THE GARDEN

Evening Star, Issue 19758, 7 January 1928, Page 4

THE GARDEN

WORK FOR THE WBEIL

O&r-vaobabt&x* a vscD-toOTm gartfrmrar-, will bo glad to answer questions, which must b» received not later than Tuesday of each week, A flda. -oohama mat bo banded in to the office before 2 pja. on Friday.

SEASONABLE WORN

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN Generally speaking, January is a hot/ and dry month, necessitating a considerable amount of watering to keep young crops growing. So far, there has been Vttlo occasion for watering, except for newly-planted greens. My advise is to take advantage now or the cool or rainy spells to get in all winter greens and late broccoli. Finish planting the latter for winter and spring use. Brussels sprouts should be planted, and care should be taken to give these rich and fresh soil to encourage rapid growth. Once they become stunted they take the blight, and consequently are not worth further worry. Plant cabbages, cauliflowers, savoys, and kale, the last named to come in in mid-winter.

Celery should be planted in trenches. Give them a liberal supply of xvellrotted manure and keep well watered during growth. Should the plants suffer for want of moisture they will probably bolt to seed. Plant out leeks in well-prepared trenches, bearing in mind that one wellgrown roo tis better than a dozen small and inferior ones. Leeks will stand a warmer and drier situation than celery will endure. A small sowing of early horn carrots may bo made for drawing young; also onions for the same purpose. Sow lettuce, raddish, mustard, and cress for salading. Late-planted potatoes that have not already been earthed up shoukl bo attended to as soon as possible, or the tops will be injured in the process. Ply the hoe' freely among growing crops to keep down weeds and to conserve moisture. As early cabbage and suchlike go out of season remove the stumps, for they only exhaust the ground to no .good purpose. THE FLOWER GARDEN

Remove decayed flowers, particularly delphiniums, before they go to seed. The main flowering steins that have gone off .should bo cut back to the young side shoots. These will then make a lino show. When these have done flowering cut the stem right down, then growth will start again at the base and give another line display of bloom later on. Remove all seed pods from Rhododendrons. This will cause them to give a finer display of bloom next season than if these seed pods were allowed to ripen. Faded blooms should be removed from all flowers, excepting where they are required for seed, as lew things exhaust a plant more than having to develop a crop of seed. Some plants _become annuals, instead of at least bicnm’nk if allowed to rinPlt a CTOD of Seed.

Propagate by cuttings various perenniuial plants, such as pinks, pansies, carnations, and violas. Continue budding roses and other ornamental trees and shrubs. Sow seed of various spring flowers, such as pansies, violas, polyanthus, primroses, etc. Bulbs to bo taken up should be lifted as soon as their tops have (.lied down. Roots of anemones, tulips, crocuses, scillao, fritillarias, etc., shouhnie taken up and dried off previous to the planting later on. Tic tip tall-growing plants like hollyhocks to make secure against wind. Stake and tie gladiolus, chrysanthemums, dahlias, and all such plants, which require supports. Pinch or cut off faded filmyers from' roses, trimming this flowering wood well hack. By sn _ doing the autumn display of bloom will ho bettor. Continue budding until a successful conclusion is achieved. Remove all suckers as they appear, also those showing on the stems of standards. Rub these off as soon as seen. Olearia and other hedges should he kept regularly clipped, so that they mav have a neat and tidy appearance. Borders and beds should be kept neat and clean, verges clipped, and lawns kept regularly mown and given an occasional rolling. This will not only improve tho grass, but give a much more refined appearance.

THE VINERY Continue grape thinning. Finch out. all side laterals or sub-laterals as they appear. Avoid over-crowding of the foliage or trouble will follow. Give plenty of fresh air during hot days. The scalding of berries is very likely to occur at this period, when they are stoning, if care in ventilating ■ is not observed. Open the ventilators early on sunny mornings to dry up the moisture on the berries betore the hot sun strikes on them. This will greatly reduce the chance of fruit scalding. The berries or fruit should be swelling away rapidly now, and may bo greatly improved by an occasional watering with liquid manure. Failing this, give a good dressing with artificial manure and water well in. THE TOMATO HOUSE Keep plants securely tied to supports. Finch out all side shoots as they appear. Whore blight has affected the plants trim the leaves, but not too severely. About the half of each of the lower portion oi the leaves will admit more ligut and air. Bake up all clippings and burn or dig them in the garden, then blow on some atomall dust with the dust sprayer, or spray with Bordeaux mixture. These remedies are best applied before the blight appears. Prevention is always better than cure. I do not think there is a real cure once the blight is fairly established. When a crop of fruit is set give the ground a good dusting of superphosphate or some other artificial manure, and water it well in. When water is required give plenty, and not again until it ia really required. Too much water causes soft growth; consequently is more subject to attacks of diseases, particularly fungoid troubles. THE GREENHOUSE Plants now in bloom and coming into bloom will require regular watering and other attention. When the plants have filled their flowering pots with roots and they are in full growth is the time to assist them with stimulants either in liquid form or by dusting on the surface dry artificial manure watered in. The soil in pots should be kept free from moss and occasionally refreshed with a top dressing. Cinerarias growing in cold frames will require regular attention, and if greenfly appears fumigate. Propagate any greenhouse plants that it may bo necessary to increase. Pelargoniums that are past or nearly past should be exposed to plenty of light and air to ripen their wood. Pick off all dead leaves and keep pots clean and free from moss or green slime. Plante are never healthy where this is allowed to accumulate. ANSWERS “Sweet Peas.”—You wish to know the cause of your sweet pea plants dropping their blooms. There are several causes —water at the roots, bad drainage, or the other extreme, very dry at the roots, and over-feeding with strong liquid manure. Excessive moisture at the roots caused through -bad drainage is a very common cause, .especially, ip a gegsoa lij£€> the present.

It is certainly not likely to be excessive dryness at the roots this season. Not knowing the condition I could not say further. Rose.”—The black spots on the leaves forwarded are black spot, a fungoid disease, and very common among roses, particularly in very damp and cold situations. It is not nearly so prevalent in warm and sunny situations. As soon as the first flush of bloom is past clip off all dead flowers or seed pods, taking a little of the wood with it. Rake up and burn clippings, and spray the bushes all over with formalin wash—one tablespoonful of formalin to one gallon of water.

PLANTS FOR SHADY PLACES

In shady situations, such as under trees, it is often a difficult matter to keep tiio ground furnished (says Ah' John Contis, assistant curator of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kcw). In the case of largo trees on lawns nothing looks better than grass growing right up to the trunk, and this may generally be achieved by keeping the bottom branches clear of the ground. The surface soil should bo pricked over and a top-dressing of fresh soil raked in; by this means end using a mixture of grasses that flourish in the shade one may generally keep the ground furnished. In other positions, where it is desired to have a carpet of evergreen plants, ivy may be relied upon to grow, even in dense shade. Raisons aculcatns (the butcher’s broom) also succeeds under the shade of trees, and it makes a good, bold edging for shrubberies, while the smaller B. hypoglossum may also be used for the same purpose; this also makes a. good carpet under tallgrowing shrubs. Berberis aquifolium is invaluable for furnishing areas under thinly-planted trees, ami by .shortening the longer shoots it may be kept to any desired height. Euonymus radicans and its variegated variety are invaluable for carpeting shady places under trees. These make a good, hold edging to paths in the less dressed parts ot the garden, but when used in this way they usually require clipping twice a year. The periwinkles —Vinca major and V. minor-are also commonly used for furnishing shady places, and are excellent lor covering steep banks; there are several varieties of each, including variegated lorms. Lonicera pileata is a newer plant that is excellent for shady spots. Sarcococca liumilc, S. ruscifolia, and S. houkoriana—the last only hardy in the south — with small white, sweetly-scented flowers—might be more generally grown, especially in the partial shade of large shrubs. Ganltboria sliallou and G. procumbons are also excellent for the same purpose. _ Hypericum calvcinum is invaluable ior covering banks or for planting in shady places, but to keep it close and thick it should he cut over with a scythe every spring. Where larger-growing subjects are required box, yew, and holly arc always useful, but aucubas and laurels arc much too freely planted in manx gaideus, and they do not present the same cheerful appearance as our native evergreens. Eunkias, anemone japomca and its varieties, as well as many othei hardy herbaceous plants, do fairly well in the shady margins of shrubberies; lilv of the valley will also succeed in similar situations, ami shoukl be plauL-cn more freely in woodlands. Jtpirnedinms also do well in partial shade. Many of the stronger-growing mm y ferns are seen at their best in shady spots, and with them may be associated a host of bulbous and other plants.

LITTLE ROSE GARDENS

“Nothing can ever depose the rose from the lending place m our gardens, hut to see it at its best, it must bold Its court alone.” says Mary Bose, in ‘ Horne (’hat.’ , Although the beauty ol many flowers is enhanced when other kinds are gJ°"ing in close proximity to them, this cannot be said of roses. The queen or all flowers is never so effective ns when it is growing by itself, and to see. it at its verv best not more than one variety should occupy a bed. The big growers know this, wise people as they are, and yon will always find when they are staging their exhibits at the big shows that they rely upon massed effects ol ainrdo colors rather than a large "limber 0 of different, varieties. The "'"lost bewildering loveliness ol a variety me Madam Butterfly, for instance, when numbers arc grouped together is almost beyond description, and this is just the effect w r o should aim at in onr gardens.

PLANNING THEIR HOME. The grower will seine upon the most suitable moment to send the orders oft, and in the meantime you can get the site ready and prepare the design. Little rose gardens should be a wee bit on the formal side because of the roya claims of their occupants, but you need have no fear of stiffness in the result because the habit ol the iittle trees will prevent this. Perhaps you will decide to make four rectangular beds with a circular one in the centre, and then you will want a main path which will divide and pass around the circular bed to meet again at the other side. Nothing is better than crazy paving for a job like this, but if you find it too expensive there arc ways and means of effecting economies. What could bq more beautiful than grass paths, for instance? And if your plaint is that they wear badly, then you could _ buy a smaller quantity of crazy paving and lay pieces along the turf at intervals to form stepping stones. OLD-WORLD PATHS.

They look quaint and old-worldish done in this way. Another very pleasing path can be made of red bricks and cobble stones. The method is to lay the bricks on edge and work in a dia-mond-shaped patterns of the cobbles every 6ft or so. Of course, new red bricks are rather expensive, but very frequently a batch can be picked up which have been over-baked in the kilns and discarded. The extra hardness is ideal for paths. •

SEED POTATO INDUSTRY IN IRELAND

In former years Ireland was gaining rapidly a reputation for seed potatoes (says the ‘ Gardeners’ Chronicle,’ London), Trials carried out in dffierent parts of the country had shown that Irish seed from suitable districts was little, if at all, inferior to Scotch seed. As a consequence of the growing reputation an export trade of considerable promise began to develop, not only with this country, but so far ahold as Malta. During the troubled times of 1916 to 1920 the care required to conduct this trade successfully was not given. Seed of indifferent quality was exported, and naturally the export trade declined. With more settled times the Ministry of Agriculture of the Free State has concentrated its attention on the subject. It is of good augury that they should have done so, for in the first place no Ministry of Agriculture has more drive and\ capacity, and, in the second, the

potato industry in the Free State is one of great magnitude and importance. There arc no fewer than 500,000 acres under this crop in the Free State. Cultivation often reaches a very high level. Crops of twenty tons per acre and over are looked for and obtained by the best cultivators—and as those who know the country are aware, good cultivators in Ireland are very good indeed. Thanks largely to the inllnence of the Ministry, spraying —an essential accompaniment of po-tato-growing in Ireland—is very generally practised, and thanks also to the same influence, the oft-proved fact that no crop responds more surely to artificial fertilisers, is becoming more and more widely applied in practice. It is curious that even though trials and repeated trials have demonstrated conclusively the advantages of certain practices, large numbers of cultivators continue to ignore them. We suppose that few, if any, lirst-class potato growers would demur to the statement that a suitable and liberal fertiliser mixture ensures the maximum yield of which a given plot of ground is capable. Such a mixture used by many of the best cultivators consists of sulphate of ammonia, 2icwt to the acre; superphosphate, 4cwt to scwt to the acre; and sulphate of potash, to 2cwt to the acre. Yet how many growers, both on farm and garden, if they use fertilisers at all, fail to use them on this liberal scale? The Free State then can grow potatoes well, and has many advantages which qualify it to build up a thriving trade in seed potatoes. Those obscure, but übiquitous, menaces to successful potato cultivation, the virus diseases, appear, generally speaking, to have established themselves to a lesser degree in Ireland than in this country. According to Dr Murphy, who has done so much to advance knowledge of virus diseases of the potato, it is not infrequent to find stocks of potatoes growil in Ireland which are entirely free from these diseases. . A sympathetic account of seed potato growing in Ireland, published in the ‘ Journal' of the Ministry of Agriculture of England, states that one of this group of diseases—namely, leaf roll—is not to he found among stocks grown for seed purposes, and that some of tho stocks inspected were, “practically free from mosaic,” albeit that occasionally both the mild form of this disease and also the more serious form (crinkle) were to be found. On the other hand, another disease, black leg, was fairly prevalent. The Free State Government is promoting the seed potato industry by means of a scheme which involves inspection and careful rogueing, and growers who desire to try Irish seed should take care to purchase seed certified under the scheme. Scotland lias won and has deserved to win pre-eminence as the supplier of good [iota to seed, but it is well for growers generally that there should bo another source available for progress is the echo of the clash of competition.

FJSLAHO‘S RAINY SEASON

The summer just past in England has been marked by almost continuous rain, and some interesting effects on growth have been noted in a. recent issue of ‘The Times.’ People writs to the papers of primroses flourishing in autumn, of strawberries and strawberry bloom peeping mil, in their gardens. At the. .’Royal Horticultural Society’s annual I’mil- show in Vincent square the exhibits were over 400 more numerous limn last year, so that it been me necessary in use not only the hall itself but both annexes. As for quality, the fruit was well np to Ibo average, the apples being remarkably well colored for so sunless a .season. Other odd evidence is presented by the garden on the top of Adelaide House, 170 ft above the ground, near London Rriclge, which has valiantly survived the, bad weather. In spite of rain, fogs, and the wind blowing up from the mouth of the Thames, the plants are growing well. Geraniums, marguerites, violas, gladioli, dahlias, and oven a few roses were in bloom in the second week in October, ihe seventy fruit trees planted m the roof are all alive, and at least (111) of cherries were picked during the season.

THE GLADIOLUS

The gladiolus lias been well described as Iho most decorative and most easily grown of all summer-dowering bulbs. Certainly there arc lew flowers that can vie with it lor decorative use and lasting qualities, when cut for the house. Vet, like many other plants, it repays a little extra care and attention (writes Major G. Chnrcher, in ‘ The Garden ’). Bulbs of different varieties vary greatly in size, without in any way affecting their blooming qualities. Large flat bulbs are generally old and of little value for the production of flowers. Judge by the depth ol the bulb rather than the width, ff planting in rows, after many experiments in various distances it will bo found that 20in between the rows is the least width to give good results. This width enables the soil between to be kept well cultivated. Should space be valuable, plant in double rows in the same way that one would plant broad or runner beans, leaving the lull width of at least 20xn between the rows. The depth of planting must bo governed by the size of the bulb and the soil conditions. A sandy loam is more suitable for deep planting than a stiff soil. Deep planting helps to overcome the need for slaking. Successive plantings used to be advocated for prolonging the blooming season, but there is such a difference in the time required by the different varieties to attain their lull growth that a succession of bloom can be obtained by selection. This will be quite understood when it is known that the time varies from 60 to 120 days, ff, however, it is desired to have one particular flower over a long period, successive plantings from ten to fourteen davs should bo made. The gladiolus likes water, provided good drainage can ho assured, and good cultivation will be of more benefit than artificial watering. Keep all weeds down top soil loose and in a mulch condition. If watering becomes necessary follow with the hoe before the surface has had time to Artificial manures are best given in liquid form and when the ground is moist. Lime improves the color of the foliage and the bloom. Some people think the gladiolus is too stiff for use in beds, but very effective beds may be had by planting a groundwork of antirrhinum with the gladiolus coining up between. In borders good broad stretches of color should bo made against a background of delphiniums and Michaelmas daisies.