IN THE GARDEN

Wairarapa Times-Age, 29 September 1939, Page 3

IN THE GARDEN

HINTS FOR THE AMATEUR FRUIT, FLOWERS AND VEGETABLES WORK FOR THE WEEK VEGETABLE GARDEN. While the weather permits, keep the soil weil loosened up between all growing crops. Deep hoeing or light digging has a wonderful effect upon the growth of young seedling crops. Make further sowings of peas to maintain a success and earth up and stake earlier sown plants. A few stout stakes and strong twine or wire netting will give the necessary supports. Complete the planting of rhubarb in welt-prepared ground. To obtain strong well-grown stalks, the ground requires to be deeply trenched and thoroughly manured. Sow onions, mustard and cress, also lettuce for summer salads. Plant out more cabbage and cauliflower for succession. The early cabbage bed should be given a sprinkling of fertiliser and frequent cultivation. Make a sowing of French and butter beans. The first sowing may be a gamble on account of the frost, but it is worth risking. The planting out of new beds of asparagus should no longer be delayed, and if the ground has been prepared it should be in the best possible condition for planting. Carefully watch 'and protect seedling crops that are just coming through the soil. When the potatoes are six inches high, spray with Bordeaux as a preventive of disease. Leeks should be sown this month for early crops. Plant out tomatoes in the warmer districts; it will be wise to give slight shelter in bad weather. Sow pumpkins and marrows on prepared mounds when danger of frost is over. FRUIT GARDEN. Spray apple, pear, currant and gooseberry trees, red oil at 1 in 15. Do not spray when flowering, but stone-fruit trees should soon after have a lime sulphur spray, 3 tablespoonsjto one gallon water. Remember insect and tree life begins to awaken on spring about the same time. To get complete control of insects and fungoid disease commence control measures as soon as buds begin to burst. Control measures applied early will account for more than half the orchard troubles this coming season. Trees that lack vigour, particularly those which carried (heavy crops last season, should have a dressing of fertiliser. Apples and pears subject to scab disease should be sprayed with Bordeaux at green tip stage. Vines under glass will need regular attention to tying down and rubbing off surplus growths. Spray the peaches and nectarines with lime sulphur when the l?lossome has fallen. Where big bud is evidence on black currants, spray with lime sulphur when the leaves are just pushing out. FLOWER GARDEN. Plant out seedling bedding plants that have been well hardened off. If aphis are troublesome on pansies, spray with nicotine sulphate and soap. Prepare the bed for chrysanthemums in good time to allow the soil to settle down; these plants like a firm medium to grow in. New lawns may be sown when the soil can be got into a suitable condition. Thin out the surplus shoots on rosebushes, especially those with an inward growing tendency. The foliage of daffodils and other varieties of narcissi should be allowed to ripen properly. Cutting the tops off prematurely weakens the bulbs. Favourable weather now permits the sowing of almost all kinds of flower seeds, whether annuals for summer display or perennials for next year. Sweet peas require attention to training and regulating their growth, to keeping the surface soil occasionally stirred and free from weeds. An occasional dusting with lime is beneficial. Rust on carnations can be controlled by frequent dusting with lime and flowers of sulphur. All recently planted trees and shrubs should be securely staked to hold them firmly in position and prevent injury to their roots by strong winds. i The stirring of the soil in the beds and borders is essential to break the surface crust, to aerate and sweeten the soil and add to the appearance of the garden. Continue the planting of antirrhinums, stocks, gaillardias, pansies, violas, nemesias, larkspurs, mimulus, ageratums, penstemons and other seasonable seedlings according to requirements.

THE KITCHEN GARDEN GROW PLENTY OF VEGETABLES. Now is the time for the home gardener to start work. First, sow up all ground that has been prepared. Any new piece will be covered with grass and weeds if not also with heaps of rubbish and gorse or broom. The clearance and disposal of these will be the first work. Alternative procedures will be to clear the lot and dig the lot or to work up a section at a time. The latter is advisable. Have the first sec-. tion include the best piece of land. Places for burning and the compost heap should be decided on. Have them in a central position in order to lessen the steps of the very frequent journeys that will have to be made to them. Rather than have them out of sight, it is better that they be handy and neat. Sites for two compost heaps should be provided, one heap to be decomposing and growing marrows, the other in the making. Mark the four corners of six feet by ten feet spaces with stakes. In building, keep the outsides built up and tramped. If the area of the top increases, so much the better. There will be little growth on perpendicular or overhanging sides. The main purpose’s to keep the top flat or hollow in orderi that it will catch the rain and decompose into humus. Useful Drums. Gnc tar drum for burning and another for liquid manure are desirable adjuncts. The roughage cleared, the next operation will be the digging, with the spade for preference. A fork should be. used if the ground is twitchy, as uncut runners can be more easily and thoicughly removed in subsequent forkings. A pre-winter digging with stable manure or a green crop dug in is the most desirable base to work on, but further manuring is almost always necessary. For a general recommendation, apply lime at one ton per acre, plus blood and bone or other complete fertiliser at 3cwt per acre, plus superphosphate at 2cwt per acre. The lime should be incorporated some time before sowing. The other fertilisers '• may be applied in the seed lines but

lightly stirred into the soil in order that excess fertiliser does not come in contact with the seed. What To Sow. Should the effort be extensive, guidance or instructions as to what crops should be grown and in what proportion, would be one of the functions of any organisation formeci. It is suggested that of every 28 rows available, there should be 16 of potatoes, 4 of onions and leeks, 2 of cabbages and cauliflowers, 2 of peas and beans, and 4 of carrots, parsnips, turnips, and beet. In the disposition of the crops over the area, consideration should be given to the special requirements of the different crops —old or new ground, old or new manure, shelter and sunniness, the principles of rotation should also be kept in mind, but the arrangment should be rather that for a succession of sowings and the planting up of the ground as it is brought into order. For most crops at least two sowings should be made, in order to provide a succession of food and to catch suitable weather. Separate plots should be provided for small fruits, rhubarb, and asparagus. Small seeds should be sown singly I at least half an inch apart or in twos I or threes at the ultimate spaces desir-' ed for the kind of crop. In the latter case the thinning should be effected by nipping or chipping off the tops of the surplus plants. In, either case, the thining should be done as soon as possible. The process damages the roots of the remaining plants increasingly, as the strike is thick and the process is delayed after the roots become entangled. A Good Strike. Factors which ensure a good strike and obviate the use of exorbitant quantities of seeds are: — Good seed. > A gardener intent on making a good “job of fvork.” In all work, unprescribed details will be attended to by men and women so intent. A good seed bed. The line for the seed should be evenly fine in order that the seed may be wholly in contact with soil. The actual line may need extra mould or sand to obviate caking and to hold air and moisture. If the ground does set before the plants are through, break the surface with a

pencil-like stick and add a thin mulch of compost or other mould. Sufficient moisture. Seed should be sown in damp soil. If the soil dries; water alongside the seed, not on top of it. Sufficient warmth. A sunny site, mould, sand and correct drainage help in this respect. Freedom from weeds and weed seeds. Prepare the ground beforehand in time for at least one crop of weed seeds to sprout, and be destroyed. Protection from birds and clearance of any adjacent shelter for slugs. Extra assistance and protection dur ing the sprouting period. Cover the row with boards, bags or paper. Such cover must be removed as soon as the plants are through and need the sunlight. Keep Hoeing. After the thinning it is mostly a matter of hoe and fork and the resultant crop is mostly in direct proportion to the frequency with which these implements are used. Especially should there be a cultivation after each lain. For the use of the crops, there is in general the maintenance of the food supply of New Zealand under war conditions; the provision of fresh vegetables for soldiers in camp, and the possible provision of canned fruit and vegetables for them overseas. The provision of extra vegetables in country homes would be essential if the evacuation of families from the cities became necessary. The sale of vegetables as a contribution to the funds of other war organisations would be possible.' Almost everybody could make some start right away in his or her own garden, but something more and something better could be done if the work was organised and put under a definite system.