FLOWER GARDEN

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIV, Issue 20966, 19 February 1938, Page 17

FLOWER GARDEN

ROSE BUDDING Since the heavy rains the sap m Rose trees is now running freely, anti propagation by budding can be done. Ascertain the condition of the shoots by removing the thorns. If they snap oil easily, then the bud can be taken. Clear side shoots from the stock near the spot which is to receive the bud. In standards this is near the base of the branch; on dwarf bushes it is close to the ground. At this spot make a T-shaped cut, without cutting into the wood, so that the bark at the sides can be raised slightly. Choose plump, dormant buds, which will be found where the leaf stalks joins the stem. Make a cut half an inch above it, and gently cut down in such a way as to bring the knife out about half an inch under the leaf stalk. Separate the piece of wood which will be adhering to the bud, by raising the end of the wood, and give it a swift pull upwards, so as to leave the soft bud in the centre Intact. Slip It down between the T-shaped cut, and tie with raffia above and below the joint.

INDISPENSABLE SURFACE CULTIVATION

Whenever his crops are unsatisfactory, the novice is apt to fly for assistance to various powerful manures and fertilisers and liquid stimulants are not of the writer to suggest that chemical fertilisers and liquid stumulants are not of the utmost value in the cultivation of good flowers, fruits and vegetables, it is, nevertheless, necessary to insist that the first necessity for any cultural success is healthy soil, and that it is worse than useless to apply stimulants to plants If the ground is in a sour condition. The manure will only sicken It more and increase the gardener's troubles. Soil used to be regarded as so much dead material, like rock or sand, but scientific research and practical experience have alike proved this view to be altogether wrong. Land that is in good heart, to use the familiar farming expression, teems with bacteria which are beneficial to plant growth, and so may justly be considered as living and not dead, whereas sour soil is equally alive with harmful bacteria, producing the acids that cause the unskilled gardener so much trouble. One great difference between these two types of minute living organisms is that, whereas the first named must have air to survive, the harmful bacteria thrive in soil that is so tightly packed or heavily soaked with water that little or no air can penetrate. This fact explains much of the benefit to be obtained from soil cultivation. .Deep digging in the winter is beneficial because It lets in air to a depth of two or three feet, while regular surface cultivation during the summer months is equally useful, because it prevents the finely-broken particles from getting beaten down by rain, or trodden so tightly that they form an almost airtight layer. There is no surer method of improving the quality of crops during the summer months than oy regular use of one or other of the various patterns of hoe and soil cultovator.

Hoes may be broadly divided into two classes, though there are numerous patterns in each group. One class has a flat blade, fitted parallel to the plane of the handle, while the other type has the blade fitted at right angles to it, the former being termed the “Dutch hOe," and the latter the “draw hoe." Both types have their own particular use. and are handled in quite distinct ways. All Dutch hoes must be pushed backwards and forwards through the soil with the blade lying flat Just beneath the surface. The operator stands almost bolt upright, and moves back-

wards across the plot, so that the soil he has just stirred is not walked on. This is a great advantage, and, on account of it, Dutch hoes are the best surface cultivating tools for use when the soil is already in fairly good condition, and the object is simply to stir it lightly, killing weeds and admitting air. Draw hoes are held quite differently, and this tool is used in a series of up

and down hacking movements, at the same time drawing the blade through the ground towards him. He moves forward across the bed, so inevitably treading on the soil which he has just disturbed, and this is the principal disadvantage of the draw hoe. Against it, however, must be weighed the merits that it is a superior tool for breaking up rough, heavy, or badly- | caked soil, penetrates more deeply beneath the surface, and is the only tool to be considered when part of the task consists In drawing some of the soil around plants, as when earthing up. Draw hoes are made in many different styles, some with the blade fitted directly to the wooden handle, and others, known as “swan-necked” hoes, with a short, curved metal shaft, interposed between blade and handle. The choice of one pattern or the other is largely governed by personal taste, though, in the writer’s opinion, the swan-necked hoes is, on the whole, the handiest form to use.

Another type of hoe, and one which is of the utmost service in large gardens or allotments, is the wheel hoe, of which the “Planet" type is a notable example. The idea is extremely simple and practical—namely, to relieve the gardener of the task of supporting the weight of the hoe or regulating its depth, and so leave him free to put the whole weight of his body and the pushing power of both his arms into the task of propelling the hoe blades through the soil. The "Planet” hoe is moved forward by a series of short pushes, and it is possible with this tool to cover an amazing amount of ground in a day. Nurserymen and market gardeners have long been alive to the saving of time and money effected by the use of wheel hoes, and though their use in private gardens has not been so widely adopted, there can be no doubt that this state of affairs is altering, and that the wheel hoe is finding an ever-extending market. Its drawbacks are two in number—first, that the soil is walked on after hoeing, and secondly, that it is not a tool very easily manouvred between plants arranged irregularly, as in flower borders. Cultivators are of many types, and some patterns show great ingenuity in construction. One of the most effective has five or more curved steel tines, fixed to a strong handle in such a manner that the whole tool can be held and used in practically the same manner as a draw hoe. The value of ti.e tool lies in its superiority over any form of hoe for breaking down heavy clods or clay soil to a really fine tilth. It is not, hewever, comparable with the hoe as a weed eradicator.