248 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



November, 1913 



to a depth of from 4 to 6 inches, 

 be removed to where needed, thep 

 be made a stack ot h>2ap of in one 

 corner of the garden. If a good 

 sprinkling of soot be placed over 

 each layer it will do good. Such 

 soil is practically virgin loam, and 

 is full of plant food and fibre. 

 It should remain untouched for 

 fullv six months at least before 

 anv is used for potting. Then cut 

 down the sides, collect the soil, 

 and run it through a coarse sieve, 

 having a mesh nearl}' an inch in 

 width. Too great fineness in 

 potting soil should be avoided. 

 In running the loam through the 

 sieve care should be taken to see 

 that neither grubs, wireworms nor 

 other insects are in it. To the 

 two-thirds proportion of loam thus 

 provid'^d 'fcr a potting process, 

 add through the same sieve, and 

 well rubbed b^- the hand if not 

 passing readily, old hot-bed man- 

 ure and good decayed leaf-soil to 

 make the other third. Well mix 

 it, then place it into a neat heap 

 or in a box ready for use on the 

 potting bench. It is best, as a 

 rule, to add the sharp white or 

 silver sand when about to be used, 

 giving, if the loam be stifi, a quar- 

 ter part. 



♦ • 



Notes on Rose Manuring. 



The following hints on manures 

 are from one of the yearly publi- 

 cations of the English Natural 

 Ro.se Society : — 



1. Maiden Loam.— There is no 

 material to equal this for rose 

 growing and particularly valuable 

 is the top spit from pasture land. 



2. Leaf Soil.— This seems to 

 possess the same excellent quality 



Roses ! Roses ! 



Roses! 



LASSCOCK'S 



Roses are the Best! 



They are Hardy, Well-Grown and 1'rue to 

 Name. 



The National Rose Society's Selection. 

 12 Biit Garden Rnea, 12/-; 12 IJoHt Exli- 

 tion Hoses, 12/-; 12 Be.Ht Climbing Rose 9. 

 A 8tron_' stock of eht new Dark Hose Kl) 

 WARD .\1AWLKY, 1/6 ea. Orders bock, d 

 no*, and ^ent out from end of May. My 

 Nursnries are open for inspection. Quality 

 Ciia hi) had at ttie Lockleyw Nurstries, or at 

 my Branch, I'oroAdclaide. or Ci-ntral Market 

 eveiv Frid.iy and Satunlay. 



'Phone, Henley 31. 



as maiden loam in that it encour- 

 ages the formation of fibrous 

 roots. I prefer to use it with 

 the leaves not too much decayed. 

 If it has become sour a little 

 lime should be added. 



3. Horse Manure.— This should 

 be from stables where the horses 

 are bedded on straw or moss lit- 

 ter. As they are generallv pre- 

 pared, straw litter has the" great- 

 est manurial value for .Roses. 

 Kxperiments have show-n that 

 peat moss litter may, when pro- ' 

 perly prepared attain, at least for 

 some crops, a higher value , than 

 straw litter. Whichever is used it 

 should be turned over from time 

 to time till completely fermented. 

 In the case of moss (i) see 

 that the litter is finely broken 

 up before used as bedding, (2) 

 take care that the litter is not al- 

 lowed to get dry before it is ap- 

 plied as manure. 



4,. Cow Manure.— This is less 

 heating than horse manure, and is 

 particularly useful as a summer 

 mulch, 



5. Liquid Manure.— Horse or 

 cow manure soaked in a tub or 

 tank and the sediment , allowed to 

 settle is excellent for watering in 

 summer. It .should be diluted to 

 a light straw colour and applied 

 after rain or a thoroiigh watering. 



6. Artificial Manures. — Lime in 

 one form is the most useful, par- 

 ticularly in soils where Roses have 

 been growing for some time, and 

 in those of a heavy texture. Basic 

 slag contains a great deal of lime 

 and also phosphates, and has one 

 great advantage for an amateur in 

 that it acts very slowly. An over- 

 dose, therefore, is less harmful 

 than in the case of the acid ^phos- 

 phates— e.g., supherphosphate of 

 lime. The golden rules for the use 

 of artificial manures are as fol- 

 lows : (a) Never use them in 

 greater strength than recomm.end- 

 ed ; (b) do not use the same pre- 

 paration too often on the same 

 ground ; (c) regard them rather as 

 supplements to than substitutes 

 for animal manures. 



7. Burnt Earth. — Burnt 'earth 

 has considerable manurial value 

 for Roses, particularly on heavy 

 soils. 



♦ 



It is rare that the soil of ilower 

 gardens is su'lhciently rich; it may 

 have been made so in the be- 

 ginning, but is not infrequently 

 neglected alterwards, although it isi 

 advisable to apply a portion, ac- 

 cording to requirements, of man- 

 ure annually, * 



Pot-Pourri of Roses. 



The simplest recipe we know for 

 Pot-pourri of Roses alone is to be 

 found in ." Home and Garden " as 

 follows :— Put alternate layers of 

 Rosie leaves and bay salt in any 

 quantity you please in an earthen 

 pot. Press down with a plate, 

 and pour off the liquor that will 

 be produced' every day for six 

 weeks, taking care to press as dry 

 as possible. Let the mass be 

 broken up, and add the following 

 ingredients, well pounded and 

 mixed together : Nutmeg, %oi. ; 

 Cloves, Mace, Cinnamon, gum ben- 

 zoin, Orris-root (sliced), loz. each. 

 Mix well with a wooden spoon. 

 The Rose leaves should be gather- 

 ed on a dry, sunny afternoon, and 

 the bay salt roughly crushed be- 

 fore using. Orris root may be 

 replaced with advantage by good 

 Violet powder. 



♦ 



Evolution of Flowers. 



Lecturing recentl}- at the Uni- 

 versity of London, Professor Bot- 

 tomh', of King's College, pointed 

 out that a Ilower is a machine for 

 manufacturing seeds, and that it 

 was estimated that flowers first 

 began to bloom about 500,000 

 }ears ago, before which they were 

 mere plants. When insects were 

 evolved flowers were also evolved 

 to attract insects as a means of 

 distributing pollen. As in Dar- 

 win's theory of the evolution of 

 flowers there was, up to a few 

 }'ears ago, a missing link which 

 marked the evolutionary stage be- 

 tween the fernworld and the true 

 Ilower world — namely, the Maiden- 

 hair tree, discovered in vTapan. 



TURNER, RORERTSON & CO., 



Electrical Engine&rs, 

 Contractors and Suppliers. 



126, GRENFELL STREET, ADELAIDE 



(Basement of Robert Uarper'i). 



Estimates Given Free for all 



Electricajl Work. 



NOTE.-SPECIAL QUOTATIONS for 



BUILDERS and ARCHITECTS. 



Ring up Telephone No. 996 (ccr.tral). 

 Mr. Turner, late Elevator and Motor 

 Foreman, Messrs. Unhehaun & John- 

 stone ; Chief Electrician Zino Corpor- 

 ation, Mroken ilili. 



GRENFELL ST., AUEl.AlUK 



