THE GARDEN.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10418, 23 March 1912, Page 12

THE GARDEN.

work for the week. kitche:?~c)-a'rden. Reeds to i.-wv.—Cn'iba"?, endive, lettuce, onion*, spinach and turnips. What to plant.—Cabbage, caulifiwor, endive, lettuce . a.id winter greens. Advantage should be taken of fine davs to use t-lin cultivator and Dutch hoo freelv h-tween rows of vegetables, ospeeiailv S'-fdlin;.' crops of onions, lettuce, spinach, ot-e. This not only dc-i-'-.rovs ?mal! weeds, but it aerates the soil and expedites the growth of the plants. Should there he any blanks in the rows of antumn-Kown onions, make them gocd bv trn-nspliintinn; from where they aro ton thick. Do this on a showery day, ns then the plants will not en (Tor from the move. Seedling lettuce should he thinned early, as if left a little too long at this se'i?on tho youn<<; plants pet too soft, and suffer" much when thinned later. To maintain a supply of dwarf beans M late as possible pet some material ready to co"er tho pl-i'.rts, when there is nn indication of severe frost. Very little covering will keep off the early autumn frosts. Herbs should he cut and tied into small bundle-;, and hung up in a cool shed r"ndv for nso during! winter. Celerv should be moulded up. taking advantage of bright, fine days. Unfortunately many crops are affected with " green aphis" the pinched, curled appear.v.ice of the leave? indicating tho presence of the nest. To destroy this pest spray .with " Iskinias" cr any of_ the ' approved insecticides. An ordinary syringe, is of very littlo_ use for this work, a spray-pump being the most effective, beeauso the spray fluid can he applied with much greater force, and •" force" is ns essential as the insecticide to dostroy any pest. Autumn giant cauliflowers are coming in fast. To keep tho heads fresh, tender, and of good flavour cover the Tountr'heads with a leaf or two. The outrr leaves may bo bent over the hand, or one or two from the bottom of the plant broken off aui put on the flower. Either method is good. If left exposed, the tender heads suffer from frosts at night and the bright sunshine by day. If thcro is any spare ground not wanted for a. time fork it over and fow it with spinach. If this is not want, ed for xise it makes a good manure when dug in green. Finish setting out cabhago, such as cauliflower and other winter greens, and get everything ready for the first spell of dull' weather. Refuse from exhausted crops will burn much better now than later on. Leaves will soon fall from the deciduous trees; these should not be burned hut collected and ■ dug into the ground, as tliey_ are of moro value as manure than twice their weitrht in stable manure. Collect it and dig 't in, to provide good food for next season's vegetables.

HARDY FRUITS. Strawberries should be put in their final position as soon as possible. Many "growers put them rather close to each other for a time, in what is «allccl "nursery rows," This is an excellent practice for runners that are not well rooted, but all that have a good quantity of roots should be -put in their fruiting quarters as soon as possible, while the soil is warm and in a good condition for the roots to Young fruit trees that hara made p, very vigorous growth and show but little sign's of bearing fruit can be brought to a fruiting condition by pruning their roots, and only moderate cutting" away the top growth. It is strange how many men who work in gardens persist in hard pruning the growth on vigorous fruit trees. For years it has been pointed out in these columns how wrong is this method, and that instead of inducing the trees to bear fruit only encourage? the formation of largo numbers of willowy growths, and that the harder these are cut back the more they would grow next year. Now, these strong-growing trees'should be pruned more at the root and less on tho top. Leave a greater length of the current season s growth, as this will give the tree more work to do in forming flower bids. This will be more satisfactory than bundles of flower stakes. Mistakes have been made in "root-pruning, the most common being doing the work at tho wrong season. March and April are the months for this work. If completed by Mar I the roots bave ample time to re-establish themselves before the severe wintry weather sets in. This work i-hould be done by men experienced in cultivation, because in "many cases tho roots do not require ''pruning," but only "liftinr" and THnginr: nearer the surface. Only those that have pushed down into the subsoil from the centre of the tree should ho cut. These are called tap roots, and should he cut with a strong, sharp knife All roots that are. fibrous and well should not tie rut but cnrefullv lifted and brought nearer to the snrfsre and spread out in a horizontal position, enve-od with soil and liui'lo ps firm as possible. Stone fruits should bo pruned as soon as possible. FLOWER GARDEN.

Thp planting of narcissi, lihums, snowdrops, hyacinths, tulips, anemones er/T "should he pushed on during favourable weather. Although these may be planted during the next six weeks those planted first will do best. Bulbs th.it are planted late will push tup their blossoms but do not ranks trie same robust foliage as those that are get, out early, or were left in the ground all the summer. During late years the narcksi has become a great favourite for decorating, and supplies should be prepcred ior this purpose. Quite a lot can bo put in a am all portion of the kitchen "nrdeu to give blosDorns for " cutting " thus leaving those . in the flower garden to keep it bright. To prolong the supply of cut flowers, put a ntnnb°r on the south side oi a feuea or building, where the soil is fairlv damn. Chkmdo/Ta and soil la fitereca, two {'.harming bulbous plant,", should have a special place given to them. Perhaps the rocker? RTf ho best fur these sm?.ll bulb* Lilies should be planted as soon as possible after the prssent season's flo.vers fade. It is not necessary to wait for the. stern?: to die down. Immediately the blosooms iado the bulbs can be lifted and r':-V)lant"d. Manure is not required tV lilit:-, and if the ground contains much animal manure it will weaken the growth. It would be well to t.?ke cut naif a barrowful, and return the same quantity from some otlvr port thnl' is i'rer> iiom manure. Lear-mould arid rotted turf are good, and as all lilii;-: i\". Ain these give a quantity to each i'ly bulb when setting them out. The xall-'jrowing varieties should, where passible, be put in a, spot sheltered from strong winds. The mora dwarf varieties do not suffer much from wind. A.VST.'ERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. «• Rasps."—Cut away all the hard, woody roots that are bruised, but leave all the fibrous. Yes, transplant them. The best method when planting is to cut each cano about six inches from the root. A high place is for early peas if them is enouf'b moisture to sutain them, but ft very dry plaey means a very poor crop. To prepare tlm soil dig it two spits deep, and use a libe.al quantity of bono manure. .Break the soil as fine as possible, and thoroughly mis ihe manure with the soil.