The Garden

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23288, 25 August 1945, Page 3

The Garden

Work For The Week

Shallots should be planted as soon as possible because unless well established before the dry weather sets in, they will dry off rather than finish their growth. Plant nine inches apart, in shallow drills allowing 12 inches between the rows. The drills provide shelter and a little garden manure hoed in a few weeks after planting allows the soil to settle round the sets. Now that the soil is in good working order seed-sowing should proceed with all speed. If it is necessary to dig the ground before sowing, break the surface with a fork, tread lightly then rake twice at right angles and proceed to take out the shallow drills. Ground that has been dug up for the winter will simply require hoeing and raking to provide a good tilth. Take out shallow drills, about two inches deep with the side of a draw-hoe and sow seeds thinly. Small seeds should not have more than > inch of covering. A light dusting of superphosphate along the rows before sowing will be an advantage. Seeds to sow now’ are carrot. Early Horn; beet. Globe; turnip. White Ball; pea, William Hurst, Earlicrop, Little Marvel. Small sowings of radishes, lettuce, spinach and onions may also be put in. The first row of peas may be grown on in a box and planted later in the same way as bedding plants giving six inches between the plants and planting in shallow drills. Cabbage, cauliflower and autumn sown onions will benefit from being transplanted. The roots are stimulated into action by the shift and in consequence the plants will do better than at present, unless they are making good growth. It is far too early to plant potatoes except under the most sheltered conditions. If they are placed in a shallow box. with the rose end showing all the eyes upwards, and allowed to get as much sunshine as possible they will become green and produce nice fat green growths. These may be allowed to reach up to nearly ■! inch in length with small green leaves before planting. Such potatoes will be cropping two or three weeks before ordinary white ones put in without shoots, "at the same time. Another spraying of fruit trees will not do any harm. A considerable amount of spray is wasted each winter because the uses of the various types are not thoroughly understood. Winter sprays such as red oil and lime sulphur are used against scale insects and fungoid diseases. Bordeaux Mixture is also useful against fungoid diseases such as leaf curl of peaches and should be applied now. Arsenate of lead is the chief poison used against creatures that eat the flowers or foliage and should be sprayed on apples as the flowers appear in ordei to combat Codlin Moth. The nicotine sprays are only useful for smothering greenfly and other sucking insects Spray should be applied at Intervals of ten days or a fortnight so as to control successive generations of blight that may have been in the dormant stage when earlier applications were elven.

WOMEN’S WAR GUILD At the Milford Womens War Guild final euchre social for soldiers’ parcels funds, there was a record attendance These functions have been held throughout the winter foi more than five years. The president (Mrs E. rt. Corner) thanked the residents for their loyal support, and Mr A. I). Crossman (president of the Clandeboye-Milford R.S.A. Sub-branch) spoke in appreciation of the good work of the guild. The season's aggregales were won b\ Miss K Jonu.-s and Mi Bt-attv. and the |)i izrs for ihe ulo.sinv niehi's plav by Mrs L Wood and Mi A. N (’nth bert. The consola'ion prize.* went i< Mi and Mr.-. C. Teale.