THE GARDEN.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XVII, Issue 2, 20 August 1918, Page 119

THE GARDEN.

By

W. H. TAYLOR,

Horticulturist

VEGETABLE-CULTURE

Vegetable-seeds to sow in September are turnip, red beet, carrot, parsnip, leek, peas, cabbage, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, parsley, lettuce, radish, broccoli, capsicum, chili, celeriac, red cabbage, and tomato.

Plants of the following may be put out : Cabbage, • cauliflower, lettuce, Jerusalem artichoke, rhubarb, herbs, and celery.

Turnips should be sown in small quantity, as they soon become woody after reaching maturity. It is necessary to sow frequently through the summer months, at intervals of seven or eight weeks. Red beet of a round variety is best for early use, coming into use quicker than the long varieties. Carrots need not be sown if a sowing has been already made. Parsnips may be sown if wanted early. A round variety would answer best. It is not advisable to sow yet unless there is plenty of room, otherwise it would be best to sow a month or two later for winter use and employ the spare space in growing a summer vegetable.

Leeks should be sown in quantity' sufficient for the main supply. Peas in usual course are sown every two weeks. Brussels sprouts are the best of all winter vegetables ; sow at once, as they require a long season of growth. Sow a broccoli of early type; Adams Early is a good sort. Capsicums and chillies are suitable only for the warmer parts. Sow under glass, prick out in boxes when , ready, and grow to good plants before hardening off for planting out in November. A variety of cauliflower of the Autumn Giant type should be sown • about the middle of the month. This provides one of the most valuable crops of the year, as it comes in just as French beans and peas are finished, and as the heat of summer has passed and autumn rains are falling the heads are sure to be good. In cooler parts savoy-seed should

be sown at the same time. Red cabbages should be sown at once : this variety is a summer plant, and late plants do very little good. Early plants of celery will be ready to set out. Market-gardeners have now mostly abandoned the trench system of cultivation. The plants are set out in very rich soil, planting them from 10 in. to 12 in.' apart. The plants are fed with liquid manure or by dressings of artificial manure, of which latter nitrate of soda is of great value for this purpose. As self-blanching varieties are grown (such as Henderson’s White Plume and Golden Self-blanching), shade provided by close planting, and good growth secured by feeding, a saleable article is cheaply produced. These heads do not provide a salad that lovers of celery would fully appreciate, but they appear to satisfy a . good many and are at least good enough for stewing. If really good celery is required the trench system must be employed. Seed should now be sown for the main crop. It is usual at this time to sow in the open ground. In the warmer places it is necessary to shade the seed-beds with canvas screens, or the soil will dry out too rapidly and the seed fail to grow. . Celeriac, or turnip-rooted celery, is raised in the same way as celery. The plants are set out on the flat. Trenches are not required, as the thickened root only is used. This is one of the most delicious vegetables, either in soup or served as a dish. It should be extensively grown where choice vegetables are appreciated. For the control of leaf-spot celery should be early sprayed with bordeaux mixture, 2-2-40 strength, repeating every second week. This has been proved efficient in districts where crops not treated are lost as a result of this disease. Cabbages and cauliflowers planted out some time ago are now at a critical time. Early cabbages are liable to bolt to flower, and cauliflowers to button while quite small. A little nitrate of sodal oz. per square yard, or a heaped teaspoonful spread around each plant will force growth, and usually carries the plants through this critical period. A like dressing' given a month or five weeks later ensures good results. .

Jerusalem artichokes should be planted in rows 3 ft. apart and 15 in. between the sets. Plant medium-sized sets of good shape 5 in. deep. Sandy loam is the best soil, but any deep free soil that is not overrich will answer. Superphosphate and wood-ashes are good fertilizers. Farm-gardens should have a good bed of these artichokes. The surplus makes first-class pig-feed —boiled and mixed with mash for young pigs, and uncooked for large animals. In good soil it is a very prolific crop.

POTATOES.

Main-crop potatoes should now be planted. _ If drills are made, or the sets planted in plough-furrows, artificial manure (which may be potato-manure or superphosphate and bonedust in equal amount) should be placed in the drills, allowing 3 J lb. for 50 yards of drill. If the sets are planted, with a hoe, spread the manure along the line of planting before putting the sets in. Wood-ashes are very beneficial, and they are best placed on the sets. As soon as the plants are well through the ground they should be sprayed with 4-4-40 bordeaux. At this' time a dressing of sulphate of ammonia will be beneficial. Broadcast the sulphate along and among the plants, so that it will

reach the roots, and scratch it in. A bare ounce per lineal yard will be sufficient. Confine it to a space reaching about 6 in. on either side of the row.

SEED-ECONOMY.

War conditions have had some effect on the cost of seeds, and have promoted a desire to economize in some ways. My own impression is that the cost of seed is not unreasonable, and that the returns amply repay the cost. I am, of course, speaking of vegetable-gardening, and more particularly home gardens. A leaflet has recently been issued by the English Board of Agriculture to show how economy with seeds may be effected. In some instances, however, the practice recommended will not find general favour in this country, as economy of seed is effected by a smaller weight of crop from a given space, and'therefore at an added cost for labour, a much more expensive item than a few seeds, and, more important still, by taking an insufficient supply from the ground available. .' - A case in point in the leaflet is that of carrots 6 in. apart. Three or four seeds are to be sown at that distance apart and finally thinned to one plant. That would give eight carrots in' 4 ft. of row. I would expect to get a month’s supply for a small family from that space, but would sow a little, more seed. A row 20 ft. long supplied- my family, averaging four persons, for eight months. There are two ways of sowing such seeds. One is for use where there is plenty of ground, and for summer sowing. Three or four seeds dropped at intervals of 4 in. and thinned to one will provide roots of good size. If extra-large are looked for, sow 6 in. apart. I consider this too far for garden purposes, resulting in roots that are too large. This plan is not safe for spring work, when allowance must be made for losses from slugs, &c., which would be likely to result in gaps that cannot be afforded in a garden. It is better to draw rather broader drills than usual and scatter the seeds as thinly, as possible over the exposed surface, thinning when ready to about 2 in. apart. This will give possibly a quadruple row quite easily managed in a small garden, but, of course, not suitable for field culture. It is customary with market-gardeners to sow turnips in this way, and it gives a large amount of . produce in proportion to ground-space.

Onions are sown in narrower drills, but even with these it is not aimed to get the bulbs in single file. To do so it would be necessary either to sow very thinly, and so run risks of having gaps, or to thin out. too many.

Beans are the better for regular spacing. Broad beans and runner beans are best planted in double rows, drills being made the full width of the hoe. The beans are placed io in. apart in each row, those in the second row being placed opposite the intervals in the first row. This is equal to 5 in. apart in one row, but additional root-space is afforded' by the rows being separated. Dwarf beans should be planted closerdouble rows with beans 6 in. apart in each row. Peas are usually broadcasted in the drills. If one had the necessary patience it would pay to plant- in the same way as beans, 'spacing dwarfs 2 in. apart in. each row and taller varieties 4 in.

• [Notes by Mr. Taylor on, the home saving of vegetable-seeds will be published in next month’s Journal.—Editor.] .