HOME ECONOMICS ASSOCIATION

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17995, 4 November 1926, Page 3

HOME ECONOMICS ASSOCIATION

IN A COTIAGE GARDEN. Only a- cottage garden small, a few sweet flowers, that is all: T come awav from toil and pain, and here renew my strength again. Only a garden small, and yet Here God Almighty draws so near, My cares and fears I quite forget. They seem as naught while l' am here. Sweet Williams grow, and roses bloom. As they have bloomed for years gone by; Each summer brings us blossoms new For all the true joys never die. V hat message do you bring to me, Oh! little cottage garden fair? \ou speak of Resurrection Life, and Hope that springs from dark despair, For as the winter’s barrenness gives place to spring’s sweet herbs and flowers, And cold, bleak, stormy days give way to mellowness and sunny hours: So is it with us all, oh! heart, be brave to suffer and endure; The winter’s storms w T ill only make the calm of spring more blest and pure. The flowers will bloom, the birds will sing, the sun will shine, and one glad day Maybe a gentle voice will say, “Rise up, my fair one, come away.” —Eileen Polhill in “Woman’s Magazine.” *

In spite of the heavy downpour of rain in the early part of the evening of Friday, October 22. a large audience assembled to hear Mr Moody’s lecture on “Gardening” delivered to members and friends of the Home Economics Association. The lecturer confined himself almost entirely to a very simple and yet complete explanation of the different methods employed in the propagation of plants, and, with the aid of numerous specimens that he brought with him, illustrated each method so clearly as to make it quite plain to every one of,his audience In speaking of the method of propagating plants by the sowing of seeds, Mr Moody said that when seeds did not germinate it was quite often not the fault of the seeds. Seeds will not stand too much moisture, and in Canterbury it was best to wait. until September before sowing the majority of flower seeds. It is always advisable to get seeds that are perfectly fresh. Small seeds are often planted too deep. Very fine seeds, like rhododendron seeds, must be sown on the surface. Press the soil level, sow seed, press level with soil, and cover the pot that contains seed with glass. Should the soil in pot become too dry, place the pot in -water, and thus water from the bottqm, never from the top. “A good many plants do not come true from seed, and so we must adopt some other method of propagating them. All new varieties come from seed. To keep plants true to type, propagation, by budding, cutting, layering and grafting must be resorted to. Budding is best for roses, because choice roses often do better on another stock. There are a number of other ornamental shrubs and flowers with which this method may be employed, amongst them the beautiful purple-leaved filbert. Japonicas may be budded on to quince trees. The best time to take rose cuttings is in April and May. Cover very choice cuttings with a glass jam jar until they have safely struck. Carnation cuttings should be taken in January or February. “Gladioli are now a very popular flower, and the following is a little wrinkle for rapidly increasing highlypriced varieties. Take the scaley covering off the conn, note position of buds, cut into pieces so that each piece has a bud and a piece of the root. Plant each piece in the ordinary way. The conns of gladioli always come true to parent plant. The following is an excellent recipe for grafting wax —2 parts of resin, 1 part beeswax, 1 part fat (all ingredients by weight. Put in a tin. Stand tin in boiling water, keep there until ingredients are thoroughly blended. This mixture will keep good for years. At the conclusion of his lecture Mr Moody most kindly provided a number of ladies with plant shoots and grafting knives and gave each one an individual lesson on budding and grafting, which was very gratefully appreciated. A hearty vote of thanks was accorded to Mr Moody at the end of the e\-ening’s instruction.

The handwork exhibition in connection with the H.E.A. to be held in the Caledonian Hall to-morrow (Friday, November 5) promises to be even more interesting than usual. Some speciments of needlework for exhibition only shown to the writer are amongst the most beautiful pieces of handwork that she has ever seen, and, judging by a good many entries, the competition for the best thrift article will produce most fruitful results in the way of useful suggestions to non-exhibitors. The competition for not more than six articles of needlework, each showing a different type of work, should also be interesting and inspiring. Displays of folk dancing and physical culture generally will be given in the course of the afternoon and evening. It is hoped that the gift stall, the proceeds of which are to be in aid of the Children’s Fresh Air Home at Cashmere, will be liberally supplied with useful and beautiful articles, ttt has been suggested that ever)”' H.E.A. member should make a specimen of some household requisite in which she especially excels and sent it, together with three dozen recipes for the same-—whether it be jam, soap, marmalade, pickles, sauce, fruit or bath salts, cleansing mixtures, cold cream, etc., etc..—to the gift stall. Clever housewives are always willing to pay a small sum for a really good recipe, especially when, at the same time, they are helping along a really good cause. The following correspondents are thanked for their contributions:— Keep on Smiling.—One so often hears George Eliot spoken of as a remarkably ugly woman that it is pleasant to find in the recently published life of “ Bret Harte ” that he writes of her thus, “ I have seldom seen a grander face. It expresses elevation of kindness, power and humour. She reminds you continually of a man—a bright, loveable, philosophical man without being a bit masculine.” Original Member.—l hppe the other reads of our “ Star ” column will like the following as much as I do. OUR SHIPS. I have seen men stand looking wistfully out And say, “ When my ship comes in, I will have All the things to which I aspire. I would have fortune and I would have love.” Thus fell the words from the lips, And I wondered as I looked at the men, If they had sent out any ships, “When our ships come in!” Do we really know What we are talking about? For how can our ships come back into port If we never have sent them out? —lda Thomas, in “ The Congregatioiialist.’*