THE GARDEN

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16904, 1 December 1922, Page 11

THE GARDEN

Help and Hint* for Amateurs

KITCHEN GARDEN. Seeds to sow. —Beans, cabbagy?. endive, lettuce, melon. onions (for salad), peas, spinach, turnips. What to plant.—Broccoli, cabbage, capsicum cauliflower, lettuce, potatoes, savoys, vegetable marrows, winter greens. It is possible that wo may have heavy rains between spells of hot weather in which case there should be a most luxuriant growth, but if we only have light showers gardeners must water crops which need plenty of moisture at the roots. Mere surface moisture is of little value to strong glowing crops.>j?uch as peas, beans, cauliflowers, etc. These need moisture below their roots. Therefore, when any of these are watered, give them a thorough soaking. Carrots:.—Make a sowing of one of the small horn varieties to provide small, tender roots for soup. Fresh tender carrots can bo grown on specially prepared borders, arranged quite near the water supply and made rich b> working in plenty of decayed manure. and rich compost from the remains of the heaps of turf, leaves, etc., that are thrown together as they are collected. And not only carrots, but lettuce, onions, and other salad plants. To have these crisp and tender they need light rich soil. and a constant supply or water during December and JaniaSarlio. and shallots should be taken uj - when the bulbs have completed their growth. Another sowing of runner beans, will prolong the supply of tender beans. Celery should be set in the trenches before the plants get over big. The earlier they are put in the trenches the Letter. If the young plants suffer a check in the seed boxes they never get ot er it. Therefore, if th© quarter is not yet available, make a nursery bed end transfer the plants from their crowded condition to this temporary ben. They will go on growing, and by the time the early crops arc cleared away and the trenches prepared, the plants will be quite big and strong. To provide fresh tender lettuce during the next three months, one must give this crop more than average attention. The roots must have a constant supply of water. Once let the roots get. quite dry and the plants will begin to send up their spike of flowers and the leaves will lose their freshness and become tough and indigestible, fit only for the pigs or poultry. Reas should be sown in shallow tiouches, prepared in the same wav as for celery. Make the soil firm, and after the peas are sown, tread them in. If the peas are loose in the soil, they take a long time to germinate. Make the ground rich for turnips, and when sowing the seeds put some artificial manure in the drills to stimulate a rapid growth. Turnips are not very profitable unless they grow fast. Set vegetable marrows in open quarters, -whore they can get plenty of sunsi line. VINERY. Fruits on early vines are nearly ripe. As soon as the crop is cleared open aIL

doors and ventilators and leave them open night and day to give the vines as much fresh air as possible. Syringe the vines once every dry day. TJ|rathe spray pump and don't stint- the water, hut don’t damage the leaves. Keep these intact if possible.

The berries on late vines should he i large enough for thinning. Get this done a.s soon as possible and don’t hesi- • tate to thin severely. Date varieties : have a greater number of berries or ; their branches than early varieties. : Leave on hunches of the same size. : It is necessary t-o thin them severely j to give the berries enough room to ] swell. Another reason for severely : thinning late varieties is that they ; have to hang on the vines during the 1 damp days and nights of autumn. If the berries are too closely packed (or ; crowded) the skins become soft where : they press against one another, and moisture accumulates, and during a. spell of damp weather the closely packed bunches begin to mould and then decay. Late varieties should he thinned sufficiently to allow air to circulate through the bunches to keep the berries dry during dull weather On very hot.days damp the floor of all vineries to keep the air as moist as possible. ROSES. Roses are good this season. Truly the rose is the queen of flowers. Time was when there were few good well grown flowers to be seen, but now there are plenty of well-grown specimens in almost every garden'and district. At the Little River A. and P. Show they were fine; at Heathcote and Lyttelton they were splendid, and the promise for Christchurch is equally good. These splendid results are more than encouraging and the wide-spread successes must prove valuable to all who have the joy of seeing the beautiful displays. There are one or two points to which attention should he directed. First there are a number of roses that ‘burn’ or lose their colour under a hot sun. and to keep these blossoms fit for exhibition one has to cover them from the sun’s rays. Now one of the objects of a flower show is educational, to Jet the general public learn of the newer varieties. But if it is necessary to keep the strong rays of the sun from spoiling the blossom of some varieties, ought not the public to know so that if they invest in these new, but tender varieties they will know what to expect? Sonic varieties are very weak just below the l flower. Their stem cannot hold the flower erect, and as soon as the bloom is half open it bends down. This weakness destroys much of the decorative value, both on the plants and when used as cut flowers. It is not so much in evidence on standards. Another defect in some varieties is that their petals fall early, and this reduces their decorative value. We want more lasting qualities, so that a large quantity of flowers arc out at one time. Two varieties that have good lasting qualities are Sunny South and Chateau de Clos Vougeot. There are others that last fairly well, hut this is the quality we should look for in