THE GARDEN.

Matamata Record, Volume III, Issue 130, 1 May 1919, Page 1

THE GARDEN.

(By W. Taylor in Journal of Agricuturc)

Trial sowings of turnips at Arataki show that the warm climate is a disadvantage with this vegetable. The Snowball variety sown on Ist March gave the first pulling on 23rd June, three months from sowing. Sown on Ist April the first were used on 11th August, four months from sowing. Sown on Ist May very few were obtained for use, and all bolted to flower the first week in September. It is evident that it is not serviceable to sow after the second week in March, and that better results are obtained in colder districts. However, if there is an actual shortage of turnips it may be well to sow up to the end of March. Later than that appears to be labour lost, and the ground might be better occupied.

Spinach succeeds admirably in the warm districts if sown in the last week in March. For sowing at this date spinach is easily the most valuable of all garden crops, giving a liberal amount of produce for from five to six months if desired. Either basic slag, superphosphate, or bonedust arc suitable fertilisers, giving 2oz per square yard. The soil should be fairly well supplied with lime applied a few weeks before sowing. Fowldroppings kept out of the rain, gathered fresh, and stored till a dry powder, arc an excellent manure. Give lib to 21b per square yard according to the conditions of the soil. Sow the spinach in rows at least 12in apart, and thin to single plants, leaving them a minimum of Bin apart. After thinning, if growth lags at all, give a dressing of nitrate of soda, per square yard, repeating the dressing four or five weeks later. In the same warm localities Short Horn carrot sown at the same time giyes good returns, but it is necessary to sow at least- a month earlier in colder places. Lettuce should be sown not later than the first week in April in order to provide the spring crop in all but, the warmer places. In the latter a month later will answer.

Onions: The giant kinds must be, ;t sown in autumn or they will not de- 1 velop properly. It is bad practice toj sow where they are to grow, as under’ q this treatment many of them bolt tc : flower. They should be transplanted Keeping-kinds of the smaller varieties ! are in some places sown with advan- 1 tage in autumn. This is the case in districts where onion-mildew is very ;.l troublesome. Autumn-sown onions of ; i the small kinds will be coming to- j ward maturity when mildew appears, and in consequence are not much in- •: jured. Even these are best transplanted," though it is not always done, and they certainly do better without transplanting than do the large kinds.! In private gardens it is wise to sow 1 a line or two of a large, kind, even if, it is not intended to grow large specimens, as they come in very useful for pulling in a green state in spring-time, and for many purposes answer as

well in cooking as ripe bulbs, thus effecting economy with these. There are great advantages gained by trans- ( ' | planting onions in spring. Growth is' very slow during the winter months, f and the soil is likely to get sodden and sour; also weeds are sure to grow, and are likely to demand a lot of labour; whereas if transplanting is practised final preparation of the soil is left till spring, when, the ground being vacant, it is easily and effectually done. The labour of transplanting is trifling compared with that of keeping the soil clean between seed-rows in winter, and, above all, the spring preparation leaves the soil sweet, in good tilth, and free of weeds, summer cultivation being easily done. Another point that should be considered is that bulbs of keeping

varieties that were autumn sown rarely keep long. They are useful for early marketing, but are rarely fit to hold for a rise; moreover, the bulbs usually average rather too large for the market. Medium-sized bulbs usually command the best price. Asparagus: The tops should be cut down level with the ground when they are nearly dead. This should be done before the berries begin to fall to any extent, as if many of them fall tlu! plants that spring up become a nuisance. Burn the tops, or if trenching is being done they may be placed in the bottom trench. Whatever is done, take care not to scatter the seeds about the garden, where they may come up as weeds. If the plants are arranged in the old-fashioned hods, as much of the top-soil as can be removed should be raked off and a foot deep of half-decayed stable manure placed on top. The soil is to be left off until spring. Some growers—very few—strip the soil from the beds

so as to expose the crowns, and leave them in that condition until they show signs of starting growth in spring, and then apply manure and return the soil. This is a very bad plan and should be discontinued. Growing crops of the brassica tribe should be moulded up before the plants get large enough to be affected by the wind. Brussels sprouts require heavy moulding in exposed places as they grow tall. Y T ellowing leaves on the lower part of the stems should be pulled off, but by no means cut off the good leaves, as done by some amateurs, this being quite a mistake. The rosettes form in the axils of the leaves; they are but small, and soon spread if the leaves arc taken off; they may be removed when the sprouts arc cut. The grey aphis that, attacks brussels sprouts at this time of the year can be easily cleared by forcible syringing with nearly boiling water.

Strawberries: Planting will be carried out in many places during the next few weeks. See that the soil is in a clean state before planting. If the soil is light pass a roller over it. both before and after planting. Where large areas are planted the young •plants carry no soil on the roots. In such cases most of the present roots lie, and should be cut to half or onethird their length. The plants can be taken in bundles and the roots laid -on a block, severing the roots with a tomahawk. Take care that the plants do not dry -up during the necessary 'handling. Bundles may be kept moist under wet sacks, taking out only a •sufficient number at a time to enable the person who lays them in place to keep a little way ahead of the planter, 'ft is bad to plant in very dry soil, still worse to plant in wet soil, and it should not be done while rain is falling. Old beds that it is intended to keep for another year should be gone over, all runners removed, and all the old leaves cut off. The leaves should be burned, which may be done after removal from the bed; or if leaf- - spot be prevalent let them lie a few 'days till dry, then, if necessary, seat'ter a little straw or pine-needles among them and set fire to them, letting the fire cover the stools. It will not injure the crowns, unless there is too heavy an accumulation in any part. If pine-needles were used as a mulch, it may be worth while to collect the bulk of them and keep them for next season. They usually serve for two seasons.

Raspberries: Old canes should be removed from plantaions. It is better to do so now than to leave them till winter.

Loganberries: Bushes should have the shoots that have fruited removed, with the reservation that if there are not sufficient young rods to provide a crop for next season some of the rods may be kept. In this case the lateral growth that bore the fruit should be cut back to spurs of one or two buds, but this should not be done till midwinter. For Chronic Chest Complaints, Woods’ Great Peppermint Cure.