GARDEN & ORCHARD.

Otago Witness, Issue 3442, 2 March 1920, Page 9

GARDEN & ORCHARD.

Bx D. Tannock.

<s WORK FOR THE WEEK. THE GKEENHQUSE AND HURSEBX The continuous lino weather has made fire-heat almost unnecessary, except in the tropical houses, and there, by shutting up the ventilators early in the afternoon, a considerable amount of warmth can be shut in to assist the lire-heat. The top and bottom ventilators should be kept open all night in .the greenhouse; a little top air can be given to vineries in which grapes are ripening, and the tomato houses should get plenty of air at all times. Continue to pot up the cinerarias and primulas, and as soon as the former aro established in their pots they can be shifted out into the frames. They will require to be shaded during the day, but the sashes can be removed at night to allow the dew to fall upon the plants. Cinerarias are very liable to attacks of leaf miner, green fly, and caterpillars.. Fumigating with X. L. and Nicoticide will kill the lot, and spraying with "clensel soap" will destroy the green fly. '■ As soon a 9 the pelargoniums break into growth they can be shaken out of their pots, their roots pruned a bit if they are too long, and then potted up into sin or 6in pots; jusjt a little more than will take the , ball of roote. It is better to pot up into comparatively small pots a,t first, and then, when growth is active, to pot on to the larger sizes in which they will flower. Use a rough mixture composed of fibrous loam two parts, leaf-mould one part, and half a part old mortar rubble if it can be got, and a 6in potful of bone meal to every barrowload of the mixture. Pot firmly, and stand on the greenhouse bench, where they can be sprayed twice a day to encourage the young growth. THE FLOW Ell GARDEN.

Continue to water and feed the dahlias, roses, and Michaelmas daisies, and border chrysanthemums, but most of the_ other occupants of the flower .garden will got on all right without watering, except where the soil is very light and sandy. Hardy annuals are flowering well this season, and though a few are rather short-lived, others will continue right on until we get frost to cut them down. The rambler roses are over now, and the old flower stems should be cut off to make them look neat and tidy until it is time to prune. It is possible to out away the stenig which have flowered now but we found that pruning too early caused the buds on the stems which were left to grow out prematurely,, and they had to be pruned off later on, which meant the loss of some of the best buds. - Remove all plants a s they go out of flower, manure, and dig over the empty beds and the open spaces in the mixed borders in preparation for planting; the spring-flowering plants as soon as wo get the necessary rain. Advantage should be taken of the dry weather and the lack of such maintenance work as weeding and grass-cutting, to trench or dig any new beds that are desired or the biennials or the roses Bulbs can be cleaned, sorted, and planted, and the lawns and beds kept neat and tidy, even though they may be a little hrovrn..

There are quite a number of autumn flowering bulbs and corns, and they are specially useful during a dry season,, they seem to flower all the better. Gladioli are not nearly so popular as they used to be, or as they deserve. By many they are considered stiff and formal, but they are very useful for both house and garden decoration, and they remain in flower for a long time. The late flowering kinds are mostly hybrids of Gladiolus gandavensis and G. branchleyensis, and the principal forms are Ohildsii, Nanoeanus, Groffs, Gandavensis, and Lemoinei. The four first named are very similar in form, having large, open flowers of brilliant colours, and often very conspicuous blotches of deeper colour. They are mostly strong growers, which delight in deeply-cultivated, well-manured ground, and they require some kind of support. They can be planted in groups in the herbaceous or shrubbery borders, in beds carpeted by a lower growing creeping plant", such as phlox drummandi or verbenas, or- in large beds with a dwarf plant round the margin as an edging. Groffs' hybrids show a greater variety than Ohildsii. They are a strong-growing race with a great range oT both colourings and markings, though gandavensi is the favourite with exhibitors, "and when extra special care is taken with their cultivation they can be made to produce long spikes. Groffs hybrids prbduce seed in great abundance, and as thev flower in the second season,, this is a very satisfactory method of increasing the stock. The seed should be sown as soon as it is ripe, either in a box of light, sandy soil or in a well-drained seed bed in the open. They germinate readily and before the end of the season they have made very satisfactory foliage. When they ripen down they can be lifted, and after drying stored away in a cool place for the -winter; In the early spring they can be lined out in nursery rows rr planted in a specially prepared bed at a distance of three to six inches apart, and nine to 12 inches between the rows. Most of them will flower, when the best can be selected for further planting, and the undesirable ones thrown out. « The Lemoinei varieties have hooded flowers, which have been obtained by crossing the gandavensis varieties with G. purpurea auratus. which has the upper petals curved inwards, and though their colourings and markings are very fine they, do not show so well in the flower garden unless they ai-e staked up. Galtonia candicans, the Cape hyacinth, ; s a noble bulb from the Cape, with spires of white, waxy, bell-like blossoms, one inch and a-half long on stems of . four feet to s:x feet high, which are produced in late summer and autumn. It is quite hardy, and of easy cultivation in light sandy or well-drained soil, and though they do not require to be lifted every year, they soon exhaust the soil and are better when lifted every two or three years, when the soil can Be deeply dug or trenched and well manured with half-rotted stable manure. The bulbs can be planted back at once, as there is no advantage in keeping them out of the ground, „and if the soil is inclined to be heavy a handful of sand can be placed below each bulb to provide good drainage. They can be increased by means of offsets or raised from seed, the seedings flowering about the fourth year after sowirfi 1 - Thev can be planted in groups in the mixed border or the shrubbery border, or planted in large beds with a suitable groundwork. Crinums are also handsome bulbous plants, growing to a height of from 3ft to 4ft, flowering late in summer or early autumn, the largo fun-nel-shaped pink blossoms being produced in umbels of 10 to 15 blooms, on a stout stern. Though many of the crinums are tropical there are a few natives of South Africa,, which are almost hardy, and both Crinum powellii and C. Moorci thrive when planted in a. Warm, well-drained border at the foot" of_ a. wall or some such-like sheltered position. They have to be planted very deep to protect the bulbs from tho frost, and they should also be mulched with strawy manure or leaves during the winter. In the spring they look very miserable as a rule, but soon begin growth, and they should be assisted with abundance of \vater and liquid manure during thr> summer. Amaryllis belladonna (the belladonna illy) is a hardy bulb, not at all particular

as to soil, but it prefers a rich, well-drained sandy one, and is best when planted in a border in front of a, wall or fence. _ The rose pink flowers are produced in the autumn, and precede the foliage, which is produced in the spring, and should have plenty of room for development, and be carefully preserved until they mature. The bulbs are planted Gin deep, and they are better when left undisturbed for years. Zepharanthus (zephyr flower). These are beautiful little plants, which thrive in a warm border at the foot of a wall or on the rock garden. THE VEGETABLE AXD FRUIT GABDE2T. Cultivate among growing crops and, where possible, water beans, peas, vegetable marrows, cabbage, cauliflower, and celery, applying liquid manure after watering with clean water. Dig potatoes, and as the digging proceeds select medium-sized tubers of good shape from the plants which produce the heaviest crops, for seed. I have just heard that the potatoes in some districts were cut down by frost, and had an inquiry as to what was best to do with them. There is no use leaving them in the ground, they Will not increase any more now that tho foliage has gone, and it will be better to lift them and get the ground ready for a winter crop. Raspberries which have finished fruiting can have the old canes cut out and the best of the new ones tied up to enable them to ripen Loganberries require similar treatment. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. "J. A.," Shag Valley. —The scab on your potato is only skin .deep, and though it locks bad, and reduces the value of tho crorj,, it does not spoil them for cooking. It is usually due to acidity in the soil, and as most soils were wet and sour during the early months of the season, this may have caused it. When the tubers come into direct contact with rank stable manure the skins are often damaged When quite young, causing scab. The remedy is good drainage, thorough cultivation and liming, and if stable manure is applied it should be spread on the surface and ploughed in during the autumn or winter. "Potato," Diiiedin.—For the early crop in Otago I would recommend Jersey Bennsa, for second early Sutton's Stipreme, and Up-to-Date, and for main crop Arran Chief. But if you get a good strain of Up-to-Date and sprout them you will find that they will do for early, second early, and main crop. Get some sets now, or select them from your own crop as described, green them, and stand them on end in sprouting boxes, which can be kept in the open all winter if there is no danger of frost, and stored in a cool, airy shed, if there is such a danger.

NEW ORCHARD DiSEASE.

IDENTIFIED BY AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT. WELLINGTON, February 23. The somewhat mysterious outbreak of disease in Auckland and in the Bay of Plenty orchards has now been identified by the biological branch of the Department of Agriculture as Bacillus Amylovorus BurFell, commonly known in America as fire blight. This disease has been responsible for an enormous amount of damage to some fruits in that country, and consequently its appearance in the dominion has been dreaded by those interested in the fruit industry. In New Zealand the disease has been discovered in apples, pears, quinces, ' and hawthorn hedges. La. America it is also known to attack medlar, and various species of pyrus. The disease attacks and kills the blossom and the young shoots. v lt is readily recognised by" the leaves withering and dying and remaining attached to the diseased parts at the base of the infected spurs and twigs. Cankers form, which rapidly spread, and frequently ring bark the limb, thereby causing its death. Where infection is severe, the tree is killed outright. As this is a .bacterial disease, the only 'known remedy is to cut away and immediately burn all diseased parts.