GARDENING NOTES

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 64, Issue 4529, 28 January 1942, Page 3

GARDENING NOTES

WORK FOR FEBRUARY THE VEGETABLE GARDEN Plant cabbages and cauliflowers. Continue to sow lettuce and radishes in rich, fairly moist soil, a semi-shad-ed situation giving best results in the summer. Spray tomato plants with Bordeaux. Mixture (4.4.40). Sow carrots, swedes, spinach, silver beet, and, parsley. Finish the planting of celery and leeks. Thin out surplus shoots on fruit trees which have made too much growth. Spray apple trees with arsenate of lead to control codlin -moth. Cut back red currants. THE FLOWER GARDEN Layer carnations and strike cuttings in sandy soil. Examine chrysanthemums for insect pests and spray where necessary with Black Leaf 40. Continue the planting of asters, stocks, and zinnias. Plant bearded irises and divide old clumps. Cut out the old wood which has borne flowers on the. rambler roses. Prepare the soil for planting spring flowering bulbs. Mulch .dahlias, chrysanthemums, hydrangeas, azaleas, and rhododendrons.

Lift spring flowering bulbs as the foliage dies down.

VEGETABLES The aim of the gardener should be to have a useable supply of vegetables all the year round. Many people arc successful in producing spring, summer, and autumn vegetables, but are unable to keep up a succession during the winter. Often they fail to produce winter crops simply because they do not plant them in time for the vegetables to become established before winter is on them. For winter use vegetables must be planted at once. Remember that it is from now until the frosts arrive that most of the growth takes place. Lay the foundation for winter supplies by planting out winter greens; such as broccoli, cabbage, and savoys. Salads will be in demand from now on. All vegetables grown for this purpose should be grown quickly. Tough, stringy, half-grown plants are of little use. When preparing the ground, dig in plenty of well-rotted animal manure to form humus, which is essential for the production of succulent growth. Should the weather be dry, do not neglect to give the plants water. Continue to sow silver beet, carrots, endive, yellow-fleshed turnip, lettuce, parsley, perpetual spinach, radish, mustard, and cress. Plant out celery and leeks. The pink kinds of celery will stand more exposure than the white kinds. A sowing of peas and dwarf beans may also be made. Lift shallots as soon as growth is matured.

Much mildew is appearing in the onion crops this year. As soon as this is noticed, spray with colloidal sulphur before the mildew gets a hold. Ust it at the rate of two ounces to six gallons of water.

The weather lately has been bad for tomato growers, and unless the weather becomes finer there will be much potato blight among the crops this season. The fungus known as phytophthora infectants thrives when the soil is wet and the atmosphere is humid, by reason of the heat and excessive moisture. Should this fungus appear, spray the crop as soon as possible with Bordeaux mixture at the rate prescribed. Herbs such as sage and thyme should be trimmed over. This will remove the seeds and encourage the plants to make growth. FLOWERS Because of the moistness of the soil the perennial plants in moist gardens are making -rapid growth, and will require staking and tying up. When doing this work place the stakes from view as much as possible. Often the effect of the garden is spoilt by the prominence of over-large stakes. Tying up should be done as growth proceeds; do not neglect this important work until the growths are beqt down and twisted. When this happens they can never be brought back to their natural contour. Do not tie the growths in 'too tightly, but leave enough room for them to develop naturally. Leave enough room for light and air to penetrate to the centre of each clump. Weeds are exceptionally active this season, and unless the hoe is kept going on all suitable occasions the weeds will take command.

Dahlias are growing fast this season. Keep the soil well worked about the plants, and keep the growth tied

in. If showery weather continues, do not be in a hurry to give dahlias any liquid manure, or rank, sappy growth will result. It is the short-jointed, well-matured growth that produces flowers of quality. Too much food and water will cause mal-formed blooms to develop.

Remove all spent flowers, seed pods, and withered stems. Continue to lift spring flowering bulbs. Many of them, such as daffodils, grape hyacinths, English and Spanish irises, and crocuses should be planted as soon as possible. Grape hyacinths will give a wonderful display when planted at the foot of such plants as magnolia stellata, cherry, Mount Fuji, or pyrus parkmanii. . Many of the daffodils may be used in the same way. Gladioli are now sending up their flower spikes. Stake those spikes required for exhibition. The spike with the fewest defects wins the prize. Twisted spikes are always frowned on by the judge.

Carnations may be layered as soon as they go out of flower. Many defer this work until much later, which is a mistake, as the layers must have time to grow a good root system before being planted out. Begin by cutting out all spent flowering growths on the plant to be treated; each growth should be stripped of the lower leaves to within six inches of the top. Then make an incision with a sharp knife, beginning two or three inches from the base, according to the strength of the growth. Cut straight below a joint, and continue the cut upward for at least one and a half inches. Have some wire pins ready, and peg the layers into the soil. When doing so keep the cut open by packing sand into the incision- Work some fine mould and sand firmly round the layers after they have been pegged down. Keep the layers moist during dry weather. They should be rooted in time to plant out in April. THE KITCHEN GARDEN HOW TO GROW BETTER VEGETABLES WHAT HUMUS DOES TO CROPS AND SOIL In last week’s notes we described at some length the composing of household and vegetable wastes in order that the vegetable garden can be maintained in a high state of fertility, as the maintenance of a compost heap involves a fair amount of work throughout the year, some gardeners may be inclined to follow the line of least resistance and continue the unprofitable practice of burning their “ rubbish.” It is therefore advisable at this stage briefly to consider the effect of humus on soil and plant life.

In the first place, a soil rich in humus stores up moisture in wet weather and releases it gradually over a long period. This steady supply of moisture is essential to successful vegetable cultivation. It has been found that a soil really rich in humus rarely, if ever, needs watering.

Humus has an important effect on the crumb structure of the soil. The particles in light, sandy soils are compacted, thus preventing excessive evaporation, and are made cooler in summer. Heavy, clayey soils are made more friable and porous, and more aerated, as a result, and the minerals, in which clay soils are usually rich, are released, and, through bacterial action, are made available as plant food.

Humus is not only a plant food in itself, but also provides the necessary food and environment for the development of essential bacterial activity. There micro-organisms, which include fungi, play a vital part in making nitrogen and minerals available to plants.

A great deal is heard these days about the importance of vitamins in the human diet, and many vegetables are now consumed largely for their vitamin content. The plants get almost the whole of their vitamins, or the raw materials for manufacturing vitamins, through the roots. These vitamins, or vitamin products, are produced in the soil by micro-organ-isms so small that the layman is not conscious of their existence. A few months ago the Journal of Bacteriology (United States of America) published a report which showed that sixty different families of soil bacteria had been discovered which manufacture vitamins. As already pointed out, you cannot have efficient bacterial activity without humus; therefore the vitamin-content of your vegetables is governed by the supply of quality humus in your garden. It has also been recently demonstrated that many of the bacteria pathogenic to map for example, the diphtheria germ—are destroyed in fertile soils by other bacteria which are the friends of man.

Fruit and vegetables grown on rich humus soils are less subject to attack by parasites, have better keeping qualities, have better flavour, and possess deeper colours than those grown on less fertile soils.

There are other benefits which accrue when humus enriches the soil, but the foregoing are sufficient to give an indication of its great value.

Now here is a little evidence in support of humus:— 1. In the writer’s' experimental garden, disease-free potatoes have been grown side by side with blighted plants for three years in successionThe healthy, disease-resisting plants are grown in a plot well charged with humus and wood ash. The diseased plants invariably develop in an adjoining row winch has been deprived of humus, but given the normal application of artificial .fertilisers. 2. You have probably grown or purchased carrots, and on cutting them found a ring of rusty, discolouration between the core and the outer flesh. This is evidence that the plant suffered from malnutrition. Carrots raised on plots containing balanced humus show no evidence of this disease.

3. Turnips grown on poor soil often have a mottled flesh which becomes badly discoloured on cooking. Here, again, the product of a humuscharged soil is unblemished. The most recent evidence of the health-promoting qualities of humus observed by “ The Hoe ” was in regard to the effect of boiling the wellknown potato, Sutton’s Supreme. Potatoes from two trial plots were boiled together till cooked. The tubers from the unmanured plot broke up and became a sodden mass. The tissue completely collapsed. The tubers from the humus-charged plot retained an unbroken inner skin, had a soft, waxy consistency, and were all that good potatoes should be. So, you see, there really isn’t sgjything to be said against the use of humus.