WINTER IN THE GARDEN

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXV, Issue 154, 15 June 1935, Page 15

WINTER IN THE GARDEN

The decreasing available supplies of farm and stable manure are making the gardener feel more dependent upon the use of fertilisers but these do not produce their maxim beneficial effect where organic matter is lacking in the soil. 1 A necessary condition for the complete eeffeetiveness of commercial fertilisers is a supply of available lime in the soil. Several conditions give us definite indication of lack of lime in the soil, one of the most reliable being the appearance of club root among cabbage crops. Then the prevalence of certain weeds, such as sorrell, Is also indicative of lime deficiency. The addition of limo has a good chemical effect on soil. Sourness, which is decidedly injurious to the well-being of certain crops, is overcome by the free use of lime. Peas and beans and other members of this family are particularly sensitive to sour conditions, as are turnips and root crops generally. Potatoes are comparatively tolerant to a certain degree of sourness, and applications of lime previous to planting thij crop are not advisable. The addition of lime to heavy clay soils has the effect of granulating the clay particles, and so making the ground materially more friable and easy to work, and also improving the condition as a medium for root development. In th 3 past, some gardens were manured until they were in a condition that might be termed manure-sick. In such a soil lime is usually deficient, and a single dressing would be of marked benefit. No doubt there may be plenty of matter present in the soil, but it is unavailable for the crops.

If the soil is kept continually supplied with lime not only are reserves of plant food gradually unlocked, but any manure applied quickly becomes available and the formation of insoluble compounds is prevented.