GARDEN NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4739, 2 September 1893, Page 2

GARDEN NOTES.

Flocks of the pretty and useful blight, bird, or white - eye, are now visiting Napier, and are busily employing .themselves in examining the branches of trees, and ridding them of blight. It is said that Frenchmen have been drinking orchid tea for the past fifty years, and that the consumption of this delicacy haa been largely increasing of late. Th« orchid used for the purpose is one of the handsomest and most expensive varieties, the angrocum, which is found in. the forests of Bourbon and Mauritius. The commercial value of the plant lies in tha fragrance of its leaves. To a San Francisco paper a correspondent relates a piece of good news for fruit-growers. A new bird has been Been in the orchards. Ib is a small roundbodied bird, resembling the native canary somewhat in plumage and size, but with large round eyes and an exceedingly long bill. It hugß the limbß closely, and .straps oft', one after the other, the scale, both old and young. It does not disturb the buds, which oh some varieties of treea w.ejre beginning to swell. This is the second strange bird which hag made.. its appearance m orchards recently, 'and both' are insect eaters. „ '■ , Expsrienc9 has shown beyond a do.ubt that grass maybe fed or pastured in an orchard that has been sprayed without tha slightest danger of injuring animals. The quantity used of the Paris green is -so small that a horee could not eat enough grass under a sprayed tree to hurt hini, unless the spraying be done in a most excessive manner. As one pound of the poison only is used to 200 gallons of water, and a quart of the water is enough for one tree, the amount that reaches the grass is not more than one five-hundredth part of one ounce for each tree, which occupies a fortieth part of an acre, thus making less than forty grains to an acra. A gigantic pea is thus referred to by the Gardeners' Chronicle :— " A correspondent (H. Borjanovitz, nurseryman, Ada, ■in Hungary) sends us some well-filled peapods, which are of enormous size, *.«., thfcy are lfin broad at the triddle, and 6in long, without parchment or thread, sweet, and excellent in flavour. The haulm grows to a height of 4£f t, and it is very prolific, ripening in Hungary in June, therefore an early variety. It was found in the posßeßfion of a farmer-gardener in Servia, who had cultivated it for thirty years. We are promised a supply of new seed in this country next year." Colonial seedsmen should make a note of this. Floral decorations become daily more extravagant. At a ball given by a rich Australian lady (6ays the writer of Women's World in the St James' GazelU), they were surpassingly magnificent, The ballroom was a mass of mauve and white orchids, and another room was draped in white and yellow orchids. Bowers of rosea there were in abundance. The staira i^ere festooned with roses, Stephaaotis .and Smllax, tied up with pink and yellow satin ribbons. Even the electric lights peeped bewitchingJy from between sprajs of yellow and white flowers, and the hostess wag dre3Red to match in white satin and yellow velvet. Flower baakets hung everywhere, and draperies of art silk were looped ap with flowers. Two halls, a large staircase and bi'x or seven rooms in all were decorated; and the whole must have cost a small fortune. It is not advisable to apply heavy dressings of stable msnure to the soil in which tomatoes are to be grown, as it accileratss, if it does not induca, the fungoid disease to which the tomato is subject. Artificial manutes act by st lengthening the epidermal and ttructtital tissue's of the plants, and ate especially valuable when the soil is rich in humus, or when the soil has been heavily manured or contains much vepe'ablo matter. The following has bcea found to give good results. Bone superphosphate 21b, hitrata cf soda lib, kainit lib, sulphate of iron 2£oz, mixed and applied at the rate of 2oa per square yard. Of this a dressing should be given at the time of planting, and two more dressings at intirvals of Bis weekH. Intermediate with these, the following may be given:-— Bone supei phosphate 3lb, n'trate of potash 2lb, sulphate of lime lib, mix and apply at the rate of 2oz per square yard. The nitrates should be finely powdered before using 1 . A correspondent of the Garden thus makes reference to the introduction of a black chrysanthemum :— "We have all heard of the blue chrysanthemum, and know that a green one is cultivated in Japan, having originated there about a quarter of a cenfeuary ago. Mr F. T. Piggott, in bis book called ' The Garden of Japan/ remarks upon it ai follows s— 'At one of the shows in the neighbouring village I have just seen the very latest triumph of horticultural art, achryaantKemtrm with a small flower of vivid apple green. This "was its first .appea.tanco. in public, and larger flowers are promised in a season or two.'. It, however, has never yet occurred to any one of us to expect a black chrysanthemum, yet such a novelty has been imported from Japan— at least, so says one cf our American growers.. A variety called Black Gem is stated to be* a rare sort imported from Japan as a black chrysanthemum. It ia only fair to warn hunters after novelties that it is only black or almost black when opening, and changes to deepest crimson when fully expanded." A generous welcome is acoordod by The Gardeners' Chronicle to the new Kew Guild and its still newer Journal. The publication 18 not official, but the feeling that it represents must command the sympathies of all who are sensible of the importance of the cultivation of scientific botany. .The object of the promoters of the Guild is to associate as tar ac practicable. thp«§..who are still in the garden and tho.|ei. jyjbo have passed through ..Kew.. It comes-6p-j portunely, at a" time wheti'— to : lU3.e'"the I words of the director— Kew has completed the first half-century jof.'ita 'existence, asa national and public institution. MrThiselton Dyer bears testimony to the spirit of loyalty and self-sacrifice which' has always animated Kew men. The list of Kew martyrß— men who have left their bonea in far-off lands, victims of indefatigable toil amidst unhealthy conditions, in the interests of science— is already a long and distinguished one. Perhaps the day may come when a monument to the everlengthening bpad-roll of Kew martyrs may seem quite as appropriate an object in Kew Gardens as a Chinese pagoda. Some French chemists have been making enquiries into the value of spent hops, both for manurial and feeding purposes. Ao manure, spent hope alone are not to |be despised, especially on light soilß, ' because of their slow decomposition, but they become of more value when made into a compost. Their direct utilisation in tun place of straw in the cultivation of atrawberries is recommended on account ; of their driving off insects and slugs, as ' well as keeping the fruit in a perfectly ] clean state. The best way of turning : spent hopa into a compost for fields, lawna I and gardens (both flower and vegetable)! E is to mix four parts of hops, ten parts of

" ¥aTni£Teji of 'basic slag and forty of earth. The heap should be kept damp by watering with liquid manure or household water* and be covered with about four inches o£ soil to prevent the loss of ammonia. Hop residue, if used dry as a feeding material, constitutes a healthy and appetising forage, and when mixed with other foods ia readily Uken by Stock; .^^^^^^^^