FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD NOTES

Huntly Press and District Gazette, Volume XV, 2 August 1929, Page 1

FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD NOTES

AUGUST, KITCHEN GARDEN , Work in this part of the garden will now increase daily. Rows of peas should he sown fortnightly for a continual succession. A patch of early potatoes may be planted in a warm situation. Onions should now be sown on ground prepared in the autumn. As regards the culture of the onion Mr. Neal's instructions which we again reprint at the end of this article cannot be beaten. Rhubarb roots should now be planted out in a very rich bed, and rows of the following may be sown: parsnips, carrots (the main crop at month’s end) beet, turnips, asparagus, broad beans, celery, brussel’s sprouts and a good bed, of cabbage and cauliflower for summer use. Plant Jerusalem artichokes in rows, three feet apart and one foot in the rows. Those who are fond of slugs will find plenty of them. We have already recommended lime as the most efficacious means of putting them out of the world, but those keeping fowls or ducks might try the following plan instead: put little heaps of bran all round the vegetable beds and go out the last thing at night with a lantern, you will find your vegetables untouched, but swarms of slugs feasting at the bran; gather them in a tin or bucket and cover till the morning, when the fowls will make short work of them. Bran is a capital feed for poultry and if you can administer it inside a slug, and already half digested, so much the better. Apterite is a spletadid soil fumigant for slugs. Sold by Cooper and Nephews, Auckland, FLOWER GARDEN. Planting of trees and shrubs should be finished early in the month. Plant out carnations, antirrhinums, pansies, fuchsias, phloxes, pinks, penstemons, pelargoniums, etc., sow hardy annuals plant our your dahlias, gladioli, etc., keep the soil clean about the roots of hyacinths. Strike cuttings from roses, and you may form lawns by turfing or sowing, keep your lawns mown and rolled. If the weather is not too cold and wet you may plant out some hardy annuals. ORCHARD. All planting should be finished early in the month, grafting should be done now; you should also clear your trees of all moss, scale and other blights; the best remedy is to buy “Cooper’s VI Fluid.” Mix 1 part of fluid to 100 of water. The trees may be either sprayed or the mixture put on carefully with a large brush; this should be done early in the month Scale will be found still adhering to the trees, but will come off if touched. All blights are beginning to show signs of vitality this month. It is therefore necessary to clean your trees early. Gooseberry cuttings must be set this month—a good cutting should be 15 inches long, remove all the eyes except 4 at the top, insert 7 or 8 inches in ground, plant upright, and as the branches begin to grow put a small piece of wood between them and the main stem to throw them well out.