SOOT.

Mt Benger Mail, 26 April 1933, Page 2

SOOT.

JTB VALFL IN illi: GAKDLN. Ordinary soot contains something like hj per e-. ui oi nitrogen, as well as a siua.i proportion oi ; belli pulasii aI»U pilospiiaPs. it is a \ cry u.seiul form ui lerliuser iol gai uiii Suii>, part icai ala j. ill use oi a heavy and releiiUVt nature, and its iHeels may be seen ill Hie iiu.use itt.rK green colour ui Hie luiiuge* ui plants and trees, anei in Hie enhaUeeu co.our oi fruit oi an Kinds. .Most gai'Uliel'S Use soul I * s-aae exieiu as a means ui exterminating slugs and oilier garden pests, but not alt ol tin ui Use ll a. a manure. In toe oulen days it was nAked upon as a practically indispelisame lerlitising material in any garden where higa-ciass produce was grown, but times imve ciialiged, and elect ne and g,.s stows lia\e placed Hie production ol nitrogen m tiie hands of ine clieinist, and ariiiicii; ...iiiiure lias taken its piaev, lin ~ 4iue ui soul may be disparaged aeii iic.u in comparison willi the ..crt ici'liliseis, out, taking Hilo consideration us relatively sman east, and tiie heneiiciai eilecl that it has upon the texture ul the Soil to which it is applied, it is indeed a very useful form of manure for garueu purposes, -boot that nas be eii stored ior rather u lung time, iiuWever, is less valuable- than liesh soul, aitliuilgh some gardeners prefer to use the former because it is not quite so powdery, and there is not so much diiiicuity oi unpleasantness ui spreading it. A a rule, soul is Used as a lop-v-.uig pel ore digging, and il so s.mUid be spread oil the surface until tiie soli is quite black with it, afterwards hoeing it in; but a better practice than this is to dus! ii in the trenches as the work of digging proceeds. Win a fresh soul is used, not mure than, say, bushel should be applied to every IUU square yards. After it has been hoed in, the soot will tend t.> make heavy soils light and friable and the store of nitrogen that it contains will not be tiie least valuable part of it. For the onion crop soot is a very good manure indeed. it not only supplies a fair amount of plant food ingredients, but also helps to keep the dreaded union fly in check, and makes the soil lighter, and more favourable to the rapid .swelling of the bulb at the same time. For fruit trees also, soot can be very ■well applied in the form of a liquid manure as soon as the fruit has set, and most kitchen garden crops will benefit considerably if supplied with this form of liquid manure, for that matter, when the ground is very dry and parched. An easy method of preparing the liquid manure is tc suspend a sackful of snot in a barrel of water for a day or so. Not only is the soot valuable for heavy soils, but it is particularly