THE GARDEN AND ORCHARD

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1676, 13 April 1904, Page 65

THE GARDEN AND ORCHARD

* NOTES Tliere are several ways of measuring the height of a tree. A simple method which can be practised by anyone 6n a sunny day or in bright moonlight is the following:—All that is wanted is a straight stick, of' any length. Draiw a. circle with a radius (ha! .ir of a little less than the length; of the stick. This wi’.-l be done by bolding one end of the stick say 2m. from its end, and moving the other end around, making tiiei circle' with a knife or a chip. Then place the stick in the ground exactly in the centre of the circle, perfectly upright, and press it down until the height of the stick is exactly the same as the radius of the circle. When the end of the shadow of the stick exactly touches the circle, then also the shadow of the tree will be exactly the same measurement in length as its height. In such a case, the sun will be. of course, at an exact angle of 45 degrees. Measurements of tli,is character can be best, effected in the summer, when the sun is powerful, and has reached to a good height iff the heavens, and when the trees are clothed with verdure so as to , cast a dense shadow i

Sheep manure is the driest and, weight for weight, the richest of all animal manures. Next in order comes he pig ami cow. The manures, however, depend largely on the litter used, so- as to retain the potash, which \n the case of the cow. is six times more abundant in the urine than in the dung, and shows the importance of having a. good litter that will absorb as much cf the urine as possible. The following table of contents for 10001 b. is demonstrative; —Water, 860: solid matter. 140, nitrogen, 3.6; phosphoric acid, 3; potash and soda,, 22; this for cow manure. Sheep-—640 water; 360 solid matter; 7 nitrogen; 5 phosphoric acid; and 3 potash and soda. Pigs—76o water; 240 solid matter; 6 nitrogen ; 5 phosphoric acid; and 6.5 potash and so-da.

The Australian acacias are charming plants for the cool greenhouse, aud are especially valuable as producing their blossoms during the latter part of the winter aindi in the early spring. The flowers of ail are yellow, more or less “fluffy” in appearance, and in severe,! instances are deliciously fragrant. If such species as- A. deialbata. A. Drumxnondii, and A,, oleifolia are planted out, in a well-drained border of light, loamysoil, and the growth trained to a trellis, or to wires beneath the roof, they grow freely and bloom profusely; but A. armata and a few others are more suitable for pot culture. If a good batch of spiroeas of sorts-, -dielytra spectabilis, Solomon’s seal, hydrangea, pamiculata., and others of this class, already established in pots, is brought into a well-heated house or pit, and kept well supplied with water, they will quickly start into growth and bloom,, and make a nice display. Dentzia gracillis i 9 also invaluable, and may be grown in either a warm or a cool house, or iu a window.

The prices which have recently been obtained for small parcels of seed potatoes of a newly bred variety in England ar© somewhat staggering to our ideas. That a ton of potatoes could be worth a thousand pounds savours of the absurd, yet. hard-headed business men are purchasing at that rate. What this fact implies is that the experienced potatogrowers iu Britain recognise the importance of the best seed in potato culture.

There is no branch of horticulture over which so much difference of opinion exists. and which allows of so much difference of opinion as pruning operations. It is impossible to treat of a subject like summer priming in a paragraph, but a main principle or two may be suggestive. The word pruning is somewhat loosely 'used, and) is made to cover what is more properly conveyed by the word “training/” The great object of pruning is the wholly economic one of so distributing and regulating the flow of sap that fruit buds and wood are produced where they are most useful, and in the required quantity. Training aims at symmetry and uniformity, and may easily be de-

trimental to the fruit producing capabilities of the trees. It is not implied that training for shape and pruning for fruit are necessary antagonistic. But it is necessary to clearly separate the two objects of cutting back trees, so that when antagonism arises the mere training be sacrificed to pruning proper.,