Garden Notes.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXXI, Issue 12583, 21 January 1905, Page 3 (Supplement)

Garden Notes.

Tumifis may still be sown if more are required, but the land should be put in good heart. It Is a good plan to work some soot or lime into the soil before sowing. . Turnips, already growing should be thinned severely. •A small quantity of an early variety of cabbage seed may now be sowed, from which a first planting on a small scale may be made. As the ultimate success of these sowings depends on the weather, it is advisable to make two, or even tihree j sowings at intervals of about a forijight. The seed bed should be in an open situation,- and be well prepared ana watered a few hours before the seeds are sown. These may be scattered broadcast or sewn in shallow drills about Bin apart. Savoys are too often sown many weeks too soon; the result is a glut of - greet I vegetables early in the winter and a scarcity lat the end. By sowing savoy now they will grew away withont a check} and come in just when wanted-. should be lifted as fast as they ripen—-to ißave them in the ground after this will mean deter ioratiau and loss. Hey •iad better be lifted a little before they arc quite ripe than left in the soil too long. Remove all lateral growth from tomato plants, and stop r the leading shoots to concentrate all the force of tne plants to maturing the fruits already set. .Keep" the surface soil as open as "possible. Herbs for winter use should cow be cut! Give vegelah!e marrows and cucumbers plenty- of wuier t and do Cot allow the shpots to fescesne crowded. Giv6 Rhubarb plants occasional soakings of liquid manure, especially if the plants have been- long established. Rhubarb plants intended for forcing should k»ve tie crowns exposed by removing all rubbish, but retaining the healthy leaves and stalks, - keeping tie plants growing as long as possible. Spinach for winter will claim attention. This is a most important crop, coming in at a MaSbn ;Wlißa " tlicrte arc} few fresh' vegetables. The soil should have been ! tnmed. over cr three times. Re- : duce the sarf4c% to a rather fine tilth, draw shallow- drills, fifteen . iiiches apart and half an' inch dees, sow the seed sparingly, and cover with- a very little soil. If 'soot available, give tfie surface a good dressing, and rake it in. Directly the seedling plants have made the-first rough leaf they should be thinned out to 'about six or eight, inches, to give each plant plenty of room in which to grow. II spacejis limited, they imay be thinned to about two inches, and when a bitbigger, finally, thin out to six inches—the plants polled up' at this thinning will be large enough to use, and make a good, useful dish.

In iome places tftc leech is attacking pears, plums end cherries. Syringe the trees with a solution of hellebore powder, or dust the trees with slaked lime.

If woolly aphis appears on the apple trees, take an ordinary paint brush and some Montauk or other insecticide, and paint the patches of white aphis. This work needs care, and on no account .put any? of the. solution on the leaves, as it will destroy them just as readily as it will the woolly aphis. Rub fche insecticide into the affected parts vigorously. Keep the suckers around fruit trees dug up or polled out; when, only roughly, cut ! off below the surface they soon reappear. . Plants for spring flowering should claim attention. Prepare .a scheme for each, bed and border that is to be planted, and prepare the plants accordingly. Frequently beds that are filled with bulbs—hyacinths or tulips—have no other plaits P n ? *?■' beds other than the bnlbs This is a great mistake. There should be a "'carpet" of dwarf-growing- plants to . cover the ground. All the ta'l varieties of lilies be 'made secure against strong winds; use strong stakes and put several to each clump of bnlbs before their flowers open. Climbing plants that have done flowering should -have the bulk of last season's wood cut away, leaving healthy rods for rest year. Roses that are in full growth will be much' benefited by the use of liquid manure.

Now is the time to make cuttings of flowering shrubs. A flowering shrub once struck and placed in the position which it is to occupy requires but little attention, and gives a maximum of floral beauty with only a minimum of labour.

Keep the gTass on lawns cut as often ps possible;' the more frequently it is cut the better turf it will make. Put the roller over the flkwn after a heavy xair, to press any little irregularities down. Weeds on garden paths should be destroyed before they seed to avoid a bigger crop next season. tUse one of the several weed-destroying solutions; this is better than pnlling or hoeing them np, because Pre active agent- that destroys the weeds kills all moss, etc., and makes the gravel quite" bright and clean.

THE CODLIN MOTH- IS DOOMED

The most important discovery that has ever been made for the benefit of horticulture is announced. The parasite that destroys the codlin moth has been found in South America by George Compere, who is employed jointly by the State of California, through Horticultural Commissioner Cooper, and by West Australia, to find beneficial insects that are born to prey upon those that are injurious. The announcement is made by the " San Francisco Call," and according "to this authority, the genuineness of the c'i-covery is vouched for by the fact thatrthe apple orchards -'fiat ajre the habitat "of the newly-found 'parasite bring'9s per, rent. o£ their fruit to maturity. In California and. in all other-portions of the woild hitherto the product of the wrld's app'e and pear orchards has not b-c more than 30 per cent, to 35 per cent, of the promise at setting. The discovery of the codlin moth's de.stroyer, which has been sought in vain for many years, therefore, means that the world's output of apples and pears can be made, reliably and regularly, about three times its present size. There will be tiiree good pears and three good apples in all parts of the world \fhere there is now one of' each. The apple an# the pe&r

are to be found in all parts of the world where the climate is temperate. The ! codlin moth is also to be found all over the world. The vicious insect causes apples and .pears to be wormy and false at heart and to drop prematurely from the trees. It preys on apples and pears with equal' and impartial diligence, and I has been a destroyer of these luscious fruits for centuries. Its reign is drawing to a near end.

Mr Compere has sailed from West Australia, acting under the direction of Ellwood) Cooper, to forward to San Frahcteco the firsfr colonies -of the codlin moth's tiny but invincible foes* Hete the cblo iHes - win b'6" cbitivateii. Billions of the parasites may easily be raised here under favourable conditions. From San Francisco the colonies may be forwarded to all parts of the" world. California will rfeceive the first benefit naturally; It is said that wherever tli& eodlifi mbtii lives the codlin inStii parasite will also thrive, regardless of extremes of temperature. Consequently the discovery becomes at once of world-wide importance.