Tabor City tribune. (Tabor City, N.C.) 1946-1991, 1959-06-17

ness. nlpe frult II essential for
peach pulp or PURGE. A good
maturity index Is to watch for
color changes, particularly the
change from hard green
ground or base color to creams
and yellows. Place a peach in
the palm of your hand and op-
ply pressure by closing your
fingers. If it "gives a little" you
can pick and them permit the
fruit to soften to the desired do
gree for processing. II it is still
hard when you make this test
it has not reached maximum
IItree-ripe quality.
A lady from Edenton writes
My peonies do not bloom as
they should. Can you give me
information, ETC." This may be a
good time to discuss peonies be-
cause others may have a prob
lem.
Peony clumps usually in
crease in size and the flowers
in beauty for a good many years
after planting. However, the
clumps should be divided when
the flowers diminish in size and
number
In late summer when the tops
begin to show decline, cut the
stems back to about six inches
and carefully dig the entire root
clump with spade. (This de-
cline usually occurs about Oct
l in eastern Carolina and the
middle of September in the
mountains.)
Carefully shake soil from the
roots or wash with a hose. At
the base of the stems, you will
find "eyes" or buds. Be very
careful not to injure these be-
cause this is where growth for
your new plants will be initial
ed.
Carefully divide the clumps
by sectioning with a sharp knife.
and save about four buds ON
each section. Transplant i'm
mediately in holes large enough
to accommodate the root clump
without crowding and deer
enough so that the buds will be
two inches below the ground
level when the hole is filled. Cut
the stems off even with the
ground level as this will help
pervent disease.
Before filling the hole, thor
oughly mix about a good hand
full of 1873 fertilizer (not pei
letized) with the soil.
Peonies do not like shade, or
competition with tree roots. Mel
Their are they happy in very acid
soils. Better have your soil test
ed and use lime to raise it to a
PHI Of about 6.5, if necessary.
A student brought me some
rose foliage recently which
showed distinct signs of nitro
gen deficiency, expressed as &
pale green leaf color. Roses are
heavy feeders and should be
fertilized once a month with ar
1913 fertilizer until about Aug
II.
Use 2 to 3 pounds per lO(
square feet. Keep plants wei
mulched with pine needles
ground corn cobs or GROUND
peanut huls, and thoroughly
sprayed, or busted, to protect
against insect and disease pests
1rrigate as needed.
In the vegetable garden, keer
up the fight against weeds ano
insect and disease pests. Make
succession paintings of such
crops as snap beans and sweet
corn. In preparation for the fall
garden, plant seed of cabbage
broccoli, tomatoes and collards
This should be done between
June Is and July l for the Pied
mont area.
Sow the seed in flats anG
place them in light shade where
they can be easily watered. A
good mixture is one-third pea
moss, one-third clean SHARP
sand and one-third good garden
soil Cor well decompoSed COM
posD, by volume. To prevent
"damping-off" fungus. the sand
and soil should be sterilized
This can be done by heating in
an over for one hour at 2lO de-
greeS.
When the plants are large
enough to handle, it is desirable
to transplant them to bands, or
small pots, using good garden
soil or compost, as suggested
Setting in the field from bands
or pots practically eliminates
the shock of transplanting and