IN THE GARDEN

Northern Advocate, 13 October 1934, Page 7

IN THE GARDEN

Border Carnations. Border carnations have lost nothing in popularity during recent years, in spite 9I many failures attending the cultivation. These flowers have their likes and dislikes. They have no love for leaf mould, and they find too much water equally distasteful. When dry weather comes, often enough at the commencement of the flowering f season, the usual, plan is to water the plants. It is better and safer to use the hoe frequently, and to supply a mulch of grass clippings. Border carnations do better if they never have any water ; except the; natural rainwater. - Cow manure may also be used as , a mulch. Disbudding should be done, as the average plant develops more flower heads than can develop properly, . and it is better for the plants and for the blooms that do develop .that the larger proportion of buds should be removed. Polyanthus. Polyanthus have become popular in Whangarei, and a brief note may be useful. In saving seed from the plants, it is necessary to examine the old flowers to see whether there are any seed pods forming. Everyone found must be marked in some way as e.g. by tying a length of coloured Wool around the stem. Then you must wait until t}|p pods have fully ripened and are showing signs of opening. When this stage is reached, remove the pods and place in paper bags to finish the ripening process. Sow the seed as soon as it is ripe, in a box of peat-mould, or very old manure mixed with sand. After sowing, mulch the surface of the soil with sifted moss, and keep in a shady spot until the seedlings are well above ground. Keep the box moist, and do not allow the seedlings to die down during the first summer, but keep them growing. By the autumn they will have grown into strong plants, when they should be put in their permanent positions. Treated’ in this way, seedlings will bloom the following spring. Humus. Stable manure is becoming very difficult to procure and it is humus that must take its place. Humus is derived from organic life, plant or animal; it consists of well decayed plant or animal. .Anything that has once lived is capable of adding to the supply of humus. Large quantities of rubbish are thrown away or thrown into the dust-bin which should be added to the humus heap, or else burnt in the incinerator, and the ashes thrown over the humus heap. Grass-cuttings and all soft-wooded plants can be placed on the heap. The hard-wooded matter, such as rose trimmings, etc., is best burnt, and the ashes placed on the heap. Nothing should be wasted, in the garden that can be turned into humus. But care should be taken that diseased plants are not placed on the heap. They should be burnt and their ashes used. Humus possesses three important properties, viz., chemical, physical and biological. ■, Chemical Properties.—During its decomposition it forms a number of acids, the chief one being humic acid. This acid is even more valuable than phosphoric acid. It corrodes the particles of soil, and the potash ,lime. etc., are brought into a condition suitable for the plants to make use of. The acids also make the insolublq phosphates more soluble. Physical Properties.—ln texture humus Is like a sponge, and is able to

[BY “TAINUI”] /

retain large quantities of water. Under test, weight for weight, it was found that humus retained nearly eight times more water # than clean sand was, capable of holding, and when evaporated, the sand lost four pounds of water to every one pound evaporated from the humus. It makes heavy soils lighter by keeping them open, and light soils become heavier with the use of humus, which then acts as a natural cementing material. Biological Properties.—The decomposition of humus is caused by the action of certain bacteria. Humus supplies , the bacteria' with the medium in which to live. Dryness is fatal to bacteria, so that the water-retaining properties of humus is invaluable for the supply of necessary moisture. At the Rothamstead Experimental Station in England synthetic manure is being manufactured from straw. The straw is stacked and at the same time damped with water containing certain fertilisers, and through the activities of bacteria, manure equal to farm-yard manure is made. When wood ashes are mixed with, a chemical action takes place. The carbonate of potash of the wood ashes and nitrate of lime change over to nitrate of potash (a valuable plant food) and carbonate of lime. So out of all the rubbish that is usually thrown on vacant land or Into dust bins, valuable plant food can be made with no expense. Doubtful Seed. Although most plant seeds are cheap enough, and to sow last year’s seed is hardly worth the risk, it rather goes against the grain to throw seed away. It is an easy matter to test any old seed in such a way that you may rely Upon the result. Fit a piece of blotting paper into a shallow dish. Line the bottom of the dish with sand, moisten it and place the blotting paper on it. Sprinkle a known number of seeds on the paper, stand the dish in a warm place, and see that the blotting paper does not dry. The seeds will sprout in a few days. If about 80 per- cent, of the seeds sprout at about the same time, then they are worth sowing. Below that percentage the value becomes doubtful. The Rose Garden. Roses are making good headway just now and the flowers are opening rapidly. Early tender growths get affected with aphides, and these should be attacked as soon as possible. A good mixture against the green fly is ordinary disinfectant soap at the rate of about an ounce to the gallon dissolved in boiling water. It can be used cold, but is better at a temperature of about 80 degrees. Ordinary soapy water is also good. It is well to spray thoroughly, promptly, and often. Any grubs noticed at the same time, such as caterpillars, ” should be captured and destroyed. A mixture of 8 parts flowers of sulphur and 1 part arsenate of lead, well mixed and dusted over the bushes, when moist act both as insecticide and fungicide. The soil about the plants must be kept loose with the hoe, and frequent supplies of water and liquid manure or artificial fertiliser will be beneficial. As the blooms go over, the stems should be cut back to a strong bud. Disbudding is also necessai’y to a certain degree, according as to whether the blooms are required for garden, cut flowers, or exhibition purposes. Also, the removal of suckers must be, attended to. The new growths of climbers must be tied in. These are very brittle and easily broken by the wind, and as the following season’s crop will be borne upon them, it is

essential that every care should be taken to preserve them intact. Sterilising Soil. Practically all soils contain harmful life, such as insect pests, fungi spores, and weed seeds. The object of sterilisation is to destroy these, while retaining the soil constituents that are beneficial. For this reason care is necessary, for if the process is overdone, the soil generally may be rendered sterile to the point that it will not support plant life. In the open garden, soil fumigants are often used. The ridging of the soil in autumn and early winter may do good in places where frosts are heavy. Composts for seed sowing and potting are sterilised in different ways. One of the best is to place pails of the compost in boiling water in a copper, so that the water reaches nearly to the rim without actually entering the pail. When the soil becomes too hot for the hand, it is removed and the pail refilled, the water being kept on the boil all the time. This method is preferable to pouring boiling water over the soil, as much of the good in the soil is thereby washed away. Baking the soil is not recommended, as it is easy to overdo it, doing more harm than good.