PASTORAL AND AGRICULTURAL.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 779, 4 February 1887, Page 15

PASTORAL AND AGRICULTURAL.

the garden. SEASONABLE WORK FOR FEBRUARY. The Fruit Garden. The extreme drynees of the seuson will mako it necessary, or, at least, advisable, to help fruit trees by frequent and thorough waterings ; at the same time it will do the trees good to give them a good top washing ; it will cleanee them, and keep in check the red spider—which is apt to become, plentiful in a dry season, "Watering trees will tend to the production of strong wood growth, and the shoots must bo hept in check in the manner indicated in former papers. The small ‘ black leech ’of the ‘ saw fly is now to be seea on the pear, cherry, and plum trees. Dust the trees over with a mixture of dry earth and lime ; two or three applications •will be necessary to clear the trees of the pests. Now will be the time to provide strawberry plants for future planting; choose good runners ; fix them by means of a peg or a stone, and stop the runner beyond the plant chosen. If the weather continues dry, water the runners occasionally to cause them to root quickly ; when they are well rooted take them up and plant them in a bed, about six inohes apart, until the time arrives for planting in their proper quarters. The Vinery.

By this time most grapes should be coloring, and now will be the time, more than any other, when liquid manure and good watering will help to increase the size of the fruit. Watering the roots may be continued until the coloring process is well advanced ; and during this time the atmosphere of the house may be kept moderately moist; but after the fruit is ripe the ventilators should be more open and the air dry. It is a common error amongst inexperienced people to suppose that the removal of a number of the large leaves, so as to admit more of the. sun’s rays to the fruit, will assist in ripening it. This is the reveres of true in most instances. Muscats,' especially the golden ‘Muscat of Alexandria,’ are benefited by a pretty free admission of the sun ; but t.h™ should be done not by removing large leaves, which should never be cut off, but by training the rods farther apart, and, when still more light is Deeded, removing the lateral growths. ‘ Black Hambros’e,’ however, •which is the chief variety grown, will ripen perfectly under a densa canopy of folisge, but this should eonsist of large, healthy leaves, not a tangled mass of lateral growths* The Kitchen Garden.

Those who have gone in for deep trenching and manuring will, during the dry season we are now experiencing, have fonnd the value of it, in shallow ground, or where the manure is all Dear the surface. As soon as dry weather setß ia the crops get weak, and, if the drought be loDg continued, they, in many eases, give out entirely ; whereas, if the cultivation had been deep, they would have fought through it. A reason like the present should show the weak places, and opportunity may be found later on to apply the remedy. The small caterpillar, which was last season so destructive to the * Brassica ’ tribe, has again shown itself ; »Hd if the present drought continues will agaiu cause a great loss. So far, we have been unable to hear of anything that can be applied as a certain cure for the peßt : a number of things have been tried, but none that we can recommend as a safe and certain cure. We intend to try the following : Boil Boft soap at the proportion of cne ounce to a gallon of water; when the soap haa all lathered, take it from the fire and add one gill of kerosene to the gallon ; mix well and apply with a force pump or svringe. Planting operations will consist in getting different varieties of broccoli, cabbage, autumn giant cauliflower, celery and lettuce. Sowings may be made of lettnce, eatly horn carrot, giant rocca onion, raddi-h, turnip, and spinach. A sowing of French beaus may also be made, if done at once. Tomatoes that are growing too rank should have some of the crowded shoots broken out ; but in that caße it will be best to let the main shoots run unchecked. Cucumbers that are being grown in a hou=e trained to a trellis are easier managed than those in frames, and m-iy be kept going a coneiderable time yet by keeping worn-out shoots cut out, and an occasional shortening back of the stronger shoots. Besting a plant ortwo now and then by nippiDg ont the young fruit for a week or so will also tend to spread their energies over a long period. Keep old leaves cut away, and all dirt, cleanliness being a long stride towards health ; syringe well ia the evening, to keep down red spider. If green fly gets ahold, fumigate lightly with tobacco on two successive nights; give liquid manure twice a week. The Floweh Garden. Flower gardens have been prematurely shorn of tbeir brightness by tbe heat and drought, ao prevalent throughout the month just ended, lobelias, pelargoniums, verbenas, and other plants employed in bedding, which up to within tbe last few days formed brilliant sheets of bloom, have suddenly become tame and unattractive in the effort to produce seed for their reproduction under the trying conditions. All such plants should be immediately divested of their seed-bearing stems, and, in the absence of sufficient rain, well watered in order to restore them to beauty lat-r on. Clip the lobelia, and shorten tbe others back to the greeD healthy foliage, leaving no fading flowers anywhere. Single petunias, although not once watered, are still a mass of bloom, bidding fair to see out the dry weather, wfai'st the golden flowered tagetes, floribunda and yellow calceolarias are showing signs of distress for lack of moisture. The beneficial effects of mulching in retarding evaporation, and thus conserving tbe moisture at the roots, now becomes very apparent, for wherever a surface eating of manure has been laid on, the ground underneath still retains souse moisture where no artificial watering has been done. • Too much attention cannot be given towards preserving choice and valuable shrubs, such as

rhododendrons, heaths, azaliae, boronias, .•icibas, and so forth, from injury by drought. Water heavily, nud afterwards mulch louad the plants with partially decomposed stable lifer if this has not already been done. Panties and shubby calceolarias will be liable to * go off ’ if precautions in thiß direction are not taken in time. Seo that recently planted trees are not starving for lack of moisture at the roots. Attend to the tyiug-up of dahlias, obrysantheinums, and other such tall growing plants, and c’ear off all decaying vegetation in the mixed herbaceous borders, and along the margins of shrubberies. Look over plants for seed, and gathtr tbe same from timo to time as they ripen. Finish the layering of carnations and allied subjects, keepiog theca well watered to induce the layers to root early. Cuttings, all hough less re'iihle, may also be put in where sufficient of a kind cannot be conveniently layered. Choose damp cloudy weather to perform the budding of roses, which should be finished during the month. Loosen tha ties of those inserted early ia the previous mouth. The propagation of beddiagpslargoo'uinsshould now be begun. The tricolor and oLb*-r ornamental leaved kinds, had better be struck in b xes or pots placed in the open, exposed to the sun, bo that on the approach of winter they can be conveniently removed under ihelter. All the other kinds may be struck in the uursery borders and wiutered there, proviied tbe frosts can be guarded against. By propagatiug thus early, stronger plants will be obtained for planting out in the spring, aud which wi.l stand the winter better than those struck later in tbe autumn. Also put in cuttings of t.be golden.leaved nsisembryunthemnm cordifolia, cra'-sula, iresine, sgeratum, heliotrope, and double petunias. These, with the exception of ! the crassula, Bhonld be raised id boxes or potß in order to be wiutered under glass and repropsgated from in the spring. Sow golden pyrethrum, and prick out the s t ceilings of last month’s sowing. The Greenhouse.

Stage pelargonmmn should now be pruned as soon as the shoots have ac juired a brown hazel-like tint indicating ripeness of the wood. Let the soil be dry at the roots previous to pruning to prevent excessive bleeding from tbe cut parts. At the same time select the best of the shoots for striking, young plants from those which are stout and short-jointed being the best for tbe purpose. They will strike readily in any sandy soil in the open if frequently sprinkled with water and shaded slightly from the snn until they have rooted, and which they ought to do in the course of three weeks or so. Bouvardias f->r flowering late may still be slopped and shifted on as desirable . and necessary for forming nice specimens. They should be frequently syringed overhead as a preventive against the attacks of red spider as well aB un inducement towards free growth.

Stake and tie out the shoots of chrysanthemums, and towards the end of the month give the plants a good top dressing of cow or sheep manure mixed with a sprinkling of soot to invigorate the plants while forming their flower buds. Should mildew appear dust the leaves affected with flowers of sulphur. Heaths which require additional pot room should bo shifted without delay, so that tho roots may have a good hold of tbe fresh soil before the winter draws on. Camellias in p its will now require liberal feeding while their flower buds are in course of forming, as it is in the earlier stages in their development that the largeness or otherwise of the future flowers depend. When the buds are fuhy grown manure water should be withheld, as the plants will rest for a time after this before finally unfolding their flowers. See that azalias are free from thrip. These small insect pests feed on the under sides of tbe leaves, and will be rarely noticed until some of the leaves are seen to be badly injured. Tobacco fumes, or an infusion of tobacco water, applied with the syringe readily destroy the pesi.. When the young shoots cease to grow, they should be trained neatly.to form handsome specimens. Lilies should be placed out of doors immediately they drop tbeir flowers. Cut off the seed pods and water moderately till the foliage decays, afur which lay the pots on their sides in any convenient place, lo prevent the soil becoming sodden daring the winter rains. Lilium auratum ('he golden rayed lily of Japan), L. tigerinum (double and single), L. longiflora, and the varieties of L. epecicsum (lancifolium) make capital free growing decorative pot plants for the conservatory.

Prick off seedling calceolarias and cinerarias, examine cyclamen buds, and if showing signs of returning activity, shake off the old soil aud re-pot afresh. Put in cuttings of coleus to keep through the winter. Shift into larger pots young plants of primulas, ferns, begonias, cinerarias, and others requiring more pot room. Any plant in the hou*a exhibiting an unhealthy appearance should be either thrown away at once or else taken in hand and freed from the cause of its sickliness to prevent the possible contamination of others. Generally, the cause will be found to be due to minute vegetable or animal parasites, if not to improper soil or a bad state of tbe same.