THE GARDEN

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVI, Issue 200, 24 July 1926, Page 11

THE GARDEN

Notes are published weekly under this heading, 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.

HYBRIDISATION. The art of hybridisation or even cross fertilising plants has gained enormously by the far reaching laws and discoveries of Mendel. It is no longer a game of chance, but is one that if certain rules are followed and carefully watched by the experimenter certain results are sure to follow. Mendel’s carefully planned researches drew from nature a knowledge of the controlling laws under which sexual reproduction worked, and one of the new forms of life she called into being. No liybridiser nowadays need experiment at random. His work can be carried along definite lines, and, haying discovered by experiment certain factors, ho is able to foretell the result of mating two parents together. We therefore have a lot to thank Mendel for. It is largely owyng to his labours that there have been such improvements in our gardens of late years. The end is not yet in sight, and it is only a matter of a few years when many of tho plants we look upon at tho present time as being as near perfection as it is possible to get them will be superseded by something better. Some very interesting work has been done with tomatoes in the New York experimental' station and varieties that are immune or nearly immune from disease are foreshadowed in tho near future. It is also a curious fact that the first crop from some of these plants of the first generation gave a better yield than either parent. It was this fact that lead to furthor discoveries along the lines of disease resistant plants that actuated the continuance of tho work. It was not until last year that the results of some experiments begun in 1913 gave any definite results about tho length of time that different seeds would keep their strength of germination. It was found that seeds from a variety that had been kept for seven years was more liable to diseaso than from a variety that was sown and grown from fresh seed. However, that was not what the experimenters were after so much as to determine what would be the results of re-selecting a variety every year and saving seed from it. In some of tho corrugated forms the corrugations persisted right through to the end, but when these forms were crossed with a smooth one the smooth kinds at last began to assert themselves and throw off the dominant power of the other. Colour is one of the most persistent things about the plants and it was found very hard to throw off tho deep red colours of any variety used. Even when the yellow varieties were used in the work a very small percentage threw this colour and if they word crossed back again they soon lost it and reverted to the red. BEDDING PLANTS. The proper distance apart to set out bedding plants is one thing that should bo considered before the time comes for putting them in the ground. Many gardens are spoilt by the young plants being grown too closely together so that room for the development of the side branches is not allowed for. In the first place plants are often pricked out into boxes so that when they are ready to plant out in the open ground they cannot be separated from one another. What is wanted is enough room to allow the trowel to go down between them so that they can be lifted with a small ball of earth and put into the ground in such a way that they will not receive a check. We have always found that it is better to err on the side of too much room for a plant than to overcrowd. With such plants as verbenas, which grow into one another, it is better to allow about two feet and then each plant has plenty of room to develop and the flowers are better for it. Pansies and violas can be planted a foot apart and this is tho best distance for nearly all the small growing things, but such plants as asters and so on must have room to grow in and the distance apart will be regulated by the size the variety will ultimately reach before any rule can be laid down. QUESTIONS. W.E. says: “There are three things that I think are of special interest to gardeners at the present time and I wish you would tell me about them. First, the cultivation of the Argentine pea (Lathryus pubcscens); second, the Scotch \Flame Flower, (Tropaeolum Speciosum), its cultivation and anything of special interest; third, what artificial manures arp'the best for roses? I think these questions are of general interest and would be appreciated by my readers.---'‘The Argentine pea is easily raised from seeds and some are successful in raising it from cuttings. Or if you do not wish to go to this trouble plants can be bought in pots ready to plant at once. They are quite hardy and can be planted anywhere where they have room to climb and ramble. They will grow to a height of seven or eight feet in suitable soil. To get the best out of it dig out several barrowfuls of soil and replace this with some good soil and manure well mixed together and some old mortar rubbish mixed in with the surface will be found to be very good. The plant is perennial in character, and although one main stein comes from the plant the first year there are always plenty of laternal branches to follow and the flowers are borne on small branches from these. A plant will last for many years if the soil and situation are right. In regard to the Scotch Flame Flower, probably

more disappointment has been experienced in. trying to grow this than any. other flower of tho herbaceous kind. If seeds are got it takes about two years for them to germinate even if tlioy are kept in sand and, and even then they will germinate irregularly. Tho best way to treat it is to get plants in pots in the spring. They must be grown with their roots in shade and where they can send their tops up into tho sun. It likes a limestone foundation and where it can get plenty of moisture but yet where the moisture is. not stagnant. It is said to do well in Scotland where the soil is little more than peat, but as we cannot get these conditions here it is better to provide ono wo know from experience that it will grow in. The finest display of this plant that we have ever seen is down in the Lower Hutt, where the plant has become naturalised at the foot of a large rhododendron and twines all around tho plant in the spring and autumn and the rhododendron does not seem .to resent it at all. Tliore is one thing that is very certain and that is that it does not like root interference when onco it is planted, and although it may come up several yards away from whore it was originally planted it should he allowed.to remain there if possible. There are several well established plants in and around Palmerston North which are well worth seeing when the plant is in bloom. Our advice is to try it by all means and you may bo one of tho lucky ones. In regard to artificial manures for roses, we do not encourage tho use of them if good animal manure can he got. The manuring of a rose bed depends a lot on tho amount of work that has been done to it before the plants were set out in the ground. The ground at tho least should have been double dug and plenty of manure added to tho lower spits. Under tlieso conditions roses require little surfaco manuring for some years. However, if it is necessary to manure with artificials the best that you can use is basic slag at tho rate of about four ounces to the squaro yard. This can be spread evenly over the surface and forked in lightly. Whatever you do avoid quick acting artificial manure on rose beds as it is inclined to make the shoots soft and sappy, and these shoots can never carry good blooms- Liquid manure after the buds have set is much better than any artificials in the growing season. There is no doubt about the value of sulphate of potash given to the plants after they begin to grow to harden up the cuticule of the leaf and to make them more disease resistant, and those who have tried wood ashes in this way are quite satisfied with the results. SWEET PEAS. From now on growth in sweet peas will be very rapid and preparation for staking them should be made. For garden purposes it is not necessary to go to the trouble of .training them to single stems as in the case of those grown for exhibition. Nice bushy sticks similar to those used for training edible peas on are suitable provided that they are about eight feet high. These should be placed oii each side of the row and they should be placed between the plants so as not to injure the roots any more than can be helped. To prevent swaying about in the wind it is a good plan to put a strong post at each end of the row and to strain some wire between or to tie each upright to a stake placed horizontally along tho row. One of the main things just now is to keep, the surface well cultivated with the hoe and to dust the ground around them with soot and lime mixed in equal quantities and to dust them with this fairly often. Those plants that are being grown for exhibition blooms should be trained to one stem for a while then leave ono or two side stems oii. each to go up also. These stems willAwant tying to their supports and tho work must be done regularly Or some of the stems will get broken. As soon as the first flower buds appear the plants may bo helped with some weak liquid manure. MANURE SCARCITY. Tho growing scarcity of manure is a problem that will have to be faced by the gardeners in. towns sooner or later, and it is imperative that a reliable substitute should be found. We have artificial manures of all kinds which when used with dirteretion produce excellent results, but they alone are not satisfactory. They do not arqate the soil, and therefore can never act in the same way as animal manures. They are good for assisting a growing crop on ground that is already in good heart and will act very quickly, but they cannot be depended upon year after year, and to do so would only end in failure as the aeration of the* soil and something that is capable of holding moisture avo other essentials. We have repeatedly referred to decayed garden rubbish for this purpose and have suggested various ways of saving it. This is the time of the year to make a place to heap up all rubbish that will rot down and about every foot or so it should have a good coating of lime put on it, which will not only help it to decay but will also keep down any objectionable odours. Another thing that should also be done is to sow any plots as soon as they become vacant with something that will grow quickly and can be dug into the soil. By doing this you are aerating the soil and supplying it with something that will hold moisture.