GARDENING NOTES.

Wanganui Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 160812, 20 November 1920, Page 8

GARDENING NOTES.

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN

The weather still continues to be very changeable, and the high winds have' been anything but favourable for seeds or plants. Tender plants like pumpkins, marrows, cucumbers, melons and tomatoes have suffered particularly , and in many cases there must be re-sowing. , Runner beans, too, as well as othef plants, have not done too well, and further seeds will have to be sown in the hope of speedy improvement in weather conditions.

Sow peas, French beans, turnip,; oarrot, celery, lettuce, leeks, onions for pickling, radish, red beet, parsnip, broccoli, vegetable marrow, pumpkins, pie melons, water melons, hardy cucumbers. Plant cabbage, cauliflower, tomatoes, lettuce, red cabbage, Brussels sprouts, onions, celery. The i best way to help things along is to keep the soil loose between the plant?, so that the heat of the sun may te able to penetrate the soil. When planting, press the soil 1 firm around the roots andl keep the surface soil loose. The soil nearly everywhere is sufficiently moist to start the plants, and ail else that is wanted is warmth.

Watering will not only do no good in present circumstances, it would actually do harm by making the soil cold. Plants with largo and soft leaves, like marrows, lose water by evaporation from the leaves. Shading them till the roots get hold will do far more good than watering. Stick and train peas andl runner beans.and prick out celery, leeks and Brussel sprouts. Have you put in a,little sweet corn jet? Try it; it will soon be too late. Onions must be attended to—weeded, thinned and fed with soot and wood ashes.

Contrary to the general opinions, the work of seed sowing and planting ia by no means all finished with the coming in of November. There is still time ,to plant potatoes in the heavier soils, especially if they are plump and well sprouted. This late planting is best done by digging a shallow trench and placing the potatoes in it, covering them up with loose soil.

Another valuable crop is the carrot, and it is certainly not too late to sow them, in fact a sowing made now and followed by another in February _ provides nice succulent roots for culinary purposes throughout the autumn, winter and spring. Beetroot can also be sown, and the best manured soil ia nob needed for thi? crop. Runner beans are a crop for November sowing, and if any pays for good cultivation this does. It ia without doubt the best, most prolific and most satisfoatory vegetable that can be grown. The rows should not he nearer • than eight feet, and although double rows are often sown, a single row with the plants a foot apart will give as large a cron as can be obtained under any ether circumstances. The preparation of the soil should be as deep and as well done as possible, for it must bo remembered that properly planted runner beans are a permanent crop, at least for several years. If the soil is dry at the time of sowing give a good soaking of water.

RHUBARB. Thia "pie fruit” is one,of the crops which can he grown without the fear of fire blight or the many other diseases and difficulties which beset the other kinds of truit. The great mis take made is in not giving it ample supplies of liquid refreshment. Rhubarb needs, when growing, plenty of water, or, in other words, a cool, moist soil. It will , stand almost any kind of liquid manure, and is one of the plants that will benefit by the free use of diluted household slops. If diluted with twice their bulk of water, the rhubarb bed can be soaked with them twice a week with advantage. A sprinkling ofv superphosphate at the rate of an ounce to the square yard, and also nitrate of soda or sulphate of ammonia, at the rate of half' an ounce to the square yard, at intervals of about a month or six weeks, is also good, but nothing is of value unless ample supplies of water are given. Rhubarb is a coarse, succulent grower, and its one requirement is large supplies of liquid.

GROWING CELERY. This wholesome vegetable may be had in season all through the year, but it is most largely planted out during the spring months. The amateur may raise his own plants if he has a cool frame with either glass or canvas cover, or the seedlings may be cheaply obtained from the seed shops. Seed may now be sown in operi, and several sue* sessional sowings should be made during uhe next 12 weeks. The seed should be sown m a sheltered situation, and oaxefully watered. When large enough to handle, the young plant® may be put into their permanent positions, and, as previously advised, trenches may be used, or the plants grown upon the surface ,of the ground, and afterwards blanched by wrapping with stiff brown paper or other suitable material. The main points to observe in order to obtain tender stalks are to plant out in good r:ch friable soil, and supply plenty of water so that • growth will be unchecked. If the weather be dry at the time of planting out the roots should be dipped or balled in a puddle made with water, free loam and a little manure. If grown In trenches, the earthing-iip Srocess should he gradual, and must e oaxefully done so that the soil doest not get into the heart of the plants, as by this means growth would ,he checked. Three earthings-up are usually made, the final one being done about a month before the celery is required for use.

TOMATO CULTURE. . . It is not so many years ago that tomato plants -wore grown in fruit houses and vineries with the idea that they tept away- aphis,, the fruit haring very few admirers, and having a reputation for causing disease. ' To-day this has all changed, and possibly no fruit 'is more freely grown than the tomato; the exception is to find ■ a garden without them. The popularity of' the tomato is 1 such that every one

By “THRIFTY.”

tries to have fruit as early as possible, and rightly too. the tomato is a rery tender plant arid much of the nonsuccess of the tomato culture could he attributed! to too early planting. In some places and in some gardens early planting is possible, but in the majority of gardens .the end of October or beginning of November Is soon enough. If the plants are raised from of purchased, it js moat important that they should be hardened off. One can see plants offered for sal© in September, good looking plants, but it only needs an experienced eye to see that they are from under some kind of shelter. If a tomato plant get® a check whilst young it never does well, and unless a tomato is doing well it should be pulled up and thrown away. Of course, it is people's own fault that the plants are offered; if there were no demand there would be no plants. A few days’ sunshine is sufficient to make many people commence to plant out. If the groiupl is cold and wet it is as fatal to thte tomato as' frost. There must be sunshine enough to warm the ground before the plants arc put out. A cold wind will shrivel the plants up like a frost, and the difference in the time of ripening of plants put out, say, the beginning of November and those planted earlier, will be very little. In many oases th© November plants will be ready first and be more vigorous and healthy. Seed sown outside at' the ehd of. October will produce plants that will often, all things being eqiial, beat plants sown indoors two months earlier. Hie production of roots is most important in the young stages of the tomato, and for this reason a light soil containing plenty of leaf mould manure or humus in some form should be used. A soil heavily charged with rank stable manure is not required and is positively harmful. What is required is a sweet light soil that encourages roots to form. In short make haste slowly. It will probably be quicker to wait a week or so than/to plant earlier and let the plants get a check.

THE FLOWER GARDEN. Complete the sowing of tender an* nuals. Plant scabious, cclosia, calliopsis, phlox drummondi, zinnias, petunias, antirrhinum, miniature sunflowers, pentstemons, French and African mari* golds. Pinch and peg down petunias, verbenas, etc. Plant chrysanthemums in rich, well manured soil.

Give stimulants to sweet peas when showing flower bud's. Reduce the shoots of large clumps of perennial phlox and delphiniums. Divide polyanthus, primroses, etc. Keep dead blooms cut off the rosea and any flowering shrubs. Prune flowering shrubs as they go out of bloom.

Stake tall-growing perennials in the mixed border.

Spray roses and any other plants which show green fly. Tie in the new growths of rambling and climbing roses to prevent breaking with the wind.

Lift anemones and ranunculi as the foliage yellows.’

PLANTING CHRYSANTHEMUMS. The general planting of chrysanthemums for all purposes should be hurried on. They are surface-rooting plants, and do not require the soil to be <?o' richly manured ao generally recommended. Fertilisers are better to be applied after the plants have be* come established and started into good growth.' In selecting plants avoid those that are drawn up and lanky; choose those that are of dwarf, stocky habit, and well rooted. The soil arouhd the plants requires to be made quite firm. To affect this, a blunt, pointed stick, in thp shape of a rammer, may be used, or the handle end of the trowel. Firm planting is conducive of dwarf growth, whereas loose planting in rich soil produces sappy growth, and the plants are in consequence more subject to leaf fungi and lose some' of their lower leaves. Keeping the plants dwarf has been the most approved method of growing, whereas formerly the exhibition Sowers were in most instances borne upon plants 6 feet high and upwards.

DAHLIAS. After the chrysanthemums have been planted, the dahlia family 1 should be attended to, any time from the first ■week in November to the middle of December being the best time to plant. The different sections into which tha genus is divided, namely, cactus (which are the most numerous), paeony-flowered (which are of more recent origin), cob larette pompone, and the old-fashioned doubles, with several attractive, decorative and single-flowered forms, giving a wide range for selection. The mixed border is tbe most appropriate fof dahlias, arranging the different kinds according to tneir habit of growth and the colour of the flowers.

THE ORCHARD Strawberries should be mulched at once; it becomes a somewhat difficult operation when the fruit is much advanced. Strawy manure is the best material, spent Pops next best; failing either, pine needles are very good); but» of course, do no, more than keep the fruit clean. Straw cut to a coarse chaff is useful where not too windy. The .mowings of lawns should not ba used, it goes mouldiy and spoils the fruit. Apples and pears should be sprayed for black spot, using either 4, 6, 40 Bordeaux mixture or lime-sulphur solution 1 in 100. Pocket plums are very common this season, and Japanese varieties. Gather and burn all the defcffmed plums, and spray the trees with 4, 5, 40 Bordeaux mixture. The soil around the trees should be saturated with the_ spray mixture. In cases of bad infection, tha branches show a diseased appearance, in such cases the branches should ba cut off below the apparent infection.