GARDENING FOR THE WEEK.

Evening Star, Issue 14637, 5 August 1911, Page 11

GARDENING FOR THE WEEK.

Jut contributor, a welt-known aardener, will be glad to answer questions, which must be received not later than Tuesday of each week. —Rose Pruning.— As requested, I will touch briefly upon the subject of pruning, as a great de.;il can be eaid upon this subject, more so than space will allow. So "I will endeavor to explain as briefly as possible. Why we prune is to maintain the- strength and vigor of the plant, also to preserve the shape. Seme may say: "Why prune? Why not let them grow- at will?" The answer to this will be in watching the natural growth of an unpruned rose, either wild or cultivated, "iou will notice the first year that ttrong shoots will flower well; the second year "the growth, will bo found much ■weaker, but you will often find extrastrong shcoto push up ti> tho detriment of the bush, consequently scmo branches are made weaker and weaker, until the bush becomes an unshapely object. This is tho principal reason why pruning is necessary. The nature of the pruning muct to a great extent depend upon the kind of rose you have to prune. There is long pruning, short pruning, and medium pruning, la pruning climbers there is not much to be said, "as only the* removal of old wood and the replacing of the new, ripe growth is all that is necessary, with ;i sligiit shortening back of the points,and tied from 6in to 9in apart, so that each j>hoot gets its own abate of light. In medium pruning there are a good many of the strong, vigorous kind, such as Lady Waterlow. "Fran Karl Druschki. Madanto Isaac I'erriar, and others. These should ho pruned back to 9in or lOin in length for the strong shoots, and always to an outside eve. Remove some growth altogether w : hete there are- signs of overcrowding. Ii exhibition blooms are required, then only about 5 or 6 shoots should be left. In regard to short pruning, most roses may be pruned short back, except in the ease of strong growers. As I have pointed out. all then pruning should take plu.ee in nearly all caece of weak growth—the weaker tho growth the shorter tho pruning, it is almost impossible to get exhibition blooms from long, weakly shoots. In the case of a strong shoot, coming up in its right place, prune it to about bin in length, and in the case of weakly growth to two or three eyes. When shoots point inwards and aercsc the bush, remove these altogether. To keep a bush in proper condition and in good shape you mutt- always select those shoots that are pointing outwards, and cut away cress pieces. Tor first-class blooms six or eight shoots will be quite sufficient to leave on each bush. .Some may wish to have a lot of flower in preference to show blooms. This may easily be accomplished, and is only a question of leaving more buds on u plant for the production of blooms. In the case of dwarfs, their growths 1 can be pegged down near the ground, and by this means a good mass' of blooms may be the result; but it treso Ion? shoots arc allowed to go straight up and are left in that position they will only break at the top. c-t he-blown out with the wind, and the shape j or the bash spoiled. In the case, of standards, pruning micx be carried out in a similar maimer to the dwurfs. If it be a weeping or climbing variety that has beer, worked" upon the \-trx-k. 'nothing but a little thinning out of the weakly growtn s-nd the shoitcnini of the points a little wil 1 be all that is necessary: but if dwarf varieties are worked upon Lh? stock, then, of :ourse, ehorter pruning must be lesorted :o. as with the dwarfs."though perhaps not rpaie. to such an extent. —Planting.- - The planting of loses should be carried on as expeditiously as possible now ; th.U is, if live ground is in a tit state and not too wet. Hetter wait a week or two than plant them wren the ground is in a sloppy londition. The pruning should not lake phec inimt.diat.eiy after planting, but should be it-it for a we'ik or two unh--s planting lakes plr.ee verv lute—thnt i.-. about the end of August or the iiret week in September. T:i this esse they snouid he pruned at planting. —Tho Vinery.— As tho season of starting off the vines is close Upon us it is very necessary that all cleaning uo should be done, tuch a« brushing down walls, painting, replacing broken squares of glass, raking up ami removing all primings, painting or washing j the vines with the mixture adv.-sed some | time bask as. a safeguard against mealy I Lug, etc>and giving the border a dressing j with g-Hxl manure. When all is teady a | start should be made by closing the house j and giving the inside border a good soak- | ins of water and carefully ventilating on j alf tine days The best tune to start them j in. a. cold houco ii about tho end of this ■ month. I —The Greenhouse.— ! Cyclamen that are (showing ik-vt-r will be I greatly benefited by a water-u.j with liquid i manure once a week. They will a.L-.o re- ' quire an abundance of water az this period > of their growth. A moist atmosphere, free \ from cold draughts, and an even tempera- j tine are conducive to :Jio well-be;!!g of j the cyclamen. Pelargoniums : Pot young | plants of these as the pots become full of toots. Obi plants for specimen purposes i should have their final potting now, if this j has not already been done. Tho material that suits them best is a good_ sound turf that has been stacked six ex nine months. chopped up in small lumps, with one pa it leaf toil, one each of sand and wood a-sbes, well mixed, u&ir.g good, clean pots ■and crocks for drainage. Ram tho soil fairly firm when petting, giving plenty of light and air, and keep them as near" the glass as possible so as to secure a good sturdy habit. —Answers.— '• Piambler." —You have a white rambler with large quantities of wood and foliage which has not yet flowered, though it has been planted three years. Xot knowing the conditions under which it is grown, it j ts hard to say I will, however, give two or three causes which may account for its not flowering. You say it was » grafted plant—l suppose you mean i budded plant. In either case Ibudded or grafted) it may have broken into growth from the stock, and i,hese growths have choked out the real rose. I saw such a caso only a week or =o back. Then, again, if a rambler is pruned hard back each year it could not flower, as the flowering wood is cut awav. Or perhaps it is planted in a very shady and damp place, where it may be over- I crowded and cannot ripen "its wood. | This, also, would ' very likely prevent j [lowering. If yon are sure it 'is tho rose j md not the stock it is budded upon, thin sut all weak wood, tying in only the strongest and ripest of last season's growth and only shortening back the points a tittle. It is better to have fewer growths and good ones which will produce a grand display or wealth of bloom than to encourage a mass of growth which is incapable of producing even, a small show of bioora. '• J.T.W."—-You would like to know if coal or lignite ashea are good for the garden. The fine ashes from a good gas coal tie beneficial if used moderately, tspecillly upon etifi and wet soils, as they tend to'keep the ground open and sweet, but (he fine lignite ashes are useless. All the AHkxitaexi. iu them is more than ccur.ier-.

balanced by the bad effects they have upon'the ground. Where much of this is used the ground soon sours and becomes of little use. " P.D."—ln digging oter your ground you find a great lot of grubs. What could you do to get rid of them now ? You should have dug up your ground roughly early in the winter. There is nothing like good digging and liming early, so us to give the winter frosts and weather a chance to operate upon it. Give it a good'coating of fresh lime, > "A. 11."—You are raising tomato plants by means of a hot-water tank. You say that theycome. up all right, but that a large number of them damp off. and you wish to know the cause. There are various causes which affect plants- in the way you describe. Firstly, when they are- sown early, as yours have been, it is very necessary that sufficient heat should be maintained.. and at the same time kept moderately dry. though, o( course, not dust dry. If the tempera!lire is allowed to go very low and the seed boxes are at all wet they are almost sure to go off. Then, again, if overmuch of a damp heat is given them and not sufficient ventilation is allowed the trouble will appear, as in tho former case. Kither of the above conditions will bring on the trouble complained of. What is lcquired to raise early tomatoes from seed is a warm, buoyant atmosphere with plenty of light and air on all suitable occasions A stuffy and damp atmosphere is one of the worst things possible for successful tomato ir.isiiig. H.C.