GARDEN & ORCHARD.

Otago Witness, Issue 3339, 13 March 1918, Page 6

GA RDEN & ORCHARD.

WORK FOR THE WEEK. Bx D. Tannock. i - WORK FOR THE WEEK. THE UHEENHOUBE. Continue to pot up tulips, hyacinths, and narcissi for torcing, treating them as recommended in the notes of a tew weeks ago. Pot on cinerarias to their flowering pots, and place those which are estabhsiied out in the frames. Geraniums and pelargoniums which were cut over some time ago to provide cuttings, will now have started into growth and are ready, to pot up. Shake away most of the old soil, and if the roots are too strong trim them a bit; then pot them up" into pots just big enough to admit the roots and a little fine soil. Give one good watering and stand on the greenhouse bench or in a frame, and spray regularly twice a day during dry weather to encourage the new growth. When they are properly established in their pots and _are growing rapidly they can be potted into larger pots in which they will flower. Zonal pelargoniums, or as they are more commonly called geraniums, will flower quite well in comparatively small pots and seldom require more than a six-inch size. This is the best time to sow cyclamen seed, but as local seed is hard to get and the English seed has not arrived, it is seldom available until later. Cyclamen seed is fairly large as seeds go, and though pots or pans have to bo properly prepared it is far easier to raise cyclamen from seed than begonias or primulas. Six-inch pots half-filled with crocks to provide good drainage are suitable. Make up a soil mixture of loam one part, leaf mould one part and sharp sand half a part, but no manure will be required for the seedpots. Make the soil fairly firm and top off with a layer of fine soil, then dibble m the seeds at a distanc of about an inch apart and cover with a quarter of an inch of fine soil. Water, cover with a sheet of glass, and shade from bright sunshine until germination takes place. Artificial heat is • not necessary when sowing . in early autumn, but when the sowing is done in spring the pots should be placed in a heated greenhouse, or propagating pit. The seeds germinate in a peculiar way. First of all. they send up a little round tuber and from this the loaves arise later on Seedlings raised last autumn or spring will now bo in three or four inch pots, and the strongest will be ready to pot up into five or six-inch pots, in which they will flower. Spray regularly and water - carefully. The old tubers which were ripened off after flowering, and after spending some time at rest beneath the greenhouso stage, are now beginning to gro\\\ and the most forward of them can be shaken out of the old soil and potted up again, the medium sized conns being placed in six-inch pots and the larcrer into sevens and eights. Use a good soil mixture composed of rough fibrous loam one part, leaf mould half a part, well decayed manure rubbed through a sieve half a part, and sand half a part. When potting cyclamen keep the corms

on top of tho soil, spray regularly, but water sparingly until the pots are filled with roots. Cyclamen can bo grown on in frames, but are better stood on a bed of ashes in the greenhouse. THE FEOWEE GAHDEX. Dry weather and strong winds are telling .on the flower garden, and beds of dahlias, michaelmas daisies, sweet peas, and chrysanthemums will require watering and an application of liquid manure once a week. Continue to tie and stake plants in the herbaceous border, and keep the scuffle hoe going to conserve soil moisture and keep down weeds. Several of the half hardy annuals are now at their best. Dianthus are doing well, Phlox Drummondi, and petunias arc making a brave display in dry, poor soil, and, whore asters have survived the disease which attacks them at the collar, they arc very attractive. verbenas have never been better than this year. Whether planted as an undergrowth for dahlias or in largo groups in tho mixed border they are very bright; the colours are "so good and distinct, and a great improvement on tho varieties wo had a few years ago. It is unfortunate that tho disease is so bad among asters this season, that even quite largo plants are now wilting and dying off. Some years they go off badly in the boxes,; but thoso which survive do all right -when planted out. This year they did particularly well in the seedling stage, few damped oft, and they were strong when put out.. The cold, wet weather, however, about the end of December and the beginning of January seemed to give them a check, and they went off very badly at that time. They are bettor grown in new ground; and do not give them too much stable manure. The single varieties of Aster sinensis are very useful both for the garden and for cutting for house decoration. They are easy to arrange in vases, and lost some time when cut. There is a single variety called Southcoto Beauty, sent out by Messrs Sutton and Sons, which is well worth growing. The best of the double varieties are Comet and Ostrich Plume. Though double their flowers are loose, decorative, and useful for cutting. The other double kinds aro not so popular, and are neither so useful for garden decoration or for providing flowers lor cutting. Senecio clivorum is a strong growing perennial, daisy plant. It grows best in a moist and cool place, where it attains a height of about four feet. Its flowers are somewhat rough, of an orange yellow colour, its leaves are large and imposing, and altogether it is a very desirable plant for a large garden. Though a perennial and easily increased by division, it ripen 3 lots of seed, and the seedlings appear in quantities round the old plant. Another good plant for a moist position in the herbaceous border or near a pond is Lobelia cardinalis. It is a somewhat tender perennial, and in very frosty districts it might be necessary to lift the plants In the autumn, plant them in boxes, and winter them in a cold, frame. Even where it is quite hardy it is a good idea to lift the plants every year, manure the ground well, break them up into single crowns, and replant.

THE VEGETABLE GAB.DEN. * Continue to lift potatoes, store away the large- ones for use later on, and spread out a number of clean, well-shaped medium sized tubers in the sun to N green for next year's seed supply. Though the disease made a mess of the shaws and arrested the development of the tubers, the 'dry weather prevented the spores , from getting down to the tubers, and they are very little affected. Any with spots 01 blight on them should be thrown out and used at once. If stored along with good, clean tubers there is a danger of the blight sreading and affecting the others. Up to Date has, in our experience, proved by far the best variety. The crop is larger, there is a larger proportion of table tubers, and they are a better quality than the others. Cabbage, savoys, and broccoli may still be planted. They will require a good watering, and shelter and shade, as provided by sticking little bits of manuka scrub or branches round them, will be an advantage. Beans, peas, leeks, and celery will .require plentiful supplies of water during the present dry weather, and liquid manure can be given, soon after watering with clean water. Continue to clear away spent crops, such as cabbage, cauliflower, and turnips, but rows of beans and peas which have a few _ old pods on them can be left until they ripen, when they can be collected and the seeds cleaned and stored away for sowing next season. It is more than likely that vegetable seeds will be scarco next season, and it almost becomes one's duty fc> save seeds wherever and whenever possible. Beans of various kinds are among the chief vegetables available at the present time, and they are certainly very desirable. Of the edible podded beans the French bean is the favourite, and the variety Canadian Wonder is chiefly grown. They art bearing freely just now, and they must be watered and the pods picked off regularly to enable tho latest flowers to set and the pod 3 to develop. Old pods, if left on the plants, in the process Of forming seeds take up all tho available supplies- of moisture and plant food, and the young ones suffer. Only those required for seed-saving should bo left on the plants. If tho supply exceeds the .demand, thev can easily be preserved for use during tho winter. The climbing variety of French bean is useful. Stakes at least sft high should be provided, and with regular picking tho plants will continue to bear longer than the dwarf kinds. The dwarf butter bean, Fillbasket, is a useful variety. It comes in earlier than the French bean, and if the pods are not required, when young they can be allowed to ripen, and tit* dried seeds rnako an excellent vegetable during the winter. Tall-growing runners, either scarlet or white-flowered varieties, are excellent for growing up fences, and when staked and well grown produce an enormous amount of food from a very small area. If stakes are not available, they can be.grown similar to the dwarf French beans by pinching out the top of the stems from time to time. They certainly sprawl a bit, and are splendid for keeping down tho weeds among newly-planted currant and gooseberry bushes. Though tho runner beans arc usually treated as annuals, they aro perennials, forming tuberous roots, from which they grow up the following season. If it is necessary to manure the ground, they can be lifted and replanted in the spring.. The Lima beans aro rather tender to bo worth growing near Duncdin, but in warmer districts they should receivo attention. The pods can be eaten when young, like French beans, and tho seeds, when

ripened, are highly esteemed in the United States and other warm countries. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. A. II. —The cuttings of the tree sent aro from variegated willow. Cut back the main stem and prune, out any shoots which fail to show satisfactory variegation. I do not know the variety of cauliflower you mention, but Sutton's Magnum Bonum or Sutton's Purity can be shown some time this month. "Alexandra."—lt is not unusual for dahlias to sport, and plants which usually produce rod flowers may also produce & few pink or almost white ones. "Koromiko."—l have obtained the names oi somo of your plums, and hope to get the rest by another week. The plant in flower is chicory. It grows wild by roadsides, and is a very ornamental plant, I cannot place the small plant, but, as it ij all right, I shall plant it out and await developments.