A GARDEN NOTE

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 173, 18 April 1942, Page 4

A GARDEN NOTE

Prepare For Onion Sowing Now ORGANIC FERTILIZERS (By “The Hoc.”) You probably recall that onions of inferior quality, sold at Gd.,. Bd. and lOd.. a .pound last year, and if you don't -want to suffer a similar experience this year you had belter get busy now. One can advance half-a-dozen reasons for assuming that there will be another shortage, but you can help .yourself, aud, incidentally, do your small part toward helping the food situation, by pltinuiug now to grow your own vegetables as> much as possible. It is,the''useful onion that calle for immediate attention, as seed should be sown during May, June and July.

To be successful with onions one must have u well-drained, loamy soil ■that has been worked up to a very line state, and enriched with organic manures. The soil should be almost the consistency of flour. Select your (plot, dig it deeply, and reduce it to as ■line a stfite as possible. Having done ■that, spread wood ashes over the plot at the rate of 6oz. per sq. yd. If ashes ■are not available, use sulphate of ■potash at 2oz. per sq. yd., but make no ■mistake about it, wood ashes do give (best results. Lightly prick it in. If ■the plot has not previously been manured with composted matter or tfarmyard manure, there is only one quick way of incorporating it now, ■and that is by digging trenches 12 inches deep, Sin. wide and 12 inches apart. Cover the bottom six inches Of the trenches with any really old 'composted material or farmyard man'ure you can get hold of. Then fill the ■remaining six inches of the trenches ■with well pulverized soil, aud tamp it down firmly. The next step is to take out shallow drills in the centre of each trench (now filled in, of ■course) and sow seed thinly, covering •it with half an inch of fine soil. Then ■press the soil firmly by placing a board ■along each drill and walking up and down it. As seedlings develop they must be thinned out till they are three inches apart. The thinnings can be ■used for transplanting to other prepared beds. As growth develops weeding must receive particular attention. It is most important that the soil in the onion bed should be fine and compact. That may sound like a paradox, but it’s a fact that successful onion cultivation depends largely on fine soil but not loose soil. Later seasonal operations will be explained when the time arrives to deal with them. The important task now is to prepare the soil and sow the seed. Organic Fertilizers. An inconspicuous item in yesterday’s “Dominion” conveyed the disturbing news that the sale of organic fertilizers to private growers will be prohibited as from the end of this month. This is unfortunate indeed, as healthy vegetables cannot be raised ■without organic matter. Gardeners should therefore bear in mind that such organic manures as they are able ■to obtain will go at least four times as far if used in conjunction with the composting of vegetable and household wastes. The formula has been published in these columns on a number of occasions, aud will be repeated periodically. The really essential organic fertilizers are bonedust, dried ■blood and', for quick-acting results, bone flour. A mixture of blood and bone is one of the best all-purpose fertilizers.