GARDENING NOTES.

Wanganui Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 15979, 22 November 1919, Page 6

GARDENING NOTES.

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN Keep the hoe going amongst the crops. Stake and hill peas. Thin any crops that require it. Sow dwarf and roaner beansa hill up those already above ground. Continue planting, spraying, and hilling. Keep asparagus beds weeded. Sow carrots, beet, turnips, spinach, etc. Plant out cabbage, cauliflower, leeks, lettuce. Plant tomatoes. Stake and spray those planted out. Broad beans should have the tops pinched out as soon as there are sufficient flowers oat. It is useless to plants grow on without setting fruit. They keep throwing up fresh stems until they are a thick mass, and then get blown down. Pumpkins, marrows, and melon? may be sown now. These crops are useful and profitable, where room, is available. Should the plants, when up, be exposed to a cold'wind, protect them. They soon feel the effects of a heavy wind, SETTING OCT WARM VEGETABLES. Nothing is gained at any time by setting out plants until lie weather conditions are favourable. Lettuce, cabbages, cauliflower, onion, leek, and early celery are all quite hardy'aad can usually be set out from August onwards. But egg-jplant, peppers, tomatoes, musk-melons, corn, squash, and pumpkin arq all tender, and must not be planted out in the open until the ground is warm and growing conditions are fa von rafale. Nearly all those classed as “tender” are crops of one seedling-, and if destroyed by a belated frost, or even injured by a spell of cold, damp weather, the entire garden effort for the season so far as they are concerned is jeopardised. With crops that are sown at intervals (such as corn) this first planting is for early maturity, and if lost no great harm is done, since subsequent sowings made cut of doors will be safe and form the bulk of the yield. If pot grown plants are used for this work there is little actual danger in transplanting, but when these plants are raised in boxes or beds (and the roots must be disturbed in transplanting) care needs to be exercised, the first consideration being that the ground is ready in advance to receive the™* . , . , . Do not have the plants lying about in the sun and wind while you dig a place for them. _ The importance of proper planting is too often overlooked and lacking the essentials of a proper start, the plants usually limp .along for a short time and rarely yield satisfactorily, and in fact, mid-summer usually finds them a victim of dry .weather. . . Make a drill for transplanting just as you would for sowing seed. Set the line and get it Sprinkle a little fertiliser in the drill to give the plants a flying start, this can be worked in with a trowel as planting is done. Set the plants the required distance apart and start planting from one end. Chop the ground thoroughly with the trowel, pressing it down as deeply as oossiblc, and make the bole sufficiently large to accommodate the roots. I hen firm the plants in place and soak the ground ' thoroughly with water to settle the earth about the roots. A little shade should be applied for a few days or until the roots have started activity. WBY WE THIN PLANTS. Thinning out of plants is a necessary eviL The° ideal condition would he to sow just enough seed so that no thinnine - out would be necessary, but that is impractical, and it is physically imposSl Onions. beets, carrots, and other seeds of this type sown in an open drill must he sown thickly enough to assure a good stand, and to relieve the danger from a poor, thin row caused by a low percentage of germination. - In some cases insects destroy the seeds, birds pull out the tiny seedlings when they first appear above the ground. The danger of using too much seed lies in thin spindly plants, because of lack of light and air. To prevent this the rows should be thinned out as soon as the seedling can be handled. The roots of the seedlings will interlock if they get large, causing large clumps of earth to loosen, and removing many desirables - with the undesirables. While thinning out, also remove weeds in the row which are out of the reach of the cultivator or hoe.

Melons, squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, are usually planted six seeds to a hill and thinned out to three plants after the danger period is passed. Carrots and onions are thinned to about two "or three inches, according to variety, turnips and beet are thinned out to four inches apart; about six inches apart is the proper distance for celeriac, parsley, parsnips, Swiss chard, and salsify. Sweet corn will stand a spacing, of twelve inches, which is also the proper distance" for endive, lettuce, okra, and New Zealand spinach. TOMATO U ROWING. The final planting of tomatoes should now be completed as soon as possible. There are few fruit? that are more popular or more in demand throughout the hot summer months that the tomato, and certainly few that give better returns when reasonable attention is given to their cultivation. The plans will grow and fruit well in almost any garden soil, providing the ground has been well worked and used for other crops. It is surprising the amounts of fruit that can he grown upon a few plants when proper care is paid to their culture, and there is scarcely a cottage but has sufficient space to grow enough to meet household requirements. The mistake is often made in heavily manuring the soil intended for tomatoes. When planted in vbry rich soil the plants make rank, lux-

THRIFTY /*

uriant growth, and twice the amount of time and labour is taken up in stopping and thinning out superfluous shoots. But, iu addition to the extra labour entailed, the plants will not prod tree the number of bunches of set their fruit as freely as when the plants are making more sturdy and short-jointed growth., The amount of growth allowed to each 1 plant will depend upon the mode of training adopted. The method of culture adopted by many growers, particularly those growing for early market, is to allow Sie plants to grow on the ground unstaked, simply stopping and thinning out, so that the bunches of fruit should have the full benefit of light and sun. TRAINING THE PLANTS. For the amateur, however, the simplest and best method of training is to confine the plants to one or, at most, two of the leading steins. These should be securely tied as they advance to stakes, trellis, or other support. All laterals or side-shoots should be removed from time to time as they commence to grow, the object being to confine the energies of the plant to the development of the fruit. By stopping in the manner described flowers set more freely, resulting in larger and better bunches of fruit being formed along the whole length of the shoot, and nearly the whole of These will properly mature and ripen. ijH, on the other hand, a number of sUbts are allowed to grow away unstopped or unthinned, although more bunches of fruit may form, only a small percentage will ripen, and these will not attain more than half the size of the fruit that has received proper treatment. Personally I would recommend training on the single stem, as more ripe, well-developed fruit can be obtained than from a number of branches. It is when the fruit is set that the plants require assistance and when manure can be given with advantage A good thick mulching with manure and an occasional soaking with liquid manure will assist in maturing the fruit. Unfortunately, tomatoes, like other fruits, are liable to be attacked by disease, and „ preventive measures should be taken before the plants are attacked. A good plan is to dip the plants before planting in a Bordeaux solution. Some English growers claim that by the free use of potash in the soil 'by giving a good dressing of wood ashes, much of the difficulty has been overcome. It is at least a simple expedient and well worth a good trial. THE FIOWEE GARDEN. Disbud and spray reees. Hoe beds and borders Plant chrysanthemums and dahlias. Continue to plant all kinds of annual bedding plants. Gut off all seed pods from pansies. Clip box edgings. Teed sweet peas with liquid or artificial manure. Stake gaillardias, coreopsis, delphiniums, carnations, etc. Sow seeds of hardy perennials. Most of the hardy and half-hardy annuals can bo sown now for late flowering. _ Plant out asters, salpiglossis, salvia, zinnias, phlox, sunflowers, cosmos, etc. LATE PLANTED ROSES. Every year many hundreds of rosetrees are planted late in. the serins', and very frequently the percentage of deaths is large, for the late planted roses require extra care. When the season is favourable, and wet, dull weather prevails, the losses are not so great. It is when the hot, dry weather comes on them that they show the effects of late planting. Those that were .late planted should have an occasional watering, so that the ground is kept in a moist condition. Liquid manures or fertilisers of any sort should not be applied unless the plant is growing freely and appears to have got over its move. Plants with a weak root system cannot assimilate manure, clear water is all they require, A good mulch of well-rotted mauure or eom© moistureholding medium placed on the surface around the stem of the rose will help retain the moisture. Where the plant is making short, weak growths, each terminating in a flower, the best plan is to remove the bud. This is hard advice, especially if it is some special new variety; however, if this is done now the result will probably be that the plant will send out some strong growths, which wall give some good characteristic blooms later. Particular attention must be given to aphis, etc., for if there are any in the garden they will be found on a weak, poor growing, newly-planted rose; and where an oldestablished plant would only suffer- fertile time being, the weak plant will often succumb. A little extra water, spraying, hoeing, mulching, given during the early summer months often means a good antumn display.