THE GARDEN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2840, 19 August 1908, Page 10

THE GARDEN.

OPERAnONS FOR THE WEEK.

FBUIT GARDEN.— The grafting of fruit treje^ may be taken in b<and directly the sap begins to move freely, therefore make every preparation where there is much of this -work to be done by selecting* the trees to be

operated on, by preparing the wax, etc.

importance of grafting trees — especially tuples — of worthless or even indifferent merit Tfrth'scaons of profitable and superior varieties cannot be overestimated. The best time

for, grafting apple trees is during the early

part of September; before the buds swell too . zmsch. By this means, just when the sap l»»fiins to be active, woxthJeEs stocks may oo converted into choice trees with very little trouble, provided the process, which is a K1 simple on«, Is clearly understood. The con- " <frtkms essential to success are easily ob*ayv>ed, and may be shortly enumerated as fallows: — Operate at the right season, just •when the sap begins to rise after the -winter's x-tst. Choose a proper stock and graft, which should be carefully fitted before the •sap has time to dry. Formerly many gardeners prefered to cut -the scions peve.v.l weeks before they were required, with the idea that the scions, being dry. are therefore more ready to suck up the sap of the stock. This, however, is a mistake, and it is now generally admited that it is an advantage to obtain the scions newly cut when about to commence operations. The main object in grafting is to ensure the union of the giadi and the stock, and as. in most cases, the stock is larger than the graft, care nrast T?e taken that this union is effected by one or other of the following means: — (1) Cut ai flat side to the stock, and also a flat side to the graft, and bind the two flat surfaces together in such, a way that the back of £h& graft shall join the back of the stock on one side a.t least; then, although the _gr_aft may not cover more -than a portion of the flat surface of the stock, it will unite and 1

grow larger until it covers the whole. (2) Cut an angular gutter do-nn one side of the stock, and cut the graft to a similar angle so as tc fit the former accurately, taking oare fh&t the bark of stock and graft meet one another; if these are aranged to fit. nothing pan- prevent them from uniting. (3) Cut a, wedge-shaped" split in the. graft like the cleft in a clothes peg, and- shape the rtock to fit it; see that a proper junction of tiio baik is effeoted, and the graft will be as complete as by either of tbe former methods. In any case, no time should be lost ever th« operation. The knife should be sharp. th« operator handy and expeditious^ tiio cute clean, tfie fit ac*mrate, and the binding lapidly done, so tJmj; the wounded- parts shall Hot have time .to dTy, or a failure will oejHinJy result. The operation is completed

by stopping out the air either with grafting w«x or grafting day, which should ba immediately applied to cover the whole of the portions joined. Grafting clay is composed of one-third cow dung with two-thirds ordinary clay, beaten up and thoroughly amalgamated. The consistency should be such that it is easily applied, and will retain its shape when squeezed in a lump round the branch and the graft. Grafting wax, which some prefer to use, is made with equal quantities of resin and beeswax, sufficient tallow being added to regulate the consistency. When applied, it is warmed slightly so as to adhere to the branch when laid on with a brush. It is not necessary to apply ■& thick coating, the only object being to thoroughly exclude the aii. By this simple process 1 , which any unskilled pefson may perform efficiently after two or three trials, many trees thai would otherwise be comparatively useless may be made to produce choice fruit in one or two seasons ; as wihen strong trees are selected for stocks, -all the vigour ot the trunk is thrown into the grafts, which) rapidly develop plenty of good bearing wood. Practically, there is no more difficulty in grafting Large trees than small stocks, the essential points being that the wood of eacil part is closely fitted together, and that the edges of the bark shall be in contact at least on one side of the junction. It is a good plan to select scions that terminate in a bud, in preference to those that are cut at both ends, as the wound at the upper end interferes with the natural process of suction by which the sap is drawa upwards from the stock. When scions are brought from a distance, the cut end should be inserted' in a raw potato, or other means' should be adopted to prevent the wound from becoming dry. Strawberry plants may still be planted, but they oannot be expected to produsse much fruit early in tihe season. The plants, however, make a good growth", and 1 form s-trong fruiting crowns for another season, so that a decided gain is effected. Raspberry canes may still be planted out, as these do not start into growth so early irr the season as many other small fruits. ' A damp situation should always be selected for these, or where they can have copious supplies of water wlien swelling their fruits.

FLOWER GARDEN.— The pruning of roses of all descriptions should now be finished off at once, as the budis are pushing rapidly into growtib. An idea prevails to a great extent, even among professional gardeners, th*t roses, standards in particular, oan hardly be cut back too severely or closely. This is a great mistake, and there is no doubt that the practice of hard pruning is carried to excess in very many cases, and the plants suffer in consequence. Of course, comparatively weak-growing varieties, such as Duke of Wellington, Jean Soupert, and Xovier Olibo, moist be cut in somewhat closely, as they do not possess sufficient vigour to support a large head or a number of shoots, but all those varieties that nsAvuraHy make strong growths — and these are far more numerous, particularly -among the hybrid perpetual class, than .the weak growers — will be found to give much better results if the strongest shoots are merely shortened back to a half or a third of their length, regard being, of course, given to the formation of a well-shaped or evenly-balancedl head, and, of course, remove all dead, woxnout, or weak wood. By following this plan,' not only will a larger number of blooms be obtained, but these will be of better quality, and the trees will gain in -strength and' vigour. it is not yet too la,te to plant roses, whether "standards or dwarfs; but the work mu«t be done carefully, and the plants b« carefully attended/ to with water should a dry season follow the operation. Tea roses may witJi safety be transplanted much later than the hybrid perpetuals. While on this subject, it may be as well to warn intending planters against the too common practice of planting roses with the roots in actual contact with the manure ured at the same time. Roses like manure, *nd plenty of it, most undoubtedly, but it should ba thoroughly incorporated, with the surrounding soil, or ai anyrate be placed either beiow or above the roots (or both, which is better), but by no means in actual contact with the roots themselves at the time of pla-niing. After filling in, tread the soil firmly round each plunt, for no rose will flourish if loosely planted.

VEGETABLE GARDEN.— When very early celery is wanted, a pinch of seed should be sown in a box for the purpose of bringing on the plants early; but, it must be understood that it is much to early for sowing the general crop. Parsley for main supply should llow be sown round the edges of the walks, thus taking up less valuable ground. Parsley should be shown and treated as an annual instead of allowing the plants to remain longer in the borders, as they fail to produce large, well-curled leaves, all their -strength being expended in producing seed stems. The seed should be sown in a clean piece of soil, as it is rather slow in germinating. Leeks may be sown in a bed for transplanting when they can be properly handled, or they can be at once sown in a trench, to be earthed up wfien strong enough. They should be thinned out and treated the same as celery, and heavy dressings of manure are necessary for the production of fine leeks. Spinach may now be sown for early use; sowing in drills between the rows of late peas will effect a saving of room. as the spinach -will be fit to cut before the room is" wanted for the peas. JMie present is a good time for planting out horseradish..' which deserves to be more generally grown than is the case in the colonies. In the Old Country no garden, large -or small, is to be found without i+s bed of horseradish, while in the colonies it is rarely found cultivated. It is of ea&y culture, and grows rapidly if planted in well-manured and deeply-worked soil; the jrowng should be plainted 18in between the rows and Bin or lffin between the sets The usual method of planting horseradish in America (where it is grown very largely for sauce purposes as well as for table) is to select rich ground well manured the previous year. Cut sets from the roots of the plant" about 4in to 6m long, and about the tihicknesa of a pine siem ; then make holes with a light crowbar 10m to 12in apart, and tilt set i* drooned into the bottom of the hole; a light kick with the foofi covers it up. It is claimed for this plan that the root is finer, straighter and less liable to side roots than by setting the crowns.