DUNEDIN GARDENING CLUB

Otago Witness, Issue 4032, 23 June 1931, Page 11

DUNEDIN GARDENING CLUB

The Dunedin Gardening Club held its opening meeting for the season on Tuesday night, when there was a good attendance.

The president (Mr F. H. Hollingworth) gave the opening address, in which he stressed the point of the proper cultivation of the soil for the present and future planting of trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants and the sowing of seeds. Good cultivation was necessary, he said, if success was to be achieved, and that consisted of digging, trenching, and manuring. The soil should be left rough on top for the weather to break it down. Stable and farmyard manure should be dug in at present. Lime should be applied where necessary, but not in conjunction with farmyard manure. Tt should not be dug in, but simply applied to the surface and the rain would do the rest. An application of from one to two tons per acre was sufficient. It was better to apply a little every year than to apply a large dose to last for a number of years. , Mr Hollingworth had on exhibition specimens of plants, from which he demonstrated the proper way to plant and prune. In planting roses and trees care had to be taken that the roots were properly spread out and not put in doubled

up. All broken or damaged roots should be cut back. The holes should be dug big enough to allow the roots to be spread out to their full length, and then covered with soil and tramped firmly. Firm planting was essential. Care had to he taken to choose a time when the soil was in good working condition, and not too wet. If the soil was too wet it was difficult to tread it down without doing harm.

Roses, said Mr Hollingworth, should be planted about one inch deeper than they were before, and should not be pruned till the proper time, say, in July, when they should be pruned hard back. Apples should be planted to the same depth as they were before, and pruned hard back, all pruning to be done to outside buds in order to keep the tree open in the centre. The pruning should be done with a slant cut close to the eye. A slant cut healed better than a horizontal one. The black currant fruited on last year’s wood. It was therefore necessary to leave all well-developed wood of last year’s growth, cutting out all weak growths and all the old wood possibix They liked a heavy soil and rather damp situation and could be pruned immediately after fruiting. Red and white curranls were a different proposition. They fruited on spurs on the old wood, and liked a sunny position. Raspberries would grow on any good cultivated soil, but after planting should never be dug—only forked over between the rows. Digging amongst them cut the roots and caused sucker* to come up. They fruited on the previ ous yeai’s growths, and the pruning con sisted of cutting out the old stems and all weakly growths, thinning where necessary, and shortening back a little. Th.-y could be grown in clumps or in rows. If in rows a wire stretched along male a suitable training material to which the stems could be tied. When planted they should be cut bard back at the proper time. They would not bear any fruit the first year, because there was no previous year wood.

Gooseberries, the most popular of the bush fruits and the most profitable to grow, throve in any good garden soil with an open situation. Pruning consisted of the thinning out of the leaders and cutting the side shoots back, leaving about a couple of eyes. Summer pruning or pinching was very beneficial. The loganberry was a very accommodating plant and easy to grow. Care had to be taken to get plants from a good strain. It was a hybrid and did not come often true from seed, and, owing to its free seeding characteristic, many poor varieties existed. It could be grown along fences and trained to the wires. The pruning consisted of cutting out the previous year’s growths and thinning and shortening back the new ones. During . winter sparrows and other birds were very fond of the young buds of the gooseberry and currants, as well as some of the largest fruit trees, and caused a great deal of damage. It was necessary to protect them by putting thread or other similar material on the bushes. One member intimated that a little tow scattered over the bushes was very successful.

Of bush fruits the following were the best varieties to grow:—Gooseberries: Green—Langley’s Gage and Greengage ; red —Crown Bob, Whinham’s Industry, and Ironmonger; white—Whitesmith and White Champagne; yellow—Early Sulphur and Yellow Champagne. Large ones suitable for bottling were: Green— Thumper and Telegraph; red—Dan’s Mistake, Rifleman, and Speedwell; white—Antagonist and Lady Lenister; yellow—Leader and Leveller. Black currants —Boskop Giant and Lees Prolific; red currants —Ruby Castle, La Versailles, Fays Prolific, and Houghton Castle; white currants —Dutch and Transparent White. At the conclusion of the lecture a number of questions was asked, amongst which was one on the borer which attacked raspberries and black currants. The lecturer said there was no known cure at present. It was one of the diseases that was under observation by the Government Agricultural Department.

On the motion of Mr James Nelson a hearty vote of thanks was passed to Mr Hollingworth for his instructive and interesting address.