GARDEN NOTES.

Digger (Invercargill RSA), Issue 14, 18 June 1920, Page 13

GARDEN NOTES.

THE VEGETABLE. G ARDEN. We are -now near the shortest day ; kence the neccessity for getting through with all trenching, manuring, and digging, so as to give the ground a better chance of producing fine crops by being exposed to tlie action of the weather. Liming the soil >is of great assistance to crops. This is best done immediately after the ground has been turned up. The stems and large leaves of globe artichokes, should now be cut down, and some warm stable litter packed around the crown. Cut down dead tops of Jerusalem a-rti-chokes, and dig them as required They are inclined to sbrivel and get tough if they are lifted much before they are needed. Should the ground be required upon which they are grown, dig and pit them as one would potatoes. This is done by stacking them up neatly and covering with clean and dry straw, fimshing off with a covering of -fine earth finnly patted down. A small hole may then be made, so as to enable them to be taken out as required. The ground upon which rhubarb is grown should be cleared of weeds and dead leaves, and the crowns covered with good fresh stable litter. This acts a.s a stimulant. The rain washes down the manure from the straw, and consequently strengthens the crowns and fits them for the production of next season's crop. VINE PRUNING. In most cases the vines should be suffioiently ripe to have shed their leaves and fit them for pruning. The sooner this is accomplished after the leaves have fallen the better, as it gives the wounds time to heal before the sap commences to rise. The best way to prune is this : Cut the ; strings and let down tlie canes, so that [ they may be more easily got at, as they : not only require pruning, but also an overhaul by scraping and cleaning off all loose bark. This should not be earried to excess. All that is required .is to pull away all loose bark. Around the old spurs it will be easier to scrape it off with an old blunt table or pocket knife. To do this successfully one must have good tools a sharp pruning knife, a sharp pair of pruners, and fine tooth saw. The latter tool will not be required if the vines are young but in pruning all old or established vines this is a very necessary implement, as there are sure to be some old, dried-up spurs to be cut away, and the fine saw is the best for this. Smooth off the cut with a sharp knife. In pruning vines, cut back to the first plump eye on the young growth, next to the old wood on the spur. The sharp blade should entcr immediately beyond the bud and have a downward cut, as it were, to go with the hang of the wood. To give an upward cut and against the hang of the wood would in all probability cause a ragged cut ; that is, to look carefully into it, you would see lots of minute cracks running across the. end of where the knife had passecl through. Such cuts cause bleeding when the sap commences to rise in the spring. In nine cases out of ten vine bleeding is caused by cuts such as described. Prune, then, to the first suitable eye plump and pointing outwarcls. It sometimes happens that the eye is pointing downward from the under part of the shoot, or it may be a curved shoot, with the eye pointing directly inward. If so, prune at- the next eye. Never leave two eyes if it can be avoided, as long pruning causes long' spurs, and if this class of pruning were earried on for a few years the spur would get so long that there • would not be sufficient room for the foliage to expand — that is, i£ the vines were planted at the proper distance — hence the wa-ste of valuable space, to the detriment of the vines, or at least the crop. When all pruning and cleaning is completed, rake, up and sweep out and burn all clippings and rubbish, and if mildew has been prevalent the previous season, scrape out the surface soil and all plants that may be in the vinery, and give the house a good fumigating with sulphur by burning it upon an iron pan or somethir^r of the kind. On no account- leave li plants in the house, as. they will be killed with the sulphur fumes. It would be advantageons also if the woodwork insid.e the vinery could be painted or whitewashed. —The Pruning of Fruit Trees.— Before a beginner commences pruning he should learn thoroughly the different parts of a tree. Without knowing this it is impossible tb becorne expert at this work. To describe the different parts of a tree we will start at tne roots. Fjrst, there is the main tap root — second, the lateral root, the fibrous roots, and the root hairs. He will soon find out these

different parts if when lifting a young and healthy tree he traces each part from the trunk downwards until he comes to the small hairs that form at the root extremities. Now for the tree, which is the most important. There are the main stem (or trunk), the main arms (which extend from the stem), the secondary arms, the leading shoots, the lateral shoots, the spurs, and the buds. Notice how Nature has made the root portion of the tree to correspond with the top. Without these small fibrous and hair roots it would be impossible to have fruit. So you see how important it is to have the ground in such a condition as to produce these roots, ancl also at planting to see that the secondary roots are properly cut back, so that young fibrous roots may form.