GARDENING NOTES.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 19 February 1926, Page 6

GARDENING NOTES.

(By “Waratah.”)

POTATOES. Potatoes should be lifted and stored as early as possible after they have matured, especially if they have a touch of disease among them; the longer they are left in the ground the worse they will become. The lifting should be clone during a period of fine weather when the ground is dry, and the tubers should be allowed to dry thoroughly, but do not allow them to lie exposed to the sun too long, or thev will become green m which condition thev are not fit for food, if a shed is available which is frost proof, and from which light can be partially or wholly excluded; it will do 101 storage purposes. If shed room is not available, and some other means of storiner has to he devised, the best method is to make a clamp. A drv piece of ground should he chosen and covered with a thick layer of straw or fern in a dry condition. The potatoes should then he built up in a heap, which in the case of a small lot should he conical, hut if there is a large quantity should he a long ridge. Ibe tubers after stacking should then be covered with a thick layer of dry straw or fern. Make a trench a foot deep around the heap, and use the soil to cover tlie straw. At the top of the heap a handful of the covering material should he allowed to protrude. This will act as a ventilator, and allow the escape of any moisture_ given off from the notatoes. The soil used as a covering to the heap should he beaten firm and smooth, so that the rain will ho thrown off as much as possible. Whenever the henn is opened care should be taken to -lose 'it securely again so as to exclude light and rain. CHE VS A NTHEMTJMS.

These should be looked over occasionally, and the side shoots or laterals removed if large blooms are required. The main stems retained should he kept growing straight up and securely tied, as they are very brittle and easily broken off by boisterous winds. If one large bloom only is required on each stem the large centre bud should be retained and all the side buds removed, but where the blooms are required in clusters for decorative purposes the centre bud should be removed and the remaining buds allowed to develop. It may he necessary to remove some of these’ if too numerous, otherwise the flowers will be very small. From three to five flowers form a suitable spray. These remarks apply to plants grown for decorative purposes. If the blooms are required for an exhibition on a certain date a great deal of experience and skill is required to have the blooms in suitable condition. The bud which appears on the end of each shoot is called the crown bud. If this bud appears too early it is removed and a side shoot taken up upon which a bud will appear later. Some varieties produce better coloured and finer flowers from this second crown hud. As a general rule the first buds give size, and the second better form and colour. Chrysanthemums need a lot of food, and as they make mostly surface roots a mulch of well-rotted manure is of great benefit. Liquid manure should he applied once a week until the buds show colour.

The leaf grub is a very troublesome pest, and if not kept in check may do a good deal of damage. It is usually found near a. hud rolled up in a leaf, and if left undisturbed it eats a hole through the-base of the hud. For those who have the time and patience to go over the plants daily hand picking is the best remedy; the alternative is to spray the plants with arsenate of lead solution, using two teasjioonsful to a galkni of water. Rust is also sometimes troublesome; the best remedy for this is lime-sulphur solution. If black or green aphides attack the plants they should he sprayed with a solution of Derrisine; this may he mixed with the lime-sulphur solution if necessary. ROUTINE WORK. Prepare soil for planting bulbs of all i kinds hv mixing some well-rotted animal manure with it. If this is not available U6e 2ozs blood and hone manure to each square yard. Anemones, crocuses, daffodils, ixias, ranunculi, tulips and jonquils may now be planted. Shake out and repot cyclamens. Trench and level soil where it is proposed to sow lawn grass seed in March. Keep chrysanthemum plants free from insect pests and fungoid diseases, and apply liquid manure once a week. Lift the runners of kumara plants occasionally with the hands to keep them from rooting at the joints. Spray tomato plants with Bordeaux mixture once a week, adding two teasnoonsful of arsenate of lead per gallop if caternillars are troublesome. Fruit must be washed or wiped before use when these poisons are used. Pinch out the growing tip of the _ plants when thev have reached a height of five feet, and all side shoots which grow at the junction of leaves and stems.

Lift and store main crop potatoes as soon as they are matured. Harvest early onions as they mature and store in a dry, airy place. Bend over the tons of main crop onions where necessary. Bend over about five inches from the hnlh, taking care not tb break the top. Sow '••nbbnge. cauliflower, cress, carrot. endive, lettuce, mustard, parsley, radish, silver beet, spinach, turnip.