GARDEN & ORCHARD.

Otago Witness, Issue 3335, 13 February 1918, Page 6

GARDEN & ORCHARD.

WORK FOR THE WEEK. By D. Tannock. THE GREENHOUSE. The first batches of cinerarias will now be ready to pot on to their flowering pots. The stellata, or star type, grows the strongest and will require eight or nine-mch pots, but the ordinary large flowered kind will do quite well in six or seven-inch,,, pots. Uso a good soil mixture of loam two-parts, leaf mould and welL decayed manure one part, sand half part, and a liberal dusting of bone meal. After potting, the plants can be placed en the greenhouse bench, and sprayed regularly to prevent wilting, and when they are established in their new pots they can be shifted out into a frame. Bulbs grown in pots are useful for adding variety to the greenhouse display in early spring, or for providing cut flowers at a time when flowers are very scarce. Hyacinths tulips, crocus, daffodils, and frecsias are ail suitable for forcing. - To get them well established in their pots before forcing commences they should be potted up as soon as possible. Fivo and six-inch pots are the most suitable size. They should be clean and well crocked to provide abundance 'of drainage. The soil should consist of good fibrous turfy loam three parts, well decayed manure such as we get from an old hotbed or' dry cow chips one part, leafmould one part, and sand or old mortar one part, with a six-inch potful of bone meal to every barrow load of the mixture. If the loam is good it will not be necessary fo add manure to the soil required for the narcissi. Pot one good hyacinth bulb in a five-inch pot, or threo smaller ones in a six-inch one, and three tulips in a fiveinch pot or five in a six-inch one. Pot fairly firm and place the bulbs with about a third showincr above the soil. The number of narcissi bulbs to the pot will vary according to the size of the bulbs, but if possible five should bo placed in a six-inch pot, and the bulbs should be buried in the soil, leaving tho necks abovo it. With crocus or frecsias nine bulbs can bo put in a sixinch pot and they should be put about an inch below the surface. Hyacinths, crocus, and tulips should be watered, then placed in a well-drained_ place outside and covered over with six inches of clean ashes or sand. Narcissi can be placed in a cool shady moist position outside. It is not absolutely necessary to bfiry thorn. Frnesin.9 can bo placed in a cold frame with tho sashes on to prevent tho soil from becoming too wet before tho roots penetrate it. It is most important that the root development bo gradual and that the bulbs be well established boforo tho forcing commences. Bulbs can bo forced > in quantify to provide cut flowers, by planting them iii boxes. Those used for raising seedlings in spring will do. Use a soil similar to that recommended for pots. Plant tho b'ilb3 toe-other in tho boxes and stand thorn on the shady side of a hedge or wall and cover over with spent hops or leafmould. Daffodils and tulips can bo grown in earthenware bowls and vases without drainage if a light porous soil be used and great caro taken in the- watering. Special fibre fs usually available, but probably this year the supplies will bo'-exhausted. _ Tho Boii mixture recommended for pots will do with a considerable amount of coarse sand

or fine gravel added. After potting the bowls can be placed in a dark cellar or outside in a cold frame and covered with about two inches of hops or leaves.

THE FLOWEK GAHDEX. The recent winds have played havoc with all plants which have not been staked and tied up. Continue to loop up dahlia shoots as they develop, pinch off tho pods on the sweet peas and keep them tied up. Preparations should be made for planting back the narcissi bulbs, for they do not benefit any by being kept out of .the ground. oven when you have a. suitable cellar or bulb house to keep them in. For cut flowers, either for exhibition or otherwise, they are better grown in beds or nursery rows. Tho soil should be trenched lightly, and. if it is poor, stable manuro can bo buried in, provided it is not within nine inches or a foot of the surface. Bone dust at the rato of 4os to the square yard or basic slag at the rate of 7oz, to the square yard, can bo forked in before planting takes pic 30. With tho spado take out a trench about three inches deep and six inches wide and in this place the bulbs three or more inches apart, allowing a space of 12in between each variety, and label them as planting proceeds. In mixed borders or shrubberies they are better planted in irregular groups of irregular size. Take out the soil to a depth of a foot, put six inches of well-decayed stable manure in the hole, and dig it in, mixing it well with the soil; put at least throe inches of soil on top of the manure, and plant tho bulbs on this. They should bo covered with from three to six inches of soil, according to the size of the bulbs. When it is not convenient or desirable to add stable manure, dust a handful of bone meal or basio slag on tho surface < where the bulbs arc to be planted, mix it with the soil, and plant with a trowel. Tulips do splendidly in rose beds and borders. They provide a display before tho rose, and ripen off by November, so that tho old foliage and flower stems can bo cleared away and the borders made tidy for the rose. season. The cultivation and manuring which the roses received suit the tulips, and no further manuring is required. Plant the bulbs about six inches apart and about three inches deep. All small bulbs, either of tulips or narcissi, can be lined out in the for a year or two, when most of them will develop into flowering bulbs. Plant in drills six inches wide, three inches deep, and allow a distance of between two and three inches between the bulbs. THE VEGETABLE GAEDEN. It is not too late to make plantings of broccoli, cabbage, and leeks, but this work should not be delayed longer than possible, for it is important that they bo well established and well grown before winter sets in. Seeds of early varieties of carrots, turnips, and onions, can still be sown, and those sown recently will be ready for thinning, but it is not necessary to thin them as much as the main crops which were sown in spring. An application of liquid manure should be given to growing crops of cabbage, savoys, brussels sprouts, broccoli, leeks, onions, celery, french beans, and scarlet runners about once a week. So far there are no signs of aphis or diamond moth on . the members of the cabbage family, and no' doubt the moist weather is helping to keep them clean. The aphis can bo kept in check if attacked early, by spraying with soapy water, applied hot. The water left from washing will do, but care has to be taken to see that the foliage on both the under and upper surfaces receives an application, and that it soaks down among the young leaves. For diamond moth it is necessary to spray , with arsenate of lead, but this cannot be applied to plants which are near flowering or which have started to heart up. Potatoes can still be sprayed to keep' the disease in check, and those which are nearly ripe should be dug. .It is not sufficient merely to cut off the diseased shaws and to leave the potatoes in the ground. Tho spores are lying on the" surface of tho soil where they have fallen from the leaves, and are ready to be washed down into tho soil, where they can attack tho tubers. Dusting the surface of the soil with quicklime would probably destroy the spores or keep them in check until you have time to dig tho crops. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. " Inquirer."—The leaves of your hollyhock are attacked by the hollyhock disease, Puccinia nialvacearum, a disease which is liabie to attack all the members of the mallow family, and which at one time threatened to destroy hollyhocks altogether. The leaves of a plant which has been attacked become dotted with.tho characteristic black pustules, and these cover tho siorn as well as the leaves. A dense forest of threads soon bursts through tho pustules, each bearing a spore with a joint across the middle, and as one pustule will produce thousands of those double spores, ' tho disease quickly spreads. As the diseaso is inside tho leaf tissue until tho spore bearing portion is ready, it is difficult to get at with an ordinary spray. Collect and burn all badlyaffected leaves, and spray with mixture or bi-sulphate of potassium, to destroy the spores and prevent infection. Young plants are not nearly so liable to be attacked as old ones, and it is advisable to raise fresh plants from seed every year and to throw out tho old plants after they have flowered. "A.8.C.," Roslyn.—There is no need to cut back a kaka-boak plant after flowering if there is room to tip/in all the shoots to tho fence. They can be thinned out a bit, however, the strong stems being left. Violas can be,lifted', the old flowering stems cut off, and the young- growth broken up into pieces with roots attached, and replanted now for early spring flowering. For summer flowering to follow tho roses, cuttings are put into a nioo shady specially prepared bed and covered with scrim for shade and protection until they root. They can bo put in some time next month. _ " Marrow." —It would be expensive to feed your marrow on sugar and water, and you would get better results by giving the roots a good soaking with liquid manure made from either cow manure or sheep manure once a week. An ounce of nitrate of soda dissolved in two gallons of water., could take tho place of liquid manure. "Pea." —"World's Record" is one of Sutton's varieties, and seeds could bo obtained through Messrs Tothill, Ltd., Christchureh, or the local agents. " Amateur." —Your grapes are attacked by tho disease known as shanking, in consequence of which they lose their green colour and vitality before tho berries are ripe. This is usually caused by_ tho roots getting down into the cold subsoil, by overcropping, or by removing too much of tho foliago at ono time. As the remedy would

bo to lift the roots it would probably be bettor, in view of tho fact that this happens every year, to plant a new variety. There is also evidence of scalding, caused by the vinery being allowed to get too hot in the morning before tho ventilators are opened. Tho best means of preventing this is to leave a little air on the top all night and not to damp down much at closing time.