THE GARDEN.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 9865, 6 August 1914, Page 7

THE GARDEN.

PRUNING ROSES. All roses that have not yet been pruned may be done at once. There is nothing to be gained by waiting any longer, and the plants are beginning to shoot. When this happens the time has oonie for the work to oe done. The Tea class is not as important as the larger Hybrid Tea class and the Hybrid Perpetuals to begin on. Most growers leave the Teas alone until they have finished pruning the others. The first thing to do is to out away all dead and 1 weak wood, and then to have a look round them and see what you can do with the plant. Remember that the buds to be left on the shoots at the top must point outwards. The reason for this is that if they are left on the innerside they will eventually cross one another, and every breeze that blows will make the branches or flowers rub together, which is fatal to the production of good blooms. After all is said and' done it is the perfect bloom that excites admiration, and the grower must aim at produoing the best that can be got, not only for hie owni pleasure, but for the pleasure of all hie friends. The gardener has never been found yet who, when he grows something out of the ordinary, he does not want the whole world to admire it. There is one thing more, always prune your own roses, it enhances the value of the flowers in your own eyes and gives an added interest to your labours. Prune newly planted roses hard. They have been cut when they leave the nursery, but there is much more to out away when the time comes. The first year is hard cutting, the second means please yourself to a certain extent after cutting away weak and dead wood. Strong growing roses are cut sparsely and weak growers are cut hard. Such rosed as Frau Karl Drusohki should have the strong growths tied out horizontally and just a few inches of the end cut off. Old rose beds would be all the better for a good dressing of manure worked into the upper surface of the soil. Where old manure is not available basic slag and bone dust are good substitutes, and can be used in Large quantities. The rei gulation quantities are eight ounces of basic slag and about two ounces of bone dust to the square yard. Sow the two separately and work them into the soil with a hoe or a fork. LATE PLANTING OF ROSES. Although everything points to an early growth among Roses, they may yet be planted with every prospect of success, providing a few apparently small details be observed. In the first place, one should endeavour to plant in land that has been well worked, that is where the soil has been dug over some tfeeks, or still better where it his been well trenched. Such soil, being more capable of absorbing air, is naturally a warmer character than the freshly dug, and when the soil is warm root action takes place much more quickly. Many growers have their supplies of roses heeled in, and the plants are kept moved so that growth is retarded. Such plants are far more likely to succeed than those dug up from the rose quarters now. Last season some plants of Caroline Teetout planted in the beginning of September, bloomed splendidly in the autumn. The plants were cut back to within two or three inches of the bud, and as they were BOmewhat dry at planting time they were put in a tub of water for a 'few hours before they were planted. Another thing after planting is to keep the soil on the roots rather firm bv treading occasionally. Mulching with some good strong manure will help to keep the moisture in the soil. The Dest way to prune such roses is to cut them hard back before planting. The roses are easier to handle then and it is much easier to see where to out them. Always examine the roots and cut away any broken or bruised pieces. No new roots will start out from bruised ends, and it is quite possible that the roots will die right back to the stumps. Any of these sorts of die back often cause some sort of mildew or fungus that will bring about decay amongst the roots. We have such a lot of diseases amongst plants now that the more care that is taken the better the results will be in the end. If possible choose strong growing roses for late planting; they seem to give much better results than the weaker growing varieties. BASIC SLAG. The Gardeners' Magazine says: "The great importance and extensive sale of basic slag as a manure makes it desirable to remind intending users of a few points as to its purchase, and its use on different soil and crops. Basic slag, as is well known, owes its value to the fact that it contains phosphate of lime in a more or less readily available condition. It usually contains also a considerable proportion of lime, capable of neutralising acids in the soil, though probably not more than 2 to 5 per cent, is in the form of free or caustic lime. Obviously, then, the first thing to be ascertained in buying basic slag is the percentage of phosphate of lime which it contains. Furthermore, the availability of the phosphate in the different samples varies. As a rough guide to determine j whether the phosphate is likely to become available, or useful to plants in a reasonable manner, a method often adopted and officially recognised under the Fertilisers and Feeding Stuffs Act, is to ascertain the percentage soluble under the standard conditions in a two per cent, solution of citric acid. While this method is only expected to give approximately correct information, it may safely be assumed that the value of a sample of slag is roughly proportional j to its content of phosphate soluble in*i the approved solution of citrio acid.

(Specially written for "Standard.") Notm are published weekly under thia beading, and readers interested in gardening are invited, to send in questions relating to matters upon which they wish expert advice; answers will be published with the weekly notes.

FIRMNESS OF GRINDING. As influencing the availability. the firmness of grinding is extremely important, and along with the guarantee of the amount of phosphate present, a statement as to the proportion of the •lag which will pass through a sieve, having ten thousand meshes per inch, should be obtained. This proportion should be not less than eighty per cent, and samples, ninety per cent of which wilt pass through the sieve, are readily obtainable. most Suitable basic slag. There is often discussion as to what is the most suitable quality of the basic slag for general use. It is possible to obtain slag called basic slag containing very little phosphate at all, while on the other hand the richest samples oonfcain up to fifty per cent, of total phosphate of lime. The solubility of this total phosphate, however, varies very much in different samples, and there i is no definite relation between the richness of the slag in phosphate and it 6 solubility. For instance, in one of a series of samples, of which detailed analysis are available, the total phosphate of lime amounted to twenty-seven per cent, and ninety-three per cent, of this was soluble in a two per cent, solution of citrio acid, in another containing forty-five per cent, total phosphate of lime, only seventy per cent, was soluble, in still another sample, containing twenty per oent. total of phosphate of lime, only sixty-6ix per cent, was soluble. The question of which quality is chiefly one of cost. From the crops point of view, what is required is a sufficient supply of available phosphate, and whether that is supplied by a small quantity of high quality slag, or a large quantity of a low quality slag is immaterial. . . . Without going so far as to say that a purchaser should insist on having a high quality slag, it is safe to say that as a rule, one containing not leas than fifteen per oent. of citric-acid-soluble phosphate should be employed. SOILS. Basic slag usually gives its most striking result when applied to poor pasture on heavy clay soil. The alkalinity of the slag renders it also a very suitable manure for peaty and sour 6oils. Even very light soils deficient in lime sometimes respond well to an application of slag. CROPS. Basic slag is used in preference to su-per-phosphate when soils are acid, and there is a danger of such crops as turnips, etc., being affected with finger or toe disease. When used for a turnip crop the manure is best applied in drills in the spring, but when used for permanent grassland, basic 6lag is -most suitably applied in the autumn or early winter, as it is then washed down to tho roots by the time growth is ready to start in the following spring. There is no fear of loss by drainage or exposure whatever be the time at Which the manure is applied. QUANTITY PER ACRE.

In ordinary manuring the most economical system is to give repeated applications of comparatively small quantities rather than large dressings at on© particular time; the caso of slag applied to grass land, however, is usually different. Basic slag does not act on the grasses of a pasture directly, but indirectly, by firat encouraging a strong growth of white clover and leguminous plants, which in their turn enrich and improve the soil in different ways. This growth of white clover is most readily brought about when the pasture is in a poor unimproved condition, as then the olover has room to develop, and meets with comparatively little competition. The aim should therefore be to get the maximum growth of white clover at once, and it is advisable to try a large dressing of slag (say from 7 to 10 cwt per acre) according to quality at the outset, rather than a moderate quantity, with the intention of repeat- j ing the dressing in two or three years' time. Surprise is frequently expressed i at the development of white olover, very often there is none at all in the unimproved pasture. The explanation is that the plants are usually present, but they are very small and dwarfed by unfavourable conditions, they are quite concealed from casual notioe by a coarse growth of bent or other grasses. Occasionally, however, there are none of these small suppressed plants present, in which case the slag cannot exert its effect. VEGETABLES. Every gardener and all those who have a piece of vaoant land should get to work at once and prepare it for some crop or another. Potatoes should be one of tho things grown. The latest telegrams say that flour is rising in price and something must be grown to take its place. The vegetable patch will be a very valuable one if the worst should happen, and it behoves all those who can to provide against a time of need. Prepare all the land you have at your disposal, and sow when the time comes. Such preparations will help you if things go higher. Potatoes are not particular as to the soil they grow in, but they like it well worked with some manure worked in to give the early crop a good start in life. It is no use waiting; get to work now and you will be prepared. Lime sown on the ground and worked into the soil is a grand thing for the potato crop. It is often said that lime burn* the skins and makes them scaly, but recent experiments have proved that it is not the lime that does the damage.