HORTICULTURAL NOTES

Otago Witness, Issue 2892, 11 August 1909, Page 10

HORTICULTURAL NOTES

I By J. Gctbib.

OXALIS. The oxalis is a large genus of more than 200 sp3cies, a number of which are most 1 useful greenhouse and frame plants, and a Jew are quite hardy. They are little, tuberous-rooted plants, all neat-growing aud of simple culture Light sandy soil or sandy peat and loam is a mixture in which they deligiit. They flower at different seatons, and to have the autumn and winter flowering kinds in perfection they require protection from the weather, if only the shelter of a window or warm room. These plants are well suited for window decoration, as, independently of their flowers, their leaves are always neat and pretty. Many of thorn tre of a more or less drooping habit, and . make very pretty basket plants. A few of- the beat are. 0. florabunda, a very iree-flowering .variety with rose-coloured flowers and shamrock-like leaves j 1 O. lutea, fine, large, canaryyellow; O. Aersicolor, white- with vermilion margin, very beautiful ; O. lasiandra, producing umbels of large crimson flowers ; and O.'lacfcifiora, large, pure white. HARDY ANNUALS. The great diversity in form and colour among nardy annuals is such that they play an important part in the decoration of the garden. Many of them are easily grown, and require little attention after the earlier stages of their existence, and these are amongst the more showy kinds. To produce the best effects many hardy annuals are best sown in the late autumn, when they form small plants before winter, and in the following spring are ready to push forth their flowers directly the weather is favourable. By sowing both in autumn and the following spring a succession oi many of the kinds may be had throughout the whole season. i» frequent cause of failure lies in allowing the plants to become overcrowded, the result being thin, weedy-looking plants and inferior flowers. Sow the seeds in fairly rich, well-worked soil, and as soon as the seedlings are large enough to handle thinning should take piaca. Sufficient room should be given to allow for the full development of each one that is ieft, and sturdy plants will result. A Few of the Best Annuals. — Asters are indispensablf a:id may be sown in the open border or in frames, to be afterwards transplanted. The comet aster, with curled petals, is one of the best for garden decoration, although all kinds are pretty. Calliops.s tinctona grows from 2ft to 3ft high, and if well-thinned out forms handsome branching plant 6 bearing a profusion of crimson-brown flowers tipped with orange yellow. Arctotis grandis'is a South African annual which does well in our climate. The flowers are white, produced on long stems, and are 2iin to 3in across ; the petals are pale lilac on the reverse side, the centre disc is light blue, making a striking contrast of colours. Dianthus kcinatus and the other Indian pinks, although actually biennials, if cut down before seeding will last for years. These are amongst, the best flowering plants we have, ami w ill soon come into bloom from seed, and continue flowering for a long time. Godctias are easily raised, very hardy, and no more showy annual can be grown. Phlox Drummondi are best rait?d in th« garden frame and afterwards planted out. They are varied and brilliant in colour, continuing in bloom till lat" in autumn. Neme>ias are charming anmiaU. N. Suttoni is of a graceful branching habit, and \ery floriferous. Dwarf nasturtiums are very showj, bedding plants, flowering best, on poor, diy land. The variegatr<l-lea\ed variety is very pretty. Slocks and sweet peas are tno popular flowers that must find a place in all collections of annuals. Thsir fragrant blooms and varied colours produced in profusion make them valuable for cutting. Salpiglossis grandifiora is one of the most beautiful annuals grown The colom-s and rich and varied markings of their flowers are not equalled by any other annuals. Olarkia elegans and C. pulchella are amongst the prettiest of hardy annuals. They ' produce * numerous spikes of handsome flowers of various shades of salmon, - rose, and carmine, as well as white. Many varieties are also in cultivation with double flowers. Miniature sunflowers are splend'd hardy annuals, growing about 3ft high. They are very decorative, and useful for cutting. The above list does not include by any means all those worth growing, am! there is a hoot of others of great merit

r. that might be named, such as popples, d lieiichrysum, petunias, zinarias, etc. [' ANEMONES FROM SEED. it The beautiful St. Brigid anemones arc ■- easily raised from seed, and if sown durt ing spring they should fiower next autumn c if in a sheltered sunny position. In such a & position the seed should be sown in well0 dug soil, to which seme cow manure ha* '« been added. After digging the surface 1 should be made level and fine with a rake, | aad if some sifted sandy soil was placed over the bed to the depth of lin this would 0 give the seed every opportunity of germip nating well. Anemone seed is rather dime cult to sow evenly, so that it should be a mixed with sand and both sown together. „ It is best to sow in lines, then the^ 6eedr lings can be more readily thinned, and the c amateur is not so liable to pull them up 1 when weeding as if seed were sown broadX cast. The thinning should be carefully i practised as the seedlings progress. The 3 plants should *-tand abous 6in from each ■ other. The thinnings can be pricked out . in lines in prepared soil similar to that in 9 which the seeds were Sown PRUNING CLEMATIS. * It will not do to prune Clematis montana j now, as all the flowers would be cut away. The time to prune this spring-flowering 3 clematis is immediately after the flowers t fade All weakly plants of the other varie- , ties, especially of the Jackmanonii section, > ought to be cut down to within a few - inches of the base. Let them 6tart up t from the bottom, gathering strength as they s grow* and the flowers will be larger and I more numerous. With the other sections, s which flower on wood of the previous year, > or at least whose flowering shoots spring • from buds made and ripened last season, I ' the cutting back will be for the purpose of giving vigour to them. '. The Fruit Indus try. TO THE EDITOtt. Sib, — In your issue of the 3rd inst. I ' notice a most inteersting account of the ' great success that lias attended the FrimLey Factory and orchards. It only shows what intelligent organisation, combined with a judicious expenditure of capital will do, provided 6 you have the climate and soil i suitable for the cultivation of the necessary ; fruits and vegetables. Now, Sir, what , they are now doing, and what has been done, in Rawke's Bay, can be done equally as well in Otago, and in Central Otago in particular. It only requires come enterprising residents of this end of the Dominion, who have a little spare capital, to sit down for a few moments and think what magnificent opportunities of making money, and at the same time enjoying an ideal existence exist almost at our very doors. In Central Otago it is admitted on all sides we have just the right amount of sunshine necessary to impart to all stone fruits, grapes, apples, etc., not only a magnificent colour, but also an exquisite flavour, second to no other fruit in New Zealand. Some folk think that all that is wanted is a plentiful water supply to make this desert blossom as the rose, but a large water supply for fruit trees is not now the necessity that old-time orchardistß imagined it to be. Constant cultivation of th© soil, especially after rain, is now the latest and proved ideal cultural method. If the young trees in the first year of planting happen to strike an extra dry spell, then a little water is necessary to tide them over this period; but for trees that have once established themselves the beat irrigation scheme is the plough and the harrow. If cereals and vegetables are to be grown, then water i 6 absolutely indispensable, but in many places now -totally | unfit for growing such crops, there is not the least doubt that water can be obtained by sinking or by boring at very little cost. In this favoured region, although the soil looks far from being of first quality, yet it is of the very best, and is rich in phosphates, nitrogen, and other plant and fruit tree foods. It consists principally of schist loams, mixed with light marl clays, with here and there belts of shingly and sandy soil, all of which will grow fruit to perfection. Peaches and apricots here attain a quality and perfection in flavour that connoisseurs say is equal to the best that California produces, while plums, cherries, pears, and apples grow to a great size, and yet have all the flavour it is possible to get or want in this claa.- of fruit. Here is a field for fruit-growing, for canning, and preserving that resident* in this Dominion cannot afford much longer to overlook. In addition, we are told by all the Government pomologies that Central Otago is an ideal climate for the prune, plum, and that, instead of importing thousands of boxes of this delicious cooking preserve from California year after year, we should be growing and preserving it in I Central Otago, and not only giving, employ- I ment to .hundreds, but also keeping the money now sent oveisea in the colony — i which in itself is an imi>orrant point. At present we import grapes from Adelaide. They may be tip-top when they leave that State, but they are usually wry much out of condition by the rime they arc offered for sale here. Now, there us not the slightest necessity for this part of New Zealand to go on importing t li ir> delicious | fruit, whop it has l>eon i>ro\e<l lx'.\on<l a i doubt that we can if row them our»el\es to perfection in Central Ota.go. In the y<*ar 1895 (14 years ago) .Signor liragato visited ' Clyde and the sui-iouac'ing clisrricts. He ' say*,: "It was the 25th and 26th of Fobru- ] my, 1895, when I was in thf>=c localities, ; and it was a--fcoru-=bing to me to find ripe gTaix?s of a late \a:ie(y Hk'> Black Hamburgs so early in the =<?aso:i — earlier than in any part of the North Inland, — a con- j Mi'cing fact, as I reporre/J at that lim" to ' the Premier, that th^ tummer climatic conditions there are conducive to the early i ipening of the fru.t, and on this occa-ion I strongly recommended in my report to th<? Government to do its best to foster the vine industry there." How much that Government and following ones have acted on that expert advice is patent to all — j absolutely nothing ! They have certainly established experimental stations in the Waikato, at Waerenga, and in Hawke's j Bay at Arataki. At these stations they I , have proved beyond a doubt \h~A they can j in the open air grow eplendid table and j wine grapes equal to those grown in ' other parts of the Dominion in hothouses. ' \ They are also supplying to growers and prospective growers a great many new varieties grafted on Californian phylloxera- [ resistant stocks, co that no one now need be afraid of planting these varieties, as they 1 are absolutely disease-proof as far as their '. root system is concerned. If the Govern- ] i

ment would only give intending fruitgrowers some encouragement by opening up suitable blocks of Jand in areas of 40 to 50 acres in these districts it would be doing a good work for the whole Dominion. 1 All the grapes required to supply the South Island could be grown in this district and sold at 6d per pound retail, and then ' leave a good working profit for the grower. The Government vine experts 6ay that four acres in vines will give a man a very ' good income after the fifth year, and as ' the vines begin to bear the third year 1 after planting, growers have not long to ! wait for returns. j Instead of this continual cry year after year of the unemployed, why not settle a ; number of these fertile belts in the interior, and not only make independent men ; of them, but also put them in the way of making a 6ure competence in a very few years? It only requires a little push and energy on the part of the men themselves to urge the Government to put in hand the irrigation scheme that has been dangled before the eyes of Central Otago settlers a few months before each election. Then thousands of acres of not only grapegrowing lands, but land suitable for dairying and other pastoral pursuits, could be brought under intense cultivation. This would soon settle the problem of making the Otago Central' line a payable proposition. Then, instead of Dunedin citizens going to the seaside to spend their holidays they would betake themselves to the interior, there to enjoy the wealth of sunshine and the -dry mountain air, and also to indulge in the grape, cure— the fruit cure now so much commended _by English, American, and Continental "physicians. You have only to go round tfiTs district — so little known to the bulk "of * Dunedinites — to find out how healthy and long-lived its old inhabitants are. If you did, I'm quite certain that you would be ready to endorse all that the late Vincent Pyke used so often to say : " That no one hai-dly ever died there unless it was by accident, and that Nature had made the. soil so rich and good that you had only to tickle it with a hoe, and let the clouds shed a few tears over it, when it would produce the most j abundant crops of fruit and flowers." — I ! am, etc., PitOGBBSS. j An orchard at Papawai seems to have received a rathsr severe visitation from hares recently. " Puss " tore the bark from a number of the trees, and practically killed them.