THE GARDEN.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 171, 25 September 1886, Page 1

THE GARDEN.

Kitchen Garden. Whenever a favourable opportunity occurs all kinds of vegetable seed should be sown. Peas* Continue sowing fortnightly ; earth up and stake the early crop. Make large sowings of turnips, carrots, onions, and parsnips ; also a Email patch of parsley. Continue sowing mustard cress and radishes fortnightly. Potatoes : The early crop earth up ; plant a few rows of intermediate varieties. Continue planting out cabbages and cauliflowers ; earth up those that are growing ; sow a patch of fresh seed to supply plants for late spring planting. Thin out all advancing crops ; give plenty of room for each individual plant, and stir the surface soil between the rows so as to keep the weeds under. Cucumber, melon, and tomato plants sown under glass pot into four-inch pots, and still keep under glass. Prick off some of the early sown celery into boxes, so as to have a few good plants ready for going out early, Cape gooseberry seed should now be sown under glass. Dig and manure all vacant pieces of ground, and let it lie so as to get properly sweetened for later spring cropping. Look attev all seedling crops coming through the ground. The eluga will now be doing great damage. Frequently seedsmen get. blamed for bad seeds when it is slugs that clear the young plants aa the seed cornea through the soil. Lime frequently at night so as to kill them. Flower Garden. Whenever the soil is in a hardy condition continue sowing hardy annuals. See that they are arranged in the borders according to their heights and colours, the tallest to the back of the border, and the smallest to the front. Plant ont succeesional lots of gladiolus, etc, from time to time, so that you may have a succession of flowers during the summer. Prick out of seed pans tender annuals sown under glass ; put them into boxes, and keep them under glass for a few weeks to harden off before planting out in the open air. Take every opportunity for putting out the ordinary bedding plants struck in autumn. The earlier they are planted out the better they will succeed next season. Start dahlia roots. Camellia: Pick off all decayed blooms, prune back slightly those done flowering, give a slight dressing of manure fco as to promote strong vigorous growth. Azaleas coming into flower give occasional liquid manure. Any seeds coming through the soil will require careful attention, as slugs are very plentiful. Elme in the evening:. Lawns should for the rest of the spring i receive strict attention by keeping the graes as short as pessible, and rolling frequently. Where the grass is not showing very strong, give an occasional dusting of guano when it is raining ; this will put fresh vigour into it, and greatly thicken the sward for the summer season. Greenhouse. Make preparations for re- potting the different stock plants. Coleus : Strike a batch of cuttings. Double geraniums, pelargoniums, etc., in pots, should now be kept near the glass and watered with liquid manure occasionally. Tuberous - rooted plants, such as gloxinias, tuberous begonias, etc., take out of the old pots and re-pot into small pots. Give plenty of water to all strong growing plants. Give plenty of air on all fine days. Vine-GrowinK In the Open Air. Mr G. E. Alderton's interim report upon vine culture in the United States of America has caused considerable discussion amongat those who have a practical knowledge of vine culture. In the short report given, of course details are not entered into. It principally' deals with comparing American spring and summer temperatures with New Zealand ones, American varieties of the grape vine, and the introduction of those varieties here. In ref >■ rence to temperatures, Mr Alderton says that on comparing the meteorological records of the United States with those of New Zealand he found that in many cases the difference was so small as to be of no practical moment. Taking Virginia for instance, the mean temperatures for spring and ' summer are precisely the same fof both places, mdnth for month through the '-y ear—altering the month, oi course, to allow for difference of seasons, etc. In reading this statement I was aston ished, and at once turned to works of refer ence. I found thaY Mr Alderton was mis stating fact3,,as all Virginian^mean temper atures f or" Bummer* afre considerably highei than those of New Zealand. In order that mj readers may compare .the two* I will reprin them : , ■ „;•■.,

' From the Above table -of mean temperatures anyone will vsee that there can be no comparison, as the lowest aumm6r mean i^, Virginia ia about sdeg, higher than* the highest'in New Zealand, and the highest is. abopt lQdegi highec, , than ours. ■' Mt Alderton v mwet . / ; either have? /made' -* a • 'mistake when writing .that -passages or. he {ails, to estimate what.,thoiße'f«w !degrees of e^tra^moAn temperature mean, to any' climate* Aa fofcth* Vine'crowlngin^cduntries whore they havermttohlcolder wintorsr than oure, that i» well-known ; bat in tho«fe

countries the climate 1 is muoh different. For instance, the vine is grown in parts of Ganada, France and Germany 1 ; but what kind of climate do we find in most of those places in the winter ? Severe frosts with a low temperature ; in the early spring the same ; in the late spring the weather begins to get very warm ; as the season advances into the summer it gets very hot, with a dry; clear atmosphere towards the'end of summer and beginning of autumn. This is just the kind of temperature the vine requires so as to properly mature its fruit, and even in the above countries the crop and quality are much dependent on the season. If it is cloudy, wet, or the atmosphere is moist whi'e the crop is ripening, the vintage is spoiled. These are one or two of the questions that I hope Mr Alderton will deal with. Some of the American varieties of grape vines have been cultivated for some years in Auckland, with no greater success than the European ones — perhaps Mr Aiderton will also be able to deal with the reason why. As for the Government going to the expense of importing plants of the different varieties of vines, it can be done for much less by getting cuttings instead, notwithstanding the opinion to the contrary. At present there are a good number of vines growing under glass in Auckland, and bearing crops of fruit, that were imported from Britain by post as cuttings.

Bird Soarer. As the period is fast approaching when the different imported birds will make sad havoc with seeds of all kinds coming through the ground, a plan which I have seen several times adopted at home might ba of service to us here. The usual scarecrows such as pieces of tin tied on strings, etc., only frighten for a few days. Poison in a large number of case 3, especially about the city, is objectionable, and shooting will not be allowed. Gfet some old plush and make an imitation hawk. Put in the head beads for eyea ; try and make the imitation wings so that they will flap about when suspended in the wind. When made, stick a long pole over, the seed bede and suspend the hawk about four feet from the ground. The swoops and plunges the dummy will make when there is a little breath of air will effectually settle the birds. They will be frightened from coming near the garden. The position must be shifted occasionally so as to still farther keep up the deception. All other scarecrows after a few days simply serve as perching places for the birds. But the above, if properly made and hung, will answer for a whole season. — Hortus, in " Star."

I ■ 1■ I I ''OQ 02 "«J pt TIRGINIA— Alexandria 52*44, , 77*57 66*20 34?23 Fortreca Munroe 57 34 77 H7 61 92 47*77 Norfolk sfi'sO 76 53 61*43 4157 Richmond 56*51 75 56 58*03' 4003 Staunton 51*03 73 60 ■ -62 93 ■ 37*56 West Virginia— ' ' Kanawha 51*38 71*40 64*65 36 66 Bomney 51*05 • 73*30 ' ' 53"79 2865 New Zealand— / , , . . MbuKanui ' 53 28' 66*£6 61*52 5306 AuckJand 5756 66*92 61*16 ( f12'34 Taran'ki 5594 '64*68 tfß*B2 '50*90 Napier , 67*74 66*?0' 5702 «i49'10 WolHngton ,64*50 6221, .56 66, 48:74 .Wa»gaxmi ?"i J 3l 63*31 67*12 ' 48*71 Nelson . "'54*60 S2'7B S5 1 78 4668

MBAN TEMPERATURES.