WORK FOR THE WEEK.

Evening Star, Issue 19658, 10 September 1927, Page 19

WORK FOR THE WEEK.

SEASONABLE WORK THE VEGETABLE CARDEN Asparagus is usually grown cm highly prepared beds; but there is really; no great advantage in doing so, provided the ground be deeply trenched and heavily manured. The more up-to-date method is to trench two or three spades deep, turning in a thick layer of manure, then plant the roots in rows 18m apart and 10in in the row; stretch the line north and south; then dig a trench or drill with the spade Bin to 10m deep. Rais© the centre of the anil a little, then place the roots along the drill 50 that the crowns of the roots are Sin below the. surface. In two years' time they will be ready to cut. .Now is a good time to plant. .This is also a good time to sow seed. They make more root than top the first year, but if kept free of weeds and the ground is kept stirred, they will grow vigorously the second- year. Celery should be pricked out as soon as sufficiently strong to handle. Make a sowing of seed for a second supply. This sowing may be made outside on a warm, rich, sunny bed. Potatoes, both early and main crop kind, may be planted now. Where early kinds are still to bo planted, they should be got in as soon as possible. If potatoes are cut for sets they should be exposed for a day to dry up the cut. Early planted kinds are beginning to show their heads above ground. In such cases care must bo taken to keep them well earthed up to protect them against late frosts. Rhubarb roots should bo got in without delay. I: it be desirable to have a little early tender rhubarb,. this may easily bo got by covering over the old crowns with a bottomless tub or box. Pack some fresh stable manure around and on top to exclude light and air, and give a little warmth. It will soon shoot away and produce tender, crisp, and pinky stalks. Sea kale crowns may bo forced in a similar manner. This is a very delicious vegetable when forced in this manner. It comes out white and like well-bleached celery. Spinach beet, better known as silver beet, should be sown now and allowed to grow large. It is eaten in the same way as spinach. It is a very useful summer crop, as spinach soon runs to seed. This beet makes a good substitute. . . Peas, both early and mam varieties, may bo sewn. Early dwarf sorts should be sown at once, as they come

into use quicker than the main crop. Lettuce, radish, mustard, and cress may be sown for succession. ‘ Sow also carrots, parsnips, beet, and onions. French and runner beans may bo sown xin warm sunny borders, where lata frosts are not likely to reach them: but where there is any danger of this sowing should bo postponed tor a week or so until all danger of being frosted is past. _____ THE GREENHOUSE . Whilst any probability of spring frosts remains ventilation sbould.be cautiously given, especially with newlypotted plants and tender’flowers. As growth becomes more rapid and the heat of the day increases, more air should bo given whenever it can be done with safety. . , Many of the spring flowering plants will be coming in now in full bloom. There is delicacy and fragrance about spring flowers that never seem equalled afterwards. pelargoniums and other soft wooded plants now growing rapidly require a lot of attention. Water carefully so as to avoid any check to growth. When the flowering pots are full of roots, water with liquid manure; but ha careful not to give liquid manure to newlypotted plants. . An excellent liquid manure is made or equal parts of sheep droppings, cow and horse manure, and a little lime, all put into a tub or barrel of water. Scarlet geraniums, calceolarias, and other soft wood plants that are well established in their flowering potst will derive great benefit from occasional waterings with this kind of stimulant. Water cautiously all newly-potted plants. A great deal of harm is done to newly-potted plants by careless watering. On the other hand, where plants are in their flowering pots and the roots running freely around the sides of the pots, they require a frequent and liberal supply, and more so as they show their flower stems, and this is the best time of all to give stimulant. Cease giving liquid manure when they show color or begin to open their flowers. Remove all dead or faded leaves. Scrub and keep clean pots and benches to encourage a fresh and sweet atmosphere. Keep a watchful eye on plants that are subject to greeu fly or other greenhouse pests. As scon as they aro seen, fumigate. THE TOMATO-HOUSE Preparations should now ho made in readiness for the planting out of tomatoes in cold houses. Whore the soil has been wheeled out for exposure during winter or where new sod has to be got in, I advise the soil to be got back into the house in readiness for planting again, giving tho soil time to warm to' the temperature of tho house, so that mo check be given to the plants in transfer from tho boxes to the ground where they are to grow. If good, fresh, turfy loani be used very little else will be required, but if the sod be that which was used before and exposed outside, then work in on tho surface a good dusting of artificial manure, such as superphosphate and fine ground bone meal in equal parts. Wood ashes or burnt garden rubbish are also beneficial to opening tho soil and to act as a storehouse for plan* food. When the soil is dry and warm mako the surface soil nice and firm. Plant 12in to 16in in tho row and 2ft Gin from row to row. THE FRUIT GARDEN Ail planting of fruit trees should be off hand now, also pruning. . Continue spraying so long as it is safe to do so. Before the bursting of the buds dig the ground among small fruits, and top-dress with _ manure around the clumps of raspberries. There is still time to plant strawberries, but the sooner this is done tho bettor. ANSWERS “ D.W.S.”—You have a purple clematis and wish to know if it should bo cut do win. Previously you have cut it hard back. You also wish to know if you can strike it from cutting. Clematis should not bo cut hard back the way you describe. By so doing you cut all the best flowering wood away. All they require is to cut tho ends back to the young last season’s growth. In other words, clip off the dead ends or old flowering shoots and any dead shoots or wood - about them. Clematis are propagated in various ways—by cuttings, in summer under hand lights or bell glasses; in autumn by layers; in spring by grafting, also by seed. I am afraid it is nob.much use your trying again as previously unless you have the convenience to do so. A certain amount of bottom heat is required, both for grafting and for rooting cuttings, except in summer under bell glasses or layering in autumn, which is done in the usual way, like ' layering other plants, by cutting through a joint and upward about half through the shoot. Peg this down with a wooden hook and cover with saindy, peaty soil. It is quite natural for your kowhai to come into flower about July or August. They vary according to the seasdn. “ Amateur.”—The twig forwarded is a cotoneastor, of which there are many varieties. Being a leafless twig, I cannot for certain give its correct name in full, but it is a cotoneaster I am sure. H.O. BOUVARDIAS To increase the stock of plants by cuttings, pot up a plant or so of each variety and place in a greenhouse (states_ an exchange). Shorten back tho thin twiggy wood to firm shoots, to encourage sturdy growths. When a couple of inches long these shoots will root readily under a bullglass or in a propagating frame. Bouvardias can also bo increased by root cuttings. When the plants aro repotted .some of tho thicker roots are taken off, cut into pieces about 2in long, laid on boxes or pans of sandy soil, and just covered with saud. Tho boxes or.pans aro then' stood in a propagating frame until tho roots send out shoots.-, PLANTING'ROSES‘IN SPRING When planted in the. spring roses may be pruned at tho same time. This can be done immediately prior to the actual planting (states an exchange). The plants can then be.more easily,examined and all useless wood removed. One can scarcely prune too hard the first year. If this advice be carried out, the new rose bed will,’for a time, look like a bed minus tho roses.-• lb is therefore advisable to mark the position of each plant with a bambop ; cano

OaMnßteftatHV » iwßtoiowa ganfauoß, will be gbul to answer winch moat bo ranked not bte than Tuesday ai each week. JtflWKfirau»asß few Cca catena most be handed ha to the office before Z p-m. on • Edday. ■ , ,

or stick. Neglect to do so has led _in many cases to some of the expensive novelties being crushed and bruised, owing to their being unwittingly trodden on through, their position not being noticeable. This may, perhaps, bo characterised as carelessness, but it is astonishing how easily it is done. It is important to plant* firmly. Do not plant too deeply, spread out the roots horizontally, ana cut away all bruised and broken roots. SPRING SPRAYING Bycry amateur understands that insect pests > constitute one of the trials of gardening. But there is a sense of satisfaction after seeing the pest to know how to use a spray winch will destroy it (writes “Guitarist,” in the ‘Argus’). This can not be said of plants attacked by fungus diseases. If wo wait until the disease manifests itself it is already too late to spray. Spraying must bo carried out as a preventive, and not as a cure. Bor instance, by the time the leaves of a flowering or fruiting peach have curled up in the spring the' fungus disease known as leaf curl is so far advanced that spraying is of little use. The foliage is destroyed, and will not function, and the plant has to use the vigor and reserve sap which would normally go into growth or fruit for making fresh foliage. Fungus diseases are at their worst in early spring, when the atmosphere is warm and laden with moisture. In later summer the dry atmosphere' is inimical to the development of the spores. Lime sulphur and Bordeaux mixture are two good spTays for spring use in controlling fungus diseases. Lime sulphur has a further advantage in that it. has also insecticidal qualities. It may be used during early and lath winter, and early spring, and will destroy the spores of leaf curl in peaches, shothole m apricots, woolly aphis in apples, also scale insects wherever they attack plants. For leaf curl and shot-hole it should ho used just before the buds open, at a strength of 1 in 12. For applo and pear scab use at a strength of 1 in 12, and make the first spraying when the buds show a pink tinge, and a second spraying when the centre buds open, at a strength of 1 in 25. Bordeaux mixture is* essentially a fungicide, and may with perfect safety he used even when the trees are in full foliage. It is preferred by many operators because of the ease of application. In orchard practice it is used chiefly in the spring and early summer at a strength of 6lb sulphate of copper, 41b quicklime, and fifty gallons water. In early spring,' just as the buds commence to swell, it is used to check the development of apple and pear scab, leaf-curl, and shot-hole. It may bo used again about the end of October or beginning of November in combination with arsenate of lead a» a fungicide and to destroy all chewing insects, including the eodlin moth grub.