MISCELLANEOUS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2111, 9 August 1894, Page 4

MISCELLANEOUS.

FRUITGROWING IN CENTRAL OTAGO,

Arrangements have been made for an express service during the forthcoming fruit season to leave Coal Creek for Lawrence every evening at 8 o'clock, and on arrival an agent will receive tho fruit, place it in the special vans, properly ventilated, and on the rail way. These vans will bo put under lock and key, and will not be opened till arrival in Dunedin. Fruit gathered on tho evening previous will thus be in the market in Dunedin by 11 p.m. next day. . Central Otago growers intend sending their fruit to market in new cases, these oases to bo non-returnable. This is in order to prevent the introduction of further , insect pests and diseases.

The growers both at Roxburgh and Alexandra have combined to spray their trees for the destruction of insect pests and fungoid diseases, eight pumps haviDg been ordered for that purpose. In the event of any orchardist neglecting to spray his trees, it will be done at his expense.— Cromwell Argus.

LATE APPLES IN SOUTHLAND.

Those who think that Southland cannot grow first-class keeping apples, either, for eating or cooking purposes, would quickly conclude tint they have been hugging a delusion if they would take the trouble to inspect several samples grown by Mr Ball in his orchard in South Invercargill and left by him at the News office to-day. They include the Yorkshire greening, Cowarine red (resembling the Black Prince), the stone pippin, and the winter majetin. They were plucked when fully ripened, and to-di»y are as perfectly sound and fresh in colour as fruit growing from the trees in aujtumn. Plucked at the right time and packed with reasonable care — Mr Ball finds that placing the apples between layers of wheatcn straw is about the best method — it is quite evident that by going in for proper sorts Southland fruitgrowers should be able to supply the local market all the year round with good cooking and eating apples. The samples left with us may be seen by any who would like ocular proof of their quality and soundness. — Daily Nowa.

HOUSE PLANTS.

In order to postpone the real dying of plants, it should be.known to all who could not enduro their drawing rooms without them that palms will last for years on condition that they get the morning light from an uncurtained window. This is of even more importance than the sponging of the leaves, though not more necessary than the watering, which must never pass over two days in winter or one day in summer. The afternoon may be spent within the room under any kind of shadow, but the morning light, and as much as possible of the morning sun, must shine on the earth, the stalk, and the leaf.—Pall Mall Gazette. WHICH PLANT IN QHEAT BRITAIN GROWS MOST?

ItAPIDLY FROM SEED TO FLOWER ?

No plants in Great Britain grow bo rapidly as those annuals of the cruciferous order, two of which may bo specially singled out for the almost marvellous rapidity of their growth from seed to t flower — namely, the common cre?s, Lepidiura sativum— the English namo of which is derived by some botanists from the Latin verb crescere to increase or grow fast — and the white mustard, Sinapis alba. Theso grow very quickly and, without forcing, will flower and seed within a week after being planted under favourable conditions ; while grown under moderate heat, the cress has been known to yield a crop for salad purposes in less than 48 hours. The seeds of this plant will even grow without soil if placed on flannel saturated with warm water and its temperature maintained. The most rapidly growing plant in the world^is the bamboo. It has been known to increase in growth at the rate of s£in per diem. The seed of a turnip is exceedingly small, not larger perhaps than the 20th part of an inch in diameter, and yet in the course of a few months this seed will grow into 27 millions of times its original bulk, and this in addition to a considerable bunch of leaves. Dr Desaguliers has made some experiments proving that in an average condition a turnip seed may increase its own weight 15 times in a minute. By an actual experiment, made on peat ground, turnips have been found to increase by growth 15,990 times the weight of their seeds each day they stood upon it. The plants which increase in growth at the slowest rate are the thin yellow lichens which grow on the bare surface of stones. One of these vras carefully watched for 40 years by the botanist Vaucher, without his observing that it increased to any perceptible extent.

HA^DY FLOWERS.

The following list (says an exchange) contains a selection of the best hardy annuals for the climate of New Zealand, with the approximate height of each :— Amaranthus candatus, 2ft Anagallis inclica, 6in Bartonia aurca, yellow, 2ft Oalandrinia speciosa, violet, 6iu Centauria cyanus, blue, 2ft Calliopsis bicolor, yellow, 2ft Candytuft, crimson or white, lft Canterbury bells, various colours, 2ft Clarkia pulchella, rose, 2ft Collinsia bicolor, purple and white, lft Collinsia alba, white, lft Eschscholtzja crocea, orange, lft Eutoca viscida, blue, lft Godetia, the brideblush, 2ft Godetia Whitneyi, various, 2ft Hibiscus trionum, bronze a.ivl cream, lft Japanese maize, variegatoit leaves, 3ft Larkspur, various colours, lffc to 3ft Leptosiphon roseus, Gin Linum grandiflorum, scarlet, lfb Lobelia speciosa, blue, 6in Love in a mist, blue, 2f b Love-lies-bleeding, crimson, 2ft Lupins, various colours, lft to 3ft Mignonette, dwarf, lft Nasturtium, dwarf, various colours, lft Nemophila insignis, blue, 6in Nemophila maculata, 6in Phlox Drummondii, various colours, lft Poppy, French, mixed colours, lft to 2ft Prince's feather, crimson, 2ft Saponaria calabrica, pink, 6in Silene pendula rosea, 6in Schizanthus pinnatus, various colours, lit Sunflower, double, sft Tagetes pumila, yellow, lft Tropceolum canariense, yellow, a climber, Oft Virginian Stock, red or white, 6m Viscaria cardinalis, scarlet, 2ft Zinnia elegans, various colours, lit