HINTS FOR THE AMATEUR

Wairarapa Times-Age, 30 October 1940, Page 9

HINTS FOR THE AMATEUR

Fruit, Flowers and Vegetables WORK FOR THE WEEK VEGETABLE GARDEN. Prepare the celery trenches as opportunity offers; mix the manure well with the soil in the bottom' of the trench. Make further sowings of lettuce, radish, peas, beans and white onions for salads. Plant the maincrop of tomatoes; spray with arsenate of lead within ten days of planting to control the stem borer. Thinning out of seedling from earlier sowings will require much attention. After thinning, make the soil firm again. If onion fly makes its appearance, burn affected plants and dust the soil around the remainder with calomel dust. Fork and break up the soil between the rows of'potatoes preparatory to moulding up. FLOWER GARDEN. Hoe between the plants on the herbaceous border on dry days before the plants become too larger ' Timely spraying with Bordeaux will check the botrytis disease on Madonna lilies. Thin out the growths on lupins, delphiniums, michaelmas daisies and perennial phlox. The planting of chrysanthemums should be completed now. Thin out the plants from the earlier sowings of hardy annuals; the great mistake is to leave these too crowded, the result is a short season. Apply lawn sand to,weedy lawns when the weather is likely to prove dry for a day or two. FRUIT GARDEN. Soft fruits such as gooseberries and currants appreciate a good mulch of decayed manure or material from the compost heap. Pull up the unwanted sucker growths from the raspberries. Dust strawberries during the flowering period with sulphur as a precaution against mildew. Fruit trees that are not making satisfactory growth will now benefit from an application of nitrogenous fertiliser. When It he blossom has fallen from the apples and pears, spray with arsenate of lead to control the codlin moth. Keep a watch for caterpillars and aphis on the fruit trees and spray with a good insecticide before much damage is done.