IN THE GARDEN.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19062, 26 July 1927, Page 7

IN THE GARDEN.

WORK FOR THE WEEK. (SPXOAU.Y WSTTTXH TOB TSI FESSS.)

(By J. T. Sixcwnt-)

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. S.E.T.—A tablespoonful of kerosene to 8 bathful of liquid manure would be too much. All that ie needed to prevent the mosquito from breeding in etaie water is a very thin layer of oil. Sprinkle some on by means of a smau paint-brush. , t ... . Hortua.~You are doing the ngbt thvn«; in turning over your clayey subsoil ins it as it was. The clay in time *?"««: solidate again, but if you turn it over annually and add to it as much .garden refuse as you can Bpare the fertility 01 your garden will be improved, and toe plants will not suffer in periods 01 drought as they did previously. Planning—Although the town gardener can do comparatively little towards solving the larger problem of food supply, he is proving every year more convincingly how agreeably he can provide i a more varied vegetable diet for his family when he works his garden to the best advantage. As we have often pointed out, successful cultivation is largely a matter of the proper preparation of the land in autumn and winter. The preparation consists of digging and trenching, draining if necessary, and the addition of certain materials to provide food for the coming crop. The deeper the ground is dug the better, for roots often go down further than is generally supposed. Roots cannot live without air, that is one reason why they generally decay in sodden soil, in which the spaces between the particles are filled with water instead of air. The firmer the particles of soil the closer they fit together, as in clay, and the less air there is between them, and therefore the more important it is that they should be separated by cultural methods. During the past few weeks we have dealt With the different sorts of manures to use, and how to dig and trench the ground, and we now advise our readers to draw out a plan of their vegetable plot and mark thereon the site and space for the different crops. When this is done the system of rotation is much easier carried' out, and much time and trouble are saved when the busy season of seed-sowing comes round. The new season's catalogues should also be obtained and looked through, and marked in accordance with the outlined plan of sowing and planting. The drawing up of a rough scheme, and the early ordering of the seeds are two of the secrets of easy, economical, and saitsfying horticulture.

VEGETABLES. Broad Beans—These are the hardiest section of the. pod-bearing plants and seeds can be sown from now onwards. The plants like a strong soil and where the soil is shallow it should be well trenched and get a good coating of welldecayed manure. The drills should be three inches deep and about two feet six inches apart. The seed should be set from five to six inches asunder. There are two sections of these beans but it is only in the form of the pod they differ. Broad Windsor and Mammoth Longpod represent both types and require the same cultivation. Garlic—This root is not largely grown, as it is used mainly for flavouring purposes. It requires a light soil and sunny position. The soil, however, should not by any means be poor, but if it-is so naturally, it should be enriched witt some old manure. Make the drills? a foot aparf>ana«tfireeiSchesset the cloves or divisions of the bulb about six inches apart and cover with firm soil. „ _ , _ Soilfor Covering Small Seeds—The soil.turned out of pots when the plants have died away or become of no further use is sometimes regarded as a nuisance, especially when one has no pronpi- " l ace in which to store it. Nevertheless, this soil, although apparently can be turned to very useful account if it is freshened up by the addition of chemical manures, such as basic slag or superphosphates. If stacked up where it can be weathered for some time, it can be wed for growing plants in once again. The best means of making use of this soil is to dress the vegetable garden with it. Where the soil is naturally clayey and of an adhesive nature, it very often happens that fine soil is required for covering small seeds, /and there is nothing better-for th purpose than old potting soil run through a sieve. Then again, when one wishes to erow large leeks, onions, carrots, or Srsnips, the plan'frequently followed fs to make large holes With a crowbar and fill them up with fine soil. Leeks and parsnips planted in these prepared holes usually assume much larger•proportions than when grown m the garden L the ordinary way. When there is no old potting soil at command, a compost of three parts soil, one part leaf-soil, and Sf part sand, should be well m*ed together and passed through a. riddle. When this is used as a covering for! 2Sf seeds the young much freer than they do when the seed is covered with coarse, lumpy matenai.

FRUIT. Strawberries-When the beds■ • are full of root*, deep digging shouldJ* woided « many ofttie roots will St" bTuisS and>ken. The £on respond to the use of fertihsers, and if given a good mulch now a double purpose will be served,J fooa for the plants will be and a protection from ram splash will be afforded the fruit; for if put on now the mulch will be washed fairly- dean bv the time the fruit rupens. born? Weeds will doubtless appear before then, but they can be removed Dy hand-weeding.

FLOWERS. Lobelia—Those who possess- a greenhouse will do well to put in a sowing of this iralned edging plant before tnis month is out. It is blow in germinating, and if not sown till late next month the plants will be very small by the end of October. Fill a box or pan nearly full of fine soil, ma*e moderately firm and perfectly level, sow the seed, and cover with a very thin layer of soil. A good sieve for such work is made with perforated zinc. Water through a fine rose and stana the box on the greenhouse bench. Cover the box with a sheet of glass, over which lay a piece of paper until the small plants appear, after whicn remove the paper, and then the .glassVerbena can be sown now, and in tne same way. . Clematis—Summer-flowering clematis should have the thin shoots cut out and the unripe ends of the rey mainder removed. The Jackmanm type should have been shortened bacfc earlier, but where not done, see to it at once. Remove all dead ana shorten well back to strong new buds, which will soon develop fast. Chrysanthemums—Growers of large blooms usually strike their cuttings in June, but generally speaking, from now until the end of next month is a good time to strike the cuttings for decorative plants. In procuring the cuttings do not cut them off below the soil surface. We know the temptation. One gets a few roots attached, which makes a sure "strike," but the plants never do so well afterwards as those which start from a cutting clear of root: As we mentioned before, cover the cuttings with glass, and t© prevent undue flagging* shade iron*

bright sunshine, but remove the shada early in the. afternoon. Hydrangeas.—Few plants are as useful for greenhouse decoration as the hydrangeas. It .is easily grown and naturally therefore very popular with everyone who possesses a small greenhouse. The season during whicn this plant is at its best is early summer, although with a little care it can be had in' bloom quite early in spring. At the present time, by » selecting plants that were raised from cuttings struck in February, it is possible, oy picking out out those with very large plump buds—those with narrowpointed buds will not flower-Ho get them to bloom quite early. . They should be selected now and put m the warmest part of the greenhouse and then gradually grown on. As soon as the flowering stage is reached, another batch should be likewise treated, so that at the-earliest one going out of flower a later batch_ is coming in and continuing a succession of blooms. To get a bluish tint into them a watering with a weak_ solution of sulphate of iron can be given now and again.