CARPET BEDDING.

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

CARPET BEDDING.

The following correspondence on "Car pet bedding " appeared in the Auckland Star of September 29 : — Sir, — A few remarks re carpet bedding, as Hortus in your Saturday's issue has to my mind made some errors with regard to this popular mode of gardening. Firstly, with regard to the temperature of the countries he has cited — namely Britain and New Zealand. If he were to take the maximum and minimum temperatures he would find that ours is much lower in the night as compared with the heat of day, even than Britain, as it it very rarely that we get a hot night in this climate, whereas the reverse is the case in Britain, where the nights during July and August especially are very appressive on account of their heat, this being the time when carpet bedding Bhows to the best advantage. Next with regards to hard wood and long joints, which lie considers fatal to this style of gardening here. As everyone knows who has studied nature, it is not cold nights but the sun's rays, that make us woody matter. No, Horbus, the cav e lies deeper than this. We have not got the class of plants to do the workwith — neither, unfortunately, have we the class of employers that will go to the expense of carrying it out. As everyone knows who has tried it, it means money. Give gardeners here these two advantages and it could be as successfully carried out as in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, where the climate is much hotter. Next, I would wish to ask Hortus where he has seen carpet bedding carried out with flowering plants. If he can give me this information, it will be something new to me, as I have seen a great deal ot car pet bedding, Tjut never with flowering plants. Lastly, this style of gardening means labour and thought a< well as convenience and expense, as it would require from 800 to 1,000 plants for a 10 feet square bed, and from 6 to 10 varieties at least with not one plant deficient of any variety ; and the secret of success is, they must all be of one size and each plant have its allotted space, and it must fill that space and be kept to ie, so that they require constant attention all the summer. Now just a word with regard to plants used for this purpose and the various parts of the world from which they have been procured, viz., Cape of Good Hope, South America, North America, Chili, Jamaica, Buenos Ayres, California, Mexico, Switzerland, Brazil, Gibraltar. England furnishes only two. Seeing the majority of them are sub-tropical, is not our Auckland climate more congenial to their success than Britain ? 1 will now supply a short list of plants that we really require for this purpose. If Hortus will give us the information where we can obtain two plants each of the following varieties wifchiu seven days, we shall be willing to pay market price and a little more : viz., Santolina incana, Achillea urnbellata, Veronica repens, Alpina, Septinella scariosa, Henearia Glabra, Mentha, Alternan oh era, Aureanana. I have only found one plant that I have been able to procure here, viz., Cerastium tomentosium, that did not answer on account of the ravages of the small caterpillars ; but this is not material, as there is another plant answers equally as j well, viz., Cerastium ßierbeslii. — lam, etc., Ponikeb. With reference to the above "Hortus" says : "In dealing last Saturday with the plants for carpet bedding the remarks were intended to apply to the usual x>lants used in the old style of bedding out, in which all kinds of flowering geraniums, calceolarias, verbenas, etc., were used, and their general habit" of growth in our climate was compared with that of Britain. I would remark that even in the more modern styles in some cases dwarf-growing flowering plants' are used, such as Alyssum, Bellis (double white, crimson and pink), Gazania, Lobelia, Myosotis, Fytherum,- < Ichihatchewii, Soponaria, etcr lie maximum and minimum temperatures, I will take the two months named in the letter and compare them with the' corresponding months here. 4 : In' Britain's July, the highest maximum obtained: in 1886 was,B9deg Bmin, the lowest' minimum for same' day waBis2deg >7mm ; - for. August- -of *' same yeatf" the highest <89deg lnnn^aricl; the /Samp evening, the' glass' fell bo ,53deg< TminV^f iyjing'^L dif'f OTence* of _ about ;» 36 ; ?flegreea* ( Between .the, hottest and "coldpstf partVof , the'day^rN'ow, foi' Auckland jithe'liighfesti-m^imumi : for

last January, xwas' 78deg,'~the miriimuinfor the saiine night w>a 58deg ; j last, February^ the'highe'st 80deg smin, sand5 and thesame night the minimunv .was 60deg,^ thus 'giving a range of about 1 20 , degrees' between the hottest and coldest ' part of- the day. The English range " was, ' therefore, about J9 degrees higher than the Auckland range and about 7 degree's lower. In Melbourne and Adelaide, if our correspondent will only examine Australian papers, he will also find that those places have also great extremes between the hottest and coldest parts of the day. If he will also examine the climatic data of some of the countries he mentions where the plants named come from he will see even greater extremes than those given above. Our correspondent must be well awaro that all elaboration of sap for the production of either wood, leaves, and flowers (and I may also include fruit) takes place in the leaves. Those l:aves (as well as the roots which supply the sap) are subjected to all the different changes of temperature, and the chemical changes which takeineuchequabletomperature as our< are totally different where there are great extremes every twelve hours. Witness how many plants seemingly grow well here, but which are not able to bring their fruit or flowers to perfection. Give them the same climate, or rather the same temperatures, and they would succeed as well ac in their native countriea. With respectto the plantsnamed, Idonotknowwhere they are to be obtained, as carpet bedding, on which foliage plants are almost^ exclusive^ used, has never been tried to 'any extent in Auckland (as far as I am aware). The nurserymen are seldom or never required to furnish plants suitable for that claps of work. "