THE AMATEUR GARDENER

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 872, 25 November 1916, Page 5

THE AMATEUR GARDENER

GARDEN CALENDAR. NOVEMBER. Average rainfall, 1.91.. i. Under Glass. Thin grapes, and cep the laterals stopped. Sow primula, cineraria, and calceolaria seed. Stop and train cucumbers and melons as necessary. Pot on young plants. With the increasing sun power shading may be necessary on greenhouses. Watering and ventilation must be carefully attended to. Outside. All bedding plants may now he planted out. Train and tie climbing plants. Prune out any exeess of shoots on fruit trees, and thin out heavy crops. Sow wallflower, intermediate and Lothian stocks, Canterbury bells, and other biennials for planting out in the autumn. Plant out tomatoes, vegetable marrows, pumpkins, and hardy cucumbers. Sow lettuce, radish, spinach, peas, and beans. Sow broccoli seed early in the month. ANSWER TO CORRESPONDENT. "H.W.F."—Your letter will be dealt with ill next week's notes.—"Aotea." SEASONABLE HINTS. A real good rain would be very welcome in the garden just now, as the sun and drying winds are evaporating the moisture of the soil very fast. Newly-planted bedding and border plants, fruit trees, shrubs, and roses should be constantly attended to with water when necessary, so that they may be kept growing without a check. Unless the ground is very dry it is not wise to water half-hardy annuals that have been sown in the borders. Thai is, if the ground was in a good moist condition when the seeds were sown, as the roots will have penetrated down into the soil, where there is more moisture. Artificial watering will encourage the roots more to the surface, and, if once started, must be continued until rain comes. Lawns should be mown at short intervals, and during this dry weather the gathering box may be dispensed with, as the short soft grass will dry up and disappear very quickly. Tulips should be lifted as soon as the foliage turns yellow and the stems are soft enough to bend without breaking. If left in the ground too long the brown outside covering of the bulb is apt to come off, and the bulbs keep much better if this outer skin remains intact. Hyacinths, too, should be taken up without delay. Both these bulbous plants are quite hardy if left in the ground, but as they increase rather fast they soon deteriorate unless lifted. Rose bushes should be gone over at least once a week, and the spent roses removed and old flower stalks cut back. There are manv complaints about the rose aphis being prevalent, where water can be used with force it is one of the best remedies, or a wash made hv dissolving a piece of soft soap, about as large as a hen's egg, in a gallon of warm water will be found effective. If this is syringed on in the evening it can be washed off with clean water in the morning cleaning off the dead and the disabled aphis at the same lime. The Vegetable Garden. (Hear off spent crops as soon as possible as they will if allowed to remain only draw on the fertility and moisture of the soil without any return, besides being unsightly, and a likely cover for garden pests. If the ground can not be dug over at the time of clearing, the surface should be loosened up with the hoe or fork to prevent the evaporation of soil moisture. To keep rhubarb growing a plentiful supply of water will be needed, although it is not so much in demand

(By "AOTEA.")

now that gooseberries arc plentiful. When sowing seed or planting out voung plants il will be well to water ihe ground thoroughly first and then to allow the exeess of water to drain from the surface. Tomatoes should now be starling to grow freely and should be securely slaked and tied, and laterals removed as soon as seen. If it is proposed to allow the plants to spread on the ground they should have the point taken out after the third or fourth joint, and the resulting branches trained out equally, confining the growth to the three or four main branches, keeping down all lateral growth, and stopping each shoot as soon as three or four trusses of fruit show. This system is not nearly as satisfactory in the garden as training each plant to one stem, and tying to a stout stake. Tomato plants do not require a large amount of water, at least until there is a crop of fruit set, but the surface of the ground should be kept loose with the hoc. Vegetable marrows, pumpkins, and hardy cucumbers should be got out without delay if they arc to give the best returns. Liquid manure either made with stable, sheep, or farm yard manure, is of very great use in the vegetable garden, but it should never he used when the soil is dry. During hot weather il is best to give clear water first, and then to use the manurial liquid. The root points and root hairs are very easily injured if they come in contact with strong liquid while they arc dry, and it is by their means that the plant is supplied with water and food. It is not always convenient to set stakes to train up scarlet runner beans, though that is the best way of growing this excellent vegetable. It is not absolutely necessary, as they can be kept dwarf if the points of the leading shoots are continuously pinched out. The beans should be planted about a foot apart in a single row, and as soon as the shoots show signs of twining the points should be.pinched oh', and then they should be gone over once a week, pinching of the points of the running shoots. They will usually bear very heavily grown in this manner. French beans require copious supplies of water as soon as they come into bearing, and for this purpose it is a good plan to leave a slight trench where the seeds are sown. Generally, the rows are earthed up with a ridge of soil, which makes it more difficult to supply the water where it will dp most good. Cucumbers in frames will require attention to thin out and train the young growth which should now be produced freely. Stop fruiting lateral growth at one joint beyond the embryo fruit. A light shading will he required on the glass and plenty of moisture when closing up with sun heat. On cold, windy nights it is a good plan to put some covering over the glass to retain both heat and moisture. In the Fruit Garden. Spraying for codlin grub, mildew, and red mite must be attended to where these pests are in evidence. The lime-sulphur solution is apparently going to be a very useful wash for mildew and red mite, and these are both more harmful to the health of the tree than the codlin moth, but where used with the arsenate of lead it should deal with the grub also. When using it lately on a mite infested tree I found very few living mites after the application of the wash, though it is doubtful if it destroyed the eggs, so that another spraying will have to be given at a ! ticm which will catch them as they j emerge from the egg. Attention [should be given to newly-planted fruit trees to see that they do not ! suffer from want of moisture.