LIME AND MANURES.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 47, 25 February 1927, Page 12

LIME AND MANURES.

POINTS TO REMEMBER

Clovers often fail through lack of lime in the soil, and it is invariably profitable to apply lime in the carbonate form when sowing pasture seeds.

As to manures, the basic super may be used with the greatest confidence, or it may be applied in conjunction with a little bonedust. Bones are -not profitable, however, on heavy clay soils, as they are too slow in action.

When the crop is dug with the forks, selection is easy, as the tubers from the most prolific and disease-free plants are simply put to one side without much troul le. A good plan is to throw two rows into one, the selected tubers being placed on the opposite side. If the digging is done by machinery, the crop must be gone over before the foliage dies down, in order to mark the best plants with a stake, and these, when ripe, are dug with the hand fork before machine digging commences. Of course, if the crop is uniformly good, a selection may be made from the bulk. It is always advisable to go over the whole crop carefully, when in full flower, and dig all the plants that are not of the variety planted. This work is generally called "roguing." "Rogue" plants that are not in flower, may generally be detected by a difference in the foliage. The selecting of seed tul>ers from individual plants means a little extra labour, but it is labour that always yields a very handsome return.