THE GARDEN.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XVIII, Issue 6, 20 June 1919, Page 373

THE GARDEN.

By

W. H. TAYLOR,

Horticulturist

VEGETABLE-CULTURE.

Cauliflower and cabbage plants for early supplies should now be ready for planting. It is important that the plants be of the right age—namely, from seed sown towards the end of March or the first week in April, according to the climate of the district in which they were sown. Older plants are not suitable; they are almost certain to bolt prematurelythe cauliflowers to form heads too small to be of use, the cabbages to send up flower-stems. Early cabbages of Flower of Spring type do. not require wide spacing ; in really good ground 20 in. by 15 in. is ample ; if the soil is not of the best the distances may be increased to 20 in. by 18 in. ; if larger-growing varieties ’ are planted space them 24 in. by 20 in. Cauliflowers of early kinds may

be spaced. 20 in. each way. A larger-growing kind should be planted at the same time to .succeed the early kind ; space these 30 in: by 24 in. .

Stable or farmyard manure is specially valuable for these crops, and should be used in liberal quantity if possible, in which case artificial manures will not be .. required, with the exception of nitrate of soda. If procurable, this salt should be used, as it has a forcing effect on growth, and, apart from other benefits, has the effect of preventing premature bolting, a trouble to which spring crops are liable. The best way to apply nitrate of soda is in two or three dressings, applying | oz. per square yard each time. The first dressing should be applied as soon as the plants begin to move after being transplanted, the other dressing at intervals of four or five weeks. A fair amount of humus is necessary in soil used for vegetable-culture, and especially so for plants that make considerable leaf-growth. Stable and farmyard manure is valuable largely because of the large amount of humus it supplies. Failing this some other source of supply is necessary. Greenmanuring by working in crops grown for the purpose is the best substitute. Artificial manures then become necessary. The best fertilizer to use is a complicated question, and naturally depends on soil-deficiency in each case. Bonedust, blood-and-bone, basic slag, and superphosphate are those most used. Basic slag is advised by some authorities as the best for general use in vegetable-culture ; it has the advantage of being non-acid. The continued use of stable manure renders soil acid, and the ■ other fertilizers mentioned are acid, with the. exception of basic superphosphate, which has an amount of lime in it, and, of course, nitrate of soda. An acid state of soil encourages the growth of certain weeds, assists the development of club-root disease, and locks up certain kinds of plant-food in the soil. Lime is necessary to correct acidity, and is quite indispensable for vegetable-culture. .

Other routine work includes the planting of lettuces, onions, shallots, garlic, chives, rhubarb, and potato-onions ; sowing cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, peas, broad beans, radish, and carrot. Lettuces should be regarded as an important crop to plant. The first spring crop is eagerly looked for and the quality is usually exceptionally good. Potato-onions, like shallots and garlic, require a very free soil. The sets are planted by pressing them into the surface soil so as to just cover the crowns ; plant the sets about 10 in. apart in rows 15 in. apart. The advantage in growing potato-onions is that they ripen, about the end of the year. Chives belong to the onion, family. The green tops are the part used ; they are useful in salads and for flavouring purposes. The only cultivation chives require is to divide the clumps about every second year. They are best planted contiguous to the herbs, where they will not interfere with the growing of other crops. Chives are a cut-and-come-again crop, the tops being repeatedly renewed after being cut. The carrots sown should be a short horn variety, and only a small bed should be sown, being for early use only. , ■ -

SMALL FRUITS.

Pruning as detailed last month should be finished , by this time ; if not, it should be done at once, also spraying. The soil, should then be turned over and left in a thoroughly clean condition. Weeds with perennial roots should be thrown out. Regarding raspberries, deep

digging near the stools should be avoided. It is best to dispense with digging altogether, breaking the surface and cutting out weeds with a hoe. Roots are mostly near the surface, and destroying many of them weakens the plants. Provided the soil is well drained, there is no difficulty in keeping the surface open by the use of a hoe, and if a fair mulch of .manure can be given in early spring it will prevent the soil being trodden too hard, serving also to feed the plants and to keep ’the surface open. Stable or farmyard manure is considered almost necessary for bushfruits in general, and should be given wherever possible. In addition to such manure apply superphosphate and sulphate of iron, 2 parts of the former to 1 part of the latter, 1 lb. of the mixture to 3. square yards, during winter. In spring, just as growth begins, give | lb. nitrate of soda per bush. An occasional liming is also useful for freeing potash, &c., but lime should not be applied to strawberries, these doing best on an acid soil. .

The planting of currants, gooseberries, and raspberries should be put in hand at once. Bushes should be spaced 5 ft. apart each way. Raspberries are planted in rows 5 ft. to 6 ft. apart. The young plants may be planted in sets of three 4 ft. from centre to centre, or single plants 3 ft. apart. ...

Varieties. — The culture of red currants in New Zealand has not been attended with uniformly good results, unsuitable varieties having been planted. Some varieties that have attained celebrity in Europe and America have proved quite worthless in this' country. All varieties of gooseberries do well and most raspberries. - The only variety of raspberry that I personally bar is Cuthbert, which, grown under good conditions, proved a failure. The following are some of the best of each class of fruit:—

Red Currants : La Versaillaise, Fay’s Prolific, Red Cherry, Chenauceau, Bertryn’s No. 9. / . Black Currants : Carter’s Black Champion, Kentish Hero. Gooseberries : Farmers’ Glory, Broom Girl, Lion’s Provider, Gregory’s Perfection, Overall, Warrington (good for preserving) Crown Bob, High Sheriff, Roaring Lion, Lord Nelson, Red Champagne, Venus. ’ Raspberries: All-summer, Antwerp, Superlative,.Fastolf, Northumberland Fillbasket,' Semper Fideles, Hornet.

THE FLOWER-GARDEN.- — PRUNING ROSES.

The fact that there are a number of different races of roses, that a different style of or degree in pruning is necessary for each race to give its best, and, further, that individual varieties of- each race often differ greatly in habit of growth, renders rose-pruning a more complex subject than it usually is credited with, being. It is no cause for wonder, therefore, that some varieties fail to give satisfaction when all are treated more or less alike. It is quite impossible in notes of this kind to do more than give general directions, which will answer for the majority of bushes but are sure to fail in a few cases to bring out the best. In the case.of young bushes fresh from a nursery a uniform hard cutting-back is right for all .varieties. In this case growth during the first year is nearly always in exact proportion to the extent of cutting back. The harder a young bush is pruned the stronger it is.likely to be. The

growth on young bushes is always young, arising from one bud in the case of budded plants, or several buds in the case of cuttings. All young growth should be cut off, leaving but two or three buds to make the new bush. Growth will be far stronger than it would be if more buds were left. . Bushes planted in autumn should, be left unpruned till after mid-June. Any planted after that time should be pruned before they are planted. In after-years pruning should be mainly in accordance with strength of growth, with some reservations that will' be mentioned. Among the tea roses there are some varieties that are reluctant to make thrifty growth, such plants being termed “ miffy.” The usual plan in such cases is to prune hard. In theory this is quite right, and is in accordance , with the general happening that wood follows the knife/' . In these cases, however, an anomalous condition arises. Leaving them unpruned for a year or two generally brings •them into a thrifty state, but the present is not an opportune time for attempting to trace the reason for this apparent anomaly. The first step in pruning is to remove dead ’wood and any unripe shoots there may be. These should - be cut right back to the place they started from. Directions regarding the pruning of the different races of roses will be given in next month’s Journal.