THE WEEK’S WORK.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 December 1929, Page 16

THE WEEK’S WORK.

THE FLOWER GARDEN. Finish the planting of dahlias and chrysanthemums. Seedling dahlias sown this season should be ready for planting out. Asters, zinnias, phlox, celosia, salvias, can be planted. Give the plants a watering as soon as planted. Prepare seed bed for sowing seeds of gerbera, sweet Williams, pansies, Canterbury bells, hollvliocks, aquilegias. Tall-growing subjects, like dahlias, helianthus and herbaceous plants, should be staked and tied. Roses should have the dead blooms cut off, and if a partial pruning is given it will encourage a strong second growth, which should flower well. Spray roses at the first sign of aphis or mildew. Begonias will do well bedded out. The ordinary single varieties are splendid as bedding plants. A well manured soil, sheltered from heavy winds, suit them well. Border carnations are now flowering well, and need attention to staking, tying and disbudding. » Gladioli need attention to staking, etc. As the flowers fade, pull them off, unless seed is required. Bulbs that have ripened their foliage can be lifted. Hydrangeas are now in full flower, and require abundance of water. THE VEGETABLE GARDES. Tomatoes need tying, disbudding and spraying, keeping the plants to a single stem. Beans should be gathered as fast as they are produced. This encourages the plants to continue fruiting. Runner beans should have stakes put to them. Once the plants reach the top of the stake pinch out the point. Further sowings of dwarf beans can be made. Runner beans can also be sown. Haricot beans for winter use should be sown now. Sow lettuce for succession. It is best to sow where it is to mature. Sow thinly on rich soil with a little shade. Autumn sown onions will be showing signs of maturity. Bend over the tops to induce the bulbs to swell. Pinch out the leaders of melons, pumpkins, marrows, etc. A row of celery can be planted. Prepare the trenches for the later ingThe thinning of seedling crops and hoeing between the rows is essential at this time of the year. GROWING CELERY. A correspondent writes stating that he has had trouble over growing celery. He can grow it successfully but cannot save it when the autumn rains come. A blight seems to turn the heart rotten. Growing celery in Taranaki these days is somewhat risky. At one time celery could be grown most successfully, but in recent years it has been subject to more than one disease. Rust and red spider* affect it. The writer has found that the placing of dead fern alongside the beds to shade the plants is efficacious; the diseases don’t like the shade. Then when the celery grows the earth can be heaped up alongside, and later the protecting fern removed. During the last year or so another disease seems to have attacked the celery, as it has the potatoes (this week I have hcatd of several potato patches that had beqir regularly sprayed having been wtfected); and so far I have heard oi>no .treatment to successfully combat it. To my correspondent. “Keen Gardener,” I would recommend the use of the bracken fern as a protection, but successful celery growing in Taranaki, it must be frankly admitted, cannot be guaranteed even by the most experienced gardeners. SNAIL DESTROYER. It is stated that a certain snail ■ destroyer may be made from the follow- ■ ing mixture:—Two double handfuls of j bran, one cup of sugar, one teaspoonful | of Paris green. Mix dry, and leave about the garden. New Plymouth residents, who have tried this specific, state that the snails like, the mixture, and next morning are found dead in large numbers. LABELLING PLANTS. A garden is much more interesting, both to the owner and to visitors, if plants are neatly and correctly labelled, with, the date of planting added to the name. Crops sown in the kitchen garden should always be labelled. It is very useful to judge if a crop was. sown too early or too late when the date of sowing is made known. CLASSES FOR CHILDREN. Tb.e ordinary man only begins to garden when he is married, though engaged couples have been known to spend many interesting hours in the production of flowers at the girl's home. Unfortunately few girls, and few men, have such sensible tastes, and the newly-married man, who hardly knows a broad bean from a scarlet runner, has to begin to create a garden out of the usual collection of weeds and broken bottles which adorn the back of the section. It is, however, much easier to learn something of gardening when young, and the aim of every horticultural society should be to encourage children to garden. At most shows the children’s classes consist of button holes, bouquets and bowls of flowers. The making of buttonhloes, except in garments, is a perfectly futile occupation, and bouquets are no better, but none of these classes can be said to encourage gardening among children. ; The arrangement of bowls or baskets of flowers has some practical purpose, but many other classes should be establish- ( ed. There are many ways by which this < love of gardening could be encouraged by horticultural societies. Supplying ! collections of seeds, the resultant plants j to be shown at a certain date and prizes given for the best results. Each month ( cultural directions should be supplied to j the children who are growing the plants. £

COCKSCOMB. The old-fashioned cockscomb, Celosia cristata. has almost ceased to be in favour of its taller and probably more graceful sister, Celosia pruinosa. There was a certain amount of formality or stiffness, and to some people’s ideas, ugliness, yet there is a singularity and uncommon appearance about a wellgrown cockscomb. As pot plants for greenhouse decoration they are very nice, and well-grown specimens look well interspersed with other plants. They are also useful as window plants. The treatment necessary is similar to that given cclosias. The seed should be sown in sandy soil, and shaded till germinated. As soon as large enough, the plants should be pricked out. They need a rich, clean soil, and one free from stagnant water or dampness. Probably a sandy soil suits them best, but they will do well on a heavy soil providing it is worked well and some cow manure or leaf soil added. The seed can be sown at the present time: often the mistake is made of sowing tuo early, with the result the plants get checked and damp off. Celosias are actually tropical plants, and need warm weather conditions. Once the plants are large enough, they can be planted out or potted up. A close atmosphere must be avoided when the plants are well rooted and growing; weekly applications of liquid manure should be given. When the plants are growing strongly and the ‘‘comb’’ is just showing, the liquid manure should be given twice or three times a week. At one time Cockscombs were frequently seen at exhibitions. and very fine were many of the specimens that were seen. Although probably not everybody’s flower, yet it is one of those things that will appeal to many by reason of its distinctiveness and uncommon appearance.