THE GARDEN.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIII, Issue 1706, 22 December 1919, Page 9

THE GARDEN.

FOREST TREE; pLANfiNG:.

Mr iMjj Davey; Orchard Instructor, la to of Mgtueka, has written, a very fine article; in the, Journal, of Agriculture, dealing, with; forest tree planting in the .Nelson district. Some of his :nctes should be reproduced for the reason that they. Contain good sound.adivice to. those about to .pjarit.' [Firstly, he says, I would suggest ihat I readers should take, notice of, the ..tun* ber trees'graying:.in their district* whiclr will nicot future requirements for the timber trade. , After .giving tfyo dimensions of several, trees he lhas seen, he goes'piv'tojniake an estimate of wljat one apre.of.trees willpfoduce in a given number, of years. Taking one. ; aare.of, trees ten feet apart, ho says, the,value at five' shillings . per hundred, feet of milling timber would be. ; £ 2,900, but .as there are losses incidental to milling he leduces this by half and. gives, the value as £1450. However, be this as it may {he time is coming when the waste tim: fcer. .from«.mill ; ing: willi bo .almost m valuable as the sawn timber' itself. By the lime future plantings mature all these filings will have received the closest in-vestigation,'from*.-an economical standpoint. Working the j values out on the figures given above he considers, that poor land would in years, jeliiph, is considered the, most profitable, p hull pjiius*" insjgnis, return | pwer jeventeen per' <ient.' on tlje initial outlay. Is hot. this, enough, to make farmers,and,others, stop and think; thero,.is. plenty of land ;on farms here that j couldii bo planted and never he missed, and 'in the meantime would "bo providing shelter for• stock, which is badly needed. It is said that figures can Be made to prove, anything, but there are nb figures that were ever invented.tlnit can.prove, the-value..of'shel-ter to stock of all kinds, and not only that'but the effect shelter has on grass. Some of the trees that are doing'well in this district are pinus insignis and eucalyptus of various sorts. Euc. globolus (the blue-gum) is perhaps the best known of them all. Its value has been decried in many quarters, but taking it all round it is a most useful variety to grow, and when mature.will make good scantlino and firewood, and |e larger linibs will make good strainers and last in the ground for a very long time,

DAHLIAS.

SHOW HOSES

Very of ten. wo are asked to give lists of ro6es suitable for exhibition, and also roses suitable for garden decoration, and very often these,two lists are not. far apart. The blooms that are chosen as .champions at the variousshows throughout the country should give some indication of what show blooms should really be. The various roses chosen this year have been "Goire

do Chedare Guinnoissean," "Dean Hole," "George Dickson," "Mrs David MeK.ee," "Margaret D. Hainil," "Maman Cochot," "Mrs Ambrose Riccardo" and ' "General McArthur." The latter very seldom readies ,slunviorrn* at all; but is looked upon as.one of the best bedding varieties we have. The others are exhibition roses, but at the same time very 'few ot'. the,m are shown as often as '"Frau Karl Deuschki," Carplino Festout,". "Pharisaer," "Coronation," "Hugh Dickson," or "Joukhur J. L. Mock." "When show roses are wanted, soil, situation, and cultivation counts for as much as.the plants themselves. • Without, good -cultivation- no variety of rose will produce show flowers; the soil, in a way,-is only a secondary consideration if it -is .worked, in a proper and intelligent manner. In the first place we know that these plants like a rioh, fairly heavy soil, and. it has been found that even pure sand can be brought up to the requirements if some clav and binding manure js. worked into.it. Secondly, deep cultivation is absolutely .necessary to success, and tho deeper the soil is worked, and manured the bettor the plants, will grow. Without growth, large hue. blooms cannot bo grown. Foster-Me - liar gives-it as his opinion, in ins book, of ■ the Rose," that- to ; show ; twelve, blooms of ..'twelve, varieties,' at least, twelve" plantsv.qf '■ a.j4ind are wanteds and oven "then: it will Ibo I found ' that one or-two'of'the varieties blooms i Then, there is another great thing and that M<eW Without, good-'shelter it impossible t • grow good, clean- blooms such' as aro required ■ on | tho show hoards. .The W i udged are form, .size) and S freshness-as the latter oreted Form is essentiallaVfcqn^ mere counts toiunothuig.. v . Atfarge, consideration, 'MmW^^M form »W|WWK ' our at once. V. Staging .is,an- art, ; .ail, an exhibitor finayWi a-good', grower, S .?for.v-ant,oi i a ; .littlo care.'-,.» •,*'""'';>■ '•* : '."'. "-'"''. ': ' ''-h

CARNATIONS

;•.,-. '.:- shows. "/■ fyti: ..: last weelc, -and- it ,>wjuv. a. f gi:e;it;suc^s f ■""""t. «I,icli were "ell displayed on

(Specially written for '''Standard.") , Notes- are published weekly under this heading;- and readers interested in gardening are invited to send in relating to matters upon which they wisfr, expert ad V,ice; answers will be published' ''with'the weekly notes. '-' '

terest. The ...rest of the/show- was j taken, up with: various other cut Uow!ers, amongst' which there were soine '/me and rare.. flowers shown: The Feilding Society held, their. show on Wednesday, the,loth. The rqses-were the best:that\have. ev.eivbeeu staged. Mr Glover, of. Rohgotea, won tlie champion bloom with a good specimen of m D> : .Hamil.- The,great feature of this .show was;tho splendid, display of decorative vases; tables and bouquets. Jhe children's.sections were.[filled 'to pyerfl ( qwin,g, .were being.closo, on/sixty ptries.ffir the .two, buttonholes. ■" A prize, for the best flax whip brought in a,lot of entries from; boys,, and -excited ft great deal of interest amongst' Iffl visitors.

■Dahlias are making good growthmowi and must be tied up to,prevent them from being broken about by the wind. The centre stem should, havo a good; stout stake, and one or two ties can be nut round' it. Some of the side brandies should also be tied to stakes put in round the plant. It,is,.ofteu advisable to remove-some of the side growths,: or. the plants are likely to become overcrowded which .spoils their chance of blooming, properly.' .Alter tjie s.takes have' been ; put.' in position, epver the ground .witii j short) stable, hjappro and. water if, thoroughly.. DahUas.at most times of their growth.will Biajg .a. lot; of water, and when tho biHlfi begin, to form the flowers. are greatly;improved by liquid-manure'be-ing given in fairly Sbrrio of the very large Varieties grown nowadays have a bad habit of. coining, wjtll double centres, but this can ,be, overcome to ar certain extent by watching . for a • bud j with. a small', hole in. the centre called a "pin hole," and nipping out all the rest. This trouble; is principally found amongst the cactus .section. The paeony flowered varieties also have it, but to a very limited extent. The cactus section is the best to grow for exhibition, and the paeonyflowered for garden, decoration. The latter throw their flowers well K above the foliage on 'long stiffß stems, and are excellent for', cyt flb\vers as they Jast much better, than the 'others. The giant decorative section is one that is fast growing in popular favour. The (lowers are more open than the "show" dahlias., and ;do riot, -.always -.r& flex more than hallway. The old show varieties were never, thought of, unless they were perfect balls, -.and .when turned upside. dow;i you wore not supposed., to sea any thing, of the place where the stalk joined tho flower, itself. This sectionis eonfingjntp. favour again/and it will not be very long before we see specimens as round as balls on our show tables. They are,. most useful when used to decorate the border. The collarette section is one that is having a long run, and is much valued as a cut flower because o its lightness, and also because it will keep, well in water. There is another section wo seldom see anywhere nowadays,, and that is the Pom-pom These are miniature show dahlias, the bantams of, the race.

Carnations are beginning •to flower now, and should bo tied up to. stop the biooms from falling (about on the ground, and being.covered with (Int.. Fvcrv" flower'stem that they- send -up, fcs seven or eight .buds on it, awlthese, should be .taken off until Only, one. remains. One flow* is quite enough for, each stalk r to mature, as. soon as flowering, is over cut aVay the. Pi-flof i ,stalk*' and begin plants for : npxt season. The oarhei this ; is-done the better it will be tor nextseason's plants,, because the strongei. thoy'oan be got by winter time, the betor t£:-willVow the following spring.. Wfm bed « A - vell h r d ar : d fistes weeds.' Carnations do-not like stag-. fi&aterfctheb roots., but fcn;. all that.they-must have a .fair: amount .or "water-when they are forming their-flow-'Pis, and liquid manure in 'state-can be given; to them. ;Sootjl«md Always--form a fair 1 proportion; ot-.tlie fiquiJ-manure, as'if moans a g™attdeal to the plants in.the way of co iomo-of the varipti^you^havW|a>e. bad bursters, tie, a tho * calyx, and - the* W M|eM ()U t kt the -ends in, a. natural/ma^er...- J$

f •• \ ■■'<■ VEGETAB.LESt *&%& f$ j I Two lGtters';.lia;v6^beomr,etfe\v'ed, askingiho>oausof of v and} l»uml>irtnß : ]||gH at£ the I Mm about. 8 As: far as,we-know -no Wilts; havevdied i sttt:haye? s&&#* %WmW■■'■ '■■ It is?a -.good:plan to.draw :^r.th:'up.tp^tbe: sameiway;. MBt^^^era^^fidMp>^.©iMH iEr .rook- last -week j was. :i'liouW;it'.waftUot-;a great deal; it did a eoddicoiLditipn;; to reomvo^t/^v.rhe/.hQtv crows; The plaiitfTVan; be led liberally -as ffij set-.but if feeding, is begun before the ■■first bunch will" not set. properly.*