FORCING SEAKALE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20562, 13 May 1930, Page 3

FORCING SEAKALE.

OBTAINING EARLY CROP..;

Gardeners who cultivate seakalo and who desire an early crop should lift the roots at an early date, so that the forcing may be commenced. It is a simple matter to force this crop, hutone needs iio exercise care in the forcing, or the produce* will be spoiled. The temperature of the sail it, which they are being forced is the main factor in governing the rate of growth of the plants, and therefore they should not i>w kept too warm. It has been found that, the most suitable temperature i;> f-onie-where about 55deg. F., and the. grov.>.-£ should endeavour to maintain this ho.it, as far as is, possibls. Tho best lesulta are obtained if the plants are lifted after they have been frosted, as this give.-* them a check, and tlie;/ - respond more to tho forcing method?. A common method used to force seakali is to life the required number of plants as soon as they become dormant, (which should occur about this time of the year) and place them in boxes of soil. The soil should be of the best quality, and the boxes should be about 15in. or. 18in. deep, and should be .filled to within 6m. of the top. Tin plants should be put, fairly closely together in the boxes, as it is no advantage to space them out. The most suitaohe place in which to put the boxes is h some sh.ed whole they will keep warm;. It is necesary to exclude the Tight, and to do this tin boxes should lie covered with boards or eacking. After tho soil has been settled around the roots of the plants the boxes should not require further moisture for somra ' time. When they do begin to dry out, they should be watered with warm .water. This should not be too hot, though, or it wili scald the growing produce. It, takes about seven weeks for forced seakalo to develop sufficiently to be of any use, and thereafter it may be cut as it is required until the supply is exhausted, After they have been used for forcing the roots are useless for further chopping, and should be discarded. To provide the plants for setting out for next year a crop, cuttings should bo taken off befoia the plants are placed in the forcing boxe.-. The cuttings consist of pieces of root about sin. long and as thick as a lead pencil. The upper end should be cut j.traight across and the bottom should b9 slanting, These cuttings should be heeled in in some corner until it is time to plant them out. Those plants that are not lifted for forcing will continue to crop satisfactorily for some years, but the bed should lie renewed at least once every three years. The forced produce wtd be bleachd, but. it will be necessary to blanch the other plants before they ara used. This is done as soon as the plants commence growth in the spring, so that by the tima they have made sufficient growth to be utilised tho blanching will be complete. The best method of effecting tho blanching of seakale is to place straw or clean leaves over the plants, and keep this material in position with sacking or scrim. There is a method of forcing the plants similar to this, and which may be used in lieu of the foregoing one of it is preferred. This consists of placing fresh stable manure over the plants, and covering- the whole with soil. By this method the forcing may be carried out without any detrimental effect on the plants, but it is not quite as early as tho other method. PESTS OF THE GARDEN. SLUGS AND SNAILS. From this time onward the gardener may expect to be troubled to a considerable extent by the ravages of slugs and snails. These pests are more common during the winter than they are in the summer time. Slugs do not like the dry conditions that prevail for the greater part of the summer period, but as soon as the rains commence they begin their maraudings once more in earnest. Snails show a preference for the drier conditions, as a rule, but they are nevertheless very plentiful in the winter.' Unless effective, remedies are used the gardener will find that his crops will suffer considerably. Especially is .it necessary to protect the rows of seedlings as these seem to offer the most tempting morsel to the voracious pests. Furthermore, the young plants are usually so badly damaged that they never recover. One of the first things to be done in the campaign against the pests is to remove, as far as is possible, all places where they can o'btain shelter. Leaye3 and other litter left lying around tile garden are ideal homes for the slugs, whereas the snails are usually foundi under boards or any other places when* it is dry. The slugs require moist conditions, but, on the . other hand, the snails' prefer a dry home. All-refuse, therefore, should be placed on the .com. post heap, and any boards, boxes or tins should be removed'from the vicinity of the vegetables. After the pests-have been busy in the garden it is a good plan to trace them by means of their trails to their respective haunts, and collect them in tins so that ( they can be readily destroyed. If there are any in places whsre they cannot be reached the next best thing will be to place lime or Whites Island Product No. 1 across their tracks ,so that next time they come out on their destructive expeditions they will be prevented from reaching their destination by this material. There are other methods of dealing with the pests,' however, and these may prove more suitable in certain cases. One of these methods consists of placing poisoned baits around the garden. ;1& For this purpose one may use slices of carrot,, parsnip or apple. The slices are halfcooked in a solution of arsenate of soda, which is made just strong enough to be effective but not. to destroy the sweet, flavour of tile bait. About half a te'aspoonful to the gallon should be about right. THE FRUIT SECTION. CURRENT -ORCHARD WORK# The orchardist should now have the preparations for any trees that nre to be .put in during the forthcoming dormant season well in hand. The nearer the preparations are to being complete, the better, as one ■ canr.ot expect many more opportunities for carrying 'out this work. Moreover, one could not expect to get the ground in a belter stale for working than it has been in during the last week or two. It the citrus section one of the most important things is tiie gathering of the lemon crop, if tho matetr has not been attended to up to the present. The tree? should be relieved of the fruit as soon as is possible, so that the next crop will have every opportunity of developing to a good size. It is very bad policy to leave the lemons on the trees until they fall t( the ground, as this causes them to bruise. Naturally, one cannot expect the fruit to keep for any length of . time if it is bruised, as this is what is_ most, likely to produce deterioration of this kind. ■ To prevent tho new crop of lems from To prevent the new crop of lemons from being affected by the fungus verrucosis it is necessary to spray the trees about, the present time. For this purpose on* may use lime sulphur or i former spray may be used at a^Etreng ir SSiaWSSiI addition to the above spiay.