THE GARDEN.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLII, Issue 1013, 5 November 1917, Page 2

THE GARDEN.

FORESTRY. It is a great pity that the same keenness does iiol exist amongst land-own-ers and farmers to go in more for planting. They art' fully alive to the value of manuring or to the faet that they must jet the best .stuck procurable to breed from, but tree-planting is a thing that is absolutely neglected, and yet it, is one of the things that should be pushed ahead as rapidly as possible ii WC are to make any headway with our export trade. Experts all say that ai llie present rale of eui ling our forests are deemed to extinct ion within a limited period, and yet no adequate provisions are being made to replace the timber cut and burnt. The Government certainly are doing a little towards the good work, but after all what good will timber grown in the North be to us down here'' The Auckland province, it is well known, is rapidly forging ahead in the matter of dairying, and in a few years will be cut tin; 1 , the timber that is being grown now for use as butter boxes and cheese crates. As time goes on more land will be brought under cultivation, and the system of cow-testing now in vogue are all in the same direction —greater production, and this will mean that more timber lias to be found. It '»' all very well for people to laugh at the idea ol limber shortage now. but it has been proved that those countries that cut away their natural forests and did not make any attempts to replace thorn have gone backwards instead ol forward. The economic history ol .'-pain and of Greece, and to a certain extent Italy, all point, to the disadvantages that a land without forests has Lo put up with. Italy a few years ago saw the error of her ways, and at onc< set about, replacing the forests, and at the present time is beginning to reap who e ,;lte has sown. Spain and Greece, on the other hand, were slow to observe, and only began afforestation when it was really too late, forestry ; n ji ,011 s a special branch ol study. and to b ■ a good forester ft man is a sort of Jaek-of-all-trades; be must be a .surveyor, a geologist, a botanist, a keen observer, and, above all. must love and understand trees. A school for forestry should be started in -New Zealand, where those who are inter oslctl iii the subject could be. sent to learn, not only the practical side oMhe work, but the theoretical also. I ntil there' is something like this done there is no chance for our young manhood, and indeed womanhood too, knowing anything about trees. In Russia, that country of vast forests, there are employed' a bodv of men who do nothing else but look after the timber, both growing and cut. Canada and the United States have a regular army ol men engaged in the work, whose duty i, is to see thai the forests are not wantonly destroyed and to give advice and practical help in raising trees, and also in planting thern. In the U.S.A. women find a very lucrative business in raising trees for planting purposes, and in some eases they are employed m planting work also. It is said thai millions of trees are planted every year in replace those cut out, and the same thing should happen here. We have the waste land that is useless lor almost am' purpose; then why not set about with a vigorous policy of afforestation and make use of this waste land? Turn it into wealth-producing by making it grow the timber required by each district. Begin on the lulls round Wellington, and carry the good work to the sand dunes along the lS,t- THE FLOWER GARDEN.

The warm ruins experienced lately, lordlier with Lhe warmLli of Llic soil, will give plenty of work in keeping down weeds auJ looking after seeds thai haw hoi ii -own. Transplanting those.' -<- lliup.s that have been hardened oil' should ho done now, hut a sharp lookout will have to ho kepi foi slugs and ;>ll insect pesls. which destroy a lot ol si oil in a single night if they are not checked. Never sot. seedlings out too closely to-other; allow them ample muni to grow. They are pricked out closely into boxes to economise space, hut this is only temporary. When thev are moved to their final quarter: in the garden they should he given as much room as they will cover when tho\ arc fully grown. H" not allow the young plants to remain in the boxi - too ion;;;, as they often get spoilt by being too close together. If the ground is not ready, or for any other cans, you are obliged lo delay transplanting. it is a good idea to take every other plant out. and put them into other boxes, giving them the same amount oi room as the plants have that, remain. When lifting for planting, take each one up with a good hall ol' earth, and press it firmly into the soil and pressthe soil round it. There seems to he in the minds of many amateur garden i ors at least that animals and that class of plants require a deep, rich, loamy soil. This is quite a mistake, and ii is in fact otherwise as far as annuals are concerned. They certainly like n well worked soil, but it it is highly enriched the plants will he grown at flic expense of the flowers. If special (lowers are wanted for such purposes as, competing tit shows crow them in beds hv themselves where the soil is in good hear I i.ut poor. The plants will certain y not run away and make luxuriant growth, but when the (lower buds begin to appear frequent dressings of liquid manure can he given, and each plant disbudded, or some of the branches surpressed, as the case maj b (! ; then vim will find that the manuring will increase the size and colour beyond anything that can he grown on plants that have been grown on rich .soil and allowed to run away. This is |be plan that is adopted in Kilgland vvilli all annuals that tiro grown for competitive classes, and there tire some large growers who adopt the same Ihi lip ior their chrysanthemums and dahlias. QUESTION. "I'i ilii v" writes : "I have been think ne; as 1 looked (.iirough seed catalogues thai perhaps we all keep 100 much to the heti len track in vegetables. for instance, artichokes are specially nutritious, hut few grow or eat them. What of salsify, Kohl Itabi, scorzonera, sweet corn, and others little known r i am trying out a few of these, hut lack cultural notes. Perhaps you would write briefly about the above in your notes." .Many of the vegetables you mention are not relished by tin.' greater mass of people; some are the result of an acquired taste, such as salsify, scorzonera and artichoke*. Kohl llabi il quickly grown and eaten while young ;uv a splendid substitute for turnips. Sweet corn is perhaps cho most popular oi all thti vegetables you mention. The seed should be sown now in well prepared soil that litis been deeply dug and well manured. Plant the seed in rows about three feet apart ami thin out. the plants to one loot apart in the rows. The Country Gentleman is the best variety to use. The cob is picked before it is quite matured, and ',# rooked by being boiled or baked. f'.gg plants require more heat than we have here to mature properly. They din be grown similarly to tomatoes, and are cooked and nerved in much the name way. Salsify is a. splendid vegetable if the soil it is grown in suits it. Tie, goil must be fairly fret l ami deep, and when the voung plants come up

(Specially written for "Standard.") Notbh are published weekly uudw tliia hauling, »nd readers interested iu gardening »ro myilod Lo send m questions relating lo matters upon whU* t '<W wish expert advico; answer* will be published with the weekb' "ot<>s.

the ground near them mt'st not be deeply worked as they are very liable to fork. When .being prepared for cooking they must be cleaned tinder water, or they very quickly turn black. Scorzonera is a very unsatisfactory sort of cropper, am! it is not much more than a quarter of tin l plants grown that will produce routs lit for eating. They are prepared in a similar way to salsify. Kohl I.labi is treated in the same way as the turnip crop, and are easy enough to manage. Artichokes are fairly largely grown. They like deep, rich soil fairly free. The

groat trouble aboul ihern is that once they are got to grow they are difficult to get rid of. The Globe artichoke is different to the tuberous variety in that it is the flower head that is eaten belore the liower develops. They take too much time and attention to be worth extensive; cultivation. fiioro is another variety of artichoki (Chinese), Stacley's Allinis. thai forms tubers. These are small and very much ribbed. but are highly prized by those who have acquired the taste for them. Curly kale is a winter green that is well'worth more attention. It does not suffer from the same attentions of the diamond-backed moth as the cabbage crop, and as soon as it has been well frosted in the winter is very sweet, and tender. C'ardoon is a vegetable iliat is not often grown, and when it is. is generally to be found in the flower border as a foliage plant. If it is grown in good soil and well blanched it is must useful in soups and a separate dish can be made of it. voni salad or Lamb's lettuce is a useful plant to have for mixing with lettuce to make salads. Sea kale is n good vegetable thai should Ik, more wide ly cultivated. It requires a good, deep. soeciallv enriched soil, and in the spring the growths are forced under manure :U u\ planted by being covered by a box against which is lumped good stable manure. New Zealand spinach is a ..•ood vt table that is very much mglocted. It will grow during the hottest of summers and in the driest ~,•01,1,,!. Sow seed now ill hills two feet apart. The most nutritious vegetables we can grow are undoubtedly potatoes, peas, beans, beet, carrots, parsnips, the cabbage family,, tomatoes, pumpkins, and onions, including leeks. VKGKTAHLKS. Prick out celerv plants into boxes as -oon as they me'large enough to banHe and as soon as the plants have got over the moving take the boxes to the ■old frame and harden them ofi as quickly as possible. It is waste of time and trouble to grow them to a largo size under glass when they are not wanted for planting until the middle oi December. The boxes will require watering from time to time, and il tins is seen to the plants will be quite large .-mough for planting out at the time -tated. Celery is one of the easiest oi all vegetables to grow, and yet it is one that is seldom .seen in small gar lens.- When celery isg'rown one. season it. is a good practice to follow it up the next yea: with a crop oi peas. Tim soil being well worked and heavily manured for a previous crop will bring the peas on very quickly. Sow seeds ol savoy cabbages, Brussels sprouts, broccoli and autumn giant cauliflowers for planting out in the months of December and January. About Xmas Lime the plants will have to be sprayed with some mixture to keep the dia-mond-backed moth away from them. Tar water is the best, but anything with a strong tarry smell will do.