GARDEN ORGANISATION

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22142, 22 June 1935, Page 8 (Supplement)

GARDEN ORGANISATION

| CONTINUITY OF SUPPLIES In the plans of home gardeners the planting of fruit trees and bushes of all kinds will take a prominent place at this time of year, and interesting as this subject is to horticulturists, it bristles with problems on all sides. The most important and difficult of all considerations is that of deciding what varieties to plant. With most people the greatest problem is that of choosing varieties which will give a, succession of fruit till long past the turn of the year. The home grower, it should be borne in mind, has to plant, his trees in whatever type of soil composes his garden, and although he may be able to improve it in many ways, he is not so fortunately placed as the commercial grower, who should have selected soil and site most suitable for the business. Important Considerations

With proper treatment, most soils can be so conditioned that all varieties will grow on them, their productiveness depending on position rather than soil. The garden in a low-lving position subject to frosts at blossoming time illustrates this point. The trees may grow well and yet fail to crop, and the most important consideration now would naturally be what varieties, by judicious thinning and feeding, would best be able to withstand frost as the critical period.

The practice of underplanting fruit trees with flowers and vegetables shedd not be indulged in if it can possibly be avoided. Under these conditions soil preparation for vegetables usually results in damage to the top feeding roots, apart from the sometimes excessive nitrogenous manure from the vegetable patch, resulting in much young growth, which is generally pruned back until the tree becomes a veritable thicket of spurs, but very meagre crops.

Varieties Recommended As a general rule the earliest apples have not very great keeping qualities, but they are much appreciated for dessert and culinary use when they iirst come in. For first early use during January and February the well-known Gravenstein is justly popular both for dessert or cooking. Irish Peach and Beauty of Bath are two varieties used for dessert, while a very good early cooking apple for small gardens is Betty Geeaon. The tree is of dwarf habit and consequently takes up little room, and the fruit may be used as early as Christmas if desired.

For mid-season dessert varieties, Cox's Orange pippin still holds pride of place, while American Golden Itussett and Willie Sharp are apples of good flavour. For culinary purposes Munroe's Favourite, a somewhat large apple; Mobb's Royal, which is usually a good bearer, and Reinette du Canada, rather later than the foregoing, but a good quality apple, are all suitable. These are usually in season during the months of March and April.

Late Keepers Of the later keeping apples there is a wide choice. Delicibus is rather out of favour at the present time, but the variety Golden Delicious has not so many of the faults of the original variety and is worth planting. One of the best keeping apples we have is Granny Smith, which is a good cropper also. Ballarat Seedling is also a splendid keeper, and usually a very good cropper. Northern Spy is a favourite with many people, but takes rather longer to come into bearing than most other varieties, but it is well worth the extra time taken. Home Beauty is a handsome apple and a good keeper worthy of a place in the home garden, and Stunner pippin should not be omitted as the tree is dwarf, which is a consideration when the space is limited. This does not by any means exhaust the list of suitable varieties of apples, but gives a selection that with care will keep up a supply of excellent fruit from Christmas until well iuto the winter months.

LETTUCE RING SPOT A disease that has caused market growers of lettuce a good deal of concern is the " ring spot," caused by the fungus Marssonina panattoniana, frequently, but wrongly called " rust." The symptoms are somewhat indefinite, the most characteristic being irregular spots on the underside of the mid-rib. In addition the leaves bear brown, water-soaked spots, on which whitish masses of spores are produced in wet weather. The spores are, however, very difficult to find, and in dry weather the centres of the spots often fall away. The outside leaves are at first affected and eventually the whole plant will die. The disease generally occurs in patches, and spreads rapidly in wet weather.

The disease may bo contracted from the remains in the soil of the previous lettuce crop, so that a system of rotation should be practised, and manure containing lettuce debris should not he used for tho crop. Although there is no direct evidence, it is almost certain that the disease must bo carried on the seed, as it has been observed in gardens that have never grown lettuce before. Spraying has not met with any degree of success in tho control of tho diseaso, and removal of the affected plants and sterilisation of the seed are the only practicable methods. Summer lettuce are rarely attacked; it is in the lato autumn and winter that tho diseaso becomes more common. It is wise to sterilise the seed before sowing with a solution of formalin at a strength of one in 400 for two hours, then sow at once. If the seed is kept for any length of tima after sterilising, the germination may be impaired.