GARDEN & ORCHARD

Otago Witness, Issue 3526, 11 October 1921, Page 7

GARDEN & ORCHARD

By

D. Tannock.

WORK FOR THE WEEK. THE GREENHOUSE AND NURSERY. The nice warm, sunny weather is very suitable for bringing on the half hardy bedding plants, and those which are well established in their boxes can be placed out into the cold frames to harden off. It is still too early to place any of the geraniums or tender annuals outside altogether without covering at nights. We usually have a snow storm about the middle or end of October, and are also liable to have sharp touches of frost, which though not hard enough to kill any of the bedding plants, would do them considerable injury. Tuberous begonias are growing away now and those intended for bedding should be placed into other boxes to give them more room to develop a proper root system, which will enable us to plant them out with a good ball of soil attached later on. About 20 is enough for an ordinary seed box, and the soil should be rich and not too heavy with plenty of leaf mould and well-rooted manure in it. The large tubers can be cut into pieces, each with several good strong stems, and the cut surfaces should be rubbed with powdered charcoal to dry them up and prevent decay. Those intended for flowering in the greenhouse can be potted up either into the pots in which they are to flower or into five or six-inch ones, with a view to potting them later when growth is well advanced. The soil mixture will consist of good fibrous loam two parts, leaf mould due part, wellrotted cow or stable manure half a part, coarse sand half a part, and a liberal dusting of bone meal. Do not pot too firmly, and give one good watering. Seeds of vegetable marrows and pumpkins can be sown now to provide nice well-hardened plants for putting out later on. These members of the gourd family are very tender They cannot stand frost, and are easily damaged by strong winds. Seeds can either be sown in small pots, two or three seeds being put in each, to be reduced to one should they all germinate. A very handy method of sowing marrows when pots are not available is to use birds' nests. These are filled with nice soil. The seeds sown art? when planting out the nest and all is buried in the ground, and the roots soon find their way out through it. Both marrows and pumpkins are better when grown in frames for the first month or so; and when the weather can be relied upon the sashes can be removed and ihe plants allowed to spread at will. Long White, Long Green, and Moors’ Cream are good varieties of marrows to grow. Tomatoes should be growing rapidly now, and the nice sunny weather is just what is required to cause nice hardy, shortjointed growth with plenty of bunches of flowers. Maintain a growing but fairly dry atmosphere, give top ventilation on most days, and during the middle of the day it will be necessary to open the bottom or front ventilators when the sun is strong, but they can be shut up fairly early in the afternoons to shut in the sun heat. Those intended for planting outside can be potted in six-inch pot.s and grown in the greenhouse or frame for a little while yet. The Chinese primulas will be quite over row, and the calceolarias should he coming on to take their place. Stake them out a.s they require it, and give a little liquid manure once a week. THE FLOWER GARDEN. The daffodils are lasting very well con sidering that we have had two nor’-westers, and there has been so little rain, but they cannot last much longer now. There are still a few complaints of damage done by eel worm, but there must be a great man/ perfectly healthy bulbs in Otago judging by the magnificent display put up at the spring show held in the Art Gallery last week. It is still too early to plant out any but the hardiest of the summer flowering plants such as violas, pansies, carnations, sweet peas, antirrhinums, and pentstemonsl These can either be planted in beds by themselves or in groups in the mixed border the sweet peas being put at or near the back, either in rows, groups, or single specimens. Give them a few twigs for support until their permanent stakes are provided, and dust round them with lime to keep away slugs. Antirrhinums are such satisfactory plants, and they can be had in so many' delicate art shades that they ought to be planted exten.sively wherever possible. They stand dry weather and will flower well in poor soil. Needling weeds are beginning to make their appearance now, and the scuffle hoe ought to be kept busy in all the beds and borders. Weeds are much easier to get at and to kill now than later on when there is more growth. It is also wise to get the work in the flower garden well forward now so that all our time maj be given to the bedding out when the wallflowers and other spring flowers are over. Roses are coming on well, and where either mildew or black spot are troublesome it may be desirable to spray them with the summer Bordeaux mixture, and when they are grown for exhibition purposes it is desirable to disbud a little, removing the least desirable of the young shoots. They sometimes throw two or three shoots from a single bud. in which case the weaker ones should be removed (the centre one usually being the best) and those which are growing inwards towards the centre of the plants should also be removed. When pruning is done properly there is little need for disbuding at this time, but the opportunity for correcting mistakes made then should not he missed. Limit the number of -hoots according to the strength of the plant*. Have them ev'tily distributed round the plant, the majority being on the outside. and unless i lie flowers are all wanted at one time those of different stages of development should he left. If green fly should make ,f, appearance spray with soupy water at once, for it soon does considerable damage when the shoots are young and tender. Ramblers ar<- more susceptable than hushes, and those growing against walls and fences are the worst. THE VEGETABLE AND FRUIT GARDEN. Continue to sou and plant the main vegetable crops. Plant potatoes ami keep the soil among growing crops stirred with the scuffle line during dry weather. Tongue or Whip Grafting.- This method is generally followed when the stock and the scion are botli about the same Thickness. Grafts up to an inch in diameter

can be made in this way, but it is generally used for smaller stems. The head of the stock is cut across just- above a bud, and a. rather long sloping cut is next made, and in it a notch or tongue is made. A corresponding cut and tongue are made in the scion. The latter is then placed on the stock in such a way that the tongues (it in and the cambium layers of each come into close contact. They are then tied firmly with raffia, and either coated with grafting wax or bound up with waxed tapes, which keep out the drying winds until union takes place. Saddle grafting 'is also practised when tihe stock and the scion are about the same size. The stock is cut- into a thin wedge, and the scion cub to fit over it. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. “Passion Fruit,’’ Coal Creek. —It is more than likely that your passion fruit is dry at the roots if the root run is restricted, and if it is against a stone wall. Give plenty of water and distribute the pollen with a small brush to secure fertilisation. When the other plant comes up you should secure cross fertilisation. “A. H.’’ —The wistaria should have been pruned some time ago when the pruning of hardy trees and shrubs was advised, but if , it is in a tangle the young shoots can still be cut off, and as the flower buds are well advanced this will have to be done with great care. The seedling cyelumea should not be exposed to cold, wet weather. Spray the foliage night and morning during warm, sunny weather, and close up the frame early in the afternoon to shut in enough heat to maintain a growing temperature during tlhe night. Lilium auraturn and Richardia Elliotiana should be kept in a frame or a cool greenhouse until they flower, if this is possible. The liliuin is quite hardy, and will grow outside in a sheltered place, but the Riichardia is tender. When potting up both of these plants it is not advisable to fill the pots with soil, but to leave room for a good top-dressing of rich soil later on. “Potato.”—Your potato tuber is apparently affected with potato bacteriosis, a bacterial disease which does considerable damage in Scotland and the United States. It first attacks the stems and later the tubers, and spraying with Bordeaux mixture is recommended as for the ordinary blight. Diseased tubers should be gathered and burned, not thrown on the manure heap or left lying about. Very often when tubers grow too large the tissue in the interior is ruptured, and by the spring, this begins to rot, but your tuber shows all the signs of bacteriosis bacillus solanacearum. FLOWER SHOWS PALMERSTON AND WAIHEMO. The Palmerston and Waihemo Horticultural Society held its spring show in the Town Hall, Palmerston, on the 28th ult. It was a great success, the entries numbering over 700. The attendance was good. The narcissi growers are going in for a better class of bulbs, and the decorative work was of a very high standard, several exhibits obtaining special mention. The floral hats were quite a feature of the show. The needlework and cookery sections were all of the best quality. NEW ZEALAND FRUIT IN HAWAII. ADVICE TO SHIPPERS. The Pan-Pacific Traders, Limited, of whose Import and Export Department Mr A. Moritzson, formerly of Dunedin, is the manager, has forwarded us a report on the first shipment of New Zealand apples, together with a few pears, that arrived in Honolulu after the lifting of the embargo. The whole shipment was sent under cold storage at a temperature of about 40deg., and the fruit arrived in first-class order, excepting the pears, which were over-ripe. The prices realised for the apples were from 3 up to 4.50 dollars per case. It is suggested that apples and pears should bo shipped to Honolulu during March, April, May, June, and early July. This season the Ist of August signalised the arrival of early apples from California. They were Gravensteins, which were neither coloured nor had they any flavour. Unfortunately, the past season was an abnormal one. Crops on the coast and stocks in cold storage were heavy, so that the New Zealand apples had to face the lowprice of Californian apples, which were sold at anything from 2.50 to 3.50 dollars a case. This fruit did not compare favourably with ihe New Zealand shipment. The flavouring and colouring of the New _ Zealand apples were good—far superior lo anything from the States. Another thing that mitigated against the New Zealand shipment was the high cost this year in the dominion. The landed cost of the first shipment, with one to two months’ storage, was from 3.75 to 3.85 dollars a case. The freight is equal to 4s 9d per case. V ith a slight reduction in freight and in the prime cost, say at 8s a case, f.0.b.. New Zealand apples should be sold in Honolulu at 3.50 dollars a case. If that could be brought about it would create an increased demand and a sale of, say, 3000 cases per month for the five months named. Shippers are strongly advised to start with Jonathans, Delicious, and Munroe’s Favourites, and follow up with later varieties as the season advances, such as Scarlet Nonpareil, London Pippin, a few King David, a few Cox Orange, and Ribston Pippins when in season, and Sturmer Pip pins to finish up with. These varieties would be good sellers, and would be much appreciated. Shipments should consist chiefly of sizes from 120 to 150, very few 100’s and UO’s, and very few 165’s and 175’,5. Anything smaller than 175 is not saleable. In every case the weight of the case should not lie less than 39 or 401 b, and the cases should be wired. Uniformity of grading is essential for the Hawaiian market, as well as for exports to Canada. United Slates, South America, and England. There is a good demand in Honolulu for pears, but they should be large size and fairly hard. The William Bon Cretion (Bartlett Pearl is the first that arrives here from the States. If these pears could be shipped from New Zealand, green and hard, in cold storage, large sizes, they should arrive in Honolulu in good order and find a ready and payable market. Eating varieties are preferred to cookers, although a few of the latter would sell. There is no reason why Ihe large .Josephine and Winter Nelis should not carry, also.