THE GARDEN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2805, 18 December 1907, Page 10

THE GARDEN.

OPERATIONS FOR THE WEEK. FLOWER GARDEN.— Where stakeing and tying have been neglected much damage has doubtless occurred. Such plants should be gone over cutting out all damaged shoots and tying in all straggling growths. Tall chrysanthemums especially have suffered owing to their brittle nature. Any of the plants which are showing their flower buds should have the points taken off to a lower growth, which should be taken up as a leader. These plants must be kept in vigorous growth; if suffering any check, ■either from want of food or water, the lower leaves show it in a few days, and no after treatment can replace these. If good flowers are wanted for exhibition, table, or garden decoration', there .must be ample and healthy foliage. Verbenas should be kept pegged down to the soil, and old faded trusses cut off twice » week to keep the plants fresh. Hedges of privet, pittosporum, hawthorn, and cupresaua should now be clipped back with the shears, and all walks . and borders have a gereral clean up. Tree carnations should have seat' stakes before the growths are damaged. Young plants should r.ot have too many blooms the, first season. This eeotion is very free-flowering. A strong growth of grass is preferable the first season to a quantity of bloom. FRUIT GARDEN.— Late stone fruit --iior.ld be thinned out. as in many gardens far too Mfeavy « crop has set. and unless thinning i» resorted to inferior fruit will be produced. Ra-spEerriee should be kept mulched liberally in order to improve the quality of tho fruit The sucker* which persist in coming up between the stools should be removed, and: the others -ginned out, •leaving five or six at each otool. This ia better done now, «nd secures stronger canes for another season, as allowing all that form to grow, only to oe cut away in the winter, is bad practice. The time required to go over the' bed now is of small value compared with the increase of strength afforded to those which axe to produce next season's fruit. During rainy weather the great advantage of mulching strawberry beds is apparent, as without this protection a large quantity of the fruit ia spoilt by grit and sand. All runners must still bo kept cut close off both newly-formeal beds or those fruiting If it is intended to plant out new quarters of strawberries next or following month, give close attention to iraitering the runners selected, as advised some time ago, and give ~ them every encouragement to make x&pid progress. The ground they art intended to occupy should be trenched and manured at once, if not thready prepared in that way, and allowed to become consoh•aated again before planting. , - Red currants should laivrt a 'good tutting back of the young growth now. Except such shoots as •re required to form the bush or increase it* size, *11 lateral growths, should be pinched close in so as io favour the formation of fruit spurs. KITCHEN 1 GARDEN.— advantage should Vm taken of the moist condition of the soil to finally thin out all crops of caiiots, pars- . nips, beet turnips, etc., which may require Attention. Herbs may now be cut back for drying purposes. The- best time for cutting is just' as they are going out of flower. The stems and leaves should be quite dry at the time of cutting, and the shoots should "be tied up in small bunches and hung up in a dry, warm ahed or store to dry. If they are tied up in large qua/ntitiea together mildew ocours and destroys ' the flavour. While the soil ia moist it planting out of cabbage plants should be mad* ior cutting in early autumn, just, a* ma-ny at the summer vegetables are 1 failing.' Due attention' should: be paid' to sowing succeesional crops of kidney beans. ] Two or three drills should be sown as soon { as the pre"iou« sowing has commenced to ' run freely. In picking the beans, which pn j the ©arlieat-sown crops should now be fit for use, care is required so that all beans j «n*y ba gathered *» soon as- fit. Jf only a ' small portion are allowed to ripen there • will be but a very poor crop. If seed is required, a row of portion Ihereoef should be i set apart for thus purpose. Broad Windeor ' beans should be pulled up as soon as -the ' crop has been picked, inS the laod manured a,nd dug. As this is « very exhausting crop, if the land is not required for immediate use it should be left as rough on the surface as possible, which can be readily broken down with ♦ hoe or fork when r«quir«d for planting. Growing crops of onions should have the surface loosened up with the hoe, and » top dressing of aoot will improve the crop. An excellent plan for blanching' celery is to place a common earthenware drainpipe, four or five inches in diameter, acoraing to the sit* of the stalks, over each plant. This, without any further trouble, will result in beautiCully-blanohefl sticks, for the foliage Trill in • short time block up the upper end of *he tube so as to effectually exclude all light. Should the pipes be rather taller than ib« plants when placed in position, good rather than ha<nn will" accrue, for' the foliage '« certain to rise up into the full light of day, fctd the sticks will become so much longer Us consequence. A third plan, and it very good one, though perhaps not quite so effective as the last is. to wrap teach stem tjxia& ■with aevexa.l turns of stout brown papex This •houla be done by degrees as the plant* *&iv in height. «nd by no> mean* tighiiy at firtt, «o ».* 4 o Ukw> room, for the stalks Jo *well. GREENHOUSE AND FRAMES.— A supply of autumn-flowering plants should be grown on in order Jo keep the greenhouse gay.. a» well «* to provide & change of plants for table md room decoration, a» «uob plants aa ferns and palms are muoh improved by to the greenhouse or worm shaded ft*m* for a few week® at a time. Bouvardics. tree carnations, cineraria*, primulas, and streptocarpus axe all suitable for winter flowering. The two first-named thould be grown on from young plants now, while the others may be raised from seed sown during the next month or two. If fche plants axe required to bloom early, sow at once : and if later, aow in auccession. Fuchsia* which have been kept pinched back may now be allowed to grow and flower, so as to supply the places of the pelargoniums as they go out of bloom. Green fly must be kept down upoa all kinds of growing plants, or the points of tender growth, ax* won -ericusly injured.