GARDEN NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume 100, Issue 16780, 24 April 1926, Page 22 (Supplement)

GARDEN NOTES.

! ~ SEASONABLE WORK. (By "Nikau.") Vegetables and Fruit.-—Stir the ground about all growing crops, : especially cabbage, lettuce, carj rots, beef. Burn diseased fruit j such as blighted tomatoes. In J case of lale maize and sweet corn j use the cobs when the tassels have just withered. Bemove surI plus foliage from lomatocs, so | that sunshine can reach all parts | of the plants. Plant cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce. Mould up ! early celery. Sow, in raised beds, ! onion, lettuce, turnip. Sow oats to turn in as green manure. Store fruit in dry, airy place. Flowers.—Finish laying down lawns. Trim hedges for last lime, liii.s season. Topdrcss old lawns with rich soil. But out various kinds of bulbs and similar plants. j Babel chrysanthemums and dah- ! lias before frost, destroys the flowers. Slake winter-flowering peas. Make main sowing of sum-mer-flowering kind. Put in cutlings of roses and hard-wooded shrubs. SPECIAL NOTES. Green Manure. —Most authorities i are agreed that a greal defect of our local soils is their lack of humus or vegetable material. They eilhor contain fair quantities of other plant foods, or Llii'Kf) can he added by topdressing wilh various artificial manures, but humus is much harder io supply. On a small scale it can take the form of horse manure or compost, but on a ?rtrgo scale the only satisfactory form is a strong-growing green crop which cm be. turned in. There is a great range of suitable crops, as may lie seen from the following- incomplete lisl: fiats, barley, vetches or lares, mustard, millet, lupins, prairie-grass, peas. All these will supply humus, which in turn will supply plenty of nitrogen, and, still more important, the Olhcr qualities, both chemical and mechanical, that are peculiar to humus. Leguminous crops, such as peas, vetches and lupins, are exceptionally suitable, as they arc able to obtain nitrogen from the atmosphere and "fix" il in the soil. I This power resides in the, nitrifying bacteria which live in countless numbers in the nodules found on the roots o;" leguminous plants. When broad beans, French beans, green peas, clover or sweet peas are being pulled up, some of these, nodules should be cut open and Ihcfr rather porous structure, noted. The bacteria will not he visible unless a flrsf-elass

microscope is available, fioally good results are obtained when the magnification reaches the high figure of 1000. The bacteria are not parasites, but pay for their keep; this happy blending of interests' by plant and bacteria is called "symbiosis." The fact that all leguminous crops enriched the soil in a special way was known to the ancients, for it is mentioned by Pliny, who wrote in the first century A.D. For present sowing oats are very suitable, ns they are so hardy and so vigorous. Some local gardeners obtain great results by sowing oats in each plot of ground as if becomes vacant, and (hen turning in each lot of oats as it reaches the height of 20 io 30 inches. H is evident that the increasing shortage of stable manure will force us to supply humus in olher ways, especially by the use of green manure.

Asparagus Beds.—Now that (he foliage is turning yellow and the berries are ripening, it is lime Io cut the planls down to within Ihree or four inches from the ground. Every berry should he picked up. as Ihe seedlings Hint would otherwise appear would soon crowd the bed and .use up food supplies .meant for the established planls. The lied should be cleared of all weeds and the surface loosened with a hand-fork, but great care must be taken to avoid damaging the crowns. Unless the ground is particularly well drained, if should not be manured at, this season: a far better practice is to apply the manure at the end or winter, when the plants are ready to start inlo growth and make use of the manure given them. At present, therefore, simply cut Ihe plants down, remove, any, fallen berries, clear away weeds, and loosen Ihe surface.

Rose Ciittinas. —March and April are good months for pulling in cuttings of roses and many kinds of shrubs or trees,, as Ihe wood is sufficiently ripened and there is yet enough warmth in Ihe soil to Induce the cuttings Io put out roots. First of till, choose healthy wood, of n stocky, close-Jointed kind of growth: Ibis is' often round in the shoots that bore (lowers in early autumn. The. shoots should be cut across just below a joint, as experience shows that the roots are most easily formed under that condition. Many people advocate, the leaving of a "heel" of older wood, but this is far from essential. A good culling will be about as thick as one's little linger, and from 9 to 12 inches long. The cuttings should be kept as fresh as possible until they are planted, and after that (hey should be kept just moist, but never sodden. A small trench 4ln deep should be made and then strewn with sand: the. cuttings should then be pushed down in ibis sand, but kept vertical otherwise the growths would he all 'lop-sided. The soil should be rammed in tightly, as firm planting is a great help in propagating. So is Ihe inch or so of sand in the bottom of Ihe trench. This same method may be followed with most kinds of shrubs, except that Mav is generally a heller month than March or April 'in their case. Dcntzia, weigela, viburnum, syringa, for-

1 sythia, oleander, proslanthcra, tama- ! risk and veronica are examples. i Tithonla Speclosa.—Owing to the ! absence of frost, this rather new plant I (in New Zealand) has done splendidly this autumn. In several local gar- . dens the"' tithonias arc rivalling the ordinary dahlias in brightness, and the tree-dahlias in height: in one garden some of the plants have reached a height of eleven feet. The usual height, however, is about six feet. For those readers who do not yet know the tilhonia. we may describe it as a kind of sunflower, with the habit of growth of Ihe branching sunJlowers, but there Ihe resemblance ceases. The llowcrs are a scarlet, that reminds us of the old soldiers' I tunics; in shape and size they are somewhat like single zinnias, hut not ! a bit stiff. The tilhonia is a decided acquisition, but one disadvantage is | that the 'plant is easily cut by frost. I If therefore needs a somewhat shellercd position like that usually eiij joyed by cosmos.

j Aster Ericoides. —It is only fair that ; we should mention in our "personal I notes'' litis old friend who has once more come to brighten us up. Aster I ericoides, Ihe while healh-like perennial asler. is Ihe daintiest and n-eest-flowering of the Michaelmas daisies, and deserves a place in every garden. It is as hardy as the oilier varieties. but. is not so rampant a grower, and is therefore an easy plant in.deal with. 11, lasls well in water, and indeed seems Io have every advantage except a good scent. hike Ihe olher perennial aslers and golden rod. helcnium and rudheckie. this plan! is propagated from divisions made in spring.

Our N.Z. Plants ah Others Seo Them. —The following notes from an I Knglish periodical should he of interi esl : Ibis Llnprosnvi Is .the hedge plant j known as the "laupnla!" end Ihe Cordylines or Dracaenas are Ihe cabbogei trees:—

i "Coprosmn Baueriana Yariogata.— j For growing in a cool greenhouse or I conservatory this beautiful variegated J plant is well adapted. II has leaves ! with a bright given centre and marj gins of rich yellow, and. being compact in habit, forms a very effective I shrub. A compost of loam, lcaf- ! mould, and sand suits it best, and it | should lie given a moderate amount oT root room. Where possible it should I be planted out in a border in n.con- ; servatory. line, of the best speeii'mens we have ever seen of Ibis shrub I was grown thus." !' "Dracaenas are useful subjects for i indoor decoration, and among the best I of them mav be mentioned D. indivlsn land I>; australis. The last-named has ! long tapering foliage, and Ihe former ! broad green leaves. Roth are attractive plants on Ihe dinner table, and are easy to cultivate, thriving well In turfy loam, peat, and sand. Clean. woll-d>a'.ncd pots and firm soil are Ihe I chief points in their culture. The I two are almost hardy, and will thrive j well'in a cool greenhouse in sun oi shade."