THE GARDEN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19958, 27 November 1926, Page 3

THE GARDEN.

WORK FOB THE WEEK

Notes by D. Taxkock, f.h.h.s

THE GREENHOUSE, VINERY, AND NURSERY. The main sowing of primulas and cinerarias can now bo made to provide plants for next winter and spring. As germination takes place very quickly at this season, they have to bo watched, and as soon as the seedlings appear the shading has to be removed, and the pots placed in a cool, light, airy place to prevent them from becoming drawn or from clamping off. Sweet Williams, Canterbury Bells and wallflowers will also have germinated, and these can bo put out into a cold frame, or a very cool, airy greenhouse, and gradually hardened off in preparation for pricking out. Wallflower sown in beds in the open will also have to be watched. Remove tho shading at nights and on dull days as scon as germination takes place, but replace it during warm, sunny days, for tho seedlings shrivel up very readily when young. Though wallflowers can usually be plauted direct from tho seedbed to the nursery rows in Dunedin, there may be districts where this is impossible owing to the dry, warm weather, and it will bo necessary to first prick out the seedlings in boxes like the ordinary halt-hardy annuals, and then when the seedlings are well grown ancl hardened off to plant them out in nursery rows, where they will make nice bushy plants by the autumn.

Young plants of herbaceous lupines, liliums, delphiniums and other hardy poren'nials which were raised from seed this season can be lined out in a well-manured, well-drained border, whoro they will develop into good specimens ready to put out in the borders in tho autumn.

Growth in tho vinery will now bo •very rapid, and tho work o£ tying down tho young growths to tho wires and pinching the shoots two loaves beyond tho bunches, will require regular attention. Give plenty of nir during warm, sunny days, but close tho ventilators fairly early in the afternoons to shut in the sun heat. Byringing and damping will have to be done regularly until the flowers open, whon tho atmosphere can be kept drier for a few days, and by giving the rods o sharp tap with the hands about midday tho pollen is distributed and fertilisation assisted. As . soon as the berries have set tho syringing and damping ran bo resumed, and this is continued until tho fruit begins to colour, when the atmospheric moisture is gradually reduced and a dry, buoyant atmosphere maintained. To get tho best results, vines should have a homo entirely to themselves, but with amateurs this is often impossible, and they have to share the accommodation with

tomatoes and pot plants and _it is remarkable that such good, well-finished bunches are often obtained. Some of the more common diseases of the vino are mildew, which appears to the naked eye like a white powder, but when examined under 'ho microscope is seen to consist of a network of white branching filaments. When the disease becomes visible to the naked eye there is no effectual remedy. It renders the berries incapable of their natural distention, but the pulp and seeds continue to develop, and the consequence is that the berries crack, so that the seeds are exposed. The chief cause of mildew in vineries is too low a temperature, accompanied by a damp stagnant atmosphere. The most effectual agent for the destruction of mildew is sulphur, and this is dusted all over the leaves and branches with a pair of bellows. Sulphur is also often painted on the hot water pipes, these being heated to a higher temperature than usual for an hour to cause the sulphur vapour to be given off. Shanking is a term applied to a disease o! the footstalks of the berries, in consequence of which they loose their green colour and their vitality before the berries are ripe. A frequent cause of shanking the roots getting down into *he_ cold subsoil, but too heavy cropping and injudicious cutting away of the foliage are also contributing factors. Good cultivation and careful management are the best remedies. Scalding is invariably caused by the vineries being allowed to become too hot on bright mornings before admitting air and generally while the grapes are storing, and more particularly when little or ho fire heat is available at nights. The berries then become cold, moisture condenses on them, and unless’the ventilators aro opened before the sun is strong scalding lakes place. THE FLOWER GARDEN.

The planting out of the summer and autumn bedding plants should be completed as soon as possible now that the weather conditions are favourable and growth i satisfactory. The roses are coming on rapidly. Thin out the buds to one on each stem, give applications of liquid manure once a week, and keep the surface soil stirred with the scuffle hoc. Should preen fly appear spray at once with soanv water; for mildew or black spot with liver of sulphur, 2oz dissolved in three gallons of warm soapy water. Stake and thin out hardy perennials, tie up sweet peas to their supports, an stake carnations. THE VEGETABLE GARDEN.

The various members of the gourd or cucumber family supply quite a number of the important summer and autumn vegetables. They are all more or less tender, and ’ ke little or no headwayin the open until settled warm weather sets in. They are amongst the first to be cut down by frost. The following are the members of this important family:— Cucumus sativns (the cucumber), Cucurbita maxima (the pumpkin), Cucurbita Pepo (the vegetable marrow), and Cucumis mclo (the melon). Cucumbers delight in regular moist heat, and can be grown in heated pits or low houses, framed with or without hotbeds, or in the open on hills or ridges. Wherever grown, the cucumber is a hungry and thirsty plant. It requires a great deal of manure and rich turfy loam and must never be .flowed to become dry. In normal seasons cucumbers of the ridge variety can be grown in the open, provided reasonable care is taken in preparing the position. When preparing ridges it is most important that they run east and west. Throw out the soil three feet wide to a depth of 18in or 2ft, laying it up on the south side forming a bank. Next put 3ft of hot manure in the trench, ana if manure is not available compost heap, leaves, or any fermenting organic matter will do. Put back a foot of soil on top of the manure, forming a gentle slope towards the north, with a steep bank towards the south. Shelter from the cold, cutting south-west winds is so important that if the ridge is not backed up by a fence, wall, or hedge it is advisable to grow a row of tall peas or runner beans, which, when staked, will provide the necessary shelter. Cucumber plants can be grown in rots the same as vegetable marrows and brought under shelter, and if this has been done they can be put out in their respective permanent positions now, but it is advisable to protect them in some, way with handlights or boxes with a sheet of glass on top. or simply pieces of scrub if nothing better is available.' Seeds can also be sown under handlights in the positions in which they are to grow. It is important to remember that the ridge varieties should receive plenty of water during dry. warm weather, and if manure was scarce when preparing the ridges liquid manure should be given at intervals, and half an ounce of sulphate of iron dissolved in two gallons of water will help on growth. The cultivation of pumpkins and vegetable marrows on ridges prepared as described for cucumbers is recommended, and I would also recommend planting vegetable marrows on the compost heap or manure heap. Tomatoes, which were grown on in pots with the view to planting them out in the open, should have been hardened off sufficiently, and can be planted out in their permanent positions now. Like the cucumber, the tomato is a very tender plant, and cannot endure cold, cutting south-west winds. Therefore, the border they aro to occupy should be on the north side of a' fence or wall, or some permanent shelter should oc provided. The soil must be deeply cultivated and well drained, but it is not advisable to provide too much stable manure. An application of bone dust or superphosphate is more desirable.

Though tomatoes can be grown on ridges or hills and allowed to sprawl over the ground, they are more satisfactry when staked and pinched and given the same treatment as those grown under glass. Each plant should have a stout stake firmly fixed in the soil and rising four feet above it, and once a week they should bo gone over,' all side ’shoots being pinched out and the stem tied up to the stake. When the plants reach the top of the stakes, or when they have formed four or five bunches of fruit, tho top of the stem should bo pinched and it is often desirable to remove portions of tho lower reaves to allow the sun to got to tho bunches of fruit to assist ripening. Some years open air tomatoes are a groat success, but sometimes they may form a lot of fruit too late in the season for it to ripen properly. It is possible, however, to use green tomatoes in many ways, and I would strongly advise all those who desire to grow their own vegetables to try a few plants. Growth in general is now much more satisfactory, and this is a busy time in the vegetable garden, with staking, thinning, weeding, scufflehoeing and earthing up. Sowings and plantings will have to be made to take the place of those which , failed to grow, or were eaten up by the I slugs, also to provide successions. The mam I crop beet can bo sown now, and this will ‘ also bo a suitable time to sow garden I swedes, which come in very useful during j tho winter. ) Spray and earth up potatoes, prepare trenches, plant out celery, mulch straw- | berries with straw, oat husks or lawn mowings, and remove runners unless they are required for propagating. I ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. ' “Pocket Plums.’’—Several specimens of ! pocket plums have been forwarded to me this season, which seems to indicate that tho disease is more prevalent than usual, The trouble is caused by a fungus (Exoascus pruni) which attacks tho fruit at an early , stage, the outer part being stimulated to grow, but the inner being almost entirely arrestoij. This causes tho fruits to develop in an irregular manner, often curved and more or loss hollow. The myclium of tho fungus is perennial m the soft bast of tho shoots, unci from these it passes into tho ; fiovver-buda and infects tho ovary. Spray- j ing at intervals with Bordeaux Mixture is i recommended, and all branches bearing i diseased fruits should be removed. I “H. B. F.,” St. Clair.—Most of the flowering cherries have Japanese names, ancl I regret to say that I do not know tho variety to which you refer. ! “M‘C.,” Portobollo.—-The leaves of jour gerbera are attacked by mildew. Spray with liver or sulphur, as recommended for roses.

“Cherry,” Balclutha. —Your cherry tree failed to form fruit because the flowers were not fertilised. It will bo necessary to have a tree near at hand which will flower at tho same time as the one you already have. Try the branches of blossom again next year, and if it fails to set, dig it out and riant a peach.