The Garden.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 272, 13 June 1888, Page 3

The Garden.

Drainage. Most garden «oil.s around Auckland require more oi 1 less drainage. Our winter being as a rule \crj wef, and in some soils the water nob being 1 able to get away, a stagnation i s caused at. the roots of plants for months and in some instances utterly ruins many of the most lender \arioties. To ascertain whether drainage ib lequiicd the following is a good plan : -Two or three days afte 1 ' |,ea\y wet weather dig a few holes fiom two to three feet deep, and if the land re quiie^ drainage those hole-, will fill more ol'o 1 ' ' Jess wifcli Natei ma i\.\\ hoin.-, which \v*U remain there ior days. The lact of such water remaining in the hole.-> will tell at once that the undei '•oil is of a close tenacious nature 1 , and that the whole of the .surrounding .soil in thoioughly saturated with water to a height a little above the water in t ho hole. All Mich soils should he drained at once, as it would be almo-t impossible tor the oidinary mn of gaiden plants or crop-) (o succeed ■well in t'uein othoiwiso Boils that aie w.itei lodged dm ing th winter are geneiall} those which Miller the most in diy weather by becoming paiched and dry. Wet. hca\} soils i:i winter gcneially expand, and when the diy summer sets m they contiaet ; sometimes they open out in li-suies \\ Iji^h arc \eiy injtuious ii * > nio-.t ciop- and lice-.

Transpinntmg Trees (Continued.) In Iran-planting tiees ,md sluubs theie aieeeitnin e-sential operations' which should be attended to, but which are tar too fre /{uei'tly neuflectod One ol fhese — and piobabl} the most impoi tant —is pinning. Sometime- it i-» necewin to ieino\e the Hi eater pait ot the stem or bi niche-, in consequence ot the lo— u\ root- in digging up the plants : and even when the loot- aie all letamed it 1- well to iemo\e or shoitcn the blanche^ in outer <hat the loot- ma\ not be called upon to iuinish moio -ap than is actually nei e-s,'ir\ , until the\ aie auain lived in a position to imnisli a -upph. Roots cannot take up an} if) cat amount of moi-luieoi mitiinient tiomthc earth until the}' have, a- it weie, made a connection with it, not only by meie eontac', but through actual growth. H is alwa\- a -afe plan to gi\ c the loots ot a plant the ad\.nt.ige, and to do this we reduce the top 01 bianche? ot th<; plant until we aie quite Mire that the} will not ma Ice <i £\ eater demand upon the loot^ than cm bo leadily tnet. The inevpeiieneed Jloltn.nllun'st -omelimes omits pruning lian>planted tue-, te.'innt; iliat b} making won ml- upon the .-tents and blanche- a 10-s of sip may O(;eui. Tin-, ho\\e\ei. ne\cr tollnw-, the pi lining ot tiauMilauttd shrub-, ■ or tu-e?, for iu-t as -(-on as the loot- aie se\ered fiom the soil in which t h> \ had 541*0 wn the How ot -ap lowaid- the blanches cease-. l>\ni the t^i.tjie \ me, which blee<^ >o tieeh when ])i uned in ,-piin<_r, will not u;i\e a drop ot --ip tioin wound- made on the eai*'-> after the loots me -e\ 1 red fiom the soil : ,wid it ihe} are htlid and then immediately leiumed to the \cn place in which they were embedded, the flow ot «ap tiom the wounds will not bo le-umetl, showing, as ha\e -aid, that the meio contact with the 0.11 tli i-> not -ulhcent to enable the loot- to take up any considerable amount of moi&tuic. In transplanting jieai, apple, chen} and similar tree-, the bianehe- -hould be cut in, more or le— . according to the condition and number ot the root^ : but no li\cw or e\aet 1 nle for pruning can be laid down, a^ e\er} tiee will diller. Hut it i- better to cut awa} moie than is actually neces>-ai\ than leave too much wood, 'the toots should tikso beeXiiinined, and the end- ot all nicel} •smoothed oil, for the spade in di^inu them up will loa\o 'i ja^'jed and rouj^h wound. This making a smooth cut and clean wound is -\ei} impoitiiui with a'l -tone fiuit-, like the peach and ehein. foi canker often eonnnenees at a biui-e on the loots 01 stenw. It i- al-o best t > -elect } 0111154 tree.-* ol this kind; ono-\eai old peach and ehen\ free- aie much the be- tor trinsplantiuu*, and tli, side -hoots. 11 there aie any, should be cv( in io within two or three buds of the main 4em ; it the -tuns aie lather (all and -lendei, they -hould be cut back. The objee'. ofsc\eic piun11154 if to secure a vi<>oiou-, health} uiowfli the fii-t sea-on alter removal, and if tinis not obtained, the tie* - aie likeh to be come stunted and unliealth} The luot- -hould be -j)ioad out in a natuial po-ition, not bent and eiowded into a hole not halt lai J4O enough to recei\e them, a- is to 1 frequently the ca.-e with tho.-e who are in ha-te to get their tree- planted, in order to uo about sonic othei woik. lia-te in planting i- bad polie\ , and usually lesultsiu ictaided growth, it not the total lo'-s ot the tiee>. In di} -oil- it )->well to mulch new I} -[ilanted ticc-. Vlmo-t an \ - thing will ;in-\\er hu this pui pu-e, tioin coar-e manute to wood -liaxiimt-, the object being to keep the soil about theroot-moi-t "md cool until the tree !>eoome- well established in its u'-w ]io-i(ion. The loot--should be co\trcd to the -aim depth that tht} were in the nut -en, and no deeper; but a little allowance iua\ be made lor the settling of fre-h earth placed oxer them. One or two inches will usual!} be sullicient. The soil as it- i- (hi own in, about and o\ei the 100N should be packed down lather firmly by tramping upon it as (he hole ibeing tilled.