The Garden.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 322, 5 December 1888, Page 3

The Gar den.

Sowing "Seeds' in' Dry Weather. In inditing, 'thcusuai sueces&ional sowing 8 of < lettuce, endine, radish^, oreps, otc.^ during -the dry summer weather, extra labour with the soil must be^indertajic/i so -astomake the spwinga a, success. "When the'spil is dr,y» and hot the* seeds" will riot germinate unless special precautions are tsiken to .get, the ground id be ''sown -well 'moistened'before the seed is sown. J the seed firsthand then watering on "the surface afterwards 1 will not-p odiice such good 'results as" the following, system : — The 'ground should be first dug roughly, then the water should be applied in > quaritiby ho' as to' thoroughly saturate the soil to a gobri depth, afberward allowing the ground to' .lie for at least twelve hours : then it should be forkeil over and' the surface raked,, smooth. Letting the &6il lie'fo,r the above period will allow sufficient time for thtwater to get_ thoroughly incorporated. and the soil to 'get me'llpw. The seed should, sown at one, in drills if possible, for, l , consider the drill system of cropping' the beet. As soon as the seeds' are covered with soil some half-rotted stable;- manure should, be lightly over the surface of the ground. ■ The covenng'or mulch at this period must be light inorder to allow the seeds to. germinate underneath. After gemination a thicker covering of the same material can be applied between the rows and ( more water can also be applied. \yherqthis system of watering and mulcli'ing *is judiciously applied; many more summer vegetables can be grown, as the litter and water keep the roots we 1 supplied with food during the dry weather. The Horticultural Show.

The Spring Show of fruib, flowers and vegetables held under the auspices' 'of th<* Royal Horticultural Society was a decided success, considering the weather we experience! for a few days prior to the Show. The cut flowers were in a much better .state than was anticipated, although 1 was sorry to see that one cr two prominent exhibitors were absent. D. Hay and obtained first honours for the best 36 roses ; C. Hesketh tirst for 24. The latter gentleman also carried off firsf for the champion rose ; thi* was the best it has been my lot to see,thi> season. For the collection of cut flowers Mr Forest, gardener to Mr D. L. Murdoch, obtained first - place with a grand collection. Mrs S. E. Hughes ob , tamed first with"" the finest collection of peku-goniums I~ have ever beheld. There were some other splendid exhibits staged for competition. Mr C. McDonald showed some splendid late rhododendrons, ,which were universally admired ; but these were not for competition. The loquats were well represented, and I was glad to see some new names coming to the front in a marked manner. Some of the old competitors in loquats will doubtless make an extra endeavour to take first rank next autumn. The exhibition of pot plants wns not up to the usual standard, and what was staered could not be properly seen, owing to the bad position that was assigned them. The pot plants should have been staged on one of the central tables, not on the sidetables, where their effect was partly marred by the back ground of decorations. Hay and Son received first prize for collec tion of ferns ; E. G. Jane first for collection of pot plants, distinct varieties. The coleuses staged weie very go d, also the petunias staged byD. Hay and Son and E. G. Jane. In tho pot plant department I was sorry to see one of our foremost competitors absent, but perhaps he is going into training for the Autumn Show. In the amateur class J. R. Stych simply .carried, all before him. Other amateur pot^ plant growers should gird up their loins and go ih> for giving him a beating. In the fruit class there was one splendid plate of strawberries. In looking aVtbem I fancied what a nice party of two with plenty of cream and sugar could do with them ; they were grown by Jas. Stanley. There was also a good display of gooseberries,! but the number of each variety was too few, or the plates they were exhibited upon were too large. There was a better dis -lay of vegetables than has been stayed for many years ; all we're simply magnificent, but it would take up too much space to enter into particulars. The Show was on the whole one of the beat that have been held in Auckland for some time, and ib is a wonder' that it was nob better patronised. Small district's outside of Auckland will get three or four times the patronage, showing that ib must be the want of a proper taste for flowers that causes the general public to take so little interest in the Show. Many times I have thought that if the Society would ah.ft their' headquarters to Newmarket they would get much better patronage. The time and trouble the Horticultural Socie y take in getting up these exhibicions deserve a better return from the Auckland public. Improving Plants by Selection (Continued).

Mr Evershed seems to lay great; stress upon the value of crossing species or varieties, in order bo induce variation from original types ; and while we admit that it usually has this effect, just as it has in crossing breeds of animals, it should nevertheless not be encouraged -beyond a certain point, since too great a mixture of blood or characteristics destroys all permanency or chances of stability of varieties either in planbs or animals. There can be no advantage in crossing varieties or hybridising species unless some valuable property or character can thus be introduced. It may take more time to develop and improve from the normal type of a race : of plants or animals by strict seclusion than by the aid of crossing ; bub it is better to do this than introduce properties and characteristics that will require even a" greater number of years to weed out, suppress, or destroy. The idea that the improvement of plants is primarily dependent upon judicious crossing has been far too generally accepted as a fact among the cultivators of plants in general, and the result has been anything but satisfactory in many instances, while in others it has been •positively injurious, retarding progress, if not making it impossible under the system pursued That cultivated plants can be bred up to a fixed type, and kept there without any very extraordinary care, is shown in many of our garden vegetables. Cabbages, carrotsj turnips, beets, and many others come as perfect from seed, or we may say breed as true to type, as the Shorthorns or Jerseys among cattle, and further, they are as far removed from the* wildings of their race as any of" the improved domestic animals are from bhein». > Furthermore, there is not the least evidence to show that these valu able pants have ever been affected to any considerable extent by hybridising or crossing, but they exhibit -the natural result of cultivation. It seems to be quite natural for plants 'to vary more ,or less when placed under artificial conditions, and the slightest variations' are' of len ' attributed to causes that "do not exist. Hybrid plants are frequently announced -as having been pro.duced, which are; in fact, only-v arieties of a species, and ' the same may be- said of those, supposed* to be a cross between the varieties of one species,

Some plants are far more variable than, others, and wibh bheso varieties - are produced very rapidly and in groat unmb'eiv. The common potnlo and Indian corn, bofh of which are probably indigenous to North America, are well known 'instances wheroj „from one species, with no", , uttempl. x tu "hy bridiao with' any btfter, • the development f ha3 nob only been .rapid -bill -highly satisfactory, and, all -through simple selection of what may bo called^ naUu-aL variations v under "domestication/ 'With most' ot' bur "cereals'we dannojb wiy" whereiri"'th > cy i din"or ' .'from the'origin'al wild plants, db'doaiitie iKe • latter "aye, nob positively known,;;J^u/-< t >vltl», , the potato and a fow other tubers, and roots if; is different, because we can' still "find the ' wild plants "in their native habitats in great', abundance and repeat the process of' development whenever it; may be 'desirable to , ,doso., ' J With' most of our cultivated fruits the [condition" are the same <js with" the potato, because their wild prototype* are still, to be found in the fore'sts'of ' lie.ir native country ; >b is easy „ to ; mqas u re ' impm p ro vo'm t e n ts. But if we'exanjme them fibse\yj we' shall not i find .many^ indications bf'hyb'ids,' although 1 ] crossing inconstantly; taking place through ' 'the agency' of injects, and this is the reason why no dependence can be placed upon the imprbved varieties producing Kh,at>wili; bear fruit like the parent tree. ith thejje/fr uits! variations are so great and constant that we ihusb depend upon other methods of propagation than from seed in .order to multiply varieties. Here selection is applied with its greatest benefits, and in all its bearings, frir we tind some varieties,, perhaps raised froijn. th« same tree, more hardy, prolific, O'* yfe^ing better than others, and the selections can be made to meet the varying, conditions j under which the3 r are to be pevpetuated' and c 'ltivated. -That these selections aie not always made with asmuch care as their j importance demands is well known, and the-nejrlecb <f ib has given' to the 'world much worthless trash that in would' have been better to bnrn ?n its infancy.-' Huktus, in Auckland Star. (To be Continued. J