MISCELLANEOUS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2287, 30 December 1897, Page 8

MISCELLANEOUS.

LIQUID MANURE. This is always of the greatest use, not only in the vegetable garden, but also iv the other department?, especially in the caee of lighb dry soils. A Boakiog of the diluted liquid from the etible or jihe farmyard is always acceptable to caul flowers, lettuces, beans, globe artichokes, New Zealand spinach, leeks and celery, and many other things. A large tub or tank of soot water (bub not tco strong) should also be always provided, soob being a powerful antiseptic and purifier as well as a stimulant. A batch of yellow, sickly-lookiug plants m*y often be restored to perfect health by the application cf a little soot, either in its natural condition and watered in or in a liquid form, WATERING TREES. Another thing I mentioned is that, a few dajs before, 1 found a man watering his trees. It does not matter whether they were apple or roae trees, or whether it was water or liquid manure. He was putting it, a few inclus wide only, just round the stems. Tcucbiug him upon the shoulder I said, "If jour wife were going to give you a cup of tea, is this the end of your arm she would pub ib to?" "No." "Why- nob?" "Because I catch hold with the other end." " Jusb so," I said ; " and yet you are pushing their tea against the underground shoulders instead of the hands of the trees, lecu know, if you come to think, that tte trees catch hold of nutriment at the end of the roots instead of the bottom of the stems." He was digging in a thoughtful manner, with his head on one side, when I left him. And yes '. I do verily believe he* was thinking. — Correspondent in Journal of Horticulture.

LARGE GLASS HOUSES

W. W. Raw6ou (in the American Agriculturist) finds a large bouse much cheaper to run than a small one, and recommends those from 36 t to 50ft wide and from 300 ft to 400 ft long. Steam heab is much cheaper and easier controlled than hot water. AU pipes are 4fb above the ground. There are no ben'liFS, bub all vegetables are grown in the grouud below the pipes. The air is kept at 32deg Fahr. at nighb and 40deg Fahr. the day time. For letbuea he finds electric light pays, as he gains one-seventh of the time by keeping the lights going until 1 o'clock at night. He thus grows a crop of lettuce in six weeks that otherwise would take seven weeks.

ON SEED SOWING.

The cardinal point about propagatiug from seeds is after they are sown not to permit the soil to become dry; more failures are due to neglect of the watering than all other causes pub together. Where there is the least chance of their becoming dry cover tho seedpan or pot with a square of glass or piece of tile, and remove as soon aa the seeds germinate. In sowing seeds under glaes (indoors) the compost 6hould be light, and the amount of covering regulated by the size of the seeds. A safe guide to go by is to only cover the seeds to & depth equal to their own size. In the case of small dust-like seeds, such as calceolaria or etreptocsrpus, they sink into iae instertices of the soil, and require no covering. These and all similar 6mall aeeds should not be watered the ordinary w ,y, but when it is required dip the pan inbo the water, but b$ careful not to let the water rice

within at least half an inch of the seeds. Ib is a good plan to givo the pans a good soaking before sowing the seeds. — " C. R ," in Amateur Gardening. dealing; with old stumps. An American plan of getting rid of slumps is worthy of a trial where circumstances permit. A hole is bored with a largo augur in the atutnp in a diagonal direction and uilsd with nitrate of potash and a little water, and then plugged with clay. v Tho following .season the hole is cleaned out and tilled with kerosene oil. After a day or two fire ia applied, and every root, however deep in the soil, will bo completely burnt out. This plan is, of course, only suitable for adoption with stumps which are dead, and is paiticularly useful in the case of decayed stumps. As loug as shoots or suckers are present the plan would not succeed. Many cJasfes of trees retain vitality for years after they have been felled. Tlse complete removal of the bark aud the free use of the axe about a foot below ground will in most cases be necessary as a preliminary operation. ARNICA MONTANA. Scores ot plants thab »re comparatively rarely seen, except in the collections of enthusiasts and iv botanical gardens, ore of very great beauty. Amongst these must be classed Arnica monfcana, which is decidedly neglected by the majority of cultivators. On a rockery it has a pretty appearance, its bright orange-yellow flowers being freely produced, and at the present time i£ is very atlraetire. Of the ordinary shades ot yellow we have abundant floral representatives, but a pure orange is not so frequently seen, and contrasts with many other colours very effectively. BEES AND FLOWERS. It has frequently^baen ssserfced that the brilliant colours of many flowers serve to attract bees and buttcrQes to them. Experiments recently reported to the Belgian Academy of Seiei.ee seem to show tha 1 , the perfnroa rather than the colour of ths flower is the r»?al attraction. Bright-coloured blossoms, were covered with leaves and papers pinned cbsely over thfm, yet the insects not only visited the hidden flowers, bub endeavoured to force their way under the paper in order to reach the blcsj(.m«, which they could nob see.

BUDDING FKUIT TBTKS

It is jus>t as easy to bad fruit trees of any kind as to bud rotes, and in three out of four cases the union will b8 more petfecb and tie job turn out a belter one than by the graf dog process. Large trees may be budded upon any of the smaller branches, but the best results are invariably secured by budding young stocks low down — close to the ground, in fact — and the following spring, when they have " t&kon " thoroughly, to head down tho stock, when the tud will break into vigorous growth, and a good head will soon bo formed. Iv operating proceed exactly the same way as for roses ; the buds are, of course, somewhat stronger, bub should be taken in the same manner, taking a "shield "of wood without injuring the bud, and inserting this neatly and quickly at a suitable point. Biud it round above and below with soft wool or wet raffia, and in mild soft weather it is sltnost certaiu to take. — Exchange. THE "LOGAN BErtßY.'"' lathe New Zealand Her? 11 of December 7 mention is made cf a fruit, new to Auckland, called the " logan berry " which is now being introduced. It is a cross between the blackberry and the raspberry, and ih America is considered, superior to cither on accuat of its flavour and the exce dingsmallnessof its seeds.

■ HYACINTHS, TULIPS, ETC. Hyacinth bulbn are not so good the stcond year" as when first purchased, and to secure flowers of the best deseiiplion the bu"b3 must be bought each year ; but good flowers will be produced the second jear — or, indeed, the third and Fourth— if they are carefully locked after. When the tops have withered the bulbs may be lifted, laid out in the sun for a time,- and then stored. But when they have not withered by Ihe time the ground is wanted for summer flowers, they should be dug up with as much of the soil attached to the roots as possible, and replanted in light Eoil in a ounny position. Here they should reraaiu till ripened, and theu be lifted and stored. THE HORTICULTUJ?A.r< TRADE OT THE ISLAND OF BUTE. Thffi Marquis of Bute, tho Provost of Rothesay, opened a now post (ffise in thab town recently. Hon. Sheriff Maekirdy, in his speech at the ojieuiug banquet, thus referred to the gardening industry curried on iv Rjthesay and neighbourhood : — "The only considerable trade now is the trade of market gardening and the raising of seed 3 and plants. Coincident wMi the decay of other tradea they had this very important trade rising up amongst them. Without making any invidious comparisons, he might mention that of the dcz:n cr co firms engaged, one — that of Messrs Dobbie and Co.— had risen to a very important position in re gird to the trade of the kingdom in its own depaitment. In one year thty had sent out no fewer than 140,000 parcels. &s, thrcugh tho post office, at a eofcfc of £1500 for postage alone. It wes a trade which seemed to suit the genius of Rothesay, and they proved it by carrying on a business which depended so much on geniality of weather and good soil."