THE GARDEN.

Otago Witness, Issue 3100, 13 August 1913, Page 12

THE GARDEN.

OPERATIONS FOR THE WEEK

FRUIT GARDEN.— The remainder of the planting for the season should be completed as early as possible, to give the trees a chance to become established before the dry weather overtakes them, which in the case of late-planted trees often seriously affects their growth, unless it is convenient to water them as required. W here the fruit trees have to be manured, the operation should not be longer delayed; hut the pruning must be the first completed, so that unnecessary treading on the ground bo avoided. Young trees should be sparingly supplied with manure; excess is waste, causing them to make a rank growth of wood at the expense of fruit. One cannot go wrong in using rotten stable manure to fruit trees; but potash is a valuable addition to most soils,- and should be used in preference to phosphoric acid. Fruits, like ether crops, need all the elements of plant food to.enable them to do well. In the application of manure the digging fork should always be used in preference to the spado, which must of necessity destroy some of the surface roots. When scions are wanted for propagating purposes they should at once be taken off. labelled, and laid in until the season for grafting. When the pruning is finished the trers should, if in the least infected with scale or other disease, be thoroughly cleaned according to instructions given from time to time. Strawberry beds sometimes get full of weeds at this season. As the hoe is not of much service when the soil and weather are damp, the beds must bo cleaned by thinly skimming the surface with the spade or fork; in poor soils a slight topdressing will

do good. KITCHEN GARDEN.- T'nril the advent of f • nor or warmer weather it is better to defer the sowing of garden seeds. The soil is cold and in many places very wet. and where i’nis is the case small seeds are liable to perish. Do not fail to stake peas when they arc a few inches high; even the dwarf varieties in the winter seasons are benefited by h aving some support to cling to, and so b' kept from the cold, wet soil; besides, the pea plant is easily blown out of the ground if left to itself. Row out a few cabbage niants for spring use. Remember that a good rich soil is necessary to grow them quickly and of good flavour at the same time. Very large coarse heads are inferior in quality to those of moderate size. The selection of a good strain of seed in the cabbage is very important. Where very early celery is required a small sowing should be made in a seed pan in a glass frame. As the present crop grows, the earthing up must be attended to. Keep all your young crops free of weeds; at this time o? the year the latter grow very fast, and may soon choke the plants. FLOWER GARDEN.—No time should bo lost in completing any fresh work being done, so that the stocking of new beds, the renewal of old shrubbery borders, and the formation of walks may be finished before the spring is well advanced. Grasses and other weeds on gravel walks should be destroyed before they become largo. There

arc numerous ways of removing these, but by far the most effective is a solution of arsenic. When a good dose of this poison is applied many years will elapse ere weeds will grow again. In using this or salt, or, in fact, any other weed-killer, care must be taken that adjacent vegetation be not also destroyed. Where the area to be gone over is but small, boiling water may be used to kill weeds in paths. Where new lawns have to be made, the work should be put in hand at onCe. To make a thoroughly good lawn the drainage should be perfect, and to prevent inequalities or depressions later on the soil should bo deeply dug. A perfect lawn should be as even as a billiard table, and of one shade of green, not patchy, as is often seen —some bits pale, others of a dark green This is generally caused by variableness in the soil and unequally distributing manure, as it is so frequently full of weed seeds; bonedust is generally bettor. The making of lawns should not be undertaken when the soil is wet.

GREENHOUSE—With the return of longer days, growth is commencing to push up on most of the soft-wooded plants, which will require more room to develop and allow a free circulation of air to ensure a robust growth. Pelargoniums, as soon as their pots are full of roots, will require another shift into a size larger pots, but care should bo taken not to use too large a pot. Amateurs often make a mistake upon rids point. A plant will succeed better in a small pot filled with roots than it can do if overpotted, as this often causes the soil about the loots to become sour and unfit for the roots to run in. Petunias that are wanted for early flowering should he encouraged to grow freely by giving them liquid manure, and if strong plants are wanted they should be potted on until they are in the sized pots they arc wanted to flower in. The points of the growths should be stopped at every three or four joints for some time yet, to encourage a dwarf, compact growth, and keep the p'ants in a light, aii'y position, near the glass. Zonal geraniums that were cut down early should have broken well by this time. When the young growths are about ?in. or rather more, long, the plants should be turned out of the pots and the soil shaken clean away, and a few of the long straggling roots cut back, and the plants ro--1 lotted into larger-sized pots—just large enough to get the roots into without crowding them It is far better to commence with a small pot, and get it well filled with roots, and pot on as necessary, then to place them at once into large pots in which they are to flower. No greater mistake in potting could bo made. After potting the plants should be kept rather close for a week or two, until they show signs of moving into growth. In keeping them in a close frame, if such is used, they must b; ventilated to prevent damping off. Primulas for late flowering should now receive their final shift into size larger pots, using, as before recommended, a light rich soil. Cinerarias must also be examined, and not allow young plants to become potbound. or a great check will be given to their growth. Earlv plants, as soon as their pots are filled with roots, should receive occasional waterings of liquid manure. Where facilities for forcing exist a few tubers of begonias and gloxinias should he taken from their winter quarters and started in gentle heat, watering them gradually at first until they show signs of breaking into growth, when they will require repotting.