FOR GARDENERS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 329, 16 October 1908, Page 5

FOR GARDENERS.

WORK FOR TO-MORROW. The luxuriant growth'that is taking placa in woll-managed garden soils cannot, fail to throw the gardeners into a state of enthusiasm. If-there-is vacant space, and more leedlings are wanted, sow a selection from:— Cabbage Broad bean Savoy : French bean Pickling cabbage Butter bean Cauliflowor Pea Broccoli ■ • Beet - Lettuce Turnip . . Celery Swede Onion Radish L'eek; Carrot Spinach Parsnip Plant'-out tomatoes. Let out the main crops of/potatoes, not forgetting that Up-to-Date is the best garden sort in general cultivation.'..ln the purchase of seed potatoes, insisl on getting potatoes that, are hard to .the feel. Potatoes that have lost much of their vitality through age or bad keeping shrink and become. wrinkled and less firm to the touch. They never give good crops, and it is.a great pity to waste a large area of a small; garden on a potato patch that is a failure;. Plant, them in rich aeep-dug, well aerated.; soil, so as to grow them fast. If they are previously, "sprouted" in holes in a dark .place they'will come on faster after they are in the ground. • .At this time of the year, with' warmer /weather anticipated, the tubers should be planted more deeply in order that the fine roots of the plant later on may be as far down beyond the reach of the possible drought as can be managed. On dry, well,-drained soils planting may be deeper than ' on water-logged soils which rot itho tubers. Do not be in a hurry to earth them up when they show through. Let the • sun got at the young shoots, and make them grow. . Where the garden space is very limited, and one' cannot find room for all that olio would like to grow, it is a good plan to give preference -to those things that are eaten raw, such as radish, celery, and lettuce. In the case of cabbages, the contagion can be stewed out of them in the cooking, but the writer has always felt a reluctance to eat uncooked-shop-celery, grown perhaps in what is practically: a dung heap, or shoplettuces: with their dirty outer leaves browned in the grower's sack, or even radishes, in spite of- the scraping of the skins. Again, gardens that are frequented by the family a'njmals should be also restricted to growing things that are eaten cooked, for the authorities say that hydatids and other diseases aro sometimes caught from animals fouling the.things in the garden. Where one has the choice it: is just as well to be on the safe side. /. ,'■ People who have been trying to keep a loose surface on their gardens after every rain this week have had a busy time. It has proved wise to wait a day or two after the rain to seo what weather was .to follow. And in any case too much tramping on the wet garden is always bad. Remembering that .Wellington's showers usually follow a change of wind to the south, one has beon tempted to count- on fine weather • when-north windsreturned. But the changes from one quarter to another have been very rapid. All the rain that has fallen has been welcome, and so soon, as conditions cultivation the hoe should be got going to stir the surface and conserve all the warmth arid wet that the soils possess. Rain conserved is always better than rain gained. It is-not too late to overhaul rose bushes, and cut out debilitated branches or branches that are too crowded. A long, bare branch can generally bo cut down to a young shoot nearer'the roots with benefit to 'the tree. Young, vigorous shoots that start low down .make better growth, better,, blooms, and a better" fight • against the aphis blight . and fungus ( spot than the weaker shoots that usually crowd out at the ends of theVlinger branchps. But ttf'give;them a proper chance' to grow the old branch must bo cut back to where'/the.desired new,shoot.starts. .The'^hief,. fungus pest of-pear blossoms is now showing itself. The rainy weather'of this week has been of a kind calculated to spread!,and develop it' very 'extensively. ; It is to be observed by a darkening of the oyo of 'the young'pears. At first the inside of the eye. assumes a greyish tinge, and a sunken spot sometimes' appears; then the colour darkens to black, and it extends through the calyx to the. substance of the young pear itself, which soon afterwards drops off. This disease often strips off nearly a whole crop shortly after tho petals havo fallen. Owners of pear trees will -find it interesting to examine the young fruits, and calculate 'how much of the crop,is already doomed. ' The preventive is -.spraying with - Bordeaux mixture or amnioriiated carbonate of copper. But the prevention' 'stagois riow past: There is no cure after infection, and infection, is there before the fungus is visible. If tho young affected pears are picked off or gathered up after they fall, and burned, that will removo some of the source of infection for next season. - A very similar disease is responsible for the falling of peach buds. , - " .-

Proper provision should be made for a continual succession of.)-all the vegetables that are required; ~Some of the root crops ■will bear transplanting... This does not apply to carrots and become forked at the roots, after removal. But turnips, if shifted when , very young and treated with care to prevent drying of the roots, will not suffer at all, and produce good roots for the table.- This-fact is sometimes of importance, for. in thinning out one can, if needed, make a new row of the plants takon out. Cauliflowers should be transplanted only when young. If planted out - after they , havo Teached a good size ;they yield a very disappointing flower. The case is different with cabbages, which can be transplanted almost at any stago. Cabbages and cauliflowers Bhould be set deeply in the ground—as deeply as tho point where the lowest leaves joiii the stem. If planted more shallowly. they swing in the wind (which is bad for thorn), they look ungainly, and they are more, likely to be eaten off by slugs, which delight in gnawing through the stem of a tall cabbage or cauliflower.. Next to tho stem their preference is for tho new central leaf. .Slugs seem to know where they can do the greatest damage with the least effort.

Rhubarb seems to be going to seed considerably this season. If the (lower bud bo pinched out and the small leaves attached to it bo left uninjured, a'good crop of stems may still be growrt. " 1 '

In the flower garden, the planting of new beds may be continued, and seeds of those flowers usually" grown "in this way may bo sown, such as the "fragrant mignonette, the showy poppy; the;'nasturtium' (so useful for covering an ugly'old fence or hut), sweet pea, sunflower, etc. The windows of the plant shops give 1 a good - guide as to the plants for setting out,-and'among the favourites may bo mentioned tho pansies, 'asters, calcealaria, dianthus,'-.c6reopses, marguerite, dwarf sunflower, etc. -Primroses and their relations may be taken lipr divided, and replanted, if thoy havo done (lowering. It is a good time to discard -the worst varieties and multiply the best. ' Cut lawns frequently this month to -check the coarse grasess, eucourgo the finer r and lay the foundation of an admirable lawn by and by. PULLETS PAY. Every experienced poultry-keeper knows that pullets give a better egg yield than hens,.,but the, manner in which tho fact is emphasised in tho Blenheim egg-laying contest is rather striking. In that contest tho pullets and hens aro classified. There 'are 89 pens altogether, and of these 46 consist of pullets. The emphasis comes in the placing. At the present time all tho pullets are at the top, "bunched," as the racing men say. The best 48 pens contain 'all tho 46 pens of pullets and only two pens of hens. All tho other hens are "bunched" at the bottom. The circumstance is ail the more remarkable bccauso of the fact that tho hens are doubtless to some extent tested birds, some trap-nested last season; while tho pullets arej of course, merely woll bred, but quite untested except by physiological rules.