GARDEN NOTES

Waikato Times, Volume 194, Issue 22245, 14 January 1944, Page 6

GARDEN NOTES

(By "Nikau”)

ttiiiimiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuih’iumimiuiir VEGETABLES AND FRUIT Plant cabbage (Savoy and various other types), leek, celery, cauliflower. Brussels sprouts, borecole (kale), broccoli. Sow carrot, beetroot, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, raddish, silver beet, turnip and the last lot of peas (in rich soil). Lift shallots and potato onions, making sure that they are dry before storing them away. Stake tomatoes and remove the side shoots. Though there is little blight about, it is advisable to spray the plants thoroughly with Bordeaux (1 lb to 10 or 12 gals). Use cucumbers and marrows as soon as they are large enough for use; try to give every root one good soaking a week. FLOWERS Save a few pods or seed-heads from the 1 best lupins, delphiniums. Argentine peas, ; gerberas, geurns, aquilegias, sweet peas, ■ Siberian wallflowers, shollyhocks, corn- , flowers, etc. Sow the gerbera at once, in a box nearly filled with a mixture of sand and good loam. Try to give every bit of the flower garden one good watering every week—preferably in the late afternoon. Keep seed-heads removed from dahlia, rose, antirrhinum, zinnia, etc. Narcissi and other bulbs lifted should not be left lying in the sun, as they may be baked, or else attacked by narcissus flies. The best way is to place them on the floor of a shed and dry them thoroughly there, before replanting in February and March. In the next few weeks bulbs of the Madonna Lily (Lilium candidum) should be planted; set them shallow, with the top of the bulb showing above the ground. Now is a good time to transplant autumn-flowering bulbs such as the calchicums and autumn crocuses. Sow Iceland poppy for early blooms. Layer carnations and pinks in the next few weeks. BUDDING As more and more interest is being taken in budding, some motes on this subject should help our readers. Budding is a kind of grafting, but instead of the pencil-like graft a mere bud with a little shield of bark is used. Again; grafting is done in early spring, and budding in summer. Still another difference is that most forms of grafting require the removal of a branch or stem, but budding does not necessitate such drastic treatment untH»the bud is seen to have united with the stock. The following points should be noted; (1) Budding is the transfer of a bud to another shoot. (2) It can take place only between plants which are rather closely related; for. example, pear, hawthorn, ‘japonica’ and quince form one group,' while peach, nectarine, apricot, almond, plum (and ‘prunes’ generally), and cherry form another. (3) The work is done in summer, because the buds are sufficiently plump at that time and the bark lifts easily. (4) Young wood provides the most suitable stocks, so they are usually from one quarter of an inch to an inch in diameter. (5) For commercial purposes the bud is usually inserted near the ground level, but the amateur may put the buds on the branches instead of on the stem. (6) To prepare the stock, take a really sharp knife and make a T cut, with the upright pointing down the stem or branch. Then raise the flaps of the upright with the back of the knife blade or with a thin flat piece of bone or wood. The stock is now ready for the bud. (7) Choose a bud half-way along a young shoot, for such a bud is sure to be mature enough. A pointed bud should be used, to make sure that a shoot will result and not merely a fruit. (Usually, however, there is a shoot bud sandwiched between two plump fruitbuds on peach trees). (8) Take a sharp knife and cut off the shoot upside down, start cutting nearly half an inch above the bud, bring the knife down behind and out again half an inch below. The bud is then found to be on a shield of bark. (9) The stalk of the leaf usually found beside a bud should not be removed, for it forms a handle, but part of the leaf blade should be cut off. (10) If the bud is carefully examined, it will probably be found that there is a little bit of wood lying in the bark. This can be removed, but if the core of the bud is removed, the latter cannot grow. For this reason many people prefer to leave the minute splinter of wood in the shield of bark. (11) Now insert the bud right-way-up, pushing back the flaps with the knife, bone or wood. (12) Now tie up the bud with raffia, covering almost all the T cut and yet leaving the bud to peep out like an eye. (13) Tfye buds are not likely to

start into growth until next spring-, in some cases they lie dormant for two years. If the bud is seen to be green in spring, the shoot must be cut off an inch above the bud, so that the latter will start into growth. (14) About six weeks after budding, the raffia should be loosened a little, otherwise the tie may cut into the bark and produce a bad swelling above it. HOT WEATHER The hints given a few weeks ago have become still more apt now, in view of the long spell of dry weather. In the first place, have the ground ready so that the planting can be done as soon as rain comes. Instead of waiting for rain, we may adopt the following plan: Water the seed-box thoroughly. Then, in the evening preferably, make the holes and fill them with water. A few minutes later take up the plants carefully, cutting out each with a square (or cube) of soil. Drop them into the holes and fill up with soil. This method is admirable for cucumber, cabbage, cauliflower, tomato, salvia, zinnia and many other plants. For young lettuces or other little plants set out in a row, a six-inch board may be securely propped up to keep the sun off them for most of the day. Shading with scrim is easily overdone. In a wind the scrim may also lash the plants and be more of a harm than a help.