THE GARDEN.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 896, 3 May 1889, Page 19

THE GARDEN.

GARDENING HINTSGood seed alone will nob make a good garden. Uuless they are properly planted, the results will be anything but satisfactory, bo they eVer so good. In order that seeds may germinate they must be supplied with a certain degree of moisture and Warmth, varying with the different varieties. Some varieties, for instance, will germinate at a temperature as low as 35 degrees, while others require a temperature of 85 degrees. Light must also be excluded until the roots can derive nourishment from the soil. The first effect of air, heat and moisture on the seed, says a standard work on the subject, is to change its starchy matter into the proper food for the smbryo. If, at this time, the seed be witherod by exposure to heat without sufficient covering, it will perish. It often happens that the seeds are planted in freshly dug soil, and the above change in the properties of the seed takes place, but tho earth not being pressed upon it, the need dries up and tho embryo perishes. Others, again, are buried too deeply, aud though the seed swells, yet sufficient air and warmth are not obtained to give the embryo life. The seod should be just so far covered as to exclude the light and afford barely sufficient moisture for it 3 wants. The first thing in sowing is a thorough preparation of the soil. It must bo well pulverised, and should contain the requisite amount of moisture, so that the young root will find its surroundings congenial and be encouraged to supreme efforts. After ibo seeds have been put in tho soil the earth should be firmly pressed upon th m. The subsequent growth of the plant in a largo measure depends upon the care given tho s'oed and tho early cultivation of the plant, in the same manner as the after-life of the child depends upon the care bestowed upon it in infancy. — Florida Agriculturist. Among the vegetables introduced in the past fifty years none has created more interest and appreciation than tho new bush Lima bean is likely to produce. No vegetable grown in our gardens is valued more for it 3 delicious flavour than the old pole Lima, but tho necessity of poles or stakes for its culture precluded its use in ninetynine gardens out of every hundred. In the now bush Lima, we have not only a variety that is two weeks earlier than the climbing sort, but a bean the culture of which is tho same as that of the common bush or ‘string bean.’ —Peter Henderson, in Ameuican Agriculturists. WORK FOR MAYThe Flower Garden. Finish tho propagation i f roses and other ornamental shrubs to bo raised from cuttings and layers. Plant out rhododendrons, kalmias, azale s, and other such, in deeply trenched ground consisting of sandy loam and peat. Stake newly' planted trees, in danger of being disturbed by the winds. Prune and tie creepers. It is best to prune deciduous trees and shrubs generally as soon as their leaves have fallen, as the movement of the sap will bo wholly directed toward the buds that are left and imbueT>hem with vigour and strength. Pines, Cypress, and other conifers should be either balled up when received for planting, or small, me-dium-sized plants selected ; the latter will have much the best chance in exposed positions. Shelter-shrubs may require to be thinned out, or cut back, when they are found iu too close proximity with specimen trees of a choice ornamental and permanent character. All kinds of hardy perennials and biennials may now be planted, such as carnations, pansies, wallflowers, foxgloves, etc., Herbaceous perennials, including primroses, agapanthuses, alyssum, pyiethrum, phlox, peeony, and others, may be cut into divisions and replanted as requisite. Lift, dry, and store away all choice varieties of gladiolus. Transplant late sown annuals. Beds and bonders should be cleared of annuals done flowering and of all decayed portions of herbaceous plants, and if no alterations are in contemplation, they may at once be manured and neatly dug over, so as to be in keeping with the adjacent smoothly out lawns, verges, and clean wellkept walks. Whatever alterations require to be done in the way uf turfing, transplanting of large shrubs, or the trenching and formation of new walks, beds, or borders, no better time than the present can be found for carrying on such work, always providing the ground may be expected to lie wet and sloppy, and consequently unfavourable to the execution of good workmanship. The Greenhouse. Chrysanthemums in full flower should not receive any further applications of liquid stimulants, and only sufficient water daily to keep the soil moderately moist, sbouldfoe given. A free circulation of air in tho house and absence of damp is requisite to maintain the blooms in good condition for a lengthened time. Priniu as opening into flower will bo strengthened and made more continuous flowered by mar.urial waterings tw>ce a week. Horse droppings and a little soot steeped in water form a stimiffant at once safe and nourishing for these and most other flowering plants. The liquid should be drawn off clear and amber coloured, and if it is found to bo daiker in colour than this, more water should be added till the desired tint is obtained. A half ounce of guano to a gallon of water, also makes a good stimulant, with tho advantage of notrequiring any p.-eparation beforehand. Cinerarias for early flowering should now bs shifted into their flowering pots. Pots 8 or 9 inches in diameter will be large enough for the growth of fair-sized specimens. The soil for this potting should be rather rough and turfy, broken by the hand in pieces. Sandy loam two parts and decomposed hotbsd manure one part, will be found a good compost to grow them in. Good drainage should be provided, aud when the fresh soil ia beingfaddedcare should bo taken to press it firm and even all round the balls of soil which the roots already occupy. They re-

quire to be grown in & cool frame shaded from direct sunshine. Successional batches of tho same will require repotting as often as their roots fill the pots, previous to showing their flower buds. Fumigate with tobacco should green-fly get established amongst the foliage, but as au excellent preventive, and at the same time a fertiliser, syringe the plants alternately with soapy water and pure water. Examine hyacinths buried in the ground in pots, aud if they have formed stout stems, an inch or two in length, they will require to be lifted and placed in a shady place, till their blanched stems will have acquired their natural green colour, when they should be exposed to the light close to the glass. All iegonia,gloxinias and achimsncß bulbs, the foliage of which baa died down, may now he placed in a dry position to complete their rest. NITROGEN FOR CEREALS AND LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. Tho details of a series of very exhaustive experiments on the absorption of nitrogen by cereals and leguminous plants have just been made public in Germany ; and also form the subject of a long article in the ‘Aunales Agrouomiques,’ a work published monthly under tho auspices of tho French Minister of Agriculture. These experiments extend from ISS3 to ISSS ; and were carried out under the system of pot culture so much employed by the German agricultural chemists. As this has a direct bearing on the nitrogen question, aud goes far, if not entirely, to prove that the growth of leguminous plants recuperates aud adds to the nitrogen of the soil, by absorbing or abstracting that element from the pure nitrogen of the air, its consideration is of much importance to the practical farmer. By judicious cultivations he can obtain for the surface soil an addition of a very valuable fertiliser ; not at the expense of the subsoil, bub from an inexhaust, ible source, viz., tho pure nitrogen of the air. A short resunad of the experiments may best explain the matter. In the first; place, the experimentalists selected a barren sand as the basis of their operations, to which they, in all cases, added tho requisite mineral constituents iu excess ; so that the nitrogen, when U3ed, would in all cases determine tho increase in tho crop, i.e., be considered as the minimum factor of vegetation. This prepared sand was used in pots ; and seeds of barley, oats and peas were planted in them each kind separately. To some puts of each variety additions of nitrate of lime, in various quantities, were made. Where this nitrate of lime was omitted all the cereals died after exhausting the nourishment of the seed ; and wboro the nitrate was employed the crop wa3 in proportion to the quantity of nitrogen in the manure added to tho soil. The peas iu every case showed marked irregularities in this respect. In tho soil without nitrate some died after exhausting the nourishment of the seed , aud others, after a long course of weakly growth, suddenly revived and flourished vigorously. When nitrate was used, there seemed no proportion, as iu the ca3e of the cereals, between the crop and. the quantity of mitogen employed. In every iustaueo the nitrogen in the crop of the cereals was less than teat in the seed, soil, and manure taken together. In the ease of tho peas it was nearly always in excess. ' Although tho sand employed was shown on analysis to be practically steri e, it was determined to sterilise some cf it absolutely ; and a double set of experiments were instituted. In addition to the general course of proceeding, as mentioned in the first instance, a preparation of water was used in certain cases ; this was simply pre= pared by washing a small quantity of fertile soil in distilled water, allowing the sediment to settle, and then drawing off the clear fluid. ■ results now observed were as follow: All plants, cereals, or leguminous planted in the sterile soil, to which minerals had been added, bub which was void of nitrate, died after exhausting the nourishment of the seed. Those planted in the barren soil, without nitrate, but containing minerals, showed the same results ae in the nrsu set of t xponment.:, all cereals died, and the leguminous plants gave irregular results. All plants, cereals or leguminous, planted in the aterilised soil to which nitrates and minerals had been added, gave crops in both cases in proportion to the nitrogen in the manure ; and the nitrogen, in the crops, was always less than that in seed, soil, and manure. A single small watering with the prepared water produced no effect on the cereals as to their absorption of nitrogen or increase of „rowtb. The leguminous plants, however, responded to it marvellously. loose in tho sterilesoil without nitrate greivaud flourished even better than where nitrates alone were used. Those in the sterilLed soil to which nitrate had been added contained more nitrogen in the crop than existed in seed, soil, ar d manure ; and, in the barren sand, the watering with the above prepared water gave equally marked results in the case of the leguminous planis, whilst it failed to affect the cereals. When the water was repeatedly analysed it showed no traces of nourishment sufficient iu the remotest degree to account for its effects. When it was first heated to boiling point and afterward cooled, it then produced no effect. The idea, seems to be that micro-organisms washed out from the fertile soil are the prime movers in this absorption of serial nitrogen by the leguminous plants; and fcnat tney set up a growth of tubercules,' on the roots of tho plants, which are intimately connected with this power qf absorption. No tuberc tiles were found on the leguminous plants growing in tb° sterile so i 1 to which nitrates had been added ; aan, m both these cases, cereals v r.d heguminouo grew on equal terms. Not only were the crops whose roots showe d these tubercules rich in nitrogen but the soil in which they grew was found „o bo largely enriched also with this element • and the' larger the crop the more was tho soil enriched.. The cereal-i in no care shout a signs of tubercules on their roots ; and their absorption of nitrogen diminished the quantity

iu the soil, or that contained in soil or man- ' The short space oE this article only ad* mits of a very general outline ; but the details of the experiments are so exact and so much under control, that it is impossible bub that the facts observed should carry great weight. One curious result was noted—tuafc water which had been used to wash one sample of fertile soil did not affect all species of leguminous plants alike j but that thee washings of one soil suited peas best, and ot another' sainfoin, and _so on. It may be well to sum up the conclusions arrived at r (1) Leguminous plauta differ typically from the cereals as to the absorption of nitrogenous nutriment. .. . , (2) Tho cereals can only assimilate the m--of the assimilable combinations** of that they can attain is always iu direst relation with the quantity of available nitrogen in the soil. , , (3) Leguminous plants, besides this, draw" their nitrogen from another source They can make use of tbe combined nitrogen of the soil • and when tha soil has not sufficient, can complete, by 'abstracting elsewhere, the quantity of nitrogen which is needful to *k(4) The second source from which they obtain it is no other than the nitrogen of the (5) This last they can only do by the aid of the micro-organism? in the soil. .... (6) That certain organisms are related ter one species of Legumiuoase, and others to another kind. . , (7) That there is a direct connection between tho tubercules on the roots and tbe absorption of nitrogen from tbe air. A study of either the French resume, or the fuller and more detailed account clI the experimenters Messrs Holleriegel and U" farth, must go far to convince the reader t.uat the Leguminosae utilise, directly or indirectly, the pure nitrogen of the air , ac.d that their judicious cultivation and employment, especially when ploughed iu as green crop. 3, enriches the soil with that much-needed element. Nitrate of soda will not always b© available, and trusting too much to that; source of niirogen may lead to great difficulties. Other tide issues iu connection with artificial manuring are touched on ; and it is to be hoped some translation, with fuller details, may be published, as there must be many agriculturists capable of appreciating a work of this kind who yet are unable to read French or German. Why should we, who pride ourselves on our agnculturaJ superiority, be worse off than either of theor© two nations in the facilities for becoming acquainted with the results of important investigations at home and abroad ?