GARDENING FOR THE WEEK

Evening Star, Issue 15762, 27 March 1915, Page 11

GARDENING FOR THE WEEK

3/ur contributor, a well-known gardener, will be glad to answer questions, which nvst be received not later than Tuttday ef each week. —The Rose Having in previous notes dealt with polls and situation, I will now touch briefly upon the preparation of the soil. Trenching.—No matter what the nature of the soil may be, trenching is of the almost importance. It is not easy on any land to make the toil too rich for roses. Soma happy individuals are so situated that it is only necessary to plant their roses in the original soil to get a good return of bloom, but even iu such a case trenching is beneficial.. If tha soil on ti-hich. it is intended to'plant roses be good eld pasture (that is, virgin toil), for the first season nothing will bo necessary beyond a dressing of good manure; but ■where the grower "has the exhibition table jn view, ox where the very best are looked for, some application of other foods will have to be applied. This I will refer to later. Just now about the trenching. Whatever shape the bed may take, the gnethod of trenehinc is the same Assuming the bed is a long one, line off tho shape, then open out a trench 2ft in •width across the one cud, and as the top Spit is dug out wheel it to tho lav end of the bed for filling up at the finish. Thenalig up the bottom quite another foot. This bottom portion, of the trench should only be dug up and turned over into the bottom of the trench, never brought to the surface. Assuming the land is fairly ieavy, with a clay subsoil, good horee €>z stable mauuv-e is "best to use for placing ©ver this clay in the bottom of the trench. A liberal supply should be given. The Sext thing to do is to line off another Bft and turn this over upon the manure in the first trench. Then dig up the bottom as in the first case. Manure this to receive the next, sua so on until you Beach the othsr end. Then lill in with that which was wheeled from the first trench, and the thing is complete. It the eoil be light and sandy or gravelly, cow manure is much the beet, as it tends to keep the soil cooi and retains the moisture much better than light gnanures could possibly do. But- care- must lie taken to place it so low that the roots cannot come directly into eontact_ with It, or the plants will be spoiled, if not lulled. If the ground be too shallow for trenching—perhaps upon a reck bottom—to content with digging as deeply as you can, and be as liberal as possible with the manure.

Whether the roil be stiff or light, lime is necessarv. Xo other material acts more energetically in the sod. The. ju-.tiou of quicklime on heavy land is to make it Snore open, more friable, and consequeutly Tnore cesv to work. On the other hand, with san'dv or gravelly soil, lime tends to stiffen "it, and consequently it retains the- moisture much longer. F.ut on no account apply lime directly with manure, or the. lime "wilF destroy its good effects, l'tirnt earth, or ciar, o<-any garden rubbish excellent material, for working in Upon the surface, therefore it is vtbe at Jrenehiug to leave the surface as rough as possible, to enable these materials to be worked in hurt, before planting time. Tn every ea~e where the soil is of a heavy nature the trenching should be done early, whilst the soil is dry and warm. Never svait until the ground is wet and cold, cr it will settle down heavy and stiff, and }n the s-immer bake and crack, which is very detrimental to the welfare of _ the rose. Tn the case of very light soils it is iK>t- so important to trench early. A week or two before planting, just to let the sod settle, will be sufficient. In either case, 41'.e lime should be applied to the ground as trenching proceeds, or as soon after ps convenient, '("live a liberal dressing, and rake it in as soon after as possible.

The next matter to be considered is •hat of making an early selection of the Jo-es that nre required for planting. It hj a great mistake to wait until they are required before ordering, for in all probability yon will not get what you require, as most of the leading varieties will assuredly go first, the rules of the trade ieinfj'" first come, first served." If I can Je of assistance to my readers in making a selection I shall he pleased to do so, but It would be better and more satisfactory for those wishing advice to state the nature of the soil and position—whether it be wet or dry, or if it be very cold or warm—as certain kinds do better in one position than another, and some would pine and die where a-nother of stronger and more vigorous constitution would flourish and do well. —Answers.— . " Amateur."—The time for lifting, eliding, and replanting rhubarb is immediately after it has ripened off the tops. "What is the reason of my grapes cracking? I have Gros Colmar and Cliilwell Alicant half-colored., and both varieties are four-ting. Should I give plenty of air, «ven w ; hen there is a very cold wjnd?" Excessive moisture at the roots and cold weather are the main causes of cracking. An extra flow of sap when the weather is cold will cause them to crack in a few liours. The berries are too hard with the cold, consequently they cannot expand ■sufficiently fast, so must crack or burst. (These varieties should have heat to do well, or an extra favorable situation, and the border above all dry. You must leave the top vent- open day and night, b!so the hottom vents, except in very cold leather as the season is getting on. Do X»ofc give the vinery any more water this season, but keep it warm and dry. The great thing is to get the wood as hard Ond ripe as possible. Half the troubles Oris Caused through the wood not being thoroughly ripened.

" Manchurian " writes : " Tn my tomatotion.se I have noticed Tinnsual growth upon the tomato leaves and flowers at the ends of fruit bunches. Is it mismanagement? I did not disturb the bed ; only added as a top-dressing three or four inches of a Juijture of burnt garden rubbish, bones, &nd old slaked lime, also 141b of coarse fait well mixed with garden soil. My erop was only about 51b per plant; the prst year's was 91b." Your plants were pverfed—tho material much too strong during their young stage. This is one of the many causes of leaf growth upon the fruit bunch. They get the food at the wrong time—that is, when they are young •—and when they require it the material is Eiartially exhausted. As -I have pointed irt eo many limes., there is an evil in overfeeding young plants. Give them as pmch fresh soil as you like, but place 4ho manure at the bottom of the trench 12in in depth—they will then feed into it as they require it. After a good crop (a set a little liquid manure or pome wtificial manure may be applied. The Cason has been a very bad one,for vegeble marrows. Very few have done well. T^* - **^ 1 Vad windy weather has been the (sTfise of most of the failures. The seeds f*f vegetable marrows' will germinate after fceing kept for several' years. Cucumber Seeds have been known to grow after being kept 15 years. Poplars are all right for break-winds, -and they have the advantage of going up straight and not occupying much in width. They may be slippe<l a.t any height. OWtins- wi\l grow Jsit if kit, and make fine shelter. I Jiave one "that was fully 15ft before I cat It. The insects forwarded are not the true borer, but resemble them. If looked 0» Wider a magnifying glass you will

see that they are very email brown j bottles. You say they cannot fly, but 11 think they will when .matured, which J should bo about now. The borer motly is on tho wing now, and depositing its •eggs to mature into tho borer later on. I cannot give" you the namo \>f the insect j forwarded, though I think it is a form of i borer.

"A.M.M." asks my advice upon early potatoes, and writes : " My section is at Bishopseourt, facing N.N.W. It is vixfin soih lying well to the sun all day, 'ho soil is a fairly heavy dark loam with clay subsoil. Is it a suitable place to grow the earliest of early potatoes for the first in the market? (2) When is the best time for planting the early sorts? (5) Name two or three- good varieties for the earliest. (4) What manure and cultural directions would you advise? Would the. above situation bo suitable for roses? Which are your favorite flowers?"—(1) Bishopseourt, Koslyn, is not suitable,for the earliest of early potatoes, such as can be grown upon the Peninsula, as frost would be sure to cut them down. It is a good potato district, and suitable for fairly early ones and others, but it is quite impossible to produce them for the first in the market. The soil—especially maiden turfy loamis very suitable for potato culture. For your district the first week iu August will be sufficiently early, and, of course, when the soil is not too wet. Peninsula growers plant in May. as they have less frost. A few .good first early kinds are Beauty of Hebron (white and - colored), Duke of York, Dalmeny Early, Sharp's Victor, and 'Snowdrop. ' These' are good early sorts and fair croppers. To get the bevst results, trench the ground two "spades deep, with a dressing of manure between top and bottom ftp it, adding a little basic slag, bono meal, or.superphosphate in the drills at planting. The position you name, as it is well sheltered with high hedges, would suit roses admirably.