GARDEN & ORCHARD.

Otago Witness, Issue 3443, 9 March 1920, Page 9

GARDEN & ORCHARD.

By D. Tannock.

WORK FOR THE WEEK. THE GEEENHOUSE AND NUESERY. 'Pot plants in the greenhouse, such as ferns, palms, asparagus, and other foliage plants should bo looked over, and those "which have exhausted their soil and become pot bound shifted into larger pots. Of oourse plants which are used for house decoration stand better, and are more useful when grown in comparatively small pots, but there is no use leaving them to become starved and yellow. Don't give a shift of any more than two sizes, for example from a six-inch pot to a eight-inch one would be quite enough. Those which don't require to be re-potted' can have their drainage seen to, if the crocks are blocked up with mud, remove. them and put in some clean ones; remove a little of the surface soil which is free of roots, and give a top-dressing of good turfy loam, leafmould, bonedust, or Olay's fertiliser; ram the new soil until it is as firm as the ball of' roots and make quite level. Water carefully with the rose on the watering can to prevent the new soil from being washed out, and keep the house closer a little for a week until the roots get into the new soil. Syringe the plants both night and morning and maintain a growing atmosphere. The tuberous begonias are about their best, though they will continue to flower for 'some time yet, but the blooms will not be so large. Give a little weak liquid manure twice a week and maintain a moist growing atmosphere. Be sure to pinch out all the side buds on the double varieties. The chrysanthemums are forming their buds, and they will require to be looked over frequently, to rub out all the shoots which form round the bud, and to destroy any lurking caterpillars or aphis. Give a little weak liquid manure twice a week and water very carefully. The recent showers will hav helped the wallflower plants which were lined out some time ago, Run the scuffle hoe through them to shut in the moisture and to encourage growth. It is now time to put in geranium cuttings, but owing to the cold backward weather, early in the season, they are just starting to make satisfactory growth and to flower freely. One hesitates to commence to take cuttings and probably they will be ripened a bit more in another fortnight, but when there are a few odd plants grown iu odd corners to supply cuttings they will be ripened sufficiently, and a start can be made. A good heap of soil should be prepared, the useful cutting mixture of loam ■aot necessarily very turfy, two parts, leafaiould one and a-half parts, sand half a part. Mix thoroughly and store away in a dry shed, or if left outside cover it over with sheets of iron or "old doors. _ Mix up some crocking material consisting of the riddlings out of the loam and loafmould, and some short strawy manure. Pots or boxes can be used. If only a few are required six-inch pots will do, the cuttings being placed round the inside of the pot. When large quantities are required rooting them in the boxes is the most suitable. The boxes can be prepared by placing ©bout two inches of the crocking

material in them and making them firm. Fill up the boxes to about an inch from the top with the cutting soil and press it firmly with a brick or levelling tool, sprinkle a layer of clean sand on top and smooth again. Take young, ripened shoots about 6 inches long for cuttings, and cut them carefully from all over the beds so that their appearance won't be" spoiled. Collect in a sack and take to the potting shed, where they are to be mad 9. Have a sharp, clean, thin-bladed knife, and keep the oilstone handy to rub it up from time, to time. Cut the stems straight across jiist belpw a joint; remove the stipules or winged-like green things which are found on either side of the leaf stalk, and the leaves from the portion which is to be put into, the ground. If the stems ar© verv soft they can be spread out for a day to allow the cut surfaces to dry up, but there is no advantage in leaving them to shrivel up before they are put in. When inserting them in the pots or boxes make a hole with a little dibbler, called a propagating _ peg, _ about two inches deep, put in the cutting with the cut end resting on the little bed of sand in the bottom of the hole, press the soil firmly round it, and after the box is full give _ the box a dump to level it. Place out in a frame or on the sparred bench in the greenhouse,, water, and leave fully exposed to the sun. They may wilt a little at first, but they will soon pick up and form roots in a comparatively short time, but the great trouble is clamping off. They usually go at the surface of the soil, and the only remedy is to maintain a dry atmosphere, and not to over water. THE FLOWER GABDEN. Continue to plant out narcissi and other bulbs, also Canterbury bells, primrose, polyanthus, and wallflowers in the positions they are to flower in next season. Keep the dahlias thinned out and tied up to their stakes, scuffle hoe all beds and borders and keep the lawns mown and the grass verges clipped. THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. Take advantage of the cool, moist weather to plant out cabbage and broccoli for next spring and to transplant leeks and silver beet-. Keep the soil cultivated among all growing crops, and, unless you desire to do a little seed-saving, all spent crops and old cabbage roots should be cleared away.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. " T. R.," Southland. —Onions can be sown now to provide young plants for salads in tKe spring, and another sowing can be made about the end of August to provide a succession. I cannot explain why your spring transplanted onions should run to seed, but this has not been a good onion season. Celery can receive its first earthing up now, and later on, when the growth is about finished, it can receive its final earthing. Before commencing earthing up remove all suckers and a few of the old, short, outside leaves, tie the plants up with some soft material, break up the soil before throwing it in, and then pack it with the hands round each stem, and then cut the Be careful not to allow any of the soil to get in among the leaves, and, if slugs are troublesome, dust the bottom of the trench with soot or lime before filling in the soil. - "Otaki."—The yellow, lupin is the best plant you can have for stopping drifting sand and for forming humus, which in time will be sufficient to grow other trees and shrubs. The best way is to sow the lupin seeds among the marram grass and to allow thern to grow for three or more years before clearing them off. They will then have deposited several inches of humus on the surface and left quantities of the nodulebearing, nitrogen-collecting nodules in the soil. You can grow almost anything in the sand provided it is kept moist and a sufficient quantity of organic matter is present. "M.M," Owaka. —Probably the soil in which your sweet peas were growing was too wet and cold in the early summer. This would cause the buds to drop off. Too much manure would also cause them to drop, but I expect that the plants are all right now, and growing strong. In future drain the trenches well if they require it, and make the soil fairly firm. "Native." —Sorry I cannot name the native plant, for you sent without a flower.

When it flowers you might forward a bit, also part of the stem. "Vine."—l cannot see any signs of disease on your vino leaves, and consider the change of colour due to natural ripening off. The leaves sometimes become scalded during very warm weather through lack of ventilation.

"Orchardist." Cupressus Lawsoniana makes a very satisfactory hedge and breakwind. It transplants well, and grows rapidly, but I fail to see why you do not want Cupressus macrocarpa. Plant in holes 18 inches wide and two feet deep, at a distance of from three to four feet part, and the best time to plant would be in May. "Potato," Picton.—Potatoes are longer in ripening off than usual this season, but they can be dug and stored away as soon as the skins are firm. There is no heed to be in any hurry to dig them unless there are signs of disease, or a danger of them starting a second growth. The things which you describe are stem tubers, and it would be a mistake to use any tubers from such, plants for seed. They aire usually found when the shaws are very strong owing to excessive moisture and farmyard or other organic manure.

DOTEDIN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

AUTUMN SHOW. The Autumn Show of the Dunedin Horticultural Society was opened on the 3rd inst., in the Art Gallery Hall, and continued throughout the evening. In many respects the fixture was not the success of former autumn shows, the chief reason being that quite a number of entries in the cut flowers sections did not come forward. This was particularly . noticeable in the classes for sweet peas. Only one entry was staged in the open class and two in the amateur championship competition. Whatever the cause of the failure of those who entered in these sections to bring forward their exhibits, this much must he admitted, that the absence of big exhibits of sweet peas from the show was most noticeable. The principal exhibitor in this class was Mr Jas. Reid, of Kaitangata, who staged some very fine blooms of the popular varieties, such as Golden . Glory, Royal Purple, Charity, King George, Melba, Barbara, King White, and Duchess of Portland. Possibly the most beautiful bloom in this collection was Barbara, but King George, a very fine mauve, and Golden Glory were true to type and colour, while King White, too, was a fine specimen of the strain. The feature of the cut flowers section was tho gladiola exhibited by Mr John Whyte» of Anderson's Bay. The blooms were simply perfect. Mr T. O'Brien and Mr H. S. Hungerford exhibited some excellent dahlias. The former's consisted of the collarette variety, while the latter's were of the cactus variety. These blooms attracted considerable attention, and they merited the interest taken in them by the public. The vegetable section was perhaps the strongest in tho show, some splendid potatoes, carrots, turnips, peas, cabbage, and cauliflowers being the chief features' of the section, The fruit exhibited was good, particularly the apples and plums, which, though few in number, were of particularly fine quality. The display of vegetables hi the school children's section was good, but hardly came up to what has been exhibited by the different schools at past shows. The entries in the decorative section were not so large as at former shows, but the quality of the work done was really good. The table decorations were most artistic. A table _ decorated by Mrs P. Barling, for exhibition purposes only, was ■very pretty.- A former successful exhibitor in the art section at the show in Miss MTntyre was not present, she being engaged judging at the Palmerston Show. There was only a moderate display of roses, but one or two blooms were noticeable. For instance there were some good specimens of Hugh Dickson and George Dickson. A new section in the show was that confined to herbs, and Mrs J. D. Hay, of Mornington, exhibited a rare collection". Mr E. J. Halsted had a fine lot of pot plants,, for exhibition purposes only, and these comprised palms and maidenhair ferns. They were very, much admired. There was a good attendance of the public at the hall in the evening the proceedings being enlivened by a programme of music supplied by Beath's orchestra.

A shipment of 25,000 narcissus bulbs, which arrived at Auckland recently from Holland, via England, was condemned on arrival owing to the whole shipment being infected by the narcissus fly. • ' The fly had hatched out on the voyage, and some were found to be alive on arrival.