The Garden.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 304, 3 October 1888, Page 5

The Garden.

* t jfcltohen Garden. _ '- The past dry weather will have afforded a^ good opportunity to get all vacant pieces of, ground ; manured, 4ugi or trenched, «6 as to get them •= ready for planting or sowing late spring crops. All pieces of ground that are to carry the late summer crops should now be trenched to a depth of at least two spits, and long hew fermenting manure should be' put in the centre of the soil. Soil laboured and manured in this manner will carry crops much better than soil wrought to the ordinary depth. Roots ' will easily penetrate to the full depth of the laboured soil, and at the same time deep loose soil is not so liable to have the moisture evaporated as shallow soil with a hard bottom. Make another sowing of musoarcl cress and radishes. Lettuce : Prick out another batch j tie up advance plants for blanching. Onions : If main spring crop is not already sown, it, should be at once done, as it is getting too late in the season to be allowed to stand any longer. See that crops sown last month are kept free from weeds. Autumn-sowri onions can now be transplanted ; the sooner this is done the better the crop will succeed. Potatoes : Earth up the early crops, and fork between the rows of those jnsfc making their appearance through the ground. Begin to plant out the late crop ,in dry situations. Running beans and French beans can now be sown. The French varieties should be sown once a fortnight, only sowing a short row each time so. as to ■always have them in good condition. Cabbages and cauliflowers : Plant out a few more,, and earth up those that are growing ; sow another patch of seed for late spring planting. Clear away the debris of old crops as they are cut. Manure and dig or trench the ground, planting or sowing some other crops on the same piece of ground, as it is a bad practice to sow or plant the crop in succession on the same piece of ground. Peas: Still continue sowing fortnightly for succession ; earth up and stake those that have attained sufficient height. Continue thinning out all vegetable plants as soon as ever they are large enough ; never allow the young plants to draw one another up. After thinning the hoe ought to be applied between the rows so as to kill weeds and better pulverise the soil. Seed coming through the ground should be frequently dusted with lime in order to keep slugs off. A few plants of tomatoes, pie-melons, pumpkins, marrows, etc., can now be planted out if care be taken to keep them covered up at night and protected from the slugs. The best protection I have ever tried is to get a few long twigs or willows, bend them in a bow over the plants, then place an old newspaper on the top of this ; bring the edges down round the outer circle of the bow and place a quantity of loose soil on the edges — sufficient to keep it in its place so that the wind does not blow it away. This paper will last for a few ,veeks and keep the strong rays of the sun off the plants, and at the same time it will effectually protect the plants from the cold cutbing winds that we have been experiencing for the last few* weeks. Slugs can also be easily kept at bay if a good dusting of lime is given before the paper is put over the supports ; it will last, "as it ■will not be exposed to the rain. Plenty of well-rotted manure should be placed under the ground at each plant, as 1 believe that the" more food the plant gets the better will be the results.

Flower Garden. The late dry, cold, westerly winds should have stopped all planting oufe till about the beginning of this week, when we received very heavy rains. Through those rains planting can again be carried on with vigour. Hardy annuals that have been sown under cover and hardened off should be planted out at once. Those that were sown in the open border and are coming ub thickly, should be thinned out They will also stand transplanting if lifted with a little ball of earth attached . to their roots ; if the soil be dry when such is done, use water to settle them. Hardy bedding plants ought also to be planted out now, and every endeavour should be made to get them well established before the dry weather sets in. Owing b-> our dry, hot summers, late planting will never succeed as well as early, even where an abundant supply of water can be used. Where planting out has to take place on poor or stiff, wet soils it is better to make up a compost of rich light soil, and when planting, a little of this ought to be put at the roots of each plant ; this will enable the plant to get established sooner and give it a better chanco to take to the more uncongenial soil. If the soil or weather be dry when planting, use water so as to settle them. The best time to plant I is immediately before rain. Gladilous bulbs : The last planting for the spring should be made early next month, as late planted bulbs will not give such good spikes of flowers. Those which were planted early in the winter will now be growing strong and should be staked. All early spring bulbs and tubers will yet be making a grand display ; to assist the plants and further prolong this display, frequently stir the soil about the plants and give liquid manure. The same remarks will apply to the later spring flowers just beginning to show flower spike* or buds. Dahlias : Make a bed in a warm place for starting them so that the tubers may be divided before they are planted out permanently for the summer Tender or half hardy annuals sown early under glass : Commence to harden off so that they may be planted out early ; still continue pricking out into boxes others as they come on. Make a few more sowings so as to have a reserve to nil blanks and plant late. Give every attention to keeping weeds under, dust lime frequently over seedlings and other plants subject to the attacks of slugs!, The late rains will make the grass grow quickly now, as, there is considerable heat in the ground. Mow, frequently, also apply the roller before the ground gets quite dry again.

Greenhouse. Commence to harden off all cucumbers* melons, and pumpkins sown under glass. Where hand-lights can be obtained, plant out a few. The first batch of coleus cuttings should now be struck ; pot off. Make fresh cuttings of the hard varieties for planting out in the open border about the end of November ; there they will make a good display on till the end of May. ' Pelargoniums, „ geraniums, calceolarias, cinerarias in pots, keep near t>he^ glass, and give liquid manure occasionally. All growing plants in small pots should be re-potted into pots a size larger as soon as the pots* are fairly full of roots. Still keep " a sharp lookout for insect pests, in order to eradicate them-as 1 they make their appearance. " Give plenty' of ' water to ,all growing plants ;* never aHqw the'foliage to droop for the want of it. Air freely on all bright sunny days, shutting- up the. house early.' If possible, when '.watering, ,the plants in the greenhouse or "frames always try taTuse^ water a'~few degrees : Hotter than the Boil the plants are growing mV; z Where '-' there is no "water-tank" with f the 1 water exposed to the action/ of. ,the sjm's £ays, all r 'the Jw^ateriog^cans^ should^be^filled*w;ith 'water aridallowed tb'stand wh'ere' the sun's

rays can get at it. SrTfais Will always give a 1 ready supply of watier* heated up to aboufr the proper temperature. Water taken immediately, from a; standpipe s or well and at once applied to plants, is very injurious, as it is then much , colder than; the soil, and ■is apt bo give the plants a severe check.

Summer Clipping. , During the dry -weather the question , is often asked, how is it possible to prolong the growth of late summer crops, or to crop for a few weeks longer in the season, without the' use«of large quantities of water? To be enabled to do so the ground where sucb crops are to be planted or sown should be trenched to a depth of at least over two feet. While the trenching is proceeding a large quantity of fresh cow or horse manure should be buried to a considerable depth below the surface. The cuttings of grass orany other materials which will go on fermenting for a long period will also greatly assist in promoting and retaining moipture at a considerable depth under the surface. Where soil has been deeply trenched and well manured in the spring, the plants after being established will at once be able to send their roots down to a considerable depth and find nourishment long after all the moisture has been extracted from the shallow-laboured soils. Last spring I had a small quantity of cut grass and other garden rubbish in a wet fermenting state. This matter was simply placed about eight inches under the surface, While digging over the ground afterwards there was one row of peas sown on this piece of ground. Another row was sown at the same time on another piece of around which was only dug in the ordinary manner, and afewhandfuls of bones used a? manure. Both rows were of the same variety. The peas in each row sprouted about the same time and as long as they were in the early stages o£ their growth got on about equally well. About the time the flowers were beginning to appear, however, a marked change began to make itself manifest. The peaa sown on the top of the garden rubbish were making the strongest growth, and developed more flowers. As the fruit began to develop this row produced the largest pods and filled out better ; when cooked they were also much finer eating. Not only did this occur, but this row also continued giving fruit for fully a fortnight longer that the other row. I estimated that the row that was manured with the litter gave about one third larger crop and of a better quality, all owing to the i roots having a moist succulent manure to feed upon. All who want to get good results from summer crops should therefore go to a little trouble in deeply trenching and richly manuring the ground so that they may be able to stand drought well. Another good plan after the crops have attained some size is to mulch the surface of the ground with any long or short litter ; this layer of litter will keep down the excessive evaporation while the sun's rays are strong.