THE GARDEN.

Otago Witness, Issue 1816, 10 September 1886, Page 8

THE GARDEN.

OPERATIONS FOR SEPTEMBER. [Corresponds to March iv England.— The average mean temperature is 46.4.] SEEDS TO BE SOWN. Broad Beans Peas Cabbage Brocoli (early Brocoli Cauliflower Cape) Brussells Sprouts Carrots Celery Cress French Beans Lettuce Asparagus Leek Mustard Onion Parsley Parsnip Radish Savoy Spinach Sea Kale Turnip &c, &c. IN HEAT. Capsicum Melon Cucumber Tomato. FLOWER GARDEN. Seeds of hardy and semi-hardy flowers, such as mignonette, sweet peas, sunflower, Virginia stock, lupines, larkspur, marigolds, campanula, clarkias, linum, &c, may be sown in open borders. Tender annuals, such as asters, balsams, cockscombs, zinnias, convolvulas, ageratum, dianthus, phlox Drummondii, &c, should be in a frame, in gentle heat if practicable. CALENDAR. Kitchen Garden. — More seasonable weather has prevailed during the past week, and there is already a marked difference in the temperature over that of last month. Divide and transplant all culinary herbs, such as sage, marjoram, thyme, &c, and propagate by means of cuttings and roots in the case of the first-named. Parsley is raised from seed, which may be sown now ; it takes six weeks to come up. Vegetable marrow, pumpkin, tomato, cucumber, and melon seed may be sown in heat. We believe in sowing onions in the autumn, but cultivators may sow now if an earlier crop has not been already provided for. Early-sown crops should be carefully thinned out, if their wants in this respect have not been already attended to, before growth is very far advanced. When it is intended to save onion seed, carefully- selected bulbs should be planted out at once. In selecting bulbs for seed choose large and perfectly-shaped ones, and take ! care that they have the characteristics of the variety they represent. Cultivators should endeavour to keep young crops raised from small seeds — such as carrots, parsnips, onions, &c. — as free from weeds as possible during the early stages of growth, as it is impossible for them to make good headway if the plants have to struggle for existence against others that are stronger than themselves. Fruit Garden. — All deciduous trees should now be got in without further delay, as the sap has commenced to move, and any pruning that remains to be done should be delayed no longer. Grafting, about which we gave all necessary instructions a week or two back, should be taken in hand, and every endeavour should be made to clear the trees of insect pests while they are still leaflless. The smaller fruits are already bursting their buds, and if any removals are still necessary great care should be exercised in performing the work. Flower Garden. — Dahlia roots may be put into a warm frame to start them into growth again. When the shoots are from 3in to sin long they are rea-ly to slip off with a sharp knife with a bit of the old flesh attached to the base, to be put into small pots or bamboo tubes filled with sand or very sandy soil, in which, when plunged in the heated bed and kept moist and shady, they will root in a few weeks. Each cutting should be put in a separate pot, unless they are very small, when two or three may be put into one pot, dibbling them in at the side and not in the centre. As soon" as rooted they require more light and air than the unrooted ones, and should be stood further apart ; they will also be much improved by shifting them into a larger pot with rich fresh soil. Single and double dahlias can be raised from seeds, which if sown now in heat will come up quickly, and bj r a little artificial heat, rich fresh soil, and plenty of room, can be made to bloom this incoming season. The dahlia is very sensitive to cold, and the young plants, whether from seeds or cuttings, should be moved from one warm place to another, or to a cooler place, with great caution. Greenhouse. — Fuchsias may now be encouraged to grow by supplying with water and weak liquid manure. The old Globe fuchsia was, in days gone by, the best for window culture, and we are not sure that it is not the best for that purpose still. It naturally forms a charming little bush, literally loaded for months at a time with hundreds of crimson drops. F. Riccartoni, on the other hand, is the best for out-of-door work. This, when planted in spring in the open border, or in a bed on grass, flowers in the greatest profusion till Jack Frost puts an end to its beauty. The plants should then be cut down to the roots, over which some ashes of leaf mould should be put, and next season they will push up_ afresh and bloom as beautifully as before^ This fuchsia, too, makes a good wall plant. Place cinerarias, pelargoniums, coleuses, and other plants in the best light possible, and give a full amount of air when the weather is fine and calm. Calceolarias will not stand draught, and therefore must be put in a sheltered corner. They are particularly liable to be attacked by aphis, and will not stand tobacco smoke. Good insect powder is the best thing to keep them clean with. All the oth^r plants are also liable to aphis, thrip, &c. ; but if the calceolarias are removed the house can be closed up and fumigated with tobacco smoke. The Fernery. — Re-pot such ferns as have filled up their pots with roots. Give as much air as possible when the weather is fine and balmy, and when watering be sure that the water is not icily cold. LILIES FOR WINDOW GARDENING. First upon the list of lilies, as being one of the best known, perhaps, most popular, and one that has held its place through the manifold mutabilities of fashion — for fashion rules the display of flowers in the window, and in the open garden also, as well as in all other depart ments — I may place the Lily of the Nile, known also under the more learned names of Aram Ethiopicum, Calla, and Richardia, and is also called the Trumpet Lily. The leaves of the arum do not die down in winter ; therefore, although it requires but little water during winter, it must not be left where frost or damp can reach it ; the pot at such a time need not, of course, remain in a conspicuous position, but be placed in the light and comparative warmth of a little used room. During the summer the pot should stand in a deep saucer that is kept 1 constantly three parts full of water, the saucer being thoroughly cleaned once a week; if this be not done it will become very unsightly. The foliage of this elegant plant is, from its beaaty of form and texture, quite in keeping with the magnificence of the white and gold of its ample flower. This beautiful lily is strikingly handsome when grown at the edges of poole, by

miniature lakes, aquariums, and kindred places, for all of which positions it is fully fitted by reason of its semi-aquatic nature. One of the easiest to cultivate and most distinct lilies for indoor decoration is the wellknown African lily (Agapauthus umbellatus). It is very distinct in colour and form, bearing noble heads or umbels of charming blue flowers, putting them forth somewhat late in summer, and contrasting delightfully with the numerous glowing tints of the gladioli. The long list of Arnaryllids contain plants known by many popular names, for example, Amaryllis purpurea, is generally known by the name of Vallota purpurea, or Scarborough lily ; Amaryllis sarniensis as Nerine sarniensis, or Guernsey lily; and Amaryllis Belladonna, or the Belladonna lily, so largely imported from the Cape. These beautiful plants are all suitable subjects for the window garden, and though the Belladonna and Guernsey lilies do not bear foliage until after they have finished flowering, this peculiarity can scarcely militate against their popularity, as the want is easily supplied by placing them in the midst of those plants whose chief characteristic is handsome foliage. Amaryllis vittata, and the numerous hybrids of this plant, too numerous to particularise here, are extremely handsome, all being more or less suitable for growing in rooms. When planting, the lower or thickest part of the bulb should alone be covered with soil, leaving the neck part exposed. The plants should not have much water until they begin to grow ; they should be placed as near the light as possible. When growing freely, ample supplies of water must be given, and as warm a temperature as can be conveniently kept up. When flowering is over, the pots may be placed out of doors in the full sun, and watered regularly until the leaves die down ; these should then be cleared off. For handsome foliage plants of this class, the Dracaenas and Aspidistras stand out conspicuous, both belonging to the order Liliaceze. Dracaenas, collectively, are tender plants, requiring the moist heat of a suitably constructed glass house to cause them to grow in perfection. However, there are one or two varieties which are suitable for cultivation in windows of even an ordinary dwelling-house ; but to keep them in anything like health, it is necessary that the leaves should be kept moist and entirely free from dust by being washed over three or four times a week — daily would be better — with sponge and tepid water. For those who are spasmodic in regard to their attentions to the floral occupants of their sitting rooms, the Aspidistra elafcior, and its sister lurida are to bo commended, for they aro, without doubt, the most easily cultivated— if I may use such a word, when really no cultivation is needed — of all window plants, and as it is clothed in an ample amount of handsome persistent foliage, it is likely to find favour with the window gardener. The Aspidistra is propagated by off-sets, whioh spring up round the parent plant ; they may be taken off at any time, and put into other pots. A little water now and again, the foliage washing, and occaI sionally a little fresh soil, is all they ask. For town houses — even windows with a southern aspect — no plants can equal the Aspidistras. MISCELLANEOUS. A novelty m horticulture in California is the successful grafting of Italian chestnuts on the ordinary black oak. It has been practised with the best results in a number of instances in the Napa valley. The following is good and has long been tried : — 4 ounces or poumls rosin, 2 ounces or pounds beeswax, 1 ounce or pound beef tallow. Melt and mix well, being careful not to scorch. Pour out portions of the mixture, when ready, into cold water, and when just cool enough pull like taffy until it becomes light-coloured. In using this wax for grafting on a cold day it will be necessary to keep it lying in warm water, to have it work soft enough, and on a warm day cold water may be necessary. In pulling it the hands must be kept slightly greased to prevent sticking. — R. J. Black, Bremen, Ohio. When we talk about greenhouses, we think they are called so because the plants are kept green in them during winter. Yet it is far more probable that " green," here, is the Irish word meaning, not the colour, but the sun; because greenhouses are built so as to catch the sun's rays and store them up while it is hidden by clouds, as happens more than half the time in showery Ireland. Sulphide of potash has proved all that has been claimed for it by the English press as a destroyer of mildew on roses, chrysanthemums, and some other greenhouse plants. A quarter of an ounce dissolved in a gallon of water and thrown on the aff ec feed foliage with a fine-rosed syringe will wholly destroy the fungus, and the leaves will not be injured. Every season produces its new bug. This year the potato bu jj and the rose bug have not been so active, but there has appeared the onion grub, which seems i o prefer the onion to any known vegetable. It is invisible by daylight, doing its work by l.ight. On the famous onion meadows of Orange county men and women are seen witli lantei ns busily engaged in killing the grubs. Last year the advance guard of the grub appeared, but this year the number of bugs is a serious mr naco to the redolent vegetable. — Boston Journal. This plan for starting a strawberry bed has succeeded well, and is worthy of trial by others who doubt their ability to grow this luscious fruit. In planting potatoes last spring the hills were made three feet apart in the row, and soon after the potatoes came up a strawberry plant was set between each two hills. Of course the strawberries were cultivated as often as the potatoes were dug, as they had plenty of room to spread out and grow. The result of the good cultivation given them is a very promising crop for this spring. A new double blue-flowered variety of clematis, raised by Messrs R. Smith and Co., Worcesterj was exhibited by them at the recent great Whitsun show at Manchester, when it was awarded a first class certificate of merit. It is thought to have sprung from purpurea elegans and Countess of Lovelace, but whether this be so or not, it is an excellent addition to the double varieties. The colour is deep violet, approaching to blue ; the centre petals take pn a filbert-like shape, and as they have a white reverse the flowers appear to have a white centre ; as the flowers age these centre petals unfold somewhat. It has a very free habit of growth. The plant shown was studded with flowers, and it is said to be an excellent bedder. Judge Miller, in the Rural World, tells how the " big strawberries " are grown. He says : " Nearly everyone who grows this fruit has a pleasure in seeing how large they can be grown. To do this it is necessary to select some of the strongest plants, well set with berries, then pinch off all but two or three on a truss. These plants should be kept well watered, with water containing say a spoonful of liquid ammonia, and an ounce of saltpetre dissolved in a gallon of water applied every two days when no rain occurs." Judge Miller thinks Crawford's No. 6 is th& variety which will break the record.

In many places last year there was much complaint of apples, especially Baldwins, having under the skins black spots which were bitter to the taste. All who were troubled in that matter should try some experiments on the trees and report the results to us. In this way a remedy for this growing evil may be found. We suggest a few applications to be made : To one tree apply two bushels of unleached ashes ; to another, two bushels of freshly slaked lime ; to another, twenty- five pounds of bone superphosphate ; to another, one bushel each of lime and ashes ; to another, one bushel of ashes and twenty-five pounds of superphosphate; to another, one full load of stable manure. Mark each tree, and keep a record and report. — New York Rural. The white wistaria is a counterpart, except in colour, of the blue kind, and, as far as I am in a position to judge from young plants (writes "Alpha," in the Garden), equally free flowering. It forms a good companion to the type, and suggests what an attractive floral picture would result from allowing the two to interwine and disport themselves among the branches of some sombre-hued tree. There is also a double flowered variety of the common wistaria, but I can never get its blooms to open in a satisfactory manner, though, judging by the descriptions of it circulated at one time, it should be a valuable climber. There is a North American representative of this genus — viz., W. f rutescens, deeper in colour than the last-named (being of a bluish-purple hue) and otherwise valuable from flowering after the common wistaria is over. Its flowers, too, instead of drooping, are borne in erect racemes. It is much less vigorous than the type, but may be employed for just the same purposes. W. frutescens is spread over a considerable tract of country in Virginia and Carolina, and, according to Loudon, was introduced in 1724 ; but at the present day it is far from being common. W. multijuga is said to bear very long racemes of blossoms, but I have not yet succeeded in flowering it, for though one plant of it grows freely it shows no signs of bloom, and as others elsewhere are in the same condition, it would seem to be a shyblooming kind.