THE BUSY MAN’S CORNER

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 554, 5 January 1929, Page 24

THE BUSY MAN’S CORNER

AMONG THE VEGETABLES MARROWS AND CUCUMBERS, ETC. —Marrows, pumpkins, cucumbers, etc., should be constantly hoed round and liquid manure applied where plants are backward. A protection from the blazing sun may be had by sowing a row of sweet corn round the beds of young plants. Gardeners who are troubled with their plants flowering and not forming fruit may hand fertilise them by rubbing the pollen of the flowers together. (See diagram.)

RUNNING TO SEED. —Unless specially required, don’t let the seed stalks of rhubarb mature. The plant requires all the strength it possesses to throw into the stalks. Remove with a sharp knife and apply plenty of water and liquid manure to the crowns. Asparagus tops should be nipped off and used for foliage decoration. The green tops only rob the roots which require all their strength during the dry summer and autumn.

MANURlNG. —Cabbages, lettuce and cauliflowers may be pushed along with nitrate of soda, loz. per gallon of water, before applying saturate the soil first with the watering can. Peas and beans that are beginning to crop well may be treated with sulphate of ammonia in liquid form or dusted along the rows and watered in. All root crops require plenty of potash which should be dug into the ground before planting. For a general fertiliser for all garden crops a mixture of super, potash and ammonia.is unexcelled. GENERAL HINTS. —Don’t let the kumeras become overcrowded, cut away any long stragglers that are running away from the plant. Keep the rock and water melons well watered. Every day is not too often during the dry periods. Run over the parsnip rows pulling out the smaller ones thus leaving room for the champions to expand. Do the same with carrots. Crowding prevents development. The smaller fry come in handy for stews. Onions will soon be nearing maturity. Bend over the foliage first and let the foliage dry out. There is no hurry to lift them as they will keep quite well in the soil. SUMMER SALADS . —Are these appreciated? I should say so. Sowings of radish may still be made. The great secret is to produce the crop quickly, thus rich ground is required and plenty of water. Force on those lettuce plants with liquid -manure. Don’t try transplanting any more. Just sow a pinch of seed here and there and thin out; this saves many varieties going to seed. Keep the salad onions well hoed between and look after the leek and celery seedlings.

AMONG THE FLOWERS AUTUMN PERENNIALS. —PIan,ts like Michaelmas daisy, golden glow, helenium, etc., are now well advanced in growth. All this type of plant are gross feeders and should be heavily manured. Fork in blood and bone and super round the roots. You will be rewarded in a few weeks by larger and more blooms. Stake the tallest plants that are in danger of being blown over. Stop the cannas from going to seed as the later flowers are always smaller.

ROCKERIES. —Often at this period plants dry out on the rockeries owing to the little depth of soil. Portulacca and petunias are two varieties that will render a quick show. Sow the seed of the former variety in the rock pockets. Keep well watered until seed has germinated and the plant will carry on by itself. Petunias should be planted about 9in apart. If purchasing, buy the giant single in preference to the double varieties. A good idea is to plant one petunia in an empty wire basket and grow on the verandah in the full sunlight. This will droop over the . basket and flower for weeks.

COMING BLOOMS. —Asters and zinnias should be coming along well now. See that the plants don’t receive a check through any fault of your own. Keep the soil well worked between the plants and an occasional dusting of lime will be good. Any signs of the caterpillar may be checked by spraying with arsenate of lead.

Roses that have finished their first crop of blooms should be cut back to allow the second lot a better chance. A good mulching between the plants is a good idea. FLOWER GROWERS. —Gardeners who grow flowers for the local market should be preparing now for early sowings of beauty stocks, Iceland poppies and winter sweet peas. If these are planted early in the autumn, winter flowers may be expected. Dig the ground over deeply, add plenty of lime and bonedust and sow the seed according to the month the flowers are wanted. A few Marigolds planted late will start flowering just before winter when qther flowers are scarce.

LAWNS. —Sunbaked lawns should be kept well watered during the cooler parts of the evening. Better to spend a little time every night than have the expense of replacing a new lawn in the coming autumn. Sulphate of ammonia is a splendid tonic for weedy lawns, use loz per gallon of water and apply after a good hosing. This kills out annual weeds and promotes rapid and strong growth to the grass.