HINTS FOR THE AMATEUR

Wairarapa Times-Age, 12 February 1941, Page 9

HINTS FOR THE AMATEUR

Fruit, Flowers and Vegetables WORK FOR THE WEEK VEGETABLE GARDEN. Spray the cabbage and cauliflower crops with nicotine sulphate regularly. Earth up the early plantings of celery, or blanch with boards. Make another sowing of dwarf beans for use in autumn. Any plots that are likely to be vacant should be sown down with green crops for digging in later. Sow turnips, swedes, spinach and short varieties of carrots. Plant out cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli for autumn and winter use. Keep up the supply of lettuce by frequent sowings. Lift and store onions and potatoes, storing only sound specimens. FRUIT GARDEN. Prune the black currant bushes by removing some of the older wood down to the base. The losses among stored fruits will be lessened if the store is thoroughly cleansed before the new season's crop is picked. Cultivated berry fruits are susceptible to disease and should be given a good spraying with Bordeaux as soon as the crop is removed. Do any budding of fruit trees that is required. Spray the late peaches with lime sulphur, one in 120, to prevent brown rot. Tip layering is a good method of increasing the stock of loganberries. Clean up the existing strawberry beds by removing all weeds and old litter, decayed leaves and worn-out plants. FLOWER GARDEN. Plant the earliest-flowering bulbs such as lachenalia. freesia and muscari. Lift the when the foliage turns yellow; where thrips have been bad on the plants, spray with white oil, two per cent strength. Insert cuttings of bedding plants required for stock next season. 1 Where grass seed is to be sown this autumn, prepare the site soon to allow the soil time to settle. Sow anemone and ranunculus in well-prepared beds of fine soil; shade from direct sunlight for a while. Rambler roses that have finished flowering should have the old flowering growths cut away. Save the seeds of hardy border plants that show exceptional merit.