GARDEN NOTES.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 16869, 16 October 1920, Page 6

GARDEN NOTES.

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN, /' ' , The wet weather may have interfered with your digging and 1 planting. Admittedly, the season is late. Make up for the delay, and take advantage or every opportunity to get things going. Much of the success which will coma with to-morrow depends on your action to-day. Sow beans of all sorts, beet, broccoli, cabbage, celery, cress, peas, radish, lettuce, tomatoes, turnips, parsnips. Plant cabbage, cauliflower, leeks, lettuce, onions, potatoes, etc. Stake the peas and earth up tlio potatoes you nave put in eiirlier. Some iolk make a practice el putting in a lew peas every fortnight for successiomu crops. Try it if you have the ground. There’s no nicer vegetable than young peas. Marrows, pumpkins, and melons may bo sown now, but it is risky, as apparently we arc not yet clear of frosts. Gulp over the cabbage rows, and see that the young lettuce plants have a fair Tun.

Thin out the onion, carrot, and parsnip beds. Plant seedling tomatoes against a fence or wall.

' Red beet seedlings are ever a good line. Plant close and force the pace. Sow during September tor main crops of cabbage. For winter cabbage and savoys sow early in December. Brussels sprouts should also be sown this month. Tuoy require a long season oi growth, i'lanl cue seedlings out in firm, itch ground as soon as largo enough. Plenty’ ot room must bo allowed for development, or the sprouts will be loose leaved, and open. It is the most delicately-flavoured .of gioen winter vegetables, but m this climate is not very reliable.

Another planting of potatoes can be done. The first crop will be nosing through the ground very soon. Keep tho surface soil stirred. And do not forget to spray the young plants with lime sulphur to Jieip bold Hack tue blight troubles. Main crop potatoes may .be planted at any time now. provided they are well sprouted. It pays to wait till they are sprouted- Two of the strongest sprouts sbould bo left, while the others should be well rubbed out. The sprouts at the top Of the potato are best. Open out the trendies on a warm, sunny morning, and a.s soon as the soil in them is thoroughly sun-warmed plant the seed 1 tubers. If some thoroughly decayed manure, or some dead soil from a compost heap can be laid in the bottom of the trenches, so much the better. A sprinkling of wood ashes should also bo added. Where wireworms are troublesome, fork some soil fumigant into the bottom oT the trenches just before planting fhe potatoes. Have tho tubers, when planted, just below the surface of the soil, and one foot apart in the trenches. The rows should be at least 18 indies apart.

Beans should be ' heavily sown this month along the coastline, where the soils are light and fairly rich. Use any of the dwarf varieties, such as Magnum Bonura, Canadian Wonder, Stnngless, among the green beans, or Golden,Wax, Startler, or Butter in the yellow-fleshed section. Don’t fail in this reepec£, for early beans are cosily things to put on tho home table. Rows about 24in dr 30 in apart and plenty of seed in the rows, say two close together every 10in., will make matters right.

Celery should be sown for file main crop. Where there is a frame or greenhouse, sowing should be in boxes; at this time of the year seed usually comes quite freely in the open ground, which suits those who have not the advantages mentioned.

Cabbages can be planted a foot apart, hall the crop can be used before full development is readied, cutting alternate plants as soon as they axe a serviceable size; this will give almost a double crop. A few seeds ot lettuce should be sown occasionally, so as to keep a small reserve of plants always ready for planting; then when a head is cut, pull out the stump and stick another in; this will save a lot of waste from idle ground. A similar plan can be adopted with other things.

A few tomatoes may now be planted in a warm, sunny situation tor early use. The planting for the main crop, however, is best deferred for a week or two, when there is greater warmth in the soil. From this time onward there should be no difficulty in keeping tho garden well supplied with almost every variety of seasonable vegetable. What is mainly required is careful and judicious selection of varieties. and successful sowings in quantities only that will meet household needs. The finest position for a seed bed is in partial shade, but if this cannot bo provided, and in full sunshine is tho only position, then the bod should bo shaded—at least while the seeds are germinating. This can be done by the use of shoots of newspapers. An excellent way is to lay down bricks and put light strips of wood across, and on these rest a layer of fine twiggy branches. The soil should not be worn out. Good, fresh, turfy loam will do without any additional manure. Old garden soils are bettor with some short, well-rotted manure added.

A fresh position each time is preferable, as there are some diseases which can be contracted in the seed bed. The top soil should be fine, and the beds made at least six inches above the path or surrounding surface, to assist in. the drainage. THE SEED BED. I The surface should he perfectly level, no matter what the lay of the garden, otherwise heavy rain will wash too much. If the weather is dry, water well the day before sowing and shade well afterwards, and little, if any, watering will need to be done until after the seedlings are up. The point is to save artificial waterings as much as possible before the seedlings are through as with the fine surface the soil cakes quickly, and if it gets hard, many seedlings are killed because they cannot break this crust. THE FLOWER GARDEN. Clip box edgings. Keep growths of sweet peas trained to their supports. Remove some of the lateral shoots of sweet peas. Prepare beds for chrysanthemums and dahlias. If the ground is ready, divide and plant dahlias.

Chrysanthemums can be planted. Prepare aster beds. Sow asters, zinnias, cosmos, sapiglossis, scabious, and l other annuals. Clean border carnations. Stake the plants as the flower stems run up. . Spray roses for aphis. Use any nicotine mixture. . , Poses and carnations will benefit by supplies of liquid manure. -. . Lift, divide, and replant delphiniums, perennial phlox, pyrethrums, g«rberaa, and michaelmas daisies. - Camellias can he safely pruned after the flowering has gone. Provide lots of water for rhododendrons and late-flowering azaleas. Sow dahlia seed. And get out any of the tuber clumps that are making their new shoots. These should be now about ready for dividing. Hold the clumps in a half-shady corner, and turn on the hose to wash away all last year’s dirt. Clean bulbs are much easier to handle than those which are covered with loamy earth. Make your planting of new chrysanthemums. Rich soil and deep soil is necessary. One small root will grow into a. big, chubby plant before tile flowering time gets around. Prune your bouvardias. Plants that were cut a month since are now breaking nicely. Much old manure is required on the bouvardia beds. Divide the iialf-dormant shasta- daisies. Replant the pieces a span apart. Fin down the new" verbena runners. Everywhere tho stews are fixed in xnc earth a new root system will start.

Sow zinnia seed. Buy good seed. It pays better than poor stuff. Sixpence extra on the price of a seed line will make a lot of difference.

Glatliolas will take a lot of water once tbo green sword-like growths are a foot high. Do not bo afraid to supply liquid force. Any strong-growing subject likes encouragement. Any corms that remain unplanted shout'd bo bedded out in a position where plenty of manure has been spread. Take cuttings from the blue solnnum and firm the pieces in light soil somewhere in partial shade.