GARDENING NOTES

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 49, Issue 15048, 28 November 1923, Page 6

GARDENING NOTES

Annuals. , . Seed of annuals sown outside where they are to flower at the present time will do well. Prepare the bed well, that is, give a little care to producing a fine, even surface, and sow the seeds thinly in .drills. A small packet ot seed contains quite enough and to spare for the average garden, and if a little care is given in the first stages the results are far better than when the seedlings are transplanted. So far as the soil is concerned, circumstances govern it. We cannot all obtain unlimited supplies of stable manure; many get none, but we ,ean make a point of getting as many weeds (not docks or such like perennial ones), old grass, leaves and similar rubbish, and dig this in deeply. Then procure a little superphosphate, nitrate of soda, wood ashes, to supply the nianurial elements required. .Many people will dig barrow loads of manure in, but will not use the grass, weeds and such like rubbish in spadefuls. Rotten vegetation is the source of all good fertile soils; stable manure is quite an artificial material that local conditions demand must-be disposed of, and we have come to rely almost entirely upon it, but with the passing of the horse and the entrance of the motor ear we shall soon have to go back to natural conditions and utilise green crops and waste vegetation to supply humus. Annuals like a soil full of humus, not perhaps so much from the manurial value as from the moisture-retaining capacity of it. Therefore, the reason of the advice that if stable manure is not to hand use vegetable matter of any kind. Once the seedlings are through the ground and commence growing, give an occasional watering with a very weak solution of nitrate of soda. A teaspoonful dissolved in a kerosene tin of water, and the seedlings watered with this once a week, will make a vast difference. This must be discontinued once the plants commence to show hloom. When the plants have attained . the third or fourth leaf, an application of superphosphate, at the rate of one ounce to the square yard, should be given once a fortnight in addition to the nitrate. This should be scattered on the surface of the soil and hoed in. Severe thinning of the plants should be done so that each plant stands on its own, but not far enough apart so that when in flower it looks thin.

Give the plants sufficient room to develop, but so that when in flower the whole appears as a solid mass without vacant spaces between.

Bust on Chrysanthemums. Mr W. Wells, the raiser and grower of chrysanthemums, of Merstham, Surrey, England, recommends as a preventive of rust the following: —Half a pound each of sulphur, soot, sugar and lime; the lot to be boiled for half an hour in one gallon of water. Half a pint of kerosene should then be added, and the mixture allowed to simmer for a minute or two. The solution should stand till it gets clear, and then be decanted into bottles, iii which it can be kept. A quarter of a pint to a gallon of water is the strength to use, but in bad eases double the strength would do no harm to the plants. He recommends the spraying of every cutting and plant once a fortnight with this dressing, taking particular care to spray the undersides of the leaves. He considers it necessary to burn all old leaves and stems, and to be careful not to overcrowd the plants when growing. * * * * Haricot Beans.

These form an invaluable food, and all gardens should have a few rows. Haricot beans axe the seeds of varieties of dwarf French or kidney beans, and of certain climbing beans. Some •of the best dwarf growing haricots are Dutch brown and white and green haricots. Among climbing haricots, Czar and Phenomenal are especially to be recommended. These beans are no more difficult to grow than others; they thrive best in deeply-dug and manured soil, and seeds should be sown at once, four inches or so apart, in rows two feet from each other; the seedlings ought eventually to be thinned to eight inches apart. A mulch of manure or decayed leaves on the soil between the rows in summer is beneficial. In early autumn, when the plants begin to turn yellow, and the x>ods commence to burst, the plants should be uprooted and dried in a shed under cover, or in the open if the weather is fine, and the beans thrashed. The beans can then be stored in bags for winter use. ■» * * * French. Beans. A good manure for French beans consists of one and a half ounces of superphosphate, and half an ounce of sulphate of potash to the yard of row. A good coating of wood ashes can be used instead of the sulphate of potash. Canadian .Wonder, if old, is still one of the best dwarf varieties. Scarlet Runner, White Czar and Kentucky Wonder are good hardy climbing varieties. The dwarf varieties should be .sown thinly, allowing two or three inches between each seed, while the climbing varieties should be allowed six to nine inches.

Planting Out Vegetables, Splendid weather now prevails for planting out cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce and other plants, as well as for sowing the various seeds to provide succession crops. Plants that are in the seedling stage, and others that are just coming through the soil will, at this season, need careful watching to project them from the ravages of slugs and birds.

To protect seed from the attacks of birds, a simple method is to damp and

Fruit, Flowers and Vegetables.

dust the seeds with red lead before sowing, or to stretch strands of black cotton along the rows about two inches above the soil. Although these remedies protect against birds, they do not protect the young, tender foliage from slugs and snails. Clean, wellworked ground and the free use of lime is the best means of keeping these pests in cheek. Sowings of peas, dwarf and runner beans, carrots, parsnips, turnips, spinach and lettuce should ( be made according to requirements. Herbs that are to be raised from seed, such as parsley, .basil, and other varieties, can be sown, »-* * *

Asparagus. Asparagus has been in bearing for several weeks, and where cutting must continue for some time yet a soaknig of liquid manure will be of immense benefit to the plants. The beds should he hand weeded regularly, as it is most important to keep them clean. A dressing of salt will be beneficial at this time, for besides being of value to the asparagus it helps to keep down weeds. Kainit is even more beneficial than salt as a dressing for asparagus. Nitrate of soda at the rate of half an ounce to the square yard is also good, and a dressing now and another in December will mean a lot to next year’s crop. Do not cut asparagus for a longer period than necessary, or next year’s crop may ,siiffer. When peas begin to be plentiful, asparagus can be spared from the table. • • • • Newly-Planted Trees. It is wrong practice to manure trees at the time of planting. If the soil is poor, either work the manure in the soil the season previous, or mulch the trees with manure during tiie summer following planting. In most cases it will not be necessary to manure the trees at all the first season, but the mulch, where it can be given, is an asset to a newlyplanted tree during the dry season. **« ‘ * Manure. Manure must be applied regularly if the soil of the garden is to be kept productive. Of all manures the best is the natural waste of vegetable feeding', viz.—Cow, pig or stable manure, for this contains all the ingredients necessary for plant life, and also a proportion of humus or .vegetable mould —an ingredient that is never present in any of the manufactured manures. Humus returns to the soil vegetable matter that supplies most of the nitrogen necessary to promote quick growth. It also keeps the soil loose and open, so that it does not unduly cake hard in the summer.