THE GARDEN

Evening Star, Issue 19388, 23 October 1926, Page 23

THE GARDEN

SEASONABLE WORK THE VEGETABLE GARDES The weather during this month may Still continue showery; consequently garden operations must be done as weather permits. Most varieties of vegetables sho Id he in the ground. Where seed sowing is not already completed, the sooner this is oil hand the better. Sow the main crop of beet when the soil is fairly dry. This seed as a rule is best soaked for a day before sowing, but the weather being so wet of late there is no need to soak the seed. Sow French and runner beans, and where there is not already plenty of broad beans in sow again for succession. Carrots.—Sow in succession, and hoe between the rows of early kinds. Sow cauliflower for a late summer cron, and make the principal sowing of late broccoli. These take the best part of a year to mature. Quite recently one beginner dug in a lot of late broccoli, thinking they would not form heads Fortunately, some - were left, and they hearted—or, 1 should lay, headed—up quite well. This is an important sowing for broccoli, as they will come in at' a time next spring when vegetables are scarce. Good late varieties should be sown now, such as Late Queen, Lily white. Veitcb’s Model, and Mount Cook. There are one or two points to be considered in growing good broccoli. Never plant them after cabbage or other biassicas, and let the ground be rich but firm. Unlike cauliflower, they should have firm soil and be free from fresh manure. Sow also savoys and Brussels sprouts. Curly Kale. —Those who like this class of brassica or winter greens will do well to sow a little seed now. Peas should be sown in plenty for succession. All the tall or main crop kinds are preferable to sow now. Lettuce, radish, mustard and cress, and all other saladings may be sown. Give them rich soil, as the quicker all these are grown the more crisp and palatable they will be. Hoe between the rows of young growing crops to keep down weeds and to issist growth. . Asparagus.—This delicious vegetable should be coming on rapidly now, and care should be taken to cut every head £> soon as it becomes fit for use. Rhubarb.—This is coming away Ifflpidly now, and as soon as any seed ffi flower heads make their appearance Steak them off with the hand. They should not give any more trouble this season. THE FRUIT GARDEN Look over wall fruit trees, and where overcrowding of the young growth occurs, then thin them out to one on each spur. These are test rubbed out with the hand when quite young, and those who have the time will do well to look over the standard trees and relieve them of any such surplus or overcrowded wood. Recently-grafted trees should be inspected to see that the wax or other coverings do not require covering or replacing. If the cause of unfruitfulness of fruit trees is overluxuriant growth root pruning should bo resorted to. This root pruning may still be done. It consists of digging down and cutting the roots 2ft or more (according to the age of the tree) away from the trunk. Dig down sufficiently deep around the tree to sever the roots. This will cause ths main roots' to break or induce small fibrous roots to come away at the extremities, which in some way checks rank growth and brings about fruitfulness. Strawberries.—lf these have had stable litter strewn along between the rows, as I have previously advised, very little else will be required at present. If this has not already been done, it would be advisable, failing the ability to secure stable or strawy manure, to use the clippings from the lawn mower. This acts as a mulch to the plants and provides a, clean bedding for the fruit to rest upon later on. THE WINDOW GARDEN OR ROOM PLANTS Aspidistras.—Now is a good time to divide up or repot aspidistras, but do not run away with the idea that these plants require large pot room. This is a mistake, rot only with this plant, but nearly all others. Over-potting is worse, if anything, than under-potting. All plants grow better when their roots are running freely around the sides of the pots. In all cases when potting up plants, let the pots be scrubbed clean and dried before use. Use also clean crocks, and give good drainage. When potting, have the potting material rather lumpy, three parts of small pieces of rotted turf broken up the size of nuts and walnuts, with one part of leaf mould and half a part each of horse droppings and sharp sand or old mortar rubbish, all well mixed. Another important point in their culture is keeping their leaves clean or free from dust. _ Sponge the _ leaves occasionally with a little milked water. This is quite good for them, and puts a nice gloss on the leaves. Keep the direct sun rays from playing upon them through the glass. These little points all tend to cause the leaves to go brown at the tips. ANSWERS “ LAI.”—You wish to sow with lawn grass between the concrete of a motor track. As you have dug in the old grass and given a top dressing of fine soil* some tune back, all you require to do is to clean the surface by hoeing and raking. Make it clean and smooth. Then sow the lawn grass. You do not say how much ground is to he sown. The amount of seed should be about 4’lb for 10yds square. After tbe seed is sown, rake it lightly in to cover the Seed, and run a light roller over it to bed the seed. Do this when the soil is fairly dry and not sticky. “ J.U.”—You wish to know ivhat is the best time to tip cuttings to got the good results. I scarcely understand you. Is it striking cuttings you refer to, and what kind? Some are best struck in spring, others in summer and autumn. Give me an idea of what yoa require. Write me again, and I will reply. “ Dunottar.”—You wish something to, cover a clay bank under a wall. The best way I know to cover an unsightly clay bank is to use some of the varieties of native ice plants—mesembryanttemum. There are fine or coarse tracking sorts—pink, yellow, and other shades. Dig a small trench along the top of the bank, and put a little good soil in. Plant cuttings of these. » They will root and trail down the bank. : ‘E.H.”—In February last you planted White Walcheren, Lily white broccoli, also Blair’s Phenomenal, Enfield Market, and savoy cabbages, and they all rushed away to seed. You say the broccoli had no fresh manure, and that the cabbage had blood and bone There is no club root, and the ground is lying well to the sun. There are two reasons which may have caused

your plants to bolt to seed—firstly, February is too lato to plant broccoli seed. Broccoli requires from nine to ton months to mature—some more—but with the cabbage 1 am rather inclined to think they _ havo_ been stunted in their growth, either in the seed bed or after planting, or the seed was of inferior quality If plants are stunted for want of humus either in the seed bed or after planting, when growth starts again they just bolt away to seed. “Raspberry Shoot.”—You wish to know if there is any way to prevent raspberries from sending up suckers or travelling under ground and coming up in a hedge or under asphalt. I know no better way than digging them out. I am afraid , yours are of a rather wild nature—not a good kind. Such kinds ate not worth growing. H.C. SANCTUARY FOR PLANTS “Wellington is to be congratulated on having opened near the city what is described as an open-air museum and sanctuary for the plants of New Zealand” (writes the Auckland Star ). * Wo presume that the declared intention to grow there everything native to the country is not to be taken quite literally—the glorious ‘ Mount Cook lily,’ for example, may refuse to flourish in such a spot—but the collection will bo sufficiently large to deserve to be called representative. Every New Zealand city should have such a collection within 'or near its borders, so that New Zealanders may learn to identify and to appreciate the flora of their own country. We do not believe in the use of New Zealand trees for ornamental purposes to the exclusion of exotics; on the contrary, we consider that the English deciduous tree adds greatly to the beauty of the landscape. There is, however, insufficient appreciation of the value of native trees in gardens and streets, and collections like this stimulate public interest in the variety of our bush. Every year the bush recedes, and consequently such provision for educating townspeople in the beauty and general value of native flora becomes more important. Wellington’s enterprise is om of several gratifying proofs that public interest in trees and forestry generally has grown during the last few years.” IT’S EASY TO GROW STRAWBERRIES A vely small strawberry patch will produce all the fruit one family needs. If you have always intended planting strawberries but never have, prepare a small piece of ground and plant it with strawberries (says the Johannesburg 1 Sunday Times ’). Every year in the strawberry season you have made up your mind to plant a patch of strawberries next spring and grow this delicious fruit in your own garden. Now, haven’t you done just that? Of course, you have; everyone that likes strawberries—and who is there that doesn’t?—has_ made up his mind to grow some for himself another year. Strawberries grown at home are always better than those brought from somewhere else. Besides, a person with a patch of his own might then be able to get enough berries for once anyway. A groat many of us who have'had to buy strawberries this last year or two haven’t been able always to get all wo wanted. Not having all the money in the world restricted us somewhat in consumption. And strawberries certainly have cost enough lately to the unfortunate, who must buy them by the box. Land intended for planting to strawberries should be prepared the season before. That is the best preparation, but any clean piece of garden land will do. LOCATION FOR STRAWBERRIES. One of the most important requisites in a soil for strawberries is thorough drainage, as where water lies on or near the surface the plants are sure to suffer either in summer' or winter. Soil which will grow good crops of roots will usually grow good strawberries. A soil should be chosen, if possible, which does not bake naturally or which, by thorough tillage, may be brought into such good condition that it will not bake. It is difficult to keep the plantation free from weeds where there is a soil which bakes, and it is also hard to conserve moisture in such soil in a dry time. HOW TO GROW THE FRUIT. The best way to grow strawberries for general cultivation is in the matted row. By this method labor is economised and results are obtained with the least expense and, the. greatest profit. While many who grow strawberries in the matted row do not take the trouble to place the runners as they form, but let them root without assistance, iu pays to place them, as the sooner they take root the stronger the plants will bo by autumn, and more fruit will be produced the next season. All that it is necessary to do is to place the runners so that they will be as nearly as possible uniformly distributed in order to economise space, and to put a little soil over them to hold them in place, but leaving the terminal buds bare. In the prairie provinces where winds prevent the prompt rooting of runners, it is important to hold them in place until they root with pieces of sod, stones, an inverted crotch, or by any other suitable method. To get the best results runners should not be nearer than from four to six inches apart, preferably 6in, all others being destroyed; but in practice it is often difficult to accomplish this and to restrict them to this area, as some varieties make a great many runners. These are, however, the kinds which have the most need of thinning, as when the plants are very thick the fruit is too small. The width of the row formed by autumn will depend on the number of runners which are made; but if planted early and properly cared for most varieties will made a row 2ft or more wide. At this width there would be a path 18in wide left for the pickers between the rows. As some varieties would cover the whole space between the rows with runners in one season it is necessary to remove those not wanted with tbe cultivator or hoe. IMEROYING THE BED.

While as a rule the most profitable method of growing strawberries is to take only one crop from a plantation, and at the most two crops, it is sometimes not practicable to renew small plantations after the second crop. Under such circumstances there are several ways in which the bed may be improved. Usually an old bed is grown up with grass and weeds, and crowded with strawberry plants, and to improve the bed this must be reduced as much as possible. "As soon as the fruit is off, the leaves and grass should he mown off and burned. The burning should be done when there is a strong wind, so that the fire will pass over the plantation quickly. One plan is to plough or dig down the middle of the row, then thoroughly cultivate or rake. Another method is to narrow the row oh each side to a width of Sin to 12in, turning the sod towards the row. Still a third plan is to plough lengthwise

worn FOS THE WEEK.

Oar eoatdbator, & woK-toown gardener, will bo to answer questions, which must bo received not later than Tuesday of each week. ASmtsHmooub far {Ms cel my™ must be handed in to the offio® before Z pa®, on Friday.

through the centre of the row, then cross-plough. It is necessary in following any of these methods to level the soil afterwards with the harrow, cultivator, or hoe. Usually the work is finished with the hoe by cutting out all surplus plants and bringing the soil about those remaining, which will give them better conditions for making roots. It should be remembered, when renovating the bed, that it is not necessary to leave many plants. Plants left sixteen to twenty inches apart should make a good row by March. Those left should be the youngest and strongest. It is a good plan, when renewing, to work in some short, rotted manure to improve the soil. EVER-BEARING VARIETIES. During the past twenty to twentyfive years, but particularly during the past six or eight years, there has been much interest shown in the so-called “ ever-bearing ” strawberries. These are varieties which continue to bloom and ripen fruit during the summer and autumn, long after other kinds have stopped bearing. This ever-hearing habit is considered by some botanists to bo due to the transformation of the runners or these varieties into flowerbearing stems, the ever-bearing sorts making few runners. The ever-hearing varieties differ from the ordinary sorts in that they usually continue blooming and bearing fruit from the time when the crop of the ordinary varieties are ripe until the autumn, although in the hot weather they do not fruit much. Sometimes, when there is a protracted drought in summer, followed by warm, wet weather in the autumn, the ordinary sorts will bloom and fruit a second time, but this is unusual. While there is often a good crop of fruit during late summer and autumn of these over-boaring varieties, it is doubtful ‘if they will be grown very generally commercially, as there are so many other fruits at that season of the year; but those who desire to have ripe strawberries for home use until late autumn will find these ever-bearing sorts produce, in most seasons, a fairly good crop of delicious berries. These varieties succeed well in some seasons in the prairie provinces. The plants are set out early in the spring like the ordinary varieties, and there will ho a crop in the autumn of the same year. It will be better if the first flowers are removed. The removal of the first bloom is not, however, necessary to ensure an autumn crop after the plants are well established. There should bo at least a small plantation of strawberries in every home garden large enough to grow fruits and vegetables. For the area of land occupied the returns from this delicious fruit compare very favorably with vegetable crops, and strawberries are particularly appreciated when one can go to the garden and gather them fresh for the table. Plants may also he set in single rows as recommended for field culture, or they can be made into beds not more than 4ft wide. Most persons who grow strawberries for home use like to have large fruit, and to obtain large berries throughout the season the plants must not be crowded, and the best fruit is obtained when they are kept as individual plants rather than when they are grown in the matted row. Under* good cultivation a box or pound of strawberries should he obtained from each lineal foot, or from two square feet, in the garden. Thus, if one had a matted row 301 t in length and 2ft in width, one might expect to obtain 301 b of strawberries.