Cropping Hints

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 280, 26 November 1938, Page 14 (Supplement)

Cropping Hints

IT it much better for the gar- * dener who aims at supplying his own household with a con* tinuous supply of vegetables to aim at having moderate supplies over a long period rather than having a large quantity of any particular sort. For thin reason supplies of what may be termed quick-maturing or fancy sort* should be sown or planted in small quantities, and frequently, whilst the roots and long maturing crops must be sown in much larger quantities.

The varieties of vegetable* which have the beat flavour can easily be selected, but it is only the good gardener who can make the best of even good

varieties. Attention to manuring and cultivation i« necessary to produce vegetables of first-class flavour. It is scarcely possible for hoeing to be done too frequently and it is not probable that the average gardener will ever supply too much manure. This can be done, of course, and it must be remembered that large quantities of artificial fertilisers should not be placed too near growing crops; superphosphates in particular is apt to burn young plants. If a gardener wishes to force his crop along, the best plan is to give successive applications of readily soluble manures. A tablespoonful of nitrate of soda and sulphate of potash dissolved in a email watering can of water will make most plants nourish. Peas and beans respond

rapidly to phosphates and lime. 'Frt quent sprinklings of lime on these plants help to keep them healthy, whilst an occasional sprinkling of potash helps to fill the pods.