GARENING FOR THE WEEK

Evening Star, Issue 16987, 8 March 1919, Page 4

GARENING FOR THE WEEK

Our contributor, a well-known gardener, j toUl be glad to answer questions, whir.h j must be received not later than Tuesday of each week. THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. Take advantage of this dry weather to lw>e, -sake, and clear away weods. A great deal can be dons in a brief period m the way of destroying weeds and weed seeos , just now. They are who can j say : " I have no weeds to lull.'' If that i is eo then stir the suricae with tho hoc. It will do the gr.:.u.-:d good and make it doubly secure, against weeds seeds coming up. Take up and store potatoes as their tops become ripe. Dig and manure all vacant plots. Dig up and bury in the bottom Of tho trench all unusable vegetable matter, such as cabbage tons and stumps, weeds, grass, and such like. It all tends to add humus to the soil. Earth up celery as it becomes tit, but before doing so remove tho small leaves about the base of the plants and tie rather loosely tho tops to prevent the soil from falling in anions tie large leaf suJLs Make a final sowing of spinach—the ;r* ±ly spin.- -h is be*t for this sowing. Plant- out oabbages and cauliflowers e* pievioush advised. THE GREENHOUSE. Cinerarias should be making rapid pn> gre-*s now, and can should bo taken 1 1 pot them on .io fjui o» they require a shift. must i >t be ulluwtd to i\ ' mam too long m -jmII plot-? or they w T never make "vd specimens. l r r<.cc'">s : This is a goid 1 me to gut in the b libs , of ""Kt.. - tney are to grow m i pots or bp\"< Ihty must be put directly I into vw.ato'. c i' ice fney are to fiover, j for this is a bulb ft it will not cniiuro Te-piittmg after u has started to grow, i About 10 or 12 bulbs will be sufficient for a bin. pot._ It i> neither iw vne to nut in a i. t of druimge— just ,t. Lttle, but it thrndd bo effectual" Though this, plant like* r "it;, of moisture, it doJ-s not like -uet, aUgiant s >u. A good rich, frte, open, j>andy a o:L v ith some old rotted manure mixed in. will suit it well Pre-s the baths in points unwaid, and cover them, with liu of tho mixture.. Sprinkle the soil with water to settle it. then place the pot in a cool, shady situation so as to encourage them to make I root before top growth starts. When the tops axe through the soil take them in under glass and increase the amount of water as growth demands, and when • they are 6iri high push in little twigs for snpport. Pot on primulas as required. Sandy, peaty loom and a little old manure well mixed in will suit this plant. Calceolarias will require special attention this_ hot weather, or they will soon be spoilt. They must be kept cool and moist, and given, rich material to grow in, but it railsfc be open and free to ensure good drainage. T\v.o parts good turfy loam, one and a-half parts peat or_ leaf mould, one part well-rotted manure, and one part cleaa sharp sand will grow them well. The young plants should" be well up now. As soon as they are strong enough to handle, prick them off into small pots. They -will not require their flowering" pot until spring. Pelargoniums that were cut down after

flowaring, as previously advised, should ) be about ready for shaking out and repotting. This should ho done when the nev,- growth has grown to one inch. Shake out nearly all the soil from tho roots, leaving only sufficient to keen them alive until they catch hold of the new soil. Three parte good, old turf (broken not too fine), cue part leaf mould or old manure, one part clean sand, and half part of wood ashes, well mixed, will suit them. Ferns, maiden hair narti.-ukirly, will benefit and be kept growing longer "if they are assisted by frequent waterings with weak liquid manure. Once a. week will bj sufficient. Begonias-may be benefited in a similar manner, but care should be taken to remove all seed vessels as they ai-ipe-ar unless they are required for seed furposes. } As roon as thev start to ripen their leaves stop all liquid manures and gradually give k-'s wator until they are iinally ripened off. Remove all dead l-.-avi.-5 from plants, and during hot weather such as we are having give more water and damp down occasionally to keep a moist and humid atmosphere. THE VINERY. Attend to the removal and stopping of all laterals and sub-laterals, as previously advised. Keep on plenty ot ventilation and little or no water, according to the condition of the fruit, such as late kinds. Thess should have their last watering when they are about half ripe. Wher_' cracking and damping of tho. berries occurs cease watering at once. Remove all berries that are showing signs of damp-

rag. ANSWERS. " Maori Hill" writes : " I enclose a sample cf plums from some of ray plum trees. Three of them hare some like theso. They are old tree.?. Would you please tell me what is wrong and a remedy?"— The plums forwarded nve the true greejigage, badly cracked. This has been a bad season, for this variety especially. Wet seasons and cold clay subsoils are not favorable to this plum. It should bo grown in a warm and good cultivated plot of ground. Tho leaves :>.re suffering from two bad troubles. The first id silver blight, for which there is no known cure except by cutting off and burning the affected branches awtl spraying the trees with summer formula of Bordeaux, and again in the winter with the winter formula. The other trouble is shot-hole fungus. The name apparently is suggested by shot holes all over the leaves. It 33 a fumroid disease, and becomes very bad if not kept under control. So far as I know there has been nothing to surpass Bordeaux mixture for this trouble. Spray with Bordeaux, ralco np and burn leaves, and keep tho ground surface clean. " P.T." asks: "Can you tell me the name of the enclosed pear? I bought it for a Bon Chretien, but I do not think that is the correct name. It has been in eight years, and fruits very little, and the pears are very hard: Do you think I should cat it out and plant another? 'lf so, please name, another good one to put in it 3 place. Will you please name a good apricot that would" grow against a fence in my locality';"..—The pear forwarded is Catillac, a late cooking pear; nothing; like Bon Chretien. The latter variety is an early dessert; the former i.s a largo Into cooker. You should not root it out. I would rather out it hard hack to tho lower forks, and graft, a good variety on to it. By this means you would get quite a failcrop in three years, when it would take five or six years to get tho same results byother means. I have taken a bucket of pears from the second year's growth. If, however, you would like to take it out, plant a Bourre Diel or B. Clargan for a late kind, and a Bon Chretien (true) or Bailey's Burgemofc a3 an early variety. In regard to apricots, as good a kind as you could get for a fence and your locality is aa Early Mooxpark,

" Carnation " : " Woud you kindly nam© the carnations accompanying this note? I am keen on growing them for a hobby, and take most of them to one of the hospitals. They are much appreciated, but I cannot name them when asked."—No. 1, Jean Douglas (a fine red and good flower); 2. Mrs Macfarlane (a good rich-colored, good flower); 3, no .flower on stalk, only bud; 4, Florence Fenwick (fine dark crimson); 5, David Rose (good rose pink); 6, poor flower, split and confused; 7, a fair garden flower, not worth naming; 8, do for garden : 10, like a poor Mrs Brotherston; 11, good bizarre (little Dick); 12, like a poolflower of Montrose: 13, a poor flower; 14, Henry Hooper; 15, pale vellow, badly burst". " " H.C.