FERNS FOR HOUSE DECORATION

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 388, 23 June 1928, Page 28

FERNS FOR HOUSE DECORATION

Well grown ferns in pots are undoubtedly attractive and decorative, and people are tempted to adopt them for the embellishment of rooms and halls inside the house. Not all are a success, as every grower of ferns can guess, but many of the sturdy, robust kinds do exceedingly well under the trying circumstances. For example, the ribbon ferns or pteris kinds can be first-class table plants, and they do not deteriorate if treated on common-sense lines; the species cretica and some of its varieties, like Wimsetti, Childsii, and so on, the really fine, while the other species, tremula and serrulata, also do very well. The popular maidenhair ferns are not, as a rule, satisfactory, although the coarser sorts have frequently been quite satisfactory. Asplenium bulbiferum and the hardy cyrtomium Fortunei may be grown in pots or baskets inside, and even the robust polypodium cristatum and P. Aureum become really decorative inside a drawing-room or entrance hall. In baskets playtcerium alcicorne, the stag’s horn, and davallia canariense, the hare's foot, prove interesting and attractive. SAND FOR GARDENS Sand is essential in the garden for lightening and draining soils. In pots or boxes sand keeps the soil in a compact state (a point of great importance where cuttings are concerned), and yet renders it porous enough for drainage. Another thing that sand does is to prevent the contact of cuttings or the roots of tender plants with fermenting material or strong manures in the soil. Sand always makes a heavy loam lighter and brings it into a better state for practically all kinds of plants. For pot-work silver or white sand is generally favoured, and this should be used in as coarse a condition as possible. Very fine sand is useful as a surface for cutting pots, but it is not good for mixing with the soil, as it tends to check free drainage. Clean road grit is a coarse quality of sand, and this is extremely useful for working into land that is on the heavy side. River and coast sand may also be used, though the latter should first of all be washed and exposed to the weather to get rid of the salt. Red sand contains too much iron to make it suitable for potting purposes, but by repeated washings it may be freed of the excess. When most of the red colouring has gone, the sand will prove as useful as any other kind. LEAVES MEAN LIFE Neither man nor any of the animal community could live for even a few minutes in an atmosphere deprived of oxygen; nor could they survive if compelled to breathe into their lungrs again the carbonic acid breathed out through the normal action of the lungs. We are all aware that an animal shut up in a box dies of suffocation as soon as the oxygen contained in the air has been exhausted, succumbing to selfpoisoning through breathing in its own exhalations. A smiliar fate would overtake all animal life if the world were suddenly deprived of all vegetation, and so the green leaf takes in the <-arbonic acid which is poison to us and liberates oxygen which means our life. JUNE REMINDERS Get all your trees and shrubs planted early to allow them to become well established before the warmer weather comes. Do not leave pruning too late, as the sap begins to rise and buds swell for early bursting. Use the hoe freely during spells of dry weather. Work between the rows of vegetables, loosening the soil. Overhaul the rose bed, weeding out the weak and sickly growers. Cat back all dead wood, and replace any dead varieties.

THE SOU AND WHAT TO DO WITH IT The soil must be recognised as one of the all-important features of successful gardening. Unless the right plants are placed in the right soil, failure will be inevitable. The best soil is a deep, light, friable loam, but any ordinary soil can be made into a good garden with ordiu- ; ary care and attention. Very heavy clay land should be dressed with airslaked lime, say two tons to the acre, or one pound to the square yard; a good dressing of ashes, old mortar or sand may also be applied with advantage. Where none of these things is available, burnt, clay, which can often be made on the spot, especially if timber is plentiful, will answer the purpose. Continual dressings of stable manure tend to lighten clay land and to make it more easily workable. Care should be taken not to work this kind of soil in a wet condition, and whenever any portion of the garden is likely to remain vacant for any length of time (whether it be in winter or summer), it is a good plan to roughly dig it and leave it in lumps exposed to the wind and rain. This i will soon "mellow” the clay, and make the soil friable and easy to work, more especially if it has a liberal dressing each year of good rotten horse manure.

HOW THE FIRST TREES WERE PRODUCED

Do we ever stop to consider the time when there were no flowers? We are so used to seeing daily multitudes of smiling blossoms that it is almost impossible to visualise an entirely flowerless world. Yet there were not always flowers. For millions of years vegetation consisted only of monster ferns, huge trees and varieties of club mosses. Something like 12,000,000 years ago did flowering trees start to brighten the gloom of the great forests which are now departed and represented by our huge deposits of coal. The earliest flowers depended on the wind for pollination. They were small, green and unattractive. When pollen is carried by wind the chance of a grain being blown on a stigma of a kindred flower is very remote. This necessitated the manufacture of enormous quantities of pollen in order to ensure that a sufficient number of seeds be set. At this period insects of various kinds had made their appearance on the earth and to these the polen offered an everlasting source of food. By diving into the flowers the insects became dusted with the pollen, and travelling from tree to tree began the important development of pollen traffic, and so slowly one species was crossed with another, and produced seed which dropped and grew in a new variety which, in turn, took up the struggle for life and existence among the plant world.

SPROUTING SEED POTATOES

No one denies the advantages of sprouting seed potatoes nowadays, because experience proves that sprouted seed enables better planting to be carried on, secures earlier maturity and guarantees better crops. This is an excellent time to buy, select and box up seed for sprouting. Get shallow trays of wood about 2in. deep, having pins in each corner some 4in. high to enable the trays being piled one on top of the other. In these trays set the seed tubers on end, close together, and then pile them up in a shed where they get a fair amount of light at least; in time the skin of the tubers will become rough and green, small white sprouts will appear in the eyes, and by planting time each tuber will have sturdy coloured shoots lin. to 2in. high. These merely need to stand outside for a day or two before they are planted. Always protect these boxed potatoes during frost by throwing bags, mats or old carpets over them.

THE A.B.C. OF SEED SOWING

PREPARING GROUND One of the first and most important things a gardener must study is the correct sowing of seeds. Quite S per cent, of the complaints about bad seed arise from incompetent sowing or unsuitable weather conditions, and so a few hints on this subject will not come amiss. The first essential in sowing is to see that the surface soil is worked fine as possible and raked level. One cannot sow- seeds successfully on a lumpy surface as they would all be set at an uneven depth and many would be left uncovered. There are several methods of seed sowing. The amateurish way is to tear off a corner of the packet, press the sides of the packet to open the torn corner and then sprinkle along the drill, dribbling the seeds from the packet. The professional method is to empty a small quantity of seed into the palm of the right hand, picking out a few seeds with the thumb and first finger of the left hand and rolling it between these two fingers dropping a seed where it is wanted. The advantage of this method is that the seed can be deposited one at a time and at any required distance. When the seed is tipped straight out of the packet it is almost impossible to prevent three or four seeds tumbling out together and falling on the same spot, with the result that extra work in thinning out must be done. DISTANCES APART You will usually find that the expert gardener sows his small seeds 3in apart, his big ones six to Sin. When sowing small sticky seeds, such as carrots, a little sand mixed with the seed ensures better distribution. The seed sown, the next thing is to cover it. This can be done with the back of the rake, the soil being drawn from one side of the drill. As each row of seeds is sown it should be labelled. The usual practice of sticking the seed packet into a split stick give? the garden an untidy appearance, it is much better to write the name and variety of each crop with a garden pencil on a proper seed label projecting from the ground 6in, so that the lettering may easily be legible.

PROVIDE NITROGEN FOR PLANTS

One of the most useful chemical fertilisers for forcing green vegetables is nitrate of soda.. The chief substance it supplies is nitrogen; and, therefore, plants that conserve most of it will benefit most. Among these are cauliflowers, cabbages, lettuces, spinach and leeks. Nitrate of soda can be applied to plants in solid and liquid forms, but the latter is preferable. Half an ounce to a gallon of water make* a tonic of the right strength. See that the salt is thoroughly dissolved. When applying take great care that none of the solution touches the stems or foliage of the plants or it will burn them badly. Use a watering-can without the rose, and pour the solution close down to the soil. GROW MUSK With cave this delicate little plant will grow and thrive wonderfully and repay all attention with its sweet perfume. It should be raised in a pot stood in a saucer or some receptacle filled with water, but water should not be poured over the plant. It is subject to the ravages of a small green grub, which will often destroy a healthy plant in a day or two. Fumigation with tobacco smoke Is the best remedy, but as the little pests are easily found under the leaves they may be picked off and killed. If the leaves are eaten and you cannot find the grubs, look in the earth round the roots.