THE GARDEN

Otago Witness, Issue 2298, 17 March 1898, Page 8

THE GARDEN

ANSWER, TO CORRESPONDENT. ; Kovcs Agkicola. — (I) A warm, exposed, and yet rather moist location is the beta for a strawbe! ly pUuintioa. If vary early fruit be an object, select a side hill gently sloping towards ! the north, with a liberal admixture of small ! stones or small gravel in ths soil (2) New laud, if ot a deep gravelly ionm, is the best ; next a | sandy loam— hue as lovy, s>oft;, moist 1 , cool soil as can be procured consistently with depth and ihoravph tbainaga is beat adapted to tbe strawheny- witU a southern aspect" for late fuiit. (3) Pr.jh.jbly ihc, fallmo ground, but it mutt be well workrtl lioqiiantly to start, all weed seeds into growtn, suit also to kill the white grub, \vbich is so deadly to strawberry. plants ; the soil to be tine yet firm, and tbe plants should not ba put in deep— i c , below the collar. (4) Strawberry ; plants are procurable from ilai-cu to Kay ; the eailier they are planted the better so as to be i well cstao'ished before winter. Piaut 2ft npa>t ! in ro.vs lft liin between plants, or, better, 2ft | each way to allow for culiivation. (5) Un- ! doubteuly Kir Joseph Paxton is the best allround mm ket berry. Trollop's Victoii* for late, [ if piccmahla true, being a good jam berry with pineapple flavour ; and a small patch of true | Britith Queen should be tried, but they are very i uncditain beirers unless the s-oil suits (15) ! Ooi^munioatß with Mr J. EL. Every, Box (3 Post | Office, Dunediu. i OPERATIONS FOR TffS WEEK. | Kitchen Gvrdex — Thin out young crops of : tnin)|>?. carrots, spinach, onions ; keep tbe surface well loosened with the hoe. In places where cab- ; baftt'p, savoys, cauliflower, etc., are being over-rua with ti e blight, if nottoo far &oae dust the plants over with newly-slaked lime for a few morning while the dew is upon them. It will kill inucfi of the blight ; or, if only a few plants are giown, wash them with strong soft soap and water with a sponge or paint biusb. Mould up all cabbages, savoys, cauliflowers, and broccoli that are bufficient'y advanced ; fiat! hoe those more recently planted, to destroy every vestige of weeds and k ep the surface open. All early potatoes which, have been saved for seed sbould be lifted and s>corod it not already done, cr with Ihe advent of lain second giowln will sot iv and spoil thsm. 'j he ruain winter crop of turnip should be sown at once. Flower Garden. — Thin out seedling 1 ? of any h; rbaceous plants sown for early spring flowering — overernw.ung while youog weakens them. As toon as they aie fit to handle they must be thinned to admit of lig'nt aud air ; give tliem plenty of room to develop their leaves. V/hea it is convenient plant out in open borders where tlit>y are tv flower. Any contemplating laying down tenui3 lawns or grass plats should have the ground dug over and levelled. Keep the soil well knocked about duriDg dry weather, which, will sweeten it and kill any weeds, and thus have ready for digging and sowing down a.s early in April as possible, to give tbe yats a chance to become established V tfore winter. Look over tha occupants of the iiiwer borders to fee that there aie none overhanging the box edging, as the flowers !-oon snoil it if not removed ia tiiue. Outlines of putanias. veibi-na*, ard zonal pelargoniums, miy bo taken und placed in piepared cutting pots j.i:d kept ia a clof-c Kbady position until struck, when they must be hardened off giadually. Towaid-i the end of the month a start should be marie with planting out tks earliest batch of spring-llowciirii? bulk-,. As we have previously pointed out these should bj kept as much togctuer as po^ible, pj as to allow of them boinfc properly treated dining the summer season. The early narcissi, crocus, slowdrops, hyacinths, anemones, and ranunculi shcukl ba the first to be planted. If a choice cf aoils h available a ligbt, sandy one is> to be preferred, into which a heavy dressing of decayed cow manme lia3 been worked. Failing this horse lininute should be procured, hut cow manure is much b'.tter, being more lasting and cooler. Chrysanthemums will require a good deal of attention HuiiDft the next tew weeks if the bast results are desired. The shoots xnust bj kept securely tied, aud the later varieties, or lather those which are late in setting their bud", should bo disbudded, and all lateral growths aud suckers must be removed as often as they appeal. Some of the early kinds are now opening. The shoots should be tied to prevent them from being chafed aud injured with the wind, and liquid manure should be given legulaily to those which are to furnish tre finest blooms ; and tliis is to be continued until the flowers are half expanded. Tree carnations which are being grown for winter flowering sbould Lave all the flower buds kepb picked off them until winter, as if allowed to bloom now they will be to a large extent exhausted, and fail to flower continuously during winter. Violets, pansy, polyanthus, aad piimroses should not be oveilooked, as if kept well watered many of these will commence to flower i as soon as the weather becomes a little cooler. Greenhouse. — The principal summer .occupants of the greenhouse will now be showing signs of going off. The flowering season may be prolonged by removing all old flower stems to pi event seeding aud supplying the plants with liquid manure every other watering. FelftiSQuiuuis which may

I not have been rip? enough, to cut down when ' advised should now be cut down without farther ck-hy. Th f-3 cuf down oxilicr as they break into , growth vr)ll leqmre more water at thp loots. Late sown cinjiviria aad prmula plants sbould be , pricked out singly into small po r s as soon ro they j hive two or three rough leaves Groyv on in a | cool and shady frame till they are giowing freely, when tlipy v ij- by more fully exposed to tbe air. Tiie ptatest point in their successful culture is to keep them clean and perfectly free from the green ily. A little seed of calceolaiia should again bo S3wa, pk if often happens that the late bowing makes iliy fin ;.st plants. All kinds of decoiativa pLinls icquuea for winter sbould be kept in good condition, as they will soon he required, as flaweis will became s.urce in a sb^rt time. Freesias t Among all easily grown spring-flowering bulbs perhaps none are more pleasing than frtc-sias. By standing them on 'a shelf close to the {jla."?, ore beeps them of dwarfer habit and mere com pic 1 ;. Very few flowers are ot so chaste and de!ie\te an appearance or of such delicious perfume as Freesia refre.cfca aiba. The buibs cf these flowers are cheap, and j tht-y increase very rapidly. They are alfo rea'.ily raised from see^, which should ba sown ! a«i s>ooa as ifc is lipe. Use light eaudy foil, and j j. lace the pcfcs cr pacs in a sunny position in a j cool frams. The seedlings eoou appear, and | must be carefully kept from any cold draught?, • and yet have a f>.ir amount of air admitted to ! (hem. They will sometimes Bower the follcwI iug spring — tbafc is, a i fw otthe strongest ot the j b'-.ibs. However, all cf theia will flower well j th? peevnd se&son. I Alcer freesias have flowered, allow the bulbs ; to gradually ripen themselves ; to f ffecfc this ; they sheu'd be stood on a sunny t-helf or b^nch j and vyry little water be given. Ifc is d-.mcult to 1 *ive theoi too much sun or to keep (he -a 100 ) riy at this time. When thoroughly ripentd • they may be tum»d out of their pot 3 :tud sorted j u.',o two s Z;S Put them up again into smpots,m pots, I usirg a sanrly and losiny compost, with the j pddition ot alii/tie well-decayed manure. It is best to piaos paob s'Z3 hj fchetcselrfs, say seven (<v eight oi: the Jarger bulbs in a siu pit and riiao to ten of tho stwaller ones. Stana them ia j a cool frame unii) grow.L commences, thca introcuee to a greennouse teinpera.ture, and ia j dnfitime you will be rewarded with a line show ol fnwers. They may be brought on in sucee63fve batches, and so keep up the supply for a lengthened period. As s-oon as tha flower spikes appear they may bs hurried on if required. A temperature of eOJeg to 65t]pg is fciifficient, but they will stand 7O3eg v.hen the flower tpikes are fallowing. While iv fall growth freesias benefit ; very much from a frequent supply of manura Trater. Iv sorting the bulbs I recommend their being made into two sizes ; I do not mean that the very Jittie ones should be thrown cut with either of these potting sizes. These small ones will not flower, aud do much better if placed thickly ir> a bos or pan, grown on similarly to I tha res?., and then resorted the following | summer. There has been a great diversity of opinion respecting the dryiog-off process, bui if one J considers tha native habitat of these sweetly pretty bulbs they would be convinced that that is the correct treatment. Freesias s.re natives of the Cape of Good Hopp, and grow in the ■ driest and sandiest places. During thefcutnraar | it is very hofc, and the bulbs lie dcrffu—are completely patched, in fact ; then, when the cooler aud raioy season sets iv, up Fpriug these beautiful flowers. Growers who have tried the moist sy&uera o£ treatment have not met with auch success a3 thos^j who have practically " roasted " their bulbs, a* it is styled. After ref. opting tbey do uofc require any water until growth coinrnencea. The three be--t varieties are Freesia refraefca, i F. rffracta albi, and F. Leichtlini major. — "K.," in Amateur Gardening. MISCELLANEOUS. WIT-LOW SEEDLINGS IN THS NORTH. It is generally understood, and we bslieva fr.-quently averted b}- 1 ecientific m?n (says a S Gisi)cirr.s pacer), lhat there ar-i uo female villows in New Zsaland, and -hafc therefore there are no seedling willows. While tbe aieinbers of tbe Cook County Council were insi-Ect-ingthe island ia the Waipaoa River the engineer pointed out that in some parts of the dry bed of ths river seedling willows were growing in thousand?, arc! threatened to still iurthec obstruct; ! ths water in fime of flood as ihey increaged in ( size. With ike rlatecaeiiu as to the sibsencj of ; f"-raa!s willows in their minds the councillors ! fximiaed these young willows with £>reat care, j »tid the r^suli; of tho surutiuy was to leave no I doubt in iheir minds that they were tine seedlings, and not shoots from parent stems. Interesting »3 the point may be fro^i a Gcien'iifio ycict of v5kW, i-i would, we should iiaagin 0 , bs | a good thing to prevent *hese eeedlings growing | much bigger. Already they evince a disposition ! to flourish exceedingly under tha favourable ! conditioas in wlxieh they now exist, and if undisturbed it will no*) bs very many years before they will present sn almost impassable barrier to the water in time of flood. ! FRUIT IN CENTRAL OTAGO. ! Fruit musl be abundant in the interior of i Otago, where it grows to perfection. Here L; an extract from the letter of a Cromwell youug lady: — " How do you in Wyndham get on for fiuit ? People have been corning iv to Ccomi well with beautiml fruit, and could not get rid j of it at £tl per Ib." — W> ndham Herald. I FJtUIT-GnOWINf}. I Mr S. I. Fitch, of the CJovernnoent ppnv.- ; logic*! staff, has (says a Canterbury p«iper) rrI turned from a lorg ji.urr.ey of in^rctioo cf I orchards and instruction ;.:' ri'uifcgrotvi.rs in fho Marlborough, Kelson, "iVr'-*-. C'o.isc, and KaiI koura districts and part. < t North Canterbury. He found codlin moth very prevalent ia the KeLioD, Collingwood, and Piefcviu dis- | U-iccß, though there wero fair results lin orr bards vshtre tyatej-oatic spraying I ha.-l btea practised. On the West Coasb there ! were many good small orchards, tbe owners of | which evidently take an interest in fruit-grow-I ing. Fuagoid pesfca are prevalent there, the | tffec 1 ; of the remedies beiDg detracted from by the Leavy and frequent rains. Tbe young ! orchards ab Cheviot which have baen treated according to instructions are doing well, but those iv v? hich the trees have not been properly treated :.t or fcince planting are nob thriving. Tho North Canterbury and K"4ikoura orchards are the best seen in any part of the journey. In i all parts great damage has been done by the high wißds, especially to the apple crop, which will ba far smaller than usual. Drought has affected the Nelson and &Ir.rlborough districts. I There is room for muck better management of j orc'osrda and frulfc gardens ia the selection of kinds as well as in cultivation and treatment. Mr Filch, who was well received everywhere, leve3 for Akaroa to hupecb the Peninsula orchards. MUSHEOOM- GROWING IN TUNNELS. In the eaily days of railway engineering little circumspection was used in laying down lines, and many tunnels were constructed which would nowadays be avoided. A tunnel j of Ibis kind, built 50 years ago by the Norlh British Railway Copapany, and muning for . 3Qooydg al a depth of GQifc below tU§ streets o£

Edinburgh, was &ft»r wards dsg- -r-'cd, another line having been constructed. for a tinsa the old tunnel remained unused. hut 10 years agoifc was taken over by Messes R. and J. Paton, of Glasgow, and has &inca been used by them for tho purpose of cultivating; mushrooms. The story oi this icdustry is briefly told in the Janmry nnmbsr cf "Pearson's Magazine."' Tbe tunnel offers ideal conditioi s for the growth of muslirooms, the temperature varying but very slightly, and light being absent. The result of this combination of favourable conditions i 3 that the Scottish Mushroom Company now practically control the market in cultivated mushrooms. The company has 800 mushroom beds in tha tunnel, each about 12ft by 3ft ia size. When in full operation about 1000 bushals of spawn are used yearly. The highest output reaches 50001b of mushrooms per mouth. The steady aud constant supply has killed foreign competition in niu -brooms, for it appear j that, whereas 10 years ago the quantity ot French mushrooms consumed in Great Britain largely exceeded those of home growth, they form at present only about one-hundredth part of the total supply.