THE GARDEN

Evening Star, Issue 19143, 9 January 1926, Page 10

THE GARDEN

« SEASONABLE WORK THE VEGETABLE GARDEN Ply the hoe freely among growing crops to keep down weeds. Complete the work of thinning out ,Unions, carrots, parsnips, and other root crops before they become drawn. Plant out cabbages and Autumn jßiaui caaliflowers; also savoys, Brussels sprouts, and broccoli for winter and spring. A sowing of Early Horn carrots may je made for drawing young. . Celery.—Plant out lor the main crop, tod stir the surface soil in tho trenches of those previously planted to keep (down weeds and to conserve the moisjtorc, from, a lack of which celery must jeot suffer. ' Plant out leeks in trenches. French Beans.—This season so far has been an unfavorable one for this crop. Generally speaking, this is rather late for sowing French beans. At the same jfcirnc, I think it worth risking to make another sowing. Tho season being a late one, we may have good weather from now on and free from i rest for a longer time during ,the autumn. Sow for succession radish, lettuce, land cress seed. Cos lettuce is the best for this late sowing. Parsley should be sown now to come juto use for the- winter. Spinach may bo sown for succession, ■also Early While Snowball turnips. Hoe and thin other sufficiently advanced crops. Garlic and shallots should be lifted and dried in the sun as soon as the tops begin to tnru yellow. Lift early potatoes as they become 'fit. and make use of tho ground lor planting winter greens, as advised above.

trees and tightly wrap some sacking around them and lift as much sod with them as you can. Place them in the holes, and fill in and tread the soil firmly about their roots, and give them a thorough soaking of water to settle tho soil. You do not say how large tlie trees arc, so you must- use your own discretion as to tho distance froth the stem in digging around them. “A. Walker.” —The little piece of weed forwarded is that of our wild convolvulus, one of tbo hardest weeds to get rid’of that I know. To put sufficient weedkiller or salt on tbo ground to kill it, would, at the same time, destroy everything else, and make the ground useless for at least six months, after which timo the ground would bo none the worse. In fact salt benefits the soil if yon give it tune. If yon pick every bit of it as it appears, and not allow it to make top. it will disappear. No plant can stand that, not oven the dock. “c. Berry,” Geraldine.—Tho cherry and pear leaves forwarded are in a bad state. 'The cherry has been severely attacked with black loach—the black, slimy things you refer to. Get some dry‘ashes’or dry dust and give tho whole tree a thorough dust bath. Tins will dry up tho leaches and they will fall off. The pear has both the leach and a. fungoid disease (black spot). (Jive it a dusting, too, and a few days after rain has fallen, or what is bottcv, syringe oft tho dust and dead loaches with clear water, and when tho foliage is dry spray the trees with summer formula, ot Bordeaux mixture. Hus is a good summer wash for all fungoid diseases, of which your pears shows traces. HC -

GARDEN TOOLS If the best work is to be done in the garden or allotment it is obvious tn.it the took which arc used must bo in. first-class order (states a Home writer). it entails much less expenditure ol effort to work with a gardening implement which is clean and kept in good condition than one which is habitually neglected and which is allowed to become clogged up .with dirt. it also 'effects a saving of the gardener’s time if he is able io lay bands on any particular tool immediately it is required. Every gardener, therefore, ought to have a certain place tor each implement which he uses, and, moreover, after a spell of work in the garden the tools which have been used should bo carefully cleaned and thou returned to their proper places. Personally 1 leave off work in the garden some ten minutes before my scheduled time in order that i may give these last few minutes to the care and preservation of tho implements which 1. use. it is a rather monotonous job, but it pavs in the long run. The best thing to do with gardening forks, rakes, spades, etc., when they are not in use is to put them on a rack, which may ho constructed out of a few narrow lengths of wood bound together and suspended a little distance from the roof of the. tool shod or outhouse. This method nf storing tools keeps them perfectly dry when they are nob in use, and it also has the advantage of keeping them out of the way nf children and other small folks of an inquisitive turn ol mind. Garden tools should never be left out. in tho open overnight, even during the summer months. Pay ns much attention tuf your spades and forks .and trowels as yon would io tho most expensive lawn mower, for they are equally as useful as the latter, fine little amount of extra trouble which is entailed in fining this is amply repaid by the ease and convenience with which one is able to select a particular tool immediately it is required for use. and by the good condition in whieh -t will always be found to remain.

Remove all faded flowers and seed peds from roses. The formation of seed is a drag upon the plant, and the pods should in all 'rases be removed, except where it is desired to save the seed from any special variety, in which case the pod should he left to ripen in the usual manner. THE ROSE GARDES Roses will row greatly benefit by liquid manure applications or artificial manures dusted on the surface and raked in. This will greatly benefit the autumn blooming. Jrioe and rake between the soil about the _ roses to conserve moisture and admit air to the roots. The ground this season is very much inclined to harden or cake and crack through so much rain during the spring and early summer. The only way to prevent the cracking is to keep the surface well hoed or lightly forked over. The hoe is better, as there is danger of injuring the small librouse jcoots with a fork. The season for budding roses is now gt band. January and February arc the months, it is not any particular day nor a particular week when one should bud roses, but when the wood is sufficiently ripe to plump up the eyes—■ a roost essential part oi successful budding—also the stocks must bo sufficiently advanced to receive the hud —that is, when the sap is running freely. {When these condition are favorable is the time to bud. Tea .rases are the first to be ready, with hybrid teas next and hybrid jxnpetaals last. Firstly, prepare labels. Then take a shoot of the desired variety from which it is desired to bud. JCrim off all the leaves, leaving only a point of the stem- insert the blade of a sharp budding knife nearly Jin above the hud. (live .a sloping cut, and bring out the blade about the same distance blow the bud. Turn the bud bottom up between the thumb and finger of the left hand. Thou with the point of tho knife and the thumb of the right hand draw out with a jerk the wood from the bud. If tho wood has come away properly the hud should have the appearance of a grain of sand lying in tho hollow of tho hand. Jf this has all come away and the eye appears to bo quite hollow', then start again. When it is right shorten hack tho heol of tho bud. Make a clean cut up the stem of the _ stock and near to the ground about 2in long and a cross-cut at the top of the cut. insert the handle of the budding knife, raising the bark slightly at the top of the cut. Push down tho hud under tho bark, and carefully tie it in with worsted or raffia, and tho operation is complete. The quicker this operation is accomplished tho greater chance of success. If the season at the time of budding' should ho very dry the stocks should have a good watering to keep the sap flowing until the buds become well established and sound. This will take about three weeks or so after budding. About a fortnight after budding they should be looked over to see if the buds are sound or have taken. If any have failed insert another hud on the other side of tho stem before the season is past. About four or five weeks afterwards remove the raffia from tho stem, or it may cut into the barb or skin and destroy .the bud, if not the plant.

After all. tho practice of giving a. certain amount of attention to tlicsc commonplaces, hut, nevertheless, nullpcnsable, garden implements is only a habit which has to be acquired, and it is ns easy to cultivate a good habit in this respect as it is to develop a had one.

Get a good and orderly habit of gardening; you will never regret it.

SWEET LAVENDER Small branches should be pulled from the parent plants that have not flowered, and tho little pointed “ hod,” as it is termed, at tho end ol the branches should bo cut even and the branches inserted in friable, soil in a sunny position in the -open right away. It is a great mistake to allow any cuttings of a woody nature to remain long out of the ground, as they soon become sapless and too dry to form rootlets (writes Mrs F. Bennett, F.H.H.S., in ‘Home Chat’). If you can manage to shade tho cuttings for a few days to prevent sap evaporating, so much tho bettor. Tho cuttings should bo quite a foot apart each way, and tho following spring, when they aro well rooted, they may be planted a yard apart to form borders and hedges. Do this job after rain! To keep lavender bushes in good condition they should be cut back, but not too severely, after the flowering spikes have been gathered; but for those who have neglected to do this it is not too late for tho job now, if the weather is mild. Sometimes lavender bushes become very straggly, in spite of the annual pruning, and the central stem too long. Then it is a good plan to make a very deep hole, and it should be wide as well as deep. Carefully lift your ugly bush and plant it so that most of the stem will bo hidden. I have managed to make many an unsightly lavender bush presentable in this way, and have helped matters by cutting out every morsel of dead wood, of which, I find, this herb makes much. Our reader is quite right in saying ono cannot find much about lavender cnltnro in gardening books as far as keeping tho plants tidy goes. But for myself I have always acted on my own common sense with good results. Although lavender appreciates a lightwarm, soil, it will yield better flowers if the soil is enriched with a top-dressing of well-rotted manure in the autumn. Those who grow lavender for market use great quantities of rotted mannro and a hundredweight of superphosphate per acre. As I have so often reminded you, there is no hotter way of growing any plant to perfection than by following the methods, as far as one can, of tlw.so who must make a liying out of the sale of the plants. DELPHINIUMS Tho popularity of the delphinium increases each season, and there is no doubt that, taking into consideration tho splendid colorings and the decorative beauty, our subject may ho justly considered as a queen among perennials (states ‘ Aimfieur Gardening,’ London), The -whole aspect of tho summer garden takes on a greater delight if delphiniums are freely used, and for bold massings in the 'informal garden, or for groupings at the back of the herbaceous borders, these sterling plants are unsurpassed.

THE TOMATO HOUSE The rapid growth of the'"tomato just bow will necessitate strict attention by Way of pinching and stopping young teide shoots. It may also be necessary ,to reduce the leafage to increase light and air. Do not remove the whole of the leaf unless the tomatoes aro showing signs of ripening. Then-cut it off altogether. Then a few of the larger leaves higher up should bo reduced by cutting half away from each leaf. As the" ripening of tho fruit proceeds give less water, unless the weather should become very hot and dry, when, of Course, tho plants should have more water to pyevent a chock _or tho malnutrition of tho fruit. Give more air as the ripening increases, bnt avoid cold draughts from the bottom vents. Frequent shakes or sharp raps given to tho stems of tho plants will assist the setting of fruit by the free distribution of pollen. A little newlyftlaked lime dusted over the surface of the ground will tend to keep down mildew. The season of the year for mildew is about due, and every carts should be taken to parent it getting, a hold on the plants. | ANSWERS ' "'W. M'Donald.”—Sorry I did not ireceive your box of pansies until after «oy notes had been sent in last week. Consequently the pansy blooms were fjtifte dfied up, or so curled up that I could not make anything of them. f will try and call on you and see them the first opportunity I have. “ Interested.”—You will have occasions to remove some roses, plums, apples, and nectarine trees about February. You wish my advice or comments, and you ask if this is an unseasonable proposal. It is most certainly unseasonable for the removal of the above, particularly the fruit trees. However, if you have to remove* them at that time I should advise you to cot the roots with a spade some distance from the stems all round a week or two before they are removed, and give them a good soaking of water. Then at lifting, water them again two , hours before lifting. Dig holes ready [ to receive them; then dig around the

'*■ ' FOR - THE iWEEIL

wcD-toowß gardoaor, wiJr be which must be-received not later than Tuesday of each week. Mvw&onwnts for -colnnwi inuat ho handed in to the office before 2 p.sn. on Friday.

Delphiniums can bo utilised in many phases of garden adornment, but in all cases they should he used as .freely us possible. In combination with other plants thev are seen to advantage, and it is well'if, in planting, uno groups other subjects with them, so as to secure a display of color, both before and after the delphiniums are giving their beauty to the garden Nothing quite equals bijibs lor an early display, choosing narcissi for preference, tier later flowering the delphiniums can be drifted through with other subjects, of which I may note Scabiosa Caueasica, Montbrotia crocosnuellora,. lludbeckia nitida. Aster amcilus varieties, early chrysanthemums, gladioli, and many other flowers which are beautiful m late summer. , Tho raising of delphiniums from sew is an easy and interesting process, aiui f heartily commend it to aniaieius. Several years back 1 raised an interesting series of varieties, many of v hum are now scattered in different guidons, and since then hardly a season goes by without seeing a “ raising of delphiniums for decorative purposes. .1 usually sow in flat boxes, and transplant into other boxes or prepared beds as soon as the rough leaf appears. I'ebnmrv is a good month for sowing under glass, and April is the best for outdoors. A fairly light, sandy soil is best for germinating, and care must be taken to ensure that not only arc tho seedlings cared for, and transferred at the proper time, but watch sliou d also bo kept lor snails and slugs, vmlo cuemies to delphiniums. If it is desired to perpetuate some notable varieties, division should ho resorted to. This is best done in early spring, just, as the young brown shoots are appearing. Plants must bn lilted, and, with a- strong sharp knife, each shoot should he severed with a port-inn of root- attached. I hose can he potted singly into large 3in pots, or In,, am pin-red in a fairly close frame C archil watering and a lew days in the ii ante wifi be sufficient to give these offsets a, fresh start; and. as the plants get into growth, more and more air must be given, gradually hardening them off for transference to the open ground. Ono cannot work the ground too deeply or well for delphiniums, and a moderate dressing of farmyard manure is really essential. On heavy soils I think transplanting is best left till early spring, as one gets the ground m better condition, and the plants go light ahead. Young plants, are better than old ones, both for lasting qualities and for quantity of blootn.

PLAHT WITH SIXTY BLOOMS WONDERFUL CHRYSANTHFMUM3. A remarkable feature, of the National Chrvsanthemum Flnw in London recently was a huge specimen plant o[ the decorative variety Mrs Lux-ford, ot crimson and old gold, winch was given a silver medal. .It was exhibited ny Mrs Fov of Harlow, Buckinghamshire. It held more than sixty large blooms, vet it represented only one year s growth, starting with a cutting taken early in the year. , , , An expert pointed ont that the plant was grown exactly as Ihe Japanese chrysanthemums, and to an m Japan as many as 240 blooms nave tan obtained on a. single plant.