THE GARDEN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26540, 15 August 1947, Page 9

THE GARDEN

Contributed by D. TANNOCK, A.tI.R.H.S.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS “ Garden Lover,” Tapanui.—The grass grubs which are eating the roots of your cabbage will soon be going into the pupa stage, emerging as the brown beetle early in November. By keeping the ground clean and well cultivated, and all long grass near the vegetable garden cut, less temptation is given for the beetles to lay their eggs. By dusting a little horticultural napthaline on the place you are going to plant your cabbage, and working it into the surface, the grubs are driven away. Arsenate of lead mixed with sand, one ounce of lead to a pound of sand, may be sprinkled round the plants and lightly forked in. •• Tomato,” Milton. —It would be a good idea to semi-sterilise the soil in your tomato house with boiling water. You have to fork it up to allow the soil to dry a bit before planting. "Amateur Gardener,” Central Otago.— I am afraid the plants you mention, with the exception of the Clianthus, would be too tender for Central Otago, but if you cover them with scrub for the first two or three winters, they may survive after that. Somewhat tender plants often survive after they become established, and form some hard wood. “ Ignorant,” St. .Clair.—Spent hops are very useful for the vegetable and flower garden for retaining moisture in the soil, and encouraging rooting, but they are not of great manurial value. You would require to give some blood and bone, and superphosphate as well, or better still, some dry fowl manure. SHELTER AND TIMBER TREES Trees are planted for four more or less distinct purposes—(l) To provide timber for firewood and other useful purposes; (2) to provide shelter for plants and animals from cold and destructive winds; (3) for their fruits, both useful and ornamental; and (4) for the beauty of the flowers and foliage. In the country they are planted mainly for the first two purposes; in the towns for the last two. Two of the most useful farmers' trees are macrocarpa and Pinus insignis, and they are quite easy to raise. In the first place the, cones should be collected from well-grown and healthy trees of a good type, and these can be opened to liberate the seeds by spreading them out in a sunny veranda, in a greenhouse or in a frame, or by placing them in shallow boxes and placing them in front of a fire for a night or two. The seed of British beech and oak can be collected under mature trees, and the most useful poplar, Populus robusta or P. Yunnanensis, can be raised from cuttings quite easily. Pieces of branches about nine inches long and about the thickness of one's fingers if put in a row and buried three parts of their length in the soil, will soon root and form plants fit to put out in two years. Seed of the macrocarpa is better sown in boxes in October, and as soon as the seedlings are large enough to handle they are pricked out into other boxes two inches and' a-half apart. At first they are stood in a shady and sheltered place, but when established in the boxes they are placed out in the open so that they may develop into sturdy plants fit to put out in the plantations in the autumn. The soil can be cut into squares with a knife and the plants lifted with as little root disturbance as possible. They are planted in prepared grubber pits with a trowel direct from the boxes. PINUS INSIGNIS AND SPRUCE Pinus insignis is better sown in a bed in the open. The bed is made up three feet wide, and after making the surface smooth and fine with the rake, fiat drils six inches wide and one inch deep’ are formed with the hoe (three drills in each bed), with sufficient space between them for weeding and wrenching. The seed is sown thinly, dusted with bone dust or blood and bone manure, pressed into the soil with a spade or hoe, and covered with an inch of fine sifted soil, which is firmed with the bock of the spade. To keep off birds, which are very destructive when the seedlings begin to appear, a frame with fine wire netting on top may be made to lit over the bed. The seedlings make rapid growth, and by the autumn they are wrenched with a sharp spade, which slows down or stops growth, and causes the development of fibrous roots, whiih are most valuable when planting out. Oregon spruce is a very valuable timber which does well in sheltered gullies, but as the seed is not easy to collect (birds get it as soon as ripe), it is therefore necessary to obtain it from a seedsman. It is sown in the same way as the pine, but as growth the first year is not so rapid, it is necessary to line out the seedlings* in nursery rows for a year. It is also desirable to line out a number of the pines in nursery rows, to provide larger specimens for planting in among gorse, broom or scrub, but in ordinary clean land the pines can be planted out straight from the seed beds. Planting is done in grubber pits, which are formed by scraping off the grass from a space a foot by 18 inches, giving three or four good digs with the grubber, loosening up the soil and exposing it to the weather. This work should be done during the summer, and the planting in autumn or spring, though anywhere near the coast planting can be carried out right through the winter. In preparation for planting, the pines are lifted and sorted, the very small ones being thrown out, tied up into bundles of 50, the roots puddled in a mixture of clay and cow dung to keep them moist, and preserve the valuable fungus found on the roots, which is necessary for healthy growth. Planting is done by pushing the spade down in the centre of the grubber pit, pulling it forward, slipping a plant in behind it, taking care that the roots are not twisted, withdrawing the spade, and, with one or two digs with the heel, making the soil firm round about it. It is important that planting should be done firmly, otherwise the plant will wriggle round with the wind and probably perish. Lined out pines and Oregon are planted in the same way, but more care has to be taken in getting the roots down behind the spade and in firming. FORMING A PLANTATION For shelter and timber production, a strip of trees a chain in width is more satisfactory than a number of single or double lines. Such a plantation could consist of an outer row of macrocarpa, preferably on the windy side. The macrocarpa retains its branches right down to the ground and prevents a ground draught, after the inner rows of pines have been thinned and pruned up. Four or five rows of pinus insignis should be planted at nine feet between the rows and nine feet between the trees in the rows, and then on the inner side a row of deciduous trees should be planted, such as oaks, beech, .poplars, elms, ash, and rowans. A pine plantation is inclined to be sombre, and a row of deciduous trees which put on autumn tints relieves the monotony. The hardwoods also produce valuable timber. It is necessary to fence such a plantation securely to keep cattle and rabbits out for the first 10 years, but after the pruning and thinning, stock can be allowed in among the trees without doing any damage. The fence should be six to nine feet back from the trees on both sides, as cattle are liable to reach over and damage the trees when young. It may be advisable to run three or so furrows with the plough round the margins to act as a fire break, for the first few years, but if the grass is eaten by stock up to the fence there is little danger of fires spreading from outside. The maintenance at first is very light. There may be a few trees to replace, but as a rule there are few deaths. After about 10 years the pines and the deciduous trees should be pruned up as high as a man can reach with a saw or billhook, and any suppressed trees or dead scrub should be cut down. (The macrocarpa is not pruned.) The branches forming the outer rows can be dragged out and burned as a precaution against fire, but those in the interior can be left to rot which they quickly do. In sheltered gullies where broom, gorse, or scrub has to be suppressed, Oregon may be planted with a row of pines round the margin for shelter, and in moist places poplars may be planted. Pines are fit to cut for milling at from 35 to 40 years, when the financial results are very satisfactory.