GARDEN & ORCHARD.

Otago Witness, Issue 3806, 22 February 1927, Page 11

GARDEN & ORCHARD.

WORK FOR THE WEEK. By D. Tanhock. THE GREENHOUSE AND-NURSERY. 'Growth under glass is still very satisfactory, and all flowering plants are doing well. The young seedlings of primulas, cinerarias, and calceolarias are also doing well, and these will have to be shifted on as soon as the roots penetrate the soil and before they become pot bound and stunted. Primula obcomica, unlike some of the other kinds, can be propagated quite satisfactorily by dividing up the old plants. These have started to grow again after a short rest. They will require regular watering, and by top-dressing them with light sandy soil they are encouraged to make new surface roots before they are broken up Cyclamen raised from seed 'this season should now be ready to pot on to sin pits in which they will flower, and the old corms will require water occasionally to enable them to resume growth gradually. Overhead spraying twice a daj®is recommended. Tomatoes, both indoors and out, will soon have reached their maximum growth, and the tops can be pinched. Those in the open cannot be''expected to ripen more than five bunches of fruit, but the indoor ones should • manage seven. Chrysanthemums growing in tins or pots for big blooms will now be showing their buds. These are taken, and all the growths which arise lower' down rubbed off. The singles and decorative kinds can be allowed to go on to the terminals, and, if desirable, the buds can be thinned out to five on each spray. A little liquid manure can be given occasionally, and a light top-dressing with good loam, to which has been added some Clay’s or other concentrated fertiliser, is an advantage. THE FLOWER GARDEN. The lifting of spring flowering bulbs should now be completed and arrangements made for re-planting them. Grape hyacinths, which are so useful in the spring, begin to grow very early, and their foliage is now appearing above the Aground. These can still be transplanted, however, and as they are the most vigorous blue flowered plant we have in the spring, they should be planted for carpeting shrubbery beds and borders. As soon as carnations are_past their best the young shoots which arise round the base of the'flower stem (called grass) can be layered to provide plants for next season. Though carnations will continueto flower for several years, they aie more satisfactory when layered and re-planted annually. They can also be grown from cuttings, and this is the best method of increasing Allwoodii and other garden and alpine pinks. The young growths about three or four inches long are selected. These are cut across immediately below a joint, and the stem is split up through the node, and the tips of the leaves are cut off. Boxes of sandy soil are prepared, with a layer of clean sand on top, and the cuttings are pushed down into this, not put in with a peg like other cuttings. The boxes are watered and stood in a cool propagating house or frame, and shaded from the sun. THE VEGETABLE AND FRUIT GARDEN. , Continue to plant broccoli and spring greens, to cultivate among growing and to water if necessary; also to clear off all spent crops and to dig potatoes. STRAWBERRY CULTIVATION. There are few fruits more esteemed than the strawberry, and as its cultivation is comparatively simple and can be carried out in so many different ways, it is specially suitable for a email town garden. It can ba grown in breaks or bads in the large garden, as an edging for paths or in odd

sunny corners in an ordinary garden, on rocky walls or rockeries where space is limited, and in a barrel when no other position is available. Strawberries like a good, deep, fairly heavy loam. They must have good drainage at all limes and plenty of moisture during the growing season, but any kind of garden soil can be so cultivated and manured as to make it suitable. Light gravelly soils will require plenty of stable manure dug in, and if a little clay or stiff loam can be added so much the better. is essential, and it is a good practice to trench a piece of ground, to bury in quantities of compost heap of fresh strawy manure, and then take off a crop of early or second early potatoes. When the potatoes are dug the ground can be levelled over roughly and a liberal drossing of well-rotted farmyard manure dug in. The surface can then be levelled, all stones raked off, and clods broken down, and. if at all dry, it can be tramped over to make it firm. If the soil is wet the tramping and firming will have to be omitted. If the runners were layered, as was advised some time ago, they should be well rooted by now, and the end of the present month is a suitable time to do the planting. . Planting can take place at any time during the autumn or spring, but by getting well rooted plants out early they become established, and before winter sets in they form good crowns, and will fruit the first season. Mark out the rows at 2ft apart, and put the plants Ift apart in the rows if it is intended to remove every second plant; if not then they should bo 2ft apart in the rows. Plant firmly and place tho crown just above the level of the soil, give one good watering to settle the soil and if the weather should be hot and dry continue to spray them overhead in the evenings until we get heavy dews. Strawberries make an excellent edging for the paths in the vegetable garden, they are much more profitable than boxwood or echiverias and they will grow anywhere except under the shade of fruit bushes or fruit trees. The position they ~,a ' e occupy should be deeply dug, a liocral dressing of farmyard manure being worked in, and when preparing the surface a ,s uatlt *ly °f lime rubble can be mixed wth the sod. The plants can be put out in a single row at from 13in to 18in apart, or in a double row alternating with one another at 2ft apart, ' As a rule it does not pay to keep strawberries fruiting for more than three years; at the end of that time they have grown up out of the ground, the crowns become overcrowded and the fruits are small It. is better to adopt a system of rotation and to plant a portion of the bed or row every year say one-third, and this will ensure regular supplies. When growing them on a rockery or a dry wall it may be necessary to renew the soil when planting and to plant every second year. Strawberries can be grown in barrels; boles are made in the bottom tor drainage, and others cut in the sides at a distance of from 15in to 18in apart Some rough material is placed in the bottom, and the barrel filled up with good loam a core of rough , material being placed in the centre to secure good aeralion and assist drainage The plants are put in as the soil reaches the holes until the barrel is filled right up and a few .plants can be put on the top. Stand the barrel in an open sunny position, and water well during the growing season. During autumn the young plantations should be gone through frequently all runners being pinched out, and all' old leaves cut away and the soil stirred frequently with the scuffle hoe. Plants which have fruited also require attention, all old fruit stalks and decaying leaves being cut off, and runners not' required for increasing the stock being removed. It is necessary to think of the mulching early in the growing season before the flower buds open, and stable manure with plenty of straw is found to be the best material The droppings are shaken out of the litter and put on first, the straw being spread evenly over the top. The rains wash the soluble plant food down to the roots and by the time the fruits develop the straw is quite clean. Straw require a great deaf of water, and an occasional watering or -.praying with the soapy _ water from washing will keep green fly. in check, but it will not “Jo to apply this after the fruits h-‘ve stilted to develop. There are a great many varieties of strawberries, but these can easily be reduced. to a few well-fenown and reliable kinds. Laxton’s Noble is a favourite because it produces very large and handsome berries of a flattish globular shape, the colour being bright scarlet, but the flavour is rather poor. It is not such a strong grower as the American kinds, and should be planted at the minimum distance mentioned. Madam Melba is considered by some to be the best variety for the -warmer districts which has ever been raised. It is a large fruit, colour glossy scarlet, flesh very firm, and for the private grower it has the advantage of ripening gradually, thereby extending the season. This is a vigorous variety, and will require more room than Laxton’s Noble. Fillbasket is a variety raised from Royal Sovereign, its colour being bright scarlet, flesh firm, with no hollowness in the centre. This is a remarkable cropping variety, with a robust and compact habit, leaves thick and leathery, and resisting mildew. The American varieties are strong growers, bearing quantities of attractive fruit, not very large, but of good flavour. They are more suitable for edgings and dry banks, than the other varieties mentioned, and are'the beat kinds for rock walls or barrels. Owing to their vigour they require the maximum distances mentioned, and could be replanted every second year if necessary. To produce good runners without inter-, feting with the cropping, a few plants c be put out on a border at a considerable distance apart, and all the runners pegged down as they develop.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. “Roses,” Kaikorai. —The best time to put in cuttings is in the early autumn, but I will describe the method at the right season. It is not advisable to bury the stuff which accumulates at the foot of a macrocarpa hedge, as it does not rot readily. • ' “Amateur,” Caversham.—lt is difficult to explain why your tree drops its fruit. Probably the drainage is at fault. Irish Peach always bears its fruits on the ends of the branches. “R. H. J.,’’ Clinton. I would suggest that you spray your silver-birch trees with kerosene emulsion or) failing it, with

plain soapy water. The green fly exudes a sticky material which causes the sooty appearance, often called sooty blight.