GARDEN & ORCHARD.

Otago Witness, Issue 3522, 13 September 1921, Page 7

GARDEN & ORCHARD.

BY

D. TANNOCK.

WORK FOR THE WEEK. THE GREENHOUSE AND NURSERY. Continue to prick out the seedlings of half hardy annuals, and as they become established in their boxes they can ha shifted out into the frames to make room for further batches ana to harden them off. Owing to our mild winters we are able to grow such a lot of spring flowering plants that there is little room for annuals until they are over, and the end of October or the beginning of November is soon enough to plant any but the very hardiest kinds. The schizanthus will be growing rapidly, and they should be staked out to allow the blooms to develop. Give both them and the calceolarias a little weak liquid manure once a week, and watch for green fly. Place dahlia tubers into the heated greenhouse to start them into growth, and should a large stock be required cuttings can be taken off as soon as the little shoots are from two to three inches long, and rooted in little pots of light sandy roil plunged in bottom heat. It is too early to start the main lot of begonias, but a few as required for early flowering cart be placed in a box and just covered with fine soil and placed in a warm house. Give one good watering and afterwards sprinkle lightly until root action has commenced. Tomatoes for planting outside should be potted up itt small Dots, and afterwards into six-inch ones, to be grown on steadily until climatic conditions are favourable for planting out. THE FLOWER GARDEN. Complete the pruning of roses as soon as possible, mow, and roll the lawns, and continue the planting of trees and shrubs THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. To get the best out of our soils and manures it is necessary to follow a system of rotation of crops. Different crops take different quantities of the essential plant foods, and they also search different layers of the soil in search of what they require. For example, a sufraco rooting crop like onions or lettuce will exhaust the upper layers, whereas a deep rooting crop like parsnips and carrots will exhaust the lower layers. By changing the crops round we also avoid insect and fungoid pests, which thrive on one crop but cannot injure others, and the only annual crop which is best grown on the same place year after year is the onion, and it likes a change occasionally, provided the soil is well prepared for it The ideal cottage garden should be divided into three or four plots—one to be devoted to potatoes, another summer greens and pod crops, such as french beans, etc., another to root crops, and a fourth, if it is available, to winter and spring greens. Such as Brussel’s sprouts, Savoys, and broccoli. If it is not possible to have four plots the potato one should be cleared in time to plant the winter greens, and in any case where space is limited the potato patch should We made to produce a second crop of some kind. In addition to the annual crops there will be a place devoted to perennial crops, such as seakale, asparagus, and rhubarb, and a plot for gooseberries and currants. A good system of rotation is for winter and spring greens to follow potatoes, root crops to follow the winter green, the summer greens to follow the “loots. This would provide a four course rotation, and by trenching the plot in preparation for the potato crop, and by burying most of the compost heap and any other rubbish which will rot as the trenching proceeds, the whole garden is kept in a good state of cultivation. the depth of the soil increased, and additional supplies of organic matter or humus provided. Deep cultivation is essential, and liberal supplies of both natural and chemical manures have to be provided if satisfactory crops of vegetables are to be grown year after year. What is wanted s quick grown succulent tissue—not slow grown fibrous tissue devoid of flavour. Shelter is also very essential, and to provide it I always recommend sowing rows of brcao beans, peas, and runner beans at intervals through the other crops. By staking them with scrub, or twiggybranches, a very satisfactory and profitable shelter is provided, and the peas and beans having plenty of light and air on both sides produce heavy crops of pods. Broad beaus make a good outside row for the cabbage and cauliflower plot, and they are sown in a double row in a flat drill from sin to 6in wide and 2in deep thrown out with the hoe or spade. Place the seeds 6in apart on each side of the drill, give a good dusting with bone meal or basic phosphate, and draw back the soil and make it firm and smooth with the head of the rake. At 2ft from the beans plant a row or more of early cabbage such as Dwarf Early York, and one or two rows of Early London Cauliflower. In preparation for planting these the soil is first of all broken up with a fork. Then drill about three or four inches deep with a hoe at a distance of from 18in to 22in apart. By planting in the bottoms of these drills the plants are sheltered from the cold winds and the soil can 1,-e worked in as growth proceeds Where space is limited it is usual to grow a catch i ron of ludish, lettuce, or spinach between the rows of cabbage and cauliflower. The radish and summer spinach can be sown, but the lettuce are better when transplanted from a box or a frame, so that they may come on early and he cut before the peunanent crops require to be earthed up. The root crop plot is better started with a row of parsley next the path. It. forms a nice and profitable edging, and being so near the path is easily, obtained during wet weather. It is sown in a shallow drill about half an inch deep and covered with fine sod and firmed. I should mention here that it is most e.-seiifial to cover (be seeds with tine, fairly drv soil, and to make it both firm and smooth afterwards, and should the garden soil tie lurnpv or heavy it is better to fill the drills with prepared soil such as a mixture of old potting soil with a little sand and leafmould added. At a foot from the parsley sow a row of peas such as Dwarf Defiance or Telephone, anil they are better sown in a flat drill about 2in deep and sin wide, but do not sow too thickly. Dust with basic phosphate. cover, and firm. As a protection against mice and birds it is’ advisable In coat the peas, turnip, and radish seeds with red lead, and this is easily done by placing the seeds i;i a flower pot with the

hole in the bottom stopped with a cork or some old tin. Damp with a little water and add the red lead and stir round until every seed hs coated with led lead which renders them unpalatable. If not leaded they should be covered with some scrub or twiggy branches to protect them until the seeds germinate, but this should be removed as soon as the seedlings appear, and black cotton substituted. At 15 inches from the peas sow a row of summer spinach. It is a very useful crop for early sowing, as it becomes available in a short time and can be cleared out, leaving plenty of room to walk along when picking the peas. At 15 inches from the spinach sow a row of short horn carrots, the depth and manner of sowing being the same as the parsley; and at another 15 inches sow a row of Chiswick Beauty or intermediate carrot to supply the main crop of roofs. Next to the carrots, and 16 inches from them, sow a row of EarlyWhite Stone turnip, and at another 16 inches a row of Golden Ball turnip. 2 hen at another 16 inches sow a row of Egyptian turnip, rooted beet, and 13 inches from it a vow of Dell’s Crimson Beet. Beet seed is larger than turinp cr carrot, and will require to be buried a little deeper. It will now be time to put in another row of peas, but before doing so put in a row of summer spinach, and after the peas, at a foot” distance, another row of spinach, following with two rows of parsnips at 18 inches apart, a row of leeks, two rows of onions unless they are grown on a special bed, a celery trench for two rows, and finishing up with a row of peas or scarlet runners. Of course, the number of rows and their length will depend on the space available and the demand for the different crops, but this would provide for a family of five or six persons. Later on a second sowing of carrots, golden ball turnips, and garden swedes can be made, and if variety is desired, artichokes, salsafy, and chic-kory can be sown. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. “A. H.”—To get turnips during November you would require to sow in a frame or on a very early border, but for December and January you can now sow either Early White Stone or Early Snowball. Gerberas can Vie planted out. on a warm, well-drained border at a distance of 16 inches apart. Spray your plums for pocket blight with Bordeaux mixture. Begonias for bedding out should be started in a warm or heated frame, then, when growing, place them in a cold frame and gradually harden off; but it is too early to start them yet, for, being very delicate, they cannot be put out. so long as there is any danger of frost. Your cyclamen seedlings should be potted up into thumb pots and placed on a mild hotbed. Keep them growing all summer, and when they fill the small pots with roots shift on to four of five inch pots, in which they will flower the first season. I do not approve of planting them out in a bed during the summer months. They will do all right in a cold frame during the summer, but they must be sprayed regularly and shaded from strong sunshine. “Bell Glass.” —To frost a bell glass to provide shade for the cuttings, paint over with thin paint and stipple with a halfworn brush or a little ball of scrim. Na t u ra 1 i« t’ ’ (Ma u n ga t ua). —F a out t io n of the stems is usually caused through the plants getting a plentiful supply of water and food. It occurs in a great many plants, and is caused by two or more stems growing together. The dark spots on the leaves of the supplejack are due to the epidermis and green layer being eaten, probably by a caterpillar, and the white spots are scale bright. NEW ZEALAND’S INDIGENOUS PLANTS. [The project mooted by Messrs Hart and Darion, of Lawrence, for plantingveronicas in the military cemeteries of Lngiand -and France in which New Zealand soldiers are buried has created interest in many quarters, and the enterprising collectors of the most widespread example of our native flora have received many letters in support of their proposal and many offers of help in the propagation of varieties of veronica suitable for the purpose. It is gratifying to plan! lovers that there should be such a widening- of interest in our native vegetation as this movement is disclosing, for in the letters Messrs Hart and Darton have received discussion is not confined to the merits of the veronica alone. There arc many other attractive plants indigenous io New Zealand that have received far loss attention than they should have done from residents wlio.se grounds give scope for their effective display. Among those who have been for years active collectors in this part of the dominion is Mr James Speden, of Gore. Ho has shown his practical interest in the proposal put forward bv compiling a list of plants in the growing of which he has had personal experience, and concerning which lie has made useful notes for the guidance of those who are disposed to participate in the beautifying of their grounds by similar work.] Mr James Speden, of Gore, in an article published in Ujo Otago Daily Times of the 9th inst.. in giving general particulars of suitable indigenous plants for the decoration of New Zealand cemeteries in Britain and Europe, writes:— The names were taken in alphabetical order from the indi x of “ Manual of New Zealand Flora.’ All other particulars are my own, from experience gained in their cultivation anti also in collecting from their natural habitat. r l here are a number of other species of which I have had no experience, more especially those from the higher elevations of (Canterbury and elsewhere, and some of which no doubt would stand the severe weather conditions of Nor? hern France. Whether any would be able to stand the climatic conditions would have to he proved, as our climate here is more equable and the chief vegetal ion is used to more moisture in summer. The hardiest, plants grow where it is nearly always moist ami covered with snow for three or four mouths of the year. A considerable number of >pcc:es will not sfaml severe weather conditions when j’oung, bn! seem fairly liardv when grown to considerable size, hul they will not stand a waterlogged condition of the soil when it is cold. There are only a few deciduous trees and shrubs, hut wholher they would stand the ground being frozen to a considerable depth

would have to bo proved, as some are softrooted. As I mention above, however, if they are once established, and of some considerable size, and are planted in welldrained soil, with roots to a considerable depth, it is hard to say how much frost they may stand before being killed. In Gore I have noticed the following species (growing naturally and cultivated) killed by the frost of 1905, when the thermometer fell to close on zero, and when the ground was covered with snow:— Cordyline australis, Phormium t-enax, Leptospermitm scoparium, Olearia ilicofolia (the first two would spring up afresh from the root). But if ft had not been for the heavy fall of snow which lodged in the plants and opened them up to the frost they may not have been killed. Some shrubs which are found at low elevations, and which have the appearance of not being very hardy, are also found at considerable elevations. In this category are Olearia Colensoi, ilicifolia, macrodonta, and niticla; Scnecio eleagnifolius: Panax Colensoi. So, if planting any of the above, it would be advisable to obtain them from the varieties found on the most elevated exposed positions. As regards plants for Gallipoli I expect most of our vegetation would grow there if there is enough moisture, but I surmise it will get exceptionally hot and dry in summer, which only a few of our plants will stand. ah our plants are better without manure, either artificial cr stable, and if the ground is poor, leaf mould or peat mixed with the or as a top-dressing is most helpful. Nothing should appeal more to a visitor from New Zealand than the following:— •Fagus—fusca and Mcnziesii; Metrosideros lucida; Griselinia littoralis; Pittosporum tenuifolinm; Mvrsine —divirieata and Urvillea ; Leptosperum—scoparium; Sophora tetraptera; Phyllocladus alpinus; Pser.dopannx crassifolium ; Olearia —several; Aristotelia racemosa; Cordyline australis; Dracophyllum iongifolium ; Cassinia; Discaria tamatau; Coprosma—several; Veronica—several; Acsena —several; Aciphylla Colensoi; Raoulia —several; Celirrsia—several; Arundo conspicua; Danthonia Cunninghami; Phormium; Poa eaespitosa; Astclia.