Archive for 'News and Society'
Tips on Growing Currants
Posted on March 3, 2009, by James Brookes, under News and Society.
It is important never to summer prune the leaders or end growths of a branch. It is better to brutt than to cut with a knife, as neat pruning with a sharp blade may encourage secondary growths, which are just a waste of sap. Summer prunings may always be placed on the compost heap and be sprinkled with an activator like poultry droppings or fish manure. Winter prunings are too woody, so should be burnt, and the wood ashes sprinkled around the bushes afterwards.
Earliest of Fourlands is included because it is the earliest variety grown. It is a nice upright grower, a regular cropper, bearing long bunches of clear red, good fruit. Season very early.
Two types of aphis can be a great nuisance: one can suck and ruin the tips, and the other curls the leaves and causes red blisters to appear. Spraying with a 5 per cent solution of a tar-oil wash in December gives good control.
Minnesota fruit is very large and brightly coloured. A strong grower. Season mid. Perfection is an excellent cropper with long bunches, large heavy berries, bush tends to spread. Season mid. Rainy Castle is medium bunches of medium-sized red fruits. Has now been largely superseded by better varieties. Some people swear by it for cordons. Season mid-late.
There is a variety, Fay’s Prolific, which is sometimes planted because it is early. It is, however, prone to two troubles: (1) the buds seem to go blind and one has to be very careful to prune to a live bud, in the winter; and (2) the growths are rather brittle and are apt to be blown off in the summer.
If Coral Red raised spots are found on the old wood of the bushes the gardener knows he has the Coral Spot disease. There is no cure for this, other than to cut off the affected branch immediately and burn it and put back the ashes around the tree concerned.
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English Yew Taxus and European Silver Fir
Posted on March 3, 2009, by Ashley Landon, under News and Society.
The Douglas fir is a native of North America growing from California up to British Columbia. It was introduced in Europe in 1828 and is widely cultivated today in the woods and parks of western and central, Europe because of its rapid growth and high quality wood.
It is now found in broad-leaved woods from England to Greece, eastwards to the western Himalayas and South to North Africa. It is estimated that there are about 30,000 of these trees in Germany. In France it is most abundant in the Vosges and the foothills of the Alps and in Great Britain it can be found from southern England to Scotland and in Ireland.
The common yew can attain a height up to 20 metres, but often it remains only a shrub. It grows very slowly, but may live to the age of a thousand years. It is distinguished by its reddish bark, dark leaves and bright red fruits. The leaves are generally two-ranked, and the inconspicuous flowers, borne on the underside of the twigs, bloom in March. The yew is a dioecious species, and the scarlet, fleshy fruits, which mature in late September and arc a favourite food of birds, are borne only on female trees. Today the yew is widely cultivated in parks as an ornamental, including its yellow-variegated and pyramidal form.
Silver fir is a tree growing in western. central and southern Europe. In France, it is found at mountain heights (900 to 2000 metres) in the Pyrenees, Alps, Jura and Vosges, and also in the Massif Central. In central Europe, it also grows at lower elevations in hilly country but in southern Europe only in the mountains.
The silver fir is one of the largest of European trees, reaching heights of more than 60 metres in virgin forests and living for five hundred years. Its name is derived from the smooth, silvery-grey bark. The buds are non-resinous. The needles are arranged in two opposite ranks on the twig, leaving a circular leaf scar upon falling. The yellow male flowers are clustered on the underside of the previous year’s shoots. the female flowers, resembling small green candles, are borne on the upper part of the crown. By autumn they develop into cylindrical cones that mature in late September and then disintegrate.
The Scots pine thrives in almost any climate and in poorer and drier soils. That is why it may be found on sandy or shallow soils that other more demanding trees find unsuitable. The wood is light and of good quality, the heartwood pale brown - used for columns, windows, doors, sleepers, etc. In some places its resin is used by the chemical industry.
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Use Your Halloween Costume to Have Fun and Get Some Candy, Too!
Posted on March 1, 2009, by Hetsil Protage, under News and Society.
There can be great care in your Halloween costume by making it yourself but who has time to do that? Many Halloween costumes on the market today are great for their intended purpose and unless you are a Civil War or Renaissance Re-enactor buying a Halloween costume in the 100’s of dollars range would be a bit extreme even for the most devout of Halloween lovers.
Let us start with our children. Halloween costumes for kids are as varied as the adults and, in fact, often exist in “mini me” versions. And to show a good segway you, as the parent, could dress yourself up in a Dr. Evil Halloween costume and your child as Mini Me - both Halloween costumes are widely available.
If you are looking to couple with your child then why not also consider, as above, a theme by maybe buying a Shrek Halloween costume for yourself and your child cold dress as one of Shrek’s babies or as Donkey and again both Halloween costumes are easily obtainable and you two would be adorable together and adorable spells candy.
If you don’t want to get dressed up for Halloween yourself but you still want to help your child do so, look to popular TV to give you some help. You can use the Disney princesses or Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus as ideas, for example.
If your child is a boy, this, too, can be quite easy. Simply choose an old shirt, some leggings, and a bit of red paint (for blood) to have your boy go as a pirate. If your boy is a little choosier, you can choose among more advanced costumes such as Frankenstein or a zombie.
If you as an adult want an elaborate Halloween costume, you can also look to movie or TV show themes. For example, if you like Star Wars, Darth Vader might be an option. And of course, you always have ghouls, zombies and grim reapers to choose from.
If you need to go Halloween partying as part of a couple, don’t worry. There are lots of Halloween costumes available for you, and you can be sexy in just about anything. A little creativity (as well as some looking online) will give you just the ideas you need to give you the perfect Halloween costumes. Edited by Hetsil Protage
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