THE GARDEN.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 9588, 4 September 1913, Page 2

THE GARDEN.

(Specially written for "Standard.")

Notes will bo published weekly under this heading, and • readers interested in gardening are invited te tend in question* relating to matter* upon which they wieh ex part advie*; a sewer* will ba published with the weekly note*.

DAFFODIL SHOWS. Daffodil shows have begun somewhat j earlier than usual this reason, and to : Sandon belongs the' honour of having mi the ball rolling. The promoters ot this show have every reason to feel proud of their first venture. Bleeped with beautiful weather and an ethusia.stic lot ot exhibitors every bit of available space was occupied. Immediately the doors were opened visitors began to stream in. and it was not long before there was hardly room enough to stand in. Blooms came from all the best growers in the Marton, Feilding, Rongotea and Palinerston districts, and a battle ot giants resulted. Considering the earliness of the seatam the number lof different flowers shown was remarkable. and pointed to the extraordinary early season we are having. All Ihe different classes were well filled—ar many as sixteen exhibits be-'ng staged in one class. The champion bloom fell to a lino specimen of "Van Waverna Giant.'' Tliia flower has a remarkably fine trumpet of a good yellow with ».ui-phury-white perianths, I:road, but not as strong as one has been led to believe. However, it in a flower that is wanted and will be seen more often when it gets cheaper. Some other good new flowers were Marigold, an incomparabilis with a fine broad cup. heavily stained with red and grand strong jpeii.uiihs oi a deep yellow. The Rival is another new one that calls for serial notice. The specimen shown had a I highly coloured cup and good strong ! perianths wit h two flowers on a stem; I this will most probably paw away when jtlio flower Ixvomes acclimatised, and ithen oik' glorious bloom will be the re- | suit. Another new Slower was a yellow incomparabdis. which may be best described «s a glorified Frank Miles. This [flower measured nearly live inches across 'and was of a uniform deep yellow. King Alfred is a favourite with exhibitors, am! there were several blooms of tins variety shown. It is a glorious colour—a rich gol'.'en y■.•Mow— and will always be in demand wherever it is known. [Showing the earliness of the season | there were several good Luoiiers, FlaniI beans and Sirius. These flowers are already too well known to need describing. but it is fit'ile ]K>fs'b!e that they j hsve nevt r opeiied r-o early in the sea'son before. Mr Woightinan. sent - ., hau [about two dozen of his splendid seedj lings on view. Many oi these flowers (are much .superior to anything in eultijvation. Some of the white trumpets are solid, massive flowers, and he also has some good, things in the other ructions. especially some <'ross.es between polyanthus varieties and trumpets which jcomo with three smail trumpets on a ! stem.

TUTS WEEK". This week throe or lour important shows are being held. Auckland, where many new soed lings are always shown. The flutt Valley show, where numerou* oilvor cups and vases always excite unusual comjietition and bring many of the newer ami more expensive flower* on to the show tabic. The Napier Bulb Show is also being held. Next week the locsl society are holding their annual bulb show, which has always proved a great success from the first time the •ocietv was inaugurated. The Kongotea Society are holding their show on the same day, which is a pitv, as the two places are rather too close together. The Rongotea j>eople had their beautiful cup on exhibition at Sandon. where it Wiiu much admired. Paraparaumu, another successful society, are holding their show on the same date.

DEEP CULTIVATION. "Clay Soil" asks why it is an advantage to cultivate deeply and what effect it would have on a garden that had been dry year after year? The advantages derived from cultivating a eoil that has a clay foundation deeply are so manifold that it is almost impossible to enumerate them all in a short answer. To begin with it i» useless to think of deep cultivation without adding its sister, drainage. If you dig or cultivate a clay soil deeply you will only be making a hole to hold water in, ami the water so held will cause the clay to become inert and stagnant by making it into a sort of mud that will set again harder than ever when the water is drawn away from the soil. But if you provide an outlet for the water before or directly after the land has I seen deeply cultivated it. will nevor settle back to its old solidity, but will go on getting richer as the years go on

by means of the small particles-of loam that are washed down into the ( revices year after year from the top soil, and thereby affording a dcojter rooting medium for plants. A garden that is situated on a clay foundation and that has been dug year after year will be found to have a hard pan below the depth the spade usually reaches, and this is what eau.vs a lot of trouble. This hard pan being impervious to water it can neither go down nor be drawn up to provide for plant life .when they most need it during the dry weather. The principle ir> this: in soil prepration the particles of which it consists are coated in a thin film or covering of water, and there is a continuity of these particles which touch each other, and consequently ths water by attraction will pass upward* or downwards as the case may be. according to its volume. Moisture derived from the rains in falling on the surface of the ground envelopes ths particles in a thin covering, and as the quantity increases it passes downward* by means of the continuous coverings until the whole of the particles are covered. When water i 6 in excess of what

is required for this purpose the pressure from above causes the coverings to increase in thickness until they lorm drops oi water, or in other words burst and pass away into the drains provided below for their reception. Should, on the other hand, there be a drying of the particles ot the soil forming the upper surfaces of the soil the lets * ill be replaced by moisture drawn from the lower layers, and it will be seen by this that the depth to which soil is cultivated has a reasonable influence on the moisture at. the surface, which will be available for plant growth. Now, this brings u< to another point in culture which is important during dry weather, and that is it the jviil be of an unilonn eolidiiy the water will be drawn right uj) to the eurtace. and consequently It" drawn away by the rays of the sun into the atmosphere. To provide against this a mulch must l>e kept on lbs curlace oi either some gooil mulching material, such as lotted leaves, coatee n:a■ure. or whaf is termed soil mulching wust be resorted to. and this is simply done by the use of elltow grease and the faos, r some equivalent. The ho* is on* of ihe finest tool* tor consorting the w«it?r in the eoils that we have. Hoe"the soil all over a* often a* ]wssib'w to a depth of about two inches and you have a jtorfeet mttlcli; uk the •ante tint" it will be found that a good cohering of manure i* not to bo despised, tor the simple reason that every rain that falls carric* down with it a certain amount of nourishment t i the root* below, and the coarse straws hit on top wh'Mi dug into the soil help to replenish the humus that ie e<> neccssary to all toils and plant life. Ii is •aid that the season in which the trenching of snUoiling is done ban roiee bearing on the water contents of the soil, but thi* is hardly true as i<nuv :i* the soil is prepared when il is fairly dry and not wet and sticky. This reason can be oasiiv explained when ii is j pointed out that it is imjvnssihle to break up n day sultsoil into fine panicle* when it is wot and sticky: any attempt to do so on'y ends in paring u together and making ii more like a brick than what is aimed at. Unee s< i! Management ;s understood juivfhin.. ■ay be frown by its S'd. The "soil if ! the foundation ; learn il)oiit it and v- u { ar* on the high road to successful eul- ; lure.

CiIKYSAXTHEMrMS. Next menu crvsantiiemums wiil hready tor planting in their perman quarters. Th<# weather may not !.• *uitable in the beginning of the month, but it ia always a food idea to prepaid the ground a month or six weeks beforehand. In preparing a plot for iheso plants it always must be reni"inhr-red that once thev are in the ground they have to remain there for at least nine months, and will in consequence hare to stand through the winter when th« v will lie liable to become waterlogged if tli* soil is not well drained. Good new soil is undoubtedly the b<*t for them, and if it is diifj over thoroughly now and allowed to weather for a whi'" it will be in a fine condition to receive the plants by about the middle of October. Land that is in good heart will not need half the manure that ha* to be iuvd on a worked-o;;t iiiece. From the time il>> piants are set out they must lie kept growiag .steadily until'the flowers sre nicked. It is only bv doing this that the best returns can be got from them. These conditions apply equally well to plants that, are grown for exhibition as to those that, are grown for garden decorations. VEGETABLES.

Sow onions, leeks, parsnips, carrots, lettuces, peas, turnips, salsify, cabbage, cauliflowers and radishet; outside thiß month. \ ego table marrows, pumpkins, citcumiters and melons may bo planted in boxes of good earth and grown under glass until ail danger from fn:st« is over. They all transplant very readily, so there need not I>e any fear on that account. In small gardens tin* bu«di varieties oi marrows will bo found the most economical in the way of space, and who" well grown they are very prolific. Pumpkins are easily trained over trellises, and in this way may be made to take up less room than when grown on the flat. Then l is a varietv of cucumlter called the climbing Japan*se. Ii is not strictly speaking a climber, but will grow in an upright manner il the rnuners are tied in their places for a while. The fruit is quite equal to any of the trailing varieties. Squash are an excellent addition to the pumjtkin family, and should not bo forgotten. They also keep well when cut in a njHstate. Pumpkins require a fairly rich soil, hut the manure should not be dumped into a hole by the harrowful as i* often done. It. should be spread over the surface and forked into the soil, mixing both well together. When this is (lone the roots of the plants have to go further afield for nourishment, and consequently they are in a much better form to stand dry weather and heavy winds. Leeks when sown should have rich soil l>elow where the seed is sown, so that they will grow into strong plants quickly. The longer they are when planting out. time comes the deeper they may be nut into the soil, which is a decided advantage, n<* i! :>y are then better able to stand dry weather and a longer stalk is made. It. will always be found that the longer the blanched part is the more tender the vegetable will be. Sow spinach outside in rich soil, where a plentiful supply of water and liquid manure may be given whenever the plan's need it. Thin the plajits out io one foot apart. It never pays to have them crowded.