GARDEN & ORCHARD.

Otago Witness, Issue 3782, 7 September 1926, Page 11

GARDEN & ORCHARD.

WORK FOR THE WEEK.

By

D. Tannock.

THE GREENHOUSE AND NURSERY. This is still a busy time under class. The seedlings of half hardy beddinc plants have to be pricked out as soop as he vare large enough to handle, dahlias and tuberous begonias have to be brought in. watered, and started into growth and there is the usual Dotting to be attended to. Growth is now more rapid with or without fire heat, but ventilating has to be done with great care for the young tender growths can not stand cold draughts. Some of the hardier of the annuals can now be placed out in cold frames. They should be given a little air bv tilting up the top of the sashes gradually' giving more until they can be thrown open when weather conditions are favourable. It is also necessary to shade them from the strong sun for the first few davs. Chrysanthemums, which were put in as cuttings some time ago. will now be rooted and as the cutting soil is poor and only intended for the formation of roots (not growth) thev should be notted on to either three or four inch pots. A soil mixture Composed of two parts of good fibrous loam, half a oart of well-rotted manure and half a part of leafmould and the same quantity of sham sand, with a dusting of bone meal will be suitable. As growth is desired they should not be potted too firm, and at first they are better stood on a bed of ashes in the greenhouso and sprayed regularly to prevent wilting. . When the roots have penetrated the new soil the plants can be placed out in a cold frame and gradualv hardened off. Another batch of cuttings can be put in to provide a succession. THE FLOWER GARDEN. The present is an interesting time in the flower garden as trees and shrubs are coming into flower, bulbs of various kinds are pushing up rapidly and already a few of the earlier daffodils are in flower, the promise of more to follow. As soon as the roses are pruned and the beds and borders due the garden is as neat and tidy and as free of weeds as at anv season.

Hardy annuals arc very useful for filling in blanks in the mixed borders and for filling newiv formed borders and filling up the spaces among newly planted shrubs. Like all other hardy plants, they have been much improved during recent we have many beautiful shades among godetias. clarkias. candytufts, poppies, etc. Soil for hardy annuals should be fairly rich for unless they make reasonably good growth thev produce only a few flowers and then run to seed. The soil should be broken up to a depth of three or four inches, with the digging fork, taking care to keep the fine soil on the surface, and then made fine and level with the rake. When sowing small patches in a small border, a good method is to form a circle by pressing the rim of a 6in or Bin pot into the soil to a depth of two inches. Sow the seeds thinlv round the circle and either cover with specially prepared soil or rake in some fine soil and firm. When sowing a border of annuals the patches should be of irregular outline, and care should be taken to have the spike or racome flowered kinds distributed among the head, or .flat growing kinds, such as chrysanthemums and candytufts. Generally the taller kinds should be at the back, with the medium and dwarf kinds at or near the front. When sowing a considerable quantity of annuals it is better to prepare a good heap of nice light clean soil as free from seeds of weeds as possible* and to every barrowload of this can be added two six-inch potfuls of bone meal.

After making the surface fine and smooth mark out each group with the handle of the rake and stick in the labels where each kind is to go. Sow the seeds evenly all over each patch, press them into the soil with the head of the rake, and then cover evenly with the prepared soil, the covering varying according to the size of the seed, from a quarter of an inch for the very fine kinds to an inch for the larger ones. Again firm the surface with the head of the rake or the back of the spade t and to protect them from birds and maintain a moist condition cover all over with a few pieces of twiggy branches, which are removed as soon as termination takes plhce. Should slugs be troublesome, give frequent dustings with freshly slaked lime. VEGETABLE AND FRUIT GARDEN

Complete the winter spraying of all kinds of fruit troes as soon as possible and fork or otherwise cultivate the ground round them Make up a hotbed for growing on lettuce, and at the same time sow a few seeds of vegetable marrows, which will come on gradually and take the place of the lettuce later on. Make sowings of early varieties of the different vegetables, and fork or dig over the ground in preparation for sowing and plinting the main crop kinds. FUNGOID PESTB. Aa a rule fungoid pests are more troublesome than insect ones, for the mischief is usually done before there are aiiy indications of the presence of the blight. Prevention is therefore better than try-

ing to attempt a cure, and is the object we have in view when spraying during the winter or early spring. During the time the plants are at rest it is possible to apply a much more powerful spray, but unfortunately most of the pests have a winter or resting stage when they are more difficult to destroy. Mildew is a very troublesome disease. We find it very bad on roses, especially during the late summer and autumn. It also attacks apple trees, causing considerable damage to the young growths. It is troublesome on both the edible and the sweet peas, and frequently appears on the chrysanthemums after they have been placed in the greenhouse. It also attacks vines, hops, onious, and many other cultivated plants. The rose mildew (Sphaerotheca pannosa) is a very troublesome disease, and usually appears in two waves. The first, which is generally slight, occurs soon after the leaves are fully expanded. The second wave appears about midsummer, when the young wood has made considerable growth and the flowers have begun to appear. On the leaves it forms a very delicate white mildew-, and they soon look powdery, as if they had been sprinkled with flour. If the mildew is examined under the microscope at this stage it will be seen that it consists of numerous slender branches of mycelium, bearing quantities of erect chains of spores. When quite ripe these spores become free and accumulate on the surface of the leaf, giving rise to the powdery appearance just mentioned. The moment the spores are ripe they are capable of germination, and, being easily blown about by the wind, soon spread all over the garden. Those which alight on the moist surface of a healthy rose leaf or young shoot soon germinate, and within a few days give origiu to the mould-bearing spores, which in turn are dispersed As a side an epidemic is due to the spread of the summer spores, and when we have warm, moist weather the conditions are very favourable for Tie spread of the disease. During earjy summer the leaves curl and fall, producing only the summer fruit of the fungus, but later there are also disease patches on the young shoots, and the fruit, which is thick and felty, covered with patches of a dingy w-hite colour, which persist until, late in the season. The patches on the fruit and the shoots produce spores of a more complicated character, whose function is to continue the species in time or to secure a continuance from year to year. The winter fruits of the rose mildew may remain on the plants until the spring, or they may fall to the ground and remain there until growth commences. In the spring, when the rose leaves are expanding the spores of the winter fruit are set free, and. being blown about by the wind, some light on the moist surface of the young foliage, where they germinate, enter the tissue of the leaves, and soon give rise to the summer form of the fungus. After the diseased leaves and fruits have fallen the plants are more or less free from the disease, and would remain so unless a fresh inoculation of the leaves occurred the following season. It is, therefore, most important that all the primings be collected, that all leaves and fallen fruits be gathered up, and everything burned which is likely to harbour the winter form of the blight. Spraying or dusting is more or less a preventive measure. Spraying will not cure a disease, but if properly and promptly carried out it will prevent the spread of the disease by destroying all spores that may have been deposited on the leaves of healthy plants; and, furthermore, as the fungicide adheres to the foliage for some time, it destroys all spores which alight on the leaves before they germinate and enter the tissue.

The first spraying is done immediately after pruning has been carried out, the leaves and twigs gathered up, and the beds and borders dug. We usually use commercial lime sulphur, but Bordeaux Mixture (winter formula) would also be satisfactory. For summer spraying we use potassium sulphide, loz dissolved in three gallons of soapy water. The soap helps to make it stick, and it also destroys any green fly which may be lurking about. It is much better to anticipate fungus diseases than to wait until they appear, and as spraying or dusting is not very troublesome it should be considered part of the ordinary routine. Dusting with flowers of sulphur mixed with one-third of its volume of quick lime checks the disease, but this method is more effective under glass than in the open, where it is very liable to be washed off by rain. Mr Massce recommends spraying roses with' sulphuric acid, one part to 1500 of water, and considers it a certain cure.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. “11. E. M.,” Carson street.—The weed sent on is the mouse-ear ehickweed. Cerastium nrven.se, and vou could get it out of your lawn by raking it frequently with a steel* rake An application of lawn sand or sulphate of ammonia, is also satisfactory. “Jimmy,” Dunedin. Your begonia tubers would be newly imported wheq you got them in February. * If thfey have been kept dry during the winter, they can be brought into the greenhouse now, and watered when thev start to grow. “Southland.”—Daphne mezereum could obtained through any of the seedsmen of nurserymen in Dunedin. The blue spiraea is not at all like the manuka, but is a nice sub-shrub, and Coronilla varia is quite a suitable plant for a small garden. “H. K. L.” Milton.—The following fruit trees should be suitable for your district: Apples—lrish Peach, Cox’s Orange Pippin Ribstone Pippin, Jonathan, Hawthornden, Delicious, Scarlet Nonpareil, Ballarat Seedling, Newtown Pippin, Peasgood’s Nonsuch, Sturmer? plum—Cherry Plum, Burbank, Pond’s Seedling, and Coe’s Golden Drop; pears as you suggest will be suitable. The preparation of the holes as described is all right, but make sure of good drainage. “Amateur,” Dunedin.—lf you are just begining the cultivation of tomatoes under glass you need not fear any disease, and if you ventilate carefully and maintain a dry atmosphere your plants will remain quite healthy. Nitrate of potash and phosphate, os recommended by Cousins, would be suitable for top-dressing when the roots have fully occupied the soil.