THE GARDEN.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIII, Issue 350, 18 March 1922, Page 7

THE GARDEN.

Nole.s are published weekly under ibis heading, and readers inlerestcd in gardening are invited to send in questions relaling lo mailers upon which I bey wish export advice; answers will be published with the weekly notes, I.KAVKS AS MAN I'liK. I'nfoi’tnnaielv stable manure is be-

coming senrcer every year and something must be done to supply the need. A certain amount ol cow manure is available- ('very season, but there are many gardeners who do not or will not learn the value of it. Now, il this manure is packed up with grass and leaves during till’ early part of the autumn it makes manure that is quite as good as much of tlie stable manure that one can get now, ! certainly is heavier, hut it has one advantage over other manures, and that is (bal il will hold moisture lor a much longer period than any thing else. There is a tremendous lot of sheep manure , wasted every year w hich should be used ; i t:ic worst, of it is that it is lull ol weed seeds, more so than any other, but this eau easily be overcome by burying it lairly deeply in the ground. It is also an excellent manure to mix with others, beat mould is belter than the average' stable manure, weight for weight, and il will pay the gardeners lo save every bit that they can. It does not matter how good chemical manures are they eau never lake the place of annual or vegetable manures, and if is necessary to* get something that will supply the humus to the soil as well as loud for plants. Most gardens have lawns, and in most cases these are cut lairly rogu-j larlv. The clippings should be saved and mixed with other things, such as cow manure and all the leaves that can ( be collected, stack them up in a heap and keep stacking up as the stall is col-! beted, and when the time comes for I ns'Ug it on the ground you will find that you have a' stack of manure that is as valuable as the stable ,stall that you have been in the habit ol using. r lo take the place of the grass which has been taken from the lawn chemical manures can be used at the right'time. These are not unsightly and are easy to use. and answer the purpose as well as leaving the grass on the lawn alter it, l has been cut. We have been shown a garden manured entirely with lawn clippings this season and as iar as we can see there is nothing lo wish for to make it better. The owner ol this garden had some very fine marrows that he is very proud of, and he said that they had been grown on a bole where be buried

a con pit' of harrowslul ol grass ' just :ii t<M" it had keen mown tin* first .lime with llu l scytlu'. Tin l siulT was not ((iiito rotten when we examined it, lint it was quite moist ami that was during the driest i nrt ol that season. HHUDODENDHONS. .Many articles have heeu written, esjioeially during the last few years, lint unfortunately most ol these articles are either on one particular kind of rhododendron or on the recent importations lioin Tiiina. which are more or less ol scientific interest rather than pood subjects for oar pardons. W hen in England recently I had the pood fortune to he able to make a study ot many ol the newel 1 kinds, and 1 must say that they only impressed me hv their (pinintness rather than hy their beauty. 1 do not wish to belittle the importance of these writhes on the various species, hut as th > object, with pardoners is to heantily rather than coiled species in the interest ol science, I am therefore poinp

to make a plea (or the hotter plantinp and keeping ol some of the older parden hybrids. I was in England diirinp the latter part id the preat drought, and saw the havoc that was wronphl in pardons hy it. In the first place 1 am a rhododendron lover; theretoro my thoughts turned, naturally, to the steps that were being taken to preserve these hoanlifnl Hindis. On going round the various gardens it was heartbreaking to see the damage that was being done, and what, made il, worse was that in a good manv eases it could have heen-preveiited, perhaps not so iar as to prevent damage, hut to preserve the plants. In every ease whore tin l soil had not been properly prepared previous to planting the plants snllered most. Rhododendrons are moisture loving plants, and it is .niiv hv deep working that the soil can tie made to hold enough water to keep them going through a dry spell. Another important item is top mulching with old and decayed leaves, or anything that will keep the sun trom the soil at tin* roots of the plants, and in everv ease where this was practised beneficial results pillowed. HI rhododendrons, and indeed there is no neees--ity to confine it to this class ol plant, should he pricked over, hoed and the soil generally cultivated from time to time, and through a period ol drought limn at any other time. In the Knglish woodland nature herself provides’ 1 most of i he mulch required, hut out here it. will have to he provided for the plants. 1 am sure that the idea ol deep cultivation can lie applied with equal success anywhere, hut il copious waterings can he given as required greater success will he obtained. Sprinklings are detrimental and should always he avoided. Plenty of hoe and mulchings are the high roads to success. HUSKS, The old proverb that "a little touch of fellow leeling makes the whole world akin’' is well amplified in the following ’letter received Irom a grower ol roses in America, lie says:—“l have- just received Irom a Irienit a copy ot your paper and its excellent notes on roses. You must have a very favoured climate, as von tell of planting roses in what you describe as midwinter. Why, here (he ground is frozen still’ to a depth ol two'or three* feet at that time of the vear, and the' only way that we can save (inr plants is to cover them with mil and as much litter as we can get. i am a grower of climbing rosees only, and I have to take these down Irom their supports and bury the long shoots in the ground at the; 'first signs ot the 1 approach ol winter, and il 1 get new varieties in the fall they have to be kept In a cellar until the line weather ol spring sol tens the ground enough for them to he planted. 1 do not kmm whether von know the new yellow climbing rose Kmily dray ; I have 1 just got it, and am wintering il over. However, as vet 1 do not know if it will stand our New England climate. Tim following list that 1 grow may he ol interest to your readeu'.s: —Goldfinch, Oriole. I'Jeetiia, Gardenia, Source d’Or, A.lherle Harhier, Edwin Lonsdale. Hubert (raig, Hrole'ssor Sargent, Jersey Beauty, IK.. Van Em I, Silver .Moon, Christine Wright, Columbia, and W. A. Rieliarelsoii. The last one is a Noisette, and is t'iiirlv hardy, lint some of the shoots«get. killed in the winter. If is 100 cold here for most ol the dwarf kinds, lint 1 ha\e a friend down south who grows a lot ol i'w.in, mill 1 h:ivi■ been down to see them this slimmer. The yellows ol re'cent introduction are very fine, particularly Golden Emblem. \ bed oi about t" ,(l dozen plants set. my month watering: I would give anything to he able to grow them here. In his ease he has to cover them with earth and leave's to keep them through the winter. He told me that lie had got a new rose called Souvenir do Claudius I’ernet. which is a better yellow than any of the others. I I is said to have mine of that orange vi'llow shade, which is so promieiit in Mrs Ward and Sunburst, and the loliage is time and vigorous. Mr lolly, who brought it over Irom Erance, rarelv makes a mistake about a new ruse, so 1 ;1111 inclined to think that it will ho

rjuilo a success. Tlic grower who can produco a yellow climber with (lowers anywhere as good as .Ma redial Xdl ‘is on tlio high load to making a fortune out of it. as long as it is hardy.” QUESTIONS.

“Maple” says:—"l have a fine lot el maples growing tar too closely to one another, and would he glad ol your advice about them. 1 am told that they are hard to move, What sort of soil do they require:' Is there any dillerence in variety between one ol the redleaved sorts and the ordinary greenleaved ones!' Can they be manured, and n so, what is the best to give themi'”—There is a good deal ol unnecessary mystery about maples and their cultivation. The tacts are licit tiny win succeed in almost any situation where it is fairly free Irom wind and where they are provided with suitable soil. They like a cool root run in soil not too heavy and containing a fair amount of humus. On sandy or gravelly soil this can easily be overcome by working in some well rotted cow manure' and leal mould, and also by making boles and filling them with the top spit irom some well grassed paddock. Where the soil is on the heavy

sab 1 it is necessary to provide plenty ol drainage. It does not burl, young trees to be grouped fairly close together as long as the soil beneath them can be got and worked. They are no trouble i) move, and quite large trees can lie moved as long as they are taken in the winter with a good ball ot soil. they should he moved as soon as the leal has Inlli'ii. 'there are many varieties_ ol maples, and some grow to a great size. Acer palmalum has its counterparts in both the green-leaved and the richly coinured leaf. There is also a golden variety that is very seldom seen, but is

it most beant.ilnl tree in any situation. Acer sanguinea has so many varieties that it would lake a small book to say much about them. Acer plantanoides, tlic Norway maple, has also got very many varieties, the most heautitul ot which are to he seen 'in Sehwodleri and Rehmaniana. There are also some light coloured tonus that are not very common. Acer dasycarpum and A. ginnala arc both splendid varieties that arc worth a place in any plantation ol coloured foliage. The varieties of Japanese maples are also very numerous, and then* are dwarf form.Cof nearly all the different sections; some ol the small weeping varieties are grafted on the tailor growing varieties and lorm very pretty'objects when in full leaf. The sugar maple from North America is one most beautiful ot all goldenleaved trees that we have in the

autumn. gi'KSTION. "Thyme” says Would you kindly tell me the ’ best way to increase thyme,”—l have been told that, it is hotter to layer it, so perhaps you would (i'll me how that is done.”—Thyme is easily propagated either by divisions ol the root, by layering or by cuttings inserted in sand. The commonest method

is to iaver it in a roiiph and ready fashion hy ihrowinp a spadeful oi earth into the centre of the hush, when it will send out roots from every branch and twip. "Jasper" says:—“'l have some old plants of carnations here, and would like to save some ol them, as they are quite pood colours, hut the plants have prown to such a size that they take up too much room. Kindly tell me how to take enttnips and when is the best time.”—Von are too late to take cuttings with much chance of success unless yon have a pood plass house at your convenience. The young prass should Ii" pulled off the parent stem and a cut made just below a joint. Strip tin 1 leaves off them to about halt their h nei.ii and insert the i ntt hips in sand and shad" and water well for a tew days. This can only he done inside; il yon ha\e no plass house the best tiling for you to do is to layer the plants outside and to leave the layers in place until next spring, when they eonid h" removed to wherever they are wanted and planted out. Hy next spring they will have a lot of root and will make pood plants.