GARDENING

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 81, 6 April 1938, Page 12

GARDENING

Routine Work in the Borders.

The weather continues to be trying &s drying winds quickly absorb the moisture available from showers.

Every effort should be made to keep weeds down and the surface of the soil stirred.

Continue with the planting of all kinds of bulbs.

Plant anemones and ranunculi in well drained soil.

Sow sweet peas in well manured trenches tor early blooms. Sow seeds of all hurdv annuals wanted for late autumn bedding out. As soon as more showers are aval - able take cuttings cf aubrietia, pansies, violas, etc. Attend to beds of violets. These will require a top-dressing of well decayed manure, lightly forked in, or blood and bone fertiliser. Take cuttings of carnations, choosing a shady place to insert them, use plenty of sand and do not let them dry out. Take cuttings of hydrangea, fuschia, cactii, and geraniums. The Vegeta ole Garden. Sow seed of lettuce for early spring use. Sow a little early cabbage and cauliflower. Keep leeks and celery wel supplied With moisture. Lift all matured onions and shallots from the plots. Sow early bulbing onion seed. Sow spinach, silver beet, and shorthorn carrots. Lift all potatoes as soon as the tops have withered down. Prepare plots for rhubarb, and plant early. Tulips and Hyacinths in Pots. Early tulips like hyacinths, delight in a cool, steady growth. Any attempt to force them, except the smaller kinds ike the different coloured Due Van Thols, means a failure. Tulips like plenty of room for the roots, they should therefore have larger pots than are required for most bulbs. Six inch ones suit admirably, and these may contain four bulbs. In mixing the compost use good loam, leafmould, a little grit, sand, and well decayed manure. After potting cover them well over so that the roots get a chance to make good headway before any top growth is formed. The great number of tiny roots that tulip bulbs send out points to the fact that water must not be given sparingly, and when coming into bloom abundant daily supplies become necessary. A cool stimulant is good for tulips, liquid cow manure being as good as anything, but a watering or two with sulphate of ammonia when the blooms are opening will aid in giving colour and substance. Light, air, & cool temperature, and abundance of moisture at the roots are the chief elements in the culture of tulips in pots. Hyacinths require very simliar treatment and can do with even more manure than the tulip, but less grit. Bulbocodium (Hoop Petticoat Daffodil) This is a very pretty subject for growing in pots or bowls. It should be planted thickly, six or seven bulbs in a six-inch pot. Its blooms are such a beautiful golden yellow that it is showy at all times and lasts in flower a considerable time. The deep green rushlike foliage is also an attraction. Golden Spur is another favourite for pots, using four bulbs to each pot, and the double varieties of daffodils make splendid pot specimens. Freeaias. Freesias are charming, early flowering bulbs which may be grown by anyone with a bit of glass. The bulbs are tiny, not expensive, and of easy growth. "Well grown specimens are very pretty and the fragrance is always liked. This bulb will grow in almost any soil, but a compost rich in leaf mould and sand is to be recommended. Feeding Chrysanthemums. Because the groth of this favoured autumn flower can be made in a few months with huge foliage by the free use of stimulants it may not be advisable. It seems altogether wrong and not really good cultivation. Big leaves and stems may be taking to the eye, but they are quite delusive when referring to the bloom. Characteristics of over-fed plants are hollow stems, really undeveloped if large, and the foliage soft too, a state which cannot perfect satisfactory flowers.. One is so certain that the desire to produce giant blooms pretty often leadsv to oer generous treatment that in the case of potting up any for winter blooming, manure is left out altogether, using loam, the best procurable, taken from pasture land if possible, burnt earth to keep it open, and leaf mould in the younger stages is simplicity itself in the way of compost. There comes a time however, when the soil is so filled with roots that these want assistance otherwise the growth becomes cramped starved looking—and this ia the time to think of stimulants. In planting, press firmly, grow the plant perfectly, and build up a solid stem which ripens as it grows. What is a good stimulant for the subject in question? Growers have their fancies in this direction, yet if a favoured one were named, the choice would be the natural liquid from the heap of manure to be found in cow yards. A splendid stimulant comes from a mixture of cow and chicken manure. Put this in a barrel together and employ the liquid derived from it in a strength as just to colour it. Soot water again, may be depended on to keep the foliage in healthy colour while not forcing it unduly. This must be clear, and can readily be made so by placing a bog of it in water, then there is no trouble with the sediment. Here too, the water should be just coloured for employment in the daily round. There are conditions when it is better to withhold liquid manures, that is, in dull showery weather. The element* then have a tendency to produce soft wood, therefore it would be unwise to induce this by our own action. It is during spells of hot weather when the need of stimulants conies in. Some cultivators arc so placed that manures in liquid form are difficult to obtain, but nn alternative course is to use one of the compounds sold in tins or bags. The

<SDeciallv written for "The Time®'’ by “Lorna.”)

grower who can have liquid would do well to give an occasional change with such as indicated, particularly when the flowering buds are swelling. Bonemeal as a top-dressing can also be recommended as safe and effective. One can only treat the stimulating of chrysanthemums in a general way without knowing the state of particular plants. One item, however, is that there must be ample in the way of roots to feed on, then manures aid good culture. Speaking of soot, all garden lovers should obtain a supply whenever it is possible to do so. It must be borne in mind that it must be kept dry, therefore a box or cask should be used for its storage until required for use. Besides being useful m liquid form for any and all kinds of plants, a slight dusting around newly planted lettuces, cabbage, etc., will go far towards keeping slugs and snails from attacking rhern, which they are apt to do before the plants have recovered from the effects of transplantation. When seed beds of cabbage, lettuce, radishes, etc., are just germinating birds are apt to take heavy toll. This can be prevented by giving the surface of the beds an occasional slight dressing of fresh soot, the odour of which the birds do not by any means relish. Its effect on lawns is quickly noticeable. Having the the effect of encouraging the growth of the finer sorts of grasses. It drives worms from the soil, and assists generally in building up and producing grass of a healthy green colour. A New Product. The quest for the perfect fertilising agent, which will promote healthier plant life and produce larger and better flowers is ever proceeding. A London firm is now in a position to market the results of their efforts in this search, claiming to have produced a nitrifier for which extraordinary results are claimed. The name “Fantastex,” by whieh the new product is known, has been chosen because the results achieved by certain users have been described as fantastically good. “Fantastex” consists of highly concentrated mineral and huraus-forming elements combined in scientifically correct proportions coupled with certain antacid and bactericidal materials, and prepared ready for direct application to the seed, root, plant, or soil. The method of application is somewhat novel. The seeds or plant roots are dipped in the Fantastex mixture which provides each with a diaphragm or coating containing the fertilising media. After dipping, the subjects are dusted with “antex” powder, which is supplied for use with “Fantastex,’’ until they are well covered, thus completing the nutrifying process. The diaphragm, although permeable by moisture is insoluble, and provides a feeding ground for beneficial bacteria. In a very short time the “Fantastex” is absorbed by the subject, the action being direct and local. The manufacturers announce that

41 Fantastex” contains from twelve to sixteen metal salts, thus providing the growing plant with an opportunity of selecting and absorbing those which are best suited to its particular requirements.

The diluted "Fantastex’’ may be applied to the roots of growing plants by means of the watering can. One extraordinary effect of this method of application is that the leaves of the plants coat themselves with a varnishlike substance which resists the attacks of certain insects. This leaf polish is particularly noticeable on rose trees, proving fatal to green fly.

Testimonials received indicate that

* ‘ Fantastex ” has been used successfully for promoting increased growth in plants, vegetables, shrubs, and trees ot all kinds.