USEFUL GROWERS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 December 1939, Page 2

USEFUL GROWERS

CORN AND CAPE GOOSEBERRY. — Maize or Indian corn is really a subtropical plant, but if it is sown in the greenhouse or a warm frame and planted out in a warm, sheltered position. it will produce satisfactory cobs, in an ordinary season. As a vegetable sweet corn is much esteemed in America, and when properly cooked is a useful addition to the vegetable crops. Seed should be sown in boxes from September to October, -and the young seedlings potted up into fourinch pots when a few inches high. They are gradually hardened off in cold frames, and planted out about the end of May. The position they are to occupy should be sheltered from the cold south-west winds and should be deeply cultivated and richly manured with farmyard manure, if it is obtainable; if not, with blood and bone manure. During growth the soil should be drawn up on either side of the plants to steady them, and water must be given during dry weather. The cobs should be cut and used in a fresh, green state, before there is any suspicion of the seeds hardening. “Country Gentleman” is a good variety. Another plant worth growing in a warm, sheltered position is the Cape gooseberry. This really is a perennial, but is better treated as an annual, as its seeds is sown under glass in a gentle heat in September, the seedlings being potted up into six-inch pots and grown on like tomatoes for outdoor cultivation until about the end of the present month, when they can be planted out on a well-manured border against a wall or fence, in a sheltered, sunny position. In districts where there is little frost, the seed can be sown in th 6 autumn, and the seedlings planted out before frost sets in. They can be protected during the winter, and branchy plants, which will fruit freely, will be the result. PANSIES AND VIOLAS . HOW TO MAKE NEW SHOOTS. Pansies and violas which were cut back should have made many new shoots. If these are carefully pulled away from the parent plants it will be found that a few tiny white roots have formed on each. Dibble these tiny plants in a separate bed of fine soil to which sand and leaf mould have been added. Set them 4in apart and allow Gin between the rows. The reserve bed should be situated in a sheltered position. The plants may be left there to grow on during winter, and will have developed into strong, sturdy plants ready for transplanting into their permanent quarters by spring. If more’ 4 plants are required,\cuttings may be taken from the new shoots higher up on the old plants. Trim off the lower leaves and cut squarely with a sharp knife immediately below a joint. These cuttings may be set in boxes in the cold frame, or in beds in the open garden. Sand and leaf mould must be mixed with the soil to expedite rooting. The plants should be ready for transplanting next spring. WHEN YOU DIG DO YOU DO IT CORRECTLY? Deep digging is one of the secrets of success in gardening; it is necessary to use the spade and fork correctly. When the spade is inserted in the soil during digging operations, it should be held almost vertically, so that it penetrates to its full depth when pushed down with the foot. It should not be inserted obliquely, as is commonly done. The former method is no more difficult than the latter.