The Garden.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 998, 17 April 1891, Page 25

The Garden.

KITCHEN GARDENIf not already planted, it i 3 time cabbage plants were set out. In many districts great complaints are made of the ravages of caterpillars amongst young plants. Keep the beds •well watered, and look out for slugs and other pests. Do not neglect to have a supply of salt on hand to sprinkle round the plants. Eschalots and garlic may now be planted. The former require a light rich soil. Plant about 6 inches apart and 2 inches deep. FLOWER GARDEN. From many plants and trees leaves will now be falling. Secure them carefully, for the manure heap, as they form a valuable compost. An expert writing on the value of leaves, says :— ‘ The gardener knows right well the value of decayed leaves, and if he does not keep a heap decaying to furnish him with what he calls ‘ leaf mud,’ he looks about him and finds that or a smiliar material for growing certain kinds of plants that delight in it. On extensive places, where room can. be obtained, it is well to have leaves collected and kept for this very purpose. It is bad policy to burn such material where manure is hard to get. Leaves make the best kind of an absorbent for the liquid portions of manure alike for the stable, the pig-pen, or the barn-yard. If nothing else can be done with them, bury them in the soil and let nature do the rotting. The soil will be enriched thereby. The true policy is to convert all kinds of weeds, leaves, and by-products of the garden into a fertilizing material. Make them pay a part of the cost of labour by converting them into humus for other plants to feed on. Some may not know that even a hot bed can be had in the spring by the use of these very leaves instead of manure. But to do so they have to be kept dry all the winter in some form or other, and then wetted. A slight fermentation takes place that is strong enough for many purposes. Half fresh manure and half leaves make the best kind of material to mix together for the purpose. The heat from leaves is of a slow, lasting nature, and checks the powerful heat of the manure just about right.’ SINGLE CHRYSANTHEMUMS. There is no doubt that single Chrysanthemums are the coming flowers, despite all obstacles that have been, and are still, placed in their way. Slowly, but surely, single Chrysanthemums, the most beautiful of all sections, are gaining in public favour, and ere another season or two they will be as much prized as single Dahlias have been. Few who have grown single Chrysanthemums to any extent, or seen them grown by others, will deny this, and it is a wonder they are not as extensively grown as the Japanese or incurved kinds. For cutting at this time of the year we have nothing better than single Chrysanthemums, and that fact alone should warrant their more extensive cultivation. Under good management the plants produce an immense quantity of bloom, and the flowers being light and graceful are admirably adapted for working into all kinds of floral decorations. It is a pity that exhibitors have not the courage to work them into wreaths, bouquets, &c., instead of the lumpy blooms now generally used for such arrangements. For table decoration, too, single Chrysanthemums are unique. When lightly arranged with a spray or two of fern or a sprig of autumn leaves or berries, they produce an exceedingly pretty effect. A few blooms thrust loosely into a vase with a spray of Asparagus plumosus will also produce an effect not altogether unworthy of notice. Apart from their utility as cut flowers they are equally serviceable for conservatory decoration.

When properly managed, plants of a dwarf, bushy growth can be obtained, and these literally covered with bloom. In addition to this, too, very dwarf plants can be grown that would be suitable for standing in vases in rooms or for table decoration, and it will thus readily be seen by those who have hitherto slighted single Chrysanthemums how admirably adapted they are for all kinds of floral decoration. The treatment necessary to the successful cultivation of single Chrysanthemums is, of course, pretty much the same as is given to the ordinary kinds. No barbarous training should, however, be adopted, but the plants let grow in as natural a manner as is consistent with tidiness. The best way is to grow them as bushes in a similar manner to that practised on the pompons. Occasionally I have seen disbubbing done in single Chrysanthemums, but sucb a practice cannot be too strongly condemned. When bushy plants some 2 feet or so in height and the same in width, and covered with trusses of bloom, are placed in a conservatory, they produce a pretty effect.—C. L., in the Garden. THE CHRYSANTHEMUM SHOW. The Annual Chrysanthemum Show of the Wellington Horticultural and Florists’ Society, will be held in the Skating Rink, Ingestre Street, on Thursday and Friday next. It is expected that the exhibits will be numerous and of excellent quality. Some of the finest growers in the province, as well as some in the South Island, will forward their finest specimens, and from all accounts the show promises to eclipse all former efforts.