Working, Guide for the Week

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23839, 14 December 1940, Page 11 (Supplement)

Working, Guide for the Week

FLOWERS Sow Iceland poppies, Brompton stocks, wallflowers, hollyhocks and hardy annuals for autumn bloom. Insert cuttings of violas and pansies in a shaded position. Cut down the marguerites to induce fresh growth for blooming in autumn and winter. Mulch the shallow-rooted plants in herbaceous borders to conserve moisture. 1 he earlier-planted dahlias will need thinning out and disbudding. Spray chrysanthemums with Bordeaux mixture as a preventive of the rust. Lawns should not be mown so closely during the drier weather. Raise the blade of the machine one or two notches. Trim hedges and clip the grass verges now that the flush of growth is over. The Greenhouse Early-sown cinerarias are ready for potting off singly; keep in a cold and shaded frame. Begonias, gloxinias and similar summer-flower-ing plants should have weak liquid manure once a week when the pots are filled with roots. I he stopping of perpetual carnations for winter flowering should be completed. Keep the floors and stages well damped down on hot days, but avoid watering when the sun is at its strongest and do not splash water on the leaves. Where leaf miner is a pest on cinerarias, spray the plants with soot or tar water to deter the fly from laying eggs. Climbers on walls should be kept clean of insect pests.

By KEPOS

VEGETABLES Sow cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and other winter greens. Plant out cabbage and cauliflower when weather conditions are favourable. Celery and leeks should be planted out in wellmanured ground. Plant out tomatoes for later crops; keep the side shoots from the earlier plants and spray with arsenate of lead far caterpillar. Pinch the leading shoots of marrows, pumpkins and cucumbers. Make frequent sowings of salad plants for summer use. Early maturing onions can have the tops bent over toward the sun. Make sowings of late peas in well-manured ground; water the drills if the sojl is dry. Lift the vines of kumaras frequently to prevent rooting at the joints. The Orchard Inspect all grafted trees and support the young growths where necessary. Reversion or nettle leaf can be detected at this season in the black currants; mark such bushes for destruction. Spray the gooseberries with a good fungicide when the fruit has been picked, whether disease has been present or not. Look over the orchard trees, as much may be learned from the appearance of the foliage as to their manurial and spraying requirements. Layer strawberry plants from the best producing specimens. I ake care of the new growths at the base of loganberries and similar fruits, as these will carry the crop for next season.