THE GARDEN.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXXI, Issue 15210, 22 January 1910, Page 4

THE GARDEN.

WORK FOR THE WEEK. KITCHEN GARDEN. Seeds to sow—Beans, cabbage, carrot, cress, endive, lettuce, mustard, peas, radish, spinach, turnip. What to plant—Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, celery, savoys. The damp weather experienced during the past week will give all young crops a good start, but should there bo any not yet thinned do this at once while the ground is moist. With carrots it is not necessary to thin the plants over-much. When the plants are just clear of each other they may bo left and thinned when the roots are largo enough for use. Spinach should be thinned more severely, leaving the plants six or eight inches apart. If these plants are left any closer to each other they soon run to seed, and give very few good dishes for use; while, given ample room, they send out a lot of large leaves, and this for a long time before the seed-head is formed. Turnips will grow very fast after the recent rain, and should be thinned to eight or ten inches. After thinning dust with soot, even till the plants are quite black. This will act both as an insecticide and a fertiliser. Make an effort to get all the cabbage, cauliflower and other winter vegetables set out while the ground is in such suitable condition. The work can be done much quicker, the plants need less water, and will take fresh hold of the soil very quickly, thus reducing the possible injury to a minimum. Early potatoes that are ripe should be lifted at once, for if lelt in the ground after the recent rains they will grow out and become quite spoilt. The seed tubers should be left in the open for a few days until they turn green before being stored away for the winter. Late crops should be moulded up as soon as possible. Where the haulm shows signs of disease pull the tops up and burn them, and thus destroy the spores at once. Where kale, broccoli, etc., have been planted between rows of potatoes, some attention must be given to secure each plant a clear space to grow. Go along each row of potatoes and carefully bond the haulm towards the centre of the potato. With a careful twist the haulm will remain where it is put, and thus leave cabbage or kale plants quite clear of each other. The result will be that each nlant will be strong at its base (which is impossible when smothered with the potato haulm), and they will remain sturdy, so that when the potatoes are lifted they can 'withstand the wind. The early sown beet should bo large enough for use. Lift all such and store in sand to prevent the roots netting over large and coarse. If the ground is available, get the final sowings of peas and beans in while the soil is in so favourable a. condition. HARDY FRUITS. Codlin Moth. —It is much to be regretted that this arch-destroyer of fruit is so strongly in evidence this season. Go where one may, in large or small gardens whore fruit trees ot any age are growing, this pest and its results are very evident. There is no doubt that this is a very serious question, when a rough estimate places the destruction of apples at one-half of

that grown. This groat waste of one of the nest of fruits grown should not he allowed to go on without some effort being made to check it. The, Orchard' Pest, etc, Act has been in force for several seasons, but it is doubtful if there is any improvement in our orchards. Quito a large sum of money has been spent on inspectors, who doubt less have done their best according to their instructions, but the best is far short of what it should be, and it is time new methods were tried, if this valuable asset, the apple crop, is to be preserved. Many fruits are falling owing to the moth, and these fruits should be carefully collected and boiled to destroy the larva; in the fruits. When they are left on the ground these insects mature, then lie up for the winter, and next spring attack the blossoms again. If it is not convenient to boil these moth-eaten fruits, dig a deep hole and bury them, putting kerosene or gas lime in tile hole with the fruits. American blight (woolly aphis) will he active on the current season’s growth. Take an ordinary paint-brush, and some montauk m a tin, and fust paint the small patches or whit© aphis. Very little montauk is needed, but take care the insecticide is not put on the leaves; while it will not harm the wood, it will destroy every leaf it touches. If montauk is not‘available, ordinary salad oil m kerosene is just i as effective only greater-care is needed to confine the oil or spirit to the little colonies of aphis. Where the trees have been summer pruned the aphis is more easily seen and dealt with. A little attention will do. much to eradicate this troublesome pest. FLOWER GARDEN. A correspondent asks:. Will the rose Frau Karl Druschki strike fiom cuttings? This rose is easily propagated from cuttings; in fact-, there are few varieties that strike as freely as this one does. Side branches taken with a heel make the best cuttings. It is very pleasing to note the interest taken in striking roses from cuttings. Of course, all varieties will not gn e the same results from this method ot propagation, but one soon learns what does best and which is most useful. Where roses aro growing in mixed borders they suffer much injury at this season from summer-flowering plants growing on them, thus excluding the light and moisture from the base of the bush. Numbers of rose plants are ruined this way every season. The growth ot a petunia, gaillardia, penstemon, geranium, etc,, is so slow that one does not, notice how much ground it has covered until attention is called to the fact. It is a mistake to plant these subjects within two feet of a rose-bush,. and even then the shoots that get within a foot of the rose should be stopped The need of keeping the base of each rose-bush quite free from other plants is this: the rose renews its flowering shoots from its base, and when these licavy-foliaged plants are allowed to grow right on the rose the young shoots cannot push un from the ground, and for want of light and moisture they wither up and die This loss of fresh shoots from the base causes the plant to become sere and woody, and give but indifferent blossoms. Dahlias are making great growth this season, and need severe thinning out. As a rule, too many shoots are left, which prevent a tree circulation of light and air, without which the wood cannot ripen, the

result being a mass of leaves and soft growth instead of a lot of bright flowers. Another reason for thinning the growths is that when they are soft the wind breaks them easily; but if the wood is ripe and strong the injury to the plants will be very little.