THE GARDEN.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 173, 9 October 1886, Page 1

THE GARDEN.

Kitohen Garden. Late potatoes should be planted now as soon aa possible on all dry situations. On heavy, wet, low, retentive soils the planting can be deferred for another week or so. The early planted cropa should be forked between the rows and earthed up as soon as they have attained the height of about from 6to 8 inches. Sow French and running beaus. The running varieties should be sown about three feet apart in the row, French about two. Continue euccessional sowing of peas, also plant out another small patch of cabbage and cauliflower. Hoe advancing crops. Have a bed prepared for pricking out the early celery plants. See that they are well protected from slugs, see to hardening off of cucumbers, melons, marrows, and tomatoes, 30 as to have them planted out as early as possible, also specially prepare well-manured hills for the same. If prepared now, they will be well sweetened for the plants when ready to come out. Many of the early sown orops will require thinning. Never allow the plants to draw one another up too much before thinning them. Onions thin when large enough. The thinning will do either to fill up blanks in the row or extend the ground under crop, simply dibble the roots and about half an inch of the young plants on the ground. They will make as good bulbs as those that were sown. Stir the surface soil frequently between the rows of growing crops, so as to kill weeds and allow of a freer circulation of air to the roots. Where slugs are troublesome to seedlings, lime frequently after dark. Flower Garden. Hardy annuals continue sowing out in the open. Thin thoae that have already attained sufficient size, also transplant some of the thinning to new portions. Commence sowing a few of the more tender varieties out in the open. Tender annuals under glass prick out into boxes, and when established harden off before planting out into the borders. The sooner all bedding plants are planted oub the better now, so aa to get the ground well covered before the dry hot weather sets in. Continue planting out bulba such as gladioli, &c, so aa to bring them into flower in succession. I Autumn planted ones will require staking. The usual Bprnig flowering ones should be either in flower or coming into flower. I Water occasionally with liquid manure. Keep all seed weeds under in beds and borders. Look to the old dahlia roots starting. See that the slugs do not get at them, keep the grass short on the lawus, and roll frequently so aa to keep it in good condition. Eradicating Weeds. How often do we hear the remark, "It j is impossible for me to do anything ; the weeds fcpring up and choke everything," i Now.^it is easy to keep weeds under if they are attacked at the proper period. When weeds are allowed to get large they require ten times the amount of trouble to exterminate than when attacked in the seedling state. Some people never interfere with weeds till they have attained a considerable size, and then they make extraordinary efforts to destroy themby hockey and raking^ them off the ground. When such is the case large numbers have ripened their seed so as to give a fresh crop. Numbers are just cut under the surface of the ground, and ready to spring up a3 strong as ever within a week or so, increasing tne labour of the garden tenfold. In all well-kept places the rale is never to allow the weeds to get past the seedling state, and that when cut there is no necessity to rake them off the ground. If the ground is frequently and systematically hoed no raking and lifting and wheeling the weeds away will be required. About once a fortnight during tho moist growing weather in the spring and autumn all broken ground whether border or kitchen garden should be hoed. This will break up the soil in which the roots of seedling weeds are getting established, and the young plants will perish and leave no trace after the first hour's sun they are exposed to. Any ordinary individual will get over a larpe piece of ground in a few hours, provided they are not strong enough to impede the hoe When possible the hoeing should be undertaken on a dry day to prevent the re-rooting of the weeds again. While many admit the above system is an entire success with annual weeds (that is weeds that flower, ripen their seed and die), they apply a different system to such weeds aa dockg, aorrel, convolvulis, etc., that live on season after season in the same spot. Now I all these can be eradicated by persistently t keeping them under for a time. No plant can live if you persistently keep cutting its leafy or above-ground portion before it has I had time to become developed, for if not allowed to develop leaves it cannot develop root, and therefore must die. I have tried to get rid of nearly all tha weeds that infept our gardens, and have found that the cheapest and moat effectual way is continual hoeing early in the spring, and if such ia persisted in very few weeds will give any trouble during the hot dry months of summer. Again, for a month or so the hoe should be kept going till the ground receives the usual autumn digging, after which very few weeds will give trouble through the winter. There is another circumstance which all cultivators should take into consideration, and that is the benefit all crop 3 or plants derive from having the surface soil about them stirred frequently. It allows of a freer access of the atmosphere to the roots, thereby sooner dissolving the food stored up and causing a more active root growth ; consequently the plants make a more rapid growth. Grafting Large Apple Trees as Pears. Whjeee old trees of the above have been standing for a number of years, and are found to be unfruitful year after year, either the variety must be unsuited for the locality or the tree is suffering from being cropped too heavily. The best way of converting them quickly into fruit-bearing trees ie to cut off the entire head, not too closely, and to regraft the heid all over with some variety that has already been proved in the locality to be a good free

cropper. By adopting this plan a healthy head ot new-bearing wood can quickly bo developed, small brarcbes healing much more rapidly than large limbs that are liable to decay and so cause the destruction of the entire tree. Double-grafted trees as a rule bloom more abundantly than single-grafted ones, aa owing to over-luxuriance being checked the energies of the tree appear to be more directed towards the forming of blossom than wood buds. If *a large number of unfruitful trees in the orchard here were dealt with thus, this spring, in about two seasons more they would be a pleasure and a profit to their owners instead of a vexation every time they are looked at. Orange Culture, In last Monday'a issue, Mr G. B. Alderton accuses me of not stating the truth by not quoting a certain paragraph. Now, I will give the whole of the paragraph in question: "The finest oranges sent into tne English market go from the Azoree, a number of volcanic islands in the Atlantic, and situated between latitudes 36deg. 55min8 and 39deg. 44mi».— in a latitude equal to that represented by the district? lying between Kawau and Napior. North Auckland, it will be seen from this, is comparatively in a warmer latitude than the Azores, though in reality, of course, th# difference is not so great as it appears, ag it is colder in the Southern Hemisphere than in the Northern, owing to the effects of ocean currents. Taking Florida, on the other hand, which is much nearer the Equator, being between the 25th and 3lst degrees of latitude, we find that frosts are much more severe than here, though that is one of the finest orange producing countries in the world." The above is the paragraph referred to by Mr Alderton, from which he goes on to quote another writer. Now, for the sake of still further comparing climatic influences in the places mentioned, I give the following data :—

The above should show at once that there cannot be any comparison of climates in places with such mean temperatures, no matter what latitudes they may be under. It is not Mr Alderton that I wish to assail — the diecuesicns he has raised on these subjects must do good but it is the generalities and deductions about climates *which he gives, and which to my mind, are terribly misleading, that I object to. — Hortus, in Auckland " Star."

Auckland Lisbon Azores Florida .. 3t Augustine .. Fvey W st Fort Barancas .. Mean T Summer deg. mm. 66 92 . 72 73 80 36 83 35 81 60 Femporature Winter de>s. mm. 52 34 52 6o 3 58 25 70 U 54 37