soon as 1 avorable weather occurs, giving good, rich soil, and cover the seed bed to retain tho moisture and to assist germination. Wallflower : This fragrant spring tlower is not ilvrays grown as it should be. It is often iown too late to become established before the winter sets in. Sow during this month in drills 9in apart, and thin out to cm, and transplant the thinnings, wid -when H:e ordinary bedding and other plants have done flowering in the autumn a clearance can be made and the w aUilowers lifted with a ball of earth attached, so that thoy may bo planted with as little (.heck ts possible. —To Correspondents.— "F.G.»—(l),The materials forwarded arrived quite safe. You say this is tho material you use for potting chrysanthemums, Tho soil sent is not the best for the purpose; it is too near peat. I should say it was dug from tho Forbury, and from under tho surface. It would have been mush better had it been taken from top turf, say 2in or 3in thick. The sand is very good—just tho thing. Tho manure i 3 fresh, dried cow manure, and not nearly 60 good as short and halfsweated horse-droppings, as cow manure when it gets wot is too heavy, and teDds to stop drainage and causa the eoil to get irottr. Tho ground oyster shells aro very good, also. Use graasy turf that has been rat for some months, and the horse manure as above, and it wiQ bo all right. The leaves forwarded may be damaged through various causes—firstly, through being left too long in the small- pots, and getting pot-bonnd, or sourness in the soil through, being too wet with bad drainage; or, on tho other Land, Lho plants being allowed to get very dry. Either of 'these will eacso the lower leaves to turn yellow and fall ofL You ask if it might not be the salt in the oyster shells. Certainly not. Do not wash them. It is all good for tno plants, when used naturally and in tho proper quaiitities. "Dorothy Perkins." —(1) Yon ask if I ran suggest a climber to go with a Dorothy PwkirHt rose, to be planted to climb upon a 6unTmer-honse, Yes, there are various kinds; but what about a whito Dorothy for a companion on the other side. It is good, but I will name two or three other thimjs: Solanum Tasminoicles, Clematis Jackmani (blue or white), LaihyTns Splendens (crimson or pubescens), blue Wistaria, (2) You wish to know how to root a- Virginian creeper. The simplest plan for you is to layer seme of tho young shoots by "bringing some of the shoots to the ground and cutting with a sharp knifo tho t-hoot about halEway through, just below a joint, drawing tho knife a little upwards. This forms a heel. Then get a hook made of a twig of wood or a short piece of wire, placing the hook just above the cut, and press it down into the ground, and rover with a little fresh soil and water. (7>) What would do for planting in tubs to stand in the porch? Tho cheese tubs must be well washed out, and holes bored thTonih- tho bottom for drainage. Plants suitable are zonal geraniums, pelargoniums. ft for a foliage plant Araba Siboldi is hard to beat, for the reason that it is hardy and lasts a long time. "E-M.8." fco on tho ground in your vinery are harmless, but if you wish to get rid of them firmigato with nicoticide a 6 directed on tho bottle, (2) The side shoots on the tomatoes should all be removed, but as you have allowed two shoots on some, you should let them remain, but pick out all other side shoots. (3) Yes, after the first flush of blooms of your roses are oyer you may give a cood watering with liquid manure. This will assist them for tho second show of blooms. (4) I wish you had sent me a Email bunch of your crimson rambler buds. I could then have a better idea of what was wrong. It may be mildew. What is the ground liko they are growing in, and tho position? If you give me these points and a flower bud I shall try to tell you what it is and a remedy. Do not use nicotine as a wash, unless in a weak state. " Agricola."—lt is hard to say what is wrong with your strawberries, bnt you should not have dug in manure around their roots. That may, and probably would, prevent them fruiting. If the ground ha 3 been trenched and well 1 manured before planting they will do I eery well with a top-dressing -of fresh itable manure or litter, and if a watering with liquid manure is given just as thenfruit is swelling to much the better. |2) It is a bad plan to plant any kind of strawberry plants you can pick up. Madame Melba, or Laxton's Noble are good sort 3 for down this part. (3) You may use apterrte for the grubs. Use it as riirected on tins ; it is not too late. Many thanks for offering to give ice plant cuttings to a previous correspondent. I cannot say if they have been supplied or not. "Pomona.'' —The leaves forwarded appear to hav j been burnt with something, as though they had been sprayed late in the season with something too strong. It is a burn of some description, but I cannot say with what it has been done. " FJs."—You say you have a Clara Watson rose, and have planted it two years, and there have been no signs of a rose or bud yet. You want to know the reason. Well, I think you have not got Clara Watson at all, but only the stock that it has been budded upon, for no mat-1 ter what way they were grown they would I show buds, even if they came to nothing. I*. often happens that if a sucker started

[ from the base of tho plant, and it was not removed, it would ultimately kill the roso that was budded upon it. (2) It would not bo a satisfactory job to graft or bud a roso upon It, as suckers and growth would bo a continuous sourco of annoyance. (5) I cannot say what in nibbling the points of your chrysanthemum shoots. Look and sec- if it is not the leaf grub. It rolls itself up in a leaf and eats its way through leaves and young buds. The little black fly yon see is the black aphis. Thoso can be removed with M'Dougall's aphis wash or hot soft soap and water — 3oz of soft soap in lgal of hot water. The material you have been using should keep them down.