THE FRUIT SECTION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19456, 12 October 1926, Page 14

THE FRUIT SECTION.

CURRENT ORCHARD WORK. Continue the seasonal spraying carefully. Do not neglect it at any period or else all the previous good work will be undone. One of the most important sprayings that must not be neglected is the calyx spraying (when the petals fall) for the prevention of codlin moth in apple and pear trees. Now that the time for planting cape gooseberries is approaching, the grower should see that the ground is ready for the reception of the plants. Iho soil should be well drained and deeply worked to grow this small fruit successfully. Plants from seed sown at the beginning of August should be coming on well now and should be ready for transplanting in two or three weeks' time. Before being put out permanently, the seedlings should be hardened off. This is especially necessary for plants raised on a hot bed. Maintain the mulch created around the trees by forking around them, and keep down all weeds. If weeds bo allowed to grow in the orchard section it will be much more difficult to keep them down in the vegetable garden. Staking the Plants. As soon as the plants commence to produce runnefs they should be staked with strong stakes or given some other stout support. With the single row of plants the best method is to place a stake to each plant, every alternate one being ,on the opposite side of the row. These should be tied at the top to a wire or a stout piece of twine passing the whole length of the row. ■ With the double row system the staking is much easier. The stakes are placed in pairs on the outside of the plants in the two rows. Each pair should cross near the top. A wire or another stake should be passed along the row, and the pairs of stakes securely tied to it where they cross. This makes a very firm support up which the plants can climb. When the runners reach the tops of the stakes, which should be about 7ft. high, they may be pinched to stop further growth. It is better to stop the leaders than to have them growing downwards and becoming tangled. When they bend over their growth is stopped to a very great extent owing to the horizontal position they have assumed, but it is preferable to stop the growth by pinching. 1 he plants should not be allowed to grow much more than 7ft. high, as the difficulty in harvesting is not compensated by a little increase in yield. Also when it is difficult to gather the top beans, it often happens that there are a number of pods that arc not pulled. This seriously hampers further production of beans, and if many are left the. production of more pods is curtailed. . Therefore the crop should be kept very closely pulled in order to prolong the productive period as much as possible. When any old pods are discovered they should be'pulled and discarded. Otherwise they utilise the nutriment that should go to develop the young pods and flowers that are coming on. Other attention necessary for the bean is to maintain a continuous supply of moisture. Runner beans are essentially moisture-loving plants, and any serious lack of this is soon apparent. When there is a deficiency of moisture the flowers often drop off iri large numbers, thus causing a serious decrease in yield. The wat/sr that is applied should preferably have been standing out in the sun. As the runner bean is a vigorous grower an application of liquid manure should have an effect on the growth, most particularly on the poorer soils. When the plants have been staked a mulching of straw should be spread around the rows in order to reduce the necessity for watering as much as possible, by conserving that which is in the ground as much as possible. Pests of Beans. There are very few pests with which the gardener has to contend in the culture of runner beans. The chief pests are slugs when the seedlings appear above the ground. If not controlled they may destroy practically the whole of the young plants. They may be combated most effectively by means of the carrot slices. Sometimes slugs and snails may be found in numbers on the full-grown plants, sheltering among the dense leaves. Besides providing a delicious green vegetable, the runner bean, if allowed to mature its seed, may lie used similarly to the haricot bean. After a good soaking in water, the beans may be boiled to a floury condition, in which state served with sauce they form a most. tempting dish. In the flush of the season when the plants arc yielding prolificacy, all the lieans may not be used. These are not necessarily wasted as they may lie left to ripen the seed for culinary purposes. Tt will be better to leavo ail the Superfluous pods on special plants, so that the whole crop does not cease to produce. Although "the crop will be decreased after the flush season is past, owing to the non-productiveness of the plants that* are left to ripen the pods, this may be counteracted by having a second crop to come in lit this period.