HORTICULTURAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3205, 18 August 1915, Page 8

HORTICULTURAL NOTES.

By J.. Gebbie,

Single chrysanthemums during the past few • years- have become popular flowers, owing to their usefulness for decorative purposes, and at the various exhibitions of autumn-flowering plants during the past season these single-flowering ’mums attracted considerable attention. From a decorative point of view they are likely to come more into prominence than they have hitherto done, both for making a show as plants for house decoration and conservatory and for other decorative purposes.. The small and medium-sized varieties arc to be preferred to the larger ones, and those should be of a decided colour, of good form, and bold their' flowers erect. Another advantage possessed by these chrysanthemums is that, by judicious stopping, the plants may be had in bloom all through the winter, Their culture is very simple, and they may ho grown by the amateur as bv the professional gardener. Cuttings should be put in during July .and

August, potting them on as required, and stopping at intervals to ensure bushy plants. These plants should bo grown in the open during summer to thoroughly ripen tho wood. As tho buds appear they should bo thinned sufficiently to allow each bloom to expand perfectly. Tho following are a few of the newer varieties, which caused quite a sensation in the Old Country recently, and are becoming very popular in Australia and elsewhere. They are great improvements on the older kinds, being compact in habit, producing their flowers in great abundance from May onwards:—Aldus, rosy pink, beautiful; Autumn Gold, richest, golden yellow; Bessie James, lovely flowers of the purest white; Cannels, crimson, large flowers, deep redcrimscn with large golden centre; Display, pale primrose with shading of rose-pink; Mrs George Bates, bright pink; Queen of Scots, purest white, a gem for decorative work; Rose Beauty, deep rose in large sprays; Mrs Batcheller, bright reddishchestnut; Mr J. Daniels, buff overlain with red; Nautilus, raauvc-pink, delicate and pretty; Autumn, rich chestnut shading to orange; and Mrs Bruce, pure white like a largo Shasta daisy. GROWING CYCLAMEN. Cyclamen seed may be sown now in pots or seed pans filled with a mixture of sifted loam, leaf soil, and sand. Place tho seeds in the soil about lin apart and about jin deep. Keep them in a warm greenhouse* and as the seedlings develop prick thorn off singly into small pots. Towards autumn pot thorn into 4in or sin pots. Dining tho summer months they need plenty of light and air, slight shade, and a moist atmosphere. Endeavour always to keep tho plants growing, as tho slightest check is fatal to the success of these plants. When flowering is over, gradually withhold water; when the foliage turns yellow, give no more water, and lay the pots on their sides until tho end of January; then take them out, water, and when fresh growth is well begun repot; keep in a close frame for a few days, and afterwards give plenty of air. At the approach of winter take them into tho warm greenhouse. A HOTBED FRAME. A hot-bed frame is one of the most useful of all appliances in the garden for raisingseedlings of various crops in the spring. Such a frame, however, requires very careful management. The heat in the hot-bed must be regular. If tho manure employed is wrongly prepared it will heat violently for a short time and then fail, because it has become spent. Now. if inexperienced cultivators, of various kinds of plants suitable for raising in a frame make up a bed of this kind they run several risks, the two greatest of which are scalding the foliage from overheating of the material at first, and of losing seedlings and plants afterwards through tlie sudden cooling of the bed when the heat is spent. Such unsuitable bods are the result of putting together the littery manure before it is sweetened. As the manure is procured from the stables It should bo thrown up into one large heap, and allowed to remain so for 24 hours; then open out the material again, and so get rid of the burning gases. If the heap is large it may be treated again in the same way, and afterwards put up to form the bed. There will not bo any danger from burning and overheating afterwards, and tho temperature of the bod will be comparatively high and regular for a long time. Leave a small opening at tho ton of the frame for the escape of steam arising from the bed. Ventilate .always on the opposite side of tho frame to that from which the wind blows when it is necessary to admit air. PANSIES. These old favourites are very suitable plants for the filling of borders both in spring and summer. To bo successful it is necessary to make the soil fairly rich with woll-rottcd manure—in any case, that is, whore the soil is of average good quality; but especially is it needful in hot, sandy situations. When the plants are established. watering, ton-dressing, and. the removal of all faded flowers, regularly must be the work that is never neglected. Plants overladen with seed-pods quickly coaso to produce bloom, but when the faded flowers arc removed the plants strive to produce fresh ones, and will continue blooming all summer. Autumn-raised plants growing in the bods where they are to bloom should have a little fresh soil placed among them, surfacing tiic soil with a mixture of fresh loam and woll-rottcd manure. Put tills on about 2in dcon among tho nlants. Extra fine flowers will result from this treatment. Of all 1 lie many strains of pansies advertised these known as Bath’s Empress has proved to be tho most satisfactory with me; the colours are most beautiful and tho blooms perfect in shape and size. GERMINATION OF HOLLY SEEDS. In reply to a correspondent who desires to raise hollies from seed, I may say at tho start that it is a slow process, and that it is preferable to purchase plants from the nurserymen. If the berries are gathered now, they' can he kept in sand until autumn. They miist be kept moderately damp and turned over occasionally, or, if preferred,

tho seeds can bo sown now; but it is doubtful whether any will germinate before September, 1916. They arc very erratic in their behaviour, and occasionally a few will germinate soon after sowing dturing tho first year after being gathered. More frequently, however, they lie dormant for 12 months, and the majority appear after tho seeds have been gathered 18 months or two years, some appearing after the seeds have been sown three years. By keeping the seeds in sand the necessary changes take place just as if tho seeds had been sown, and the ground can be utilised for some other purpose. It is not perhaps generally known (states tho Wellington Post) that the Department of Agriculture issues certificates to men who show that they are proficient in the work of pruning and spraying orchards. Mr T. W. Kirk stated on Friday that the department was also prepared to issue certificates to fruit packers, but so far no applications for examination had been received.