A Word On Soils And Manures...

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29269, 29 July 1960, Page 9

A Word On Soils And Manures...

The use of “turfy loam” is often advocated, but many persons are not dear just what this term means. It is more or less a general term, and is often applied to the ordinary soil of a garden. Actually, “turfy loam" is correctly applied only to the top four to six inches from a grass pasture, which is Nature’s “manure heap.” The top six inches of a grass paddock that has been down in grass and stocked with sheep and cattle for 20 years, if taken and stacked for three months will grow anything. In England and Europe, loam is an article and commerce, and large quantities, chiefly taken from sites to be used for building purposes, are sold every year. It is not always possible to obtain it ready to hand in this country, but nevertheless there is a good deal of turfy loam available if one searches for it On many of our country roads there is a strip of grass turf, the top four inches of which could be had for the asking. Skimmed off with the spade in turves about 9in wide and 18in long, stacked for a few months so that the grass is dead, it would provide a heap of valuable plant food at only the cost of labour. Value of Poultry Manure

The great value of poultry manure in the garden has long been recognised, but the difficulty in the past regarding a more general distribution has been because the material could not easily be handled in its crude state. Moreover, if used fresh for most kinds of fruits, vegetables or flowering plants it is apt to prove too strong and to encourage excessive growth of foliage. In the crude state, therefore, it is desirable to mix the manure with ashes or soil before applying it to the garden. Amateurs who keep fowls will find that by spreading the manure out in thin layers under cover, the material can be air dried without much loss of nitrogen. The manurial value of kilndried poultry manure compares favourably with other organic fertilisers. It has the following analysis: Moisture, 7.75 per cent.; organic matter, 57.04 per. cent.; total-nitrogen, 4.31 per cent.; total phosphoric acid, 2.92 per cent.; total calcium, 3.55 per cent A large proportion of the plant nutrients in the dried manure are present in readily assimilable form. It is an excellent material for reconditioning lawns and tennis courts; the turf soon responds to the treatment by taking'on a beautiful emerald green. The manure should be spread evenly over the turf in the winter, and by spring the rains will have washed it into the soil. This manure is also of considerable value in the cultivation of greenhouse plants in pots, and is free from weed seeds.