THE GARDEN.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XXV, Issue 1, 20 July 1922, Page 57

THE GARDEN.

W. H. TAYLOR,

Horticulturist.

VEGETABLE-CULTURE. Rhubarb (the summer variety) : New beds of this plant should be planted at once. Sets are usually old clumps chopped up, one or two good crowns being sufficient for ' each set. Plant about 2. ft. 6 in. apart in rows 3 ft. from centre to centre of the sets. The crowns should be barely covered with soil. No produce should be taken the first year, all growth being left to die down. This enables the plants to produce a good spring and early summer crop the following season. Commercial growers have made a number of . changes in their practice, the latest being intended to eliminate the barren year. To understand this it is necessary to know that the commercial grower has to depend on the early crop to make his money, because, that crop commands the best price. For this reason his methods are adapted to the strengthening of the early crop. The purpose of the leaves in the life of the ' plant is to make roots and crowns. A good crop of leaves, and consequently stalks, can be got only by allowing the previous crop to die down on the plants. For this reason only the early crops are taken ; robbing the plants ceases after the early crops are taken ; pulling ceases by the end of -December, or a little later ; and the most experienced cultivators pull nothing after December. It was formerly the custom to lift old clumps during winter, cut them up and replant in early spring, pull no stalks the first year, take the early crops during the next two years, and then lift again. The latest plan is to take the early crop, lift the clumps towards the end of November or early in December, cut up the clumps, and replant at once. The sets become re-established quickly, strengthen up during summer and autumn, and produce a crop the following —there being thus no barren year. Stable manure is considered indispensable in rhubarb-culture. The best time to apply it is in early summer, after pulling has ceased. Applied as a mulch it greatly influences growth, and builds up strong crowns. If stable manure is worked into the soil during winter or early spring it holds water like so many sponges, makes the soil cold, and delays growth. Therefore it is not good practice to so apply it, as the value of the crop, greatly depends on getting it early. It is usual to apply a fertilizer in spring. Probably blood manure is more frequently used than any other, it being regarded as a complete fertilizer. It is as well to remember that about half the bulk of blood manures is sodium chloride (common salt), and that if used in excess, as I believe it sometimes is, it is likely to injure the roots badly, unless it is applied several weeks before the roots become active, so that rain may wash the salt down into the subsoil. Rhubarb can do with a lot of manure, but I believe in this case 4 oz. per square yard, equal to 1,200 lb. per acre, is the maximum that should be given. The so-called winter rhubarb will be dealt with next month. Asparagus beds should be put in order. In the case of old-fashioned beds the loose top soil should have been raked off some weeks ago, and a coat of manure placed on the beds ; the soil should now be returned to its place. Where the planting has been done in lines on the flat—the best way-the soil should be loosened and weeds cleared off. In each case, and before either operation is performed, give such fertilizers as may be decided on. A suitable dressing would be 8 lb. of kainit and .6 lb. of superphosphate per square rod, to be followed a month later with 1 lb. of nitrate of soda per square rod. New beds may now be planted. Sowing and planting of onions should be completed. as soon as possible. Jerusalem artichokes should be planted during the month. Plant medium-sized sets 4 in. or 5 in. deep in rows about a yard apart, and 15 in. apart in the rows. Celery should be sown in boxes under glass for the early supply. The White Plume variety is. good for this purpose. Where celery-rust has been troublesome the seeds should be washed in a solution'of 2 oz. of bluestone in half a gallon of water. Dry the seeds. before sowing.

Other current work includes sowing peas, carrots (an Early Horn variety for early use), turnips (Early Milan or Snowball), turnip-rooted red beet for use in summer, turnip-rooted parsnip (if required during summer), lettuce, raddish, and spinach. Planting-work will comprise potatoes and various herbs, such as thyme, sage, savoury, marjoram, and mint. Parsley requires replenishing every year ; seeds may be sown, or autumn-sown plants set out about 8 in. apart.

TOMATOES. The time for sowing tomatoes varies somewhat in the different districts. Some growers who have not had a great deal of experience sow too early, and there is also a general tendency to plant out too early. It is worse than useless to plant until the known period of frost occurrence is past in those places where there is danger in this respect, and in other places until the soil is reasonably warm and likely to' remain so. In the Wellington and middle districts the first half of November is early enough to plant; those who plant earlier gain nothing by it, and may lose. I know that the most experienced growers agree with me in this. Plants can be got ready for planting in six weeks from the time of sowing, if mild hotbeds are employed. For my part, I prefer to raise the seedlings without a hotbed, because with the latter the seedlings are so liable to come soft and leggy. Without artificial heat the seedlings come up in about ten days, and are not leggy. If they are pricked off while in the seed-leaves and placed at once on a mild hotbed they come away very rapidly, and if well ventilated will make strong and sturdy plants. Bottom heat promotes root-growth ; plants so raised have usually a good ball of roots. I understand that some growers use blood manure in the pricking-off boxes. This is a very risky thing to do. As mentioned in connection with rhubarb, about half the bulk of blood manure is common salt, and although a little may not cause perceptible damage a larger amount would burn the roots and do a considerable amount of injury. On the other hand, blood manure is slow in action. It has to undergo a corrosive process in the soil before it is available to the plants. It follows that although no great harm might result from the use of a moderate amount, neither can it do any good, because the plants would be removed from the boxes before it would become available. Black-stripe of Tomatoes. This disease is responsible for a great many losses, not only in the open ground but also to crops grown under glass. Until recently the disease was not correctly identified. It is now definitely recognized as Bacillus Lathyri, the same organism that causes sweet-pea stripe. The following matter is extracted from the Canadian Horticulturist of April, 1922, and agrees with English opinions. It will be noted that the disease has been troublesome on the American Continent and in England as well as New Zealand. “ Preliminary experiments showed that the trouble bore some relation to the soil, and it was thought that steaming the soil might prevent the disease, but this has proven unsatisfactory. Since the disease frequently appeared on tomatoplants grown on soil that had never produced tomatoes before, and since it was always very bad on plants grown in very rich soil, it appeared that the plants were not properly fed, and that the disease might be controlled by the use of proper fertilizers. It was found possible to produce the disease at will by using fertilizers very rich in nitrogen, such as barnyard manure in excess, and ammonia or nitrates. If acid phosphates or potash was used in addition the plants made healthy growth. Even in those cases where the plants already showed a large amount of blight, it was found that by applying acid phosphate and potash the plants recovered and made healthy growth within ten days after the application. . When acid phosphate and potash were applied at the time of transplanting, or before the disease appeared, the plants were strong, vigorous, and healthy, and set a crop of fruit nearly twice as heavy as plants in the same house not receiving such fertilizer. It thus became evident that the trouble lies in improper feeding of the plants. Recommendations : (1.) Avoid the use of too much manure or nitrogen-containing fertilizer. (2.) Add acid phosphate or bone-flour (3 oz. per plant) and potassium sulphate (| oz. per plant) either before transplanting or just as the blooms appear. (3 ) Avoid overwatering and then allowing to become too dry. (4.) Keep the plants growing evenly by keeping the temperature uniform and watering at frequent intervals, but not too much at a time. (5 ) Do not allow plants to dry out so as to check growth. (6.) Do not attempt to force plants that have been checked.” To the above I may add that' English authorities stress the importance of potash, and assert that many losses from diseases could have been prevented by its use.