HOME HUSBANDRY

Taranaki Daily News, 16 September 1940, Page 2

HOME HUSBANDRY

WORK ABQUT GARDEN ACTIVITY FOR THE WEEK The home gardener who wants best results for his labour should . this week work to a timetable somewhat on the following lines:— The Flower Garden. Sow hardy annuals in the open ground; clarkias, godetia, larkspurs. Shirley poppies, mignonette and candytuft all do better in this w&y. Spring bedding plants are making a full display, keep the dead flowers cut off and hoe the beds occasionally. Keep a watch for greenfly on the young rose shoots and spray with nicotine sulphate on its first appearance. Attend to the training Of the sweet peas; do not allow too many shoots to develop. Plant clematis of the large flowering type; choose a site where the roots will be sheltered from the mid-day sun. Plant gladioli for successional bloom. In the Greenhouse. Continue to make sowings of the half hardy annuals required for bedding purposes. Hydrangea cuttings struck last autumn will now be ready for a shift into the flowering size pot. Repot ferns and palms which require this attention, or topdress with some good compost. Hippeastrums which are showing their flower buds should have a topdress of rich compost. Herbaceous calceolarias should have weak liquid manure when the pots are filled with roots. Corms of gloxinias and tuberous begonias will need potting on, In the Vegetable Garden, Sowing of nearly all kinds of vegetables can be made this mOnth. Work the ground to a gOod tilth before sowing. Plant out cabbage, cauliflower and onions. Make sowings of peas, lettuce, radish and spinach. In very warm districts a few French beans may be sown. Plant the maincrop potatoes and spray the early potatoes for blight. Sow asparagus in drills 18 inches apart. Keep established beds free from weeds by hand weeding. In sheltered warm localities a few early marrows and pumpkins may be planted; keep some slight protection handy for cold nights. In the Orchard. When the blossom has fallen from the peach and nectarine tre^s, lime sulphur 1 in 120 should be applied for brown rot control. Apply a topdressing of fertiliser to the strawberry bed. Fruit tree planting should be completed by now as all kinds are starting into growth. Apply the winter strength Bordeaux spray to the apples at the "green tip" stage. Established raspberries should have the tips of /the canes removed. Newly planted raspberries should be cut to within nine inches of the ground level. If these fniits are allowed to fruit the first season, there is little chance of their being established. Essentials of Fertility It is recognised that autumn cultivation of soils has a very marked effect on their fertility. A fertile soil is one which not only affords a safe anchorage for the plants, but during the season of growth must give up to the plants a constant supply of water. The requirements vary in quantity according to a plant's ■ needs, > but 'the supply; must be constant. Further, it must yield up to the feeding rootlets of the plants those different constituents of the soil, such as phosphate, potash and nitrogen. It is also necessary that these constituents be in a liquid form; if they are no,t a plant will starve to death, even if surrounded with plenty. The consequence is that a fertile soil must be one in which there is a constant supply of water avaiiable. There is also another condition necessary, and that is ventilation. Air is as necessary to the roots of plants as to the human body, consequently a fertile soil must be one in which there is a constant circulation of air. Much of the food of plants has to undergo a state of predigestion by bacterial agency, and bacteria cannot live without air any more than the next door neighbour's fowls. If the soil becomes waterlogged, bacteria cease to exist, air is driven out and' replaced by water in a stagnant condition, and although the soil may be rich in phosphates, potash, and other plant foods, it is unfertile, and the plants would be starved, because there is no bacteria at work to predigest the food necessary. It is therefore essential that a soil to be fertile should be well drained and deeply worked, so that there is a constant supply of water avaiiable from below for liquifying the plant food. There should also be a constant supply of air to enable the various organisms to develop, so as to bring the food into an avaiiable form for 'the plant's uses. In other words, no matter how full of food a soil may be, deep working, so as to ensure drainage and a good supply of air, is necessary before a soil is fertile. Brightening Dull Places In some gardens there are corners where the sun never shines and that are difficult to deal with. Hypericum calycinum seems to like a dull corner and will light up the dullness with its wide open golden blossoms. Earlier in the year the corner could be a blaze of golden daffodils. Many of the dwarfgrowing campanulas will also thrive in the shade and make a green carpet of foliage, studded with the dainty mauve of blue-bell shaped flowers which keep up a display for a lengthy period. On light soils it is usually found that although brussels sprouts grow well they do not make firm "buttons." This can be remedied by planting on very firm ground, and the following method of growing shallots or onions with the brussels sprouts is advantageous. The onions or shallots are planted early, and the ground is made firm and the sprouts are planted later on. Plant the shallots or onions in rows, three rows at 9in or 12in apart, then leave a space of 14in, then three more rows at 9in or 12 in, and then a 14in space, and, so on all over the bed. The wide spaces can be used for paths for working the onion bed; as soon as they are ready plant the sprouts in these paths, allowing two feet between the plants. This will check excCssive growth and encourage the production of firm "buttons."