GARDEN NOTES.

Gisborne Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 4931, 26 July 1918, Page 3

GARDEN NOTES.

(By “Kew.”)

ANSWERS TO CQRR-CTOXDENIS

Amateur. —Your peach tree is affected with peach scale. We should advise you to obtain some spraying, oil from a seedsman and apply it to the tree. Directions-, how to mix will be given with the container. The tree should be sprayed during the early winter whilst it is dormant. If you have no means ol spraying the'mixture can be pa inted on. This is- more _ efiioa-cious, but takes much longer time.-

Gloss- —The time tmit seeds taKc to germinate is- very uncertain. New seed, as a rule', will germinate much quicker than old. llnui, again, some seeds lie dormant lor a very long period. As an illustration, mustard seed will germinate in a few hours, while tliq writer has had primula and gentian seed germinate eighteen months alter sowing. Heat and moisture is also a great factor in the germination of seeds. This is easily seen by the seeds . that lie- dormant rn tiie soil throughout the winter and germinate with the warm days, and in summer how they win be during dry weather, and alter a rainfall germinate rapidly. - ' \ l . rule, however, the majority oi seeds under normal conditions seem to take from ten to twcut.v-one days. . When using paper to darken'seed pans, they must lie <"'!<‘- fullv watched. H is a debatable question whether there is any 'nine in darkening the glass placed over seeds, except to prevent evaporation and rapid' drying m no surface, if the seed pans arc placed in tlie shade away irom the r-ys of the sun, darkening of the Jass is unnecessary, and the attendant evils of blanching are not- pres,mu 'file writer, who lias sown seeds u. all descriptions under various conditions, long ago gave up _ tin. <• * v oi ns oi • no \«ii ll > 1 ding”is ail right, as before mentioned, but darkening is unnecessary, ” A piece of glass poteen o ver the pot or box alter the seed is sown is oil Hat is required, uulosa the sun lias direct access .to the glass, in which > ymse it should have a piece of white paper placed over it, which should lie Removed at night- time and tuning dull days. If the glass entirely covers tiie pan or box, it will be found that it prevents evaporation to a great extent.

.Rib-Grass. —IT the lawn Ls thickly covered with rib-grass it roukl bo dug rip and resown. him old roots would not come up, mu acertain amount of seedlings would, and uiih-vs carefully woidrd the lawn would soon.be bad again. If the lawn is not too large the best method, of eradication is to dig out tiie weeds. An old dinner iork is a splendid tool for the job. • After the weeds are lifted give the lawn a top-dressing- of good soil ond then‘a light sowing of lawn grass seed. A dressing of sulphate of ammonia at the rate of throe dunces to the square yard wi.il bunt the broad-leaved weed--. Tuis may brown the grass also, but it will soon recover and grow away faster nionia is host applied v.iiiio there is a lew dry days, as it is 'very soluble, and a heavy rain would wash it into the soil before it had achieved its object. Isabella. —The grape vino may be moved at any time now —the sooner the better. Regarding pruning of roots, you should lift the plantcarefully, and all that will be necessary will be to trim off any broken or bruised root-;. In regard to pruning flu* branches, it is

hard to say, as you do not mention if the vine has mu wild, or has been kept pruned. if it. is the first ease, we .should r l ■< •• mend pruning back the laterals (.that is, the side branches) to ope eye close to the main stem. Tin’s would mean you would only have one, or at most two, stems left. These main steins should be shortened to about three feet, so that you will really cut back your vine so as to leave only three feet of main stem. As to time of pruning, you should prune any time while the vine is dormant. In your case we should suggest before lifting, as it will be much easier lifted alter having been pruned than -with all the brandies on. Be earelul when pruning to leave good prominent eves wherever you cut back the laterals. After 'planting, do not tie up the stems in all upright direction, but keep them in a horizontal position. If placed in a perpendicular position it will be found that the highest buds will burst and grow at the expense of the lower, owing to the flow ot sap nlwavs being to the highest point. When placed horizontally tne flow is more even, and, in consequence, the buds burst more evenly.

THE WEEK'S WORK

THE V E GETABI. B. GAR DEX

Rhubarb roots should bo planted as soon us possible. • Give rhubarb plenty ot manure if big stalks of tender quality are recmirccl• ; • 1 i -f Plant .Jerusalem articnokes at once. Choose the smoothest ami best shaped tnbers. Sow a row or so of early peas on well trenched, warm, dry ground. A sowing of broad beans may be made at once where tins e.op does as Sow°a d little cabbage and cauliflower seed, and where plants arc obtainable put out a few rows Dieting and trenching oi s paio cround should be done. Iho busy, time is coming and the sooner this work is done the better. Pruning and spraying of fiuittiecs should be pushed on. Clean i * burn all prunmgs.

THE FLOWER GARDEN

Cut box edgings, and celan up all °‘Hi"Sr” l ouM be cut mul cloud tea bo lifted «a stored r pushing cuttings, aud these should be taken &s sstwr PI TIS: planting of roses should be pushed on with all speed. PRUNING SMALL FRUITS.

All small fruits, such as gooseberries, red, white and black currants S 'lS’Lakif'Tev yrifl sIS begta to before tlie pTants commence to Spew. When pruning gooseberries the objell is to have a bush wth«» '» clies thinly arranged, .so as to ha'^ Sf S\Xis tf thick, bttlo or no fruit is produced there arid it is vc J inconvenient to pick what there w. Tho branches should also be kept clear of the ground for at least fifteen inches, otherwise, tho berries.

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j get splashed with rains. Black curj rants bear in the young wood as well las on spurs on the old. The work is ! principally one of thinning out the ! old wood, so that light and air can i get to tho centre of the twee. Red and white currants are different from the black,- as they do not bear on tho new, but on wood two or more years old, usually on spurs. The main thing is- to get laterals to form and then to cut these back to one or two buds, and in. that way 7 form spurs. J.lie centre of the hushes must be Kept tree, aud open. Raspberries .are easy to manage if they are kept clean and -open, and overhauled each season. Gut out all dead and old canes, leaving about tsix of the young and strong ones. These should have the tips cut off, or, better still, the os should be bon £ over. Loganberries are pruned by cutting away old wood -and working in new" growths. I! there are not enough voting growths some ol the old may ho retained, but the young wood is the best. Raspberries and loganberries should have a dressing of stable .manure, or. failing that, bonodiist. Thespade should not he used to dig round, them, a light forking or booing is all that is required. Both those subjects have abundance of surface roots, and, if much digging is done, tlie.se and most important roots are cut off. They are both best pruned by having the old cranes cutout directly after fruiting. After pruning give a 'Spraying with limesulphur I part to 10 parts water.

HOT-BEDS

Where there is a glass covered frame, it is a good proposition to make arrangements to have a hotbed. 'The requirements outside ol the frame are a load or two of fresh manure, and a sack or two ol dead leaves. The leaves are not absolutely necessary, but the addition of them keeps the beat more steady 7 and makes it last longer. _ Provision must, be made so that the manure and leaves can he sheltered irom tiie heavy rains. A little rain may not do much harm, hut, to control the heat aud get most value out of the bed, the manure must never get den or washed by heavy rams. Aor must it get too dry. bur. tins latter can more easily he rectified by giving water than by letting tin- heap get wet wit-1) rain. -Spread (he .manure, out and mix the leaves with it, _ and leave the lot in a square heap for a few days. Push n stick" weh down into tiie heap and leave it.. By pulling out this stick aud feeling it with the hand the heat in tho centre can he judged. AYheu it is found to he getting hot turn it over again. 'lnis

should be done two or three times, s ° ns to ensure that the whole ot the heap is in regular condition of fermentation all through. He. manure will now he ready for mailing )i>i.o the bod. .Make the bod nt least a foot longer and wider than the frame that is to be put on it. As the manure is- put on shake it up j and tramp it firmly so that tne bed is even and there are no lumps, oilier wise. the bed will not. smk evenly. Plunge in the stick again. Put on the frame and glass and _leave till tho heat just begins to decline, .v.hieli will be in about a week. It. is bast to put an inch or so oi si.B oil top oi the immure in the frame, c-id tne nets or boxes can b' sior-a on 1 -us. The seeds can also tie sown direct in th,. frame but. in that case, at least six inches of soil should be put on to cbink of air on the '.man at the side opposite to which the wind is blowing, to allow the escape bv i lip noxious. gases genera tod by fermentation There are numerous things that can be rai.s; d _ in sue!, a frame. T t must be remembered that using a hot-'ned for raising piants .means that, great care must be tnlnui m hardening them oil othorwiso iron )ie will occur. A nother thing is the air in a frame on a lmt-bed i~ nauiinlly verv moist and watering must >e verv carcfullv done, otherwise the vou.m seedlings v. ill dump oh . Should such happen, or mould put in an upperi-aiu-c. dust- with powdered sulphur. Later on the bed can be used for growing cucumbers byplanting them directly into the soil in the frame, and if attention to ventilation is given a good early crop can be obtained. .

SPRAYING

It can safely be asserted that there are no orchards that arc immune from pest of one kind or another, and the onlv method of economically controlling them is by spraying. This work, if done in its proper season. and -properly carried out, will soon repay its cost. The first .thing to do after pruning apples is to spray with one of the emulsified oils for the control of mussel scale and woolly aphis. The hitter is a hard pest to control, and even after spraying. it is sometimes an advantage to go over the trees with a brush and work some of the mixture into any cracks and crevices that have been missed. The strength of the oil required for tlic.sp two blights will he found on the tin in which it is procured. Such fruits as peaches, etc., are-treated for -brown rot. leaf curl, etc., with Bordeaux mixture 10-10-40 —or lime-sulphur one in ten of water. The latter surav is much the best for amateurs. It is just as efficient as Bordeaux, and can be procured ready to mix with water. When applying any spray to a tree, as fine a spray as possible should bo used which will ensure an distribution of the spray right from the tops of the highest branches down to the ground. Often, the spTay is directed at the centre of the tree, and there it is left-, the consequence being that as soon as the blights- begin to move they find plenty of resting places where no spray has been used. There is another point, and that is one that owners of a jew trees should note, and that is that it isunite as important for them to spray as it is for the larger grower who owns trees by the thousands.

LETTUCE

To provide plants for setting out in earh’ spring, a sowing can be put in a cold frame. Although it is customary to sow seed m an outside bolder late in March for early work, in wardens that are infected with veimin such as slugs, it- is almost a waste of time to do so, as they aie very active during winter, and soon play havoc with the seedlings Jins trouble can to a great be avoided by sowing m a cold frame a out this time.