THE GARDEN

Manawatu Standard, Volume L, Issue 116, 12 April 1930, Page 11

THE GARDEN

Notes are published 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

QUESTION: “Mum” says: “I 'do not like the look of some of my chrysanthemum buds; they appeare to be getting hard and not opening properly. 1 am told that I can spray them in the evening with good results. The ground they are growing in is very dry, but on account of the colour showing I have given up watering. Kindly let me know how to proceed or if I have done anything wrong. Also, I wish to carry a couple of do*en blooms to a show about a hundred miles away and would like to know how to E’ them.”*—You can safely spray the and plants in the evening and they, will get over the hard dry stage. We cannot understand why you have left off watering because the flowers are showing colour and are afraid you must have confused liquid manuring with watering. Give tne bed a good soaking with water whether the colour is showing or not and then hoo it over which wil} go a long way towards stopping evaporation. When the buds begin to show colour it is a good plan to stop liquid manure, but not watering. It might help you if you laid wet sacks between the rows, but remove them at once if it should come on to rain. When you wish, to carry flowers a long distance cut them with good long stalks at least twenty-four hours before they are wanted and stand them in water nearly up to their heads to give them a thorough drink. After they have been standing for twentyfour hours cut half on inch or so from the bottom of the stems and place them in freshwater. They will then be fit to carry any distance within reason. To pack them get some florist’s or waxed paper and make a hole in the inside to slip the stalk through in the case of leafless stalks, but for stalks with leaves on them a cut must be made to the side of the paper for tho stalk above tho leaves to slip along. Then hold the flower head down and arrange the outside petals so that none are crumpling back. Gather the paper together to form a ball with the flower inside and twist the top points tightly together. The flowers can then be packed in a box on their sides and closely together so that they do not shake about and will carry in this way for a day’s journey. As soon as you come to your journey’s end place the flowers in water, first removing the paper carefully which can be saved to take them home again if vequired. Leave the flowers in water for a few hours and then they will have freshened up again and will be ready for moving to tlipir stages or wherever they are required. A gentle shake dowmvtirds will often be all that is required to rearrange the petals in the way they were growing and the flowers will look as though fheyTiad only just been picked.

THE SCENT IN MUSK. A great deal of interest has been taken in the loss of scent by musk and we are often asked why it lias disappeared. The tacts of the thing are that, although years ago there were plants without scent, our grand-, mothers had to propagate from cuttings to keep it going, but in these days with all the hurry and bustle that is going on the cutting method proved too slow and plants Were raised from seed and the young plants sold on appearance and not ror the scent. I lie buyer, finding that the scent was disappearing or had gone, meroiy disoaided the plant when something brighter and better came along anu said nothing about it. There is no reason why the scent cannot lie brought back, but it will only be ly saving a plant that shows some signs of it and propagating from it and again re-selectmg the plants for further propagation. We do not believe that tho scent lias been entirely lost, but that through propagating from seed it has died uway to such an extent that it may be years before it can be reclaimed. Macmahon, in his “American Gardening,” written about sixty years ago, mentons the fact that musk raised from seed is sometimes scentless, but if the best scented kinds are wanted that cuttings must be taken each year and at the same time they must only be taken from those plants that show the strongest signs. CARNATIONS. Carnations that were layered early in the year should be rooted enough now to be cut from the parent plant and set out in small nursery beds, where they can remain until such time as they are wanted for planting up. When making up a bed to set these plants in, give the soil a good dressing of lime and soot or old mortar rubbish. The latter is probably the best as it is well mixed together and has attained age. Mix tho ingredients with the soil and do not make the bed wider than can be reached from either side. These plants like a fairly firm soil, but at the same time it must not be trodden into holes for water to lie in during the winter. Rust attacking the leaves is one of the troubles that causes more losses with these plants

than anything else, but with a little care.and attention this can be easily overcome. The main thing is to sprinkle lime over the. plants about every week. Simply whiten 'the leaves and allow the linfe to remain. By the end of the winter you may find that the plants are encrusted with it but it does no harm, and when they begin to grow in the spring they will soon throw off all effects of it, and will emerge a good colour. When making up new beds always remember that fresh manure is harmful to the plants, and if manure of any sort has to be used let it be old well rotted stuff that has lost its fire. ' PETUNIAS. A correspondent has asked for some information about double petunias. He says that he has had trouble to save them during the winter and has not got any .from seed. Double petunias can be raised from 6eed, but the seed is expensive and requires a good deal of care in raising it. Only a small percentage of the plants will come double and once you get them they must be preserved by way of cuttings. Sow tho 6eed in a pot of. fine sandy loam in the spring and cover the pot and soil ■ with a sheet of glass and stand it in a nice warm part of the glasshouse where it can bo shaded for a while. Never water the pot overhead while the seed is germinating, but stand it up to the rim in water until it is moist. A properly prepared yot of soil with glass over the surface should not require watering until the young seedlings have appeared. Prick the young plants out as soon as they are large enough to handle and shade them until they begin to grow. Any doubles that you may have now should be propagated by means of cuttings. Almost any part of the plant will grow if cut off and put in a pot of sandy soil and kept moist for a while. W'hen rooted pot them up and keep them under glass for the rest of the cold weather, but give plenty of air at all times of their growth. In the spring they can be planted out or more cuttings taken and more plants made as required. TEN WEEK STOCKS. Ten week stocks planted out now in suitable soil Can be got to flower in tho latter part of tile winter or early spring if they are well grown. Get a box of the plants now and prepare a good bed tor them by working in some old manure. Give the surface of the bed a good coating of lime and hoe this well into the soil. A little superphosphate will help them on, but this can be given after the plants are in the ground. Set the plants out a root eacli way and givo the whole bed a good drenching with water. One watering will be enough, but it must be a good one and the plants will start away at once. Never plant leggy, seedlings, but good short sturdy plants are far better for all purposes. They should never be planted where another crop of stocks has been grown the previous year. Seeds may also be sown now to provide plants tor early sprang work. If you can get them pricked and hardened off before the cold weather of winter comes on, they will be quite straight in the boxes until such time as the weather makes it fit to plant them out in the open. As cut flowers stocks are more useful in the winter time and as long as the conditions are cool they will last well. VEGETABLES. The potato efop should be ready for liftuig and storing away now. Thus should bo done as soon us possible and the tubers lifted carefully without oruising or cutting. Store tbem away in a dark, dry place and cover them with an old sack, or something like that to, keep the potato moth away from them. This moth lays its eggs in the eyes of the tubers and when tne grub hatches out it eats the shoots out of them and they will not keep. One man tried ,the effect of creosote balls in the sacks with good effect as talas the moth was concerned, but the tubers-were so impregnated with creosote that they were only lit tor seed. Seed potatoes can be kept in boxes out of doors under trees where frost cannot get at them and so tins tip was not worth much. When the soil has been cleared of any crop sow it down at "once in a cover crop. We recommend horse beans very strongly as they will grow through the cold wet weather and are an excellent crop tor digging in into any kind of soil. From experiments we have tried we have found that they improve the soil to a much greater extent than oats or barley which are so otten used tor this purpose. A writer in Australia, commenting on the value of green covering. crops, says that he has lound thao trio blue annual lupin when sown at this time of the year will (Jive a'crop,that averages about fifteen tons to the acre and is equal in value to the same quantity of farmyard manure. However, a 6 ho points out, neither is a complete manure, but both used on the same piece of garden soils will give wonderful results used together. There is very little garden stuff that can be sown or planted now and therefore it should be a good opportunity to enrich the soil as much as possible. Sow onion seed this month in properly prepared soil. If the weather remains dry give the seed bed a good watering before putting in the seed and it should come along without any further trouble. Cabbage and cauliflower seeds can he sown now for spring planting. For . most gardens these plants can be grown in boxes, but where a lot are required the open ground is the best for them. Sow lime before sowing the seed and work it into tho surface of the soil.