GARDENING NOTES

New Zealand Tablet, 2 November 1916, Page 56

GARDENING NOTES

(By Mu. J. Joyce, Landscape Gardener, Christchurch.)

THE GERMINATION OF SEEDS.

The following are the number of days reckoned for seeds to germinate, provided they are sown in the proper season and in properly prepared ground: Peas, from seven to eight days, and come into bearing pods from fourteen to fifteen weeks. Beans take from seven to nine days, and come into bearing in twelve to fourteen weeks. The cabbage family take from seven to nine days and twelve to fourteen weeks to come to maturity. Carrots, twelve to fourteen days to germinate, and come to maturity in from fifteen to eighteen weeks. Runner beans take twelve weeks to mature from the time of sowing. Celery takes ten to fifteen days, and comes into use in five to six months. Cucumbers germinate in eight to ten weeks, and come into bearing in fifteen to eighteen weeks. Lettuces, six to eight days, and are fit for use in ten weeks. Onions, eight to ten days, and are fit to use in from ten to eighteen weeks. Parsnips take from twelve to eighteen days to germinate, and are fit for use in eighteen to twenty weeks. Radishes, five to six days, and are ready for use in five to six weeks. Tomatoes take from eight to ten days to germinate, and come into use from sixteen to eighteen weeks. Turnips take from five to seven days, and are fit for use in eight or nine weeks. Average time for crops to mature: —Jerusalem artichokes, 24 weeks: asparagus seed, three years: broad beans, fourteen weeks; French beans, eleven to twelve weeks; runner beans, twelve weeks; turnips, twelve to fourteen weeks; broccoli, five to nine months: Brussels sprouts, six to eight months : celery, five to six months ; cress, two to three weeks; indoor cucumbers, six weeks; out-door cucumbers, fifteen to eighteen weeks : leeks, six to eight months: lettuce, ten weeks: mustard, two to three weeks; onions, sixteen to eighteen weeks; early potatoes, fourteen to fifteen weeks: late potatoes, eighteen to twenty weeks: rhubarb crowns, one year: sea kale, twelve months: shallots, fifteen to sixteen weeks; vegetable marrows, from fifteen to eighteen weeks; spinach, ten to fourteen weeks: tomatoes, sixteen to eighteen weeks. Quantities of seed for a given area: —One ounce of asparagus seed will sow a drill 50 feet long: beans, 1 quart to 80 feet: kidney beans, one and a-half pints will sow 80 feet; loz of beet, 30 foot drill: loz of broccoli seed will produce 1500 plants; Brussels sprouts and all cabbages, about the same as broccoli: loz of carrot seed will sow a drill 80 feet long; loz of celery will produce 5000 plants ; loz of cucumber will produce 800 plants; loz leek or lettuce, 1000 plants ; loz onions will sow a drill 200 feet long; loz of parsley, 80 feet. Peas, one quart will sow (according to sorts) from 120 to 150 feet. Potatoes, one foot apart, 14,520 per acre. One ounce of tomato seed should give 2000 plants; loz of turnip seed will sow 150 foot drill.