LATE VEGETABLES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20229, 13 April 1929, Page 5 (Supplement)

LATE VEGETABLES.

RAPID GROWTH MADE. Crops that wore sown last month when llio soil was well moistened L>y showers are now well above the ground and are making rapid progress. After such a long spell of dry weather vegetables arc naturally scarcer arid almost any variety of crop is fully appreciated. Sowing and planting should still bo proceeded with and every effort made to refurnish the garden with as many seasonable crops as possible. Turnips are one of tho most rapidly growing crops at this time and when sown in well-prepared ground soon attain a stage of usefulness. March and April are Invariably tlie best months for sowing these crops, as they always succeed best during moist, cool weather when there is little risk of the foliage being attacked by aphis. In sowing draw wide drills about an inch in depth and from 15in. to 18in. apart. Under this system of sowing weeds are more easily controlled as the soil between the rows can bo occasionally stirred by hoeing. • As soon as the plants arc large enough to handle they should bo thinned out. Fcr: the first thinning three inches between ths plants will be a sufficient distance. Bting quick growers they soon attain a useful size and can be further thinned oat as they are required for use. To keep up a succession small sowings should be made about every four weeks. CROPS OF CARROTS. Carrots have come up well and so far are making satisfactory growth. Tho chief difficulty at this season, however, is not so much in raising the plants as in protecting them from tho ravages of shigs. Keeping the soil frequently stirred and the free use of lime are tho most effective means of protection. Care should be taken, not to thin too severely, this being particularly so in tho case of short horn or stump-rooted varieties, but allow sufficient space for the roots to partially develop. The roots are never more tender and palatable than when about half grown. Further thinning can be done as the roots are required for use. Parsnips require to be well thinned, allowing a space of at least 6in. between the plants in the rows. Beetroot transplants readily, so that if the plants are carefully lifted when thinning any blanks in the rows can be refilled, or fresh rows planted. Timely attention to thinning is an important operation and should in no case be neglected until the plants become drawn and weak. The more sturdy and hardy the plants, the better they will bo able to withstand colder and wetter conditions. WARM SOIL FOR ONIONS. A sowing of onions can be made any time during the next few weeks for use either in the green state or for transplanting for early crops. A warn situation should be selected and a raised bed formed. If the soil is of a light, free nature the surface should be made firm by treacling. It should then be raked over and made level. The seeds should bo town in drills as the young plants td'i bo more easily kept clean by occasional hoeings, while hand weeding between the rows is more easily performed. In sowing seeds at this season the success attained depends in a great measure upon the condition of the soil and the depth to which tho seed is sown. Soils vary so widely in character that no positive rule as regards depth of covering can be laid down beyond the fact that nearly all the smaller seeds require out a light covering compared to that needed in spring and summer sowing. It is important that the drills be drawn, so that an even, smooth surface is formed, the seeds when covered then being of an even, uniform depth. CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. The planting out of cabbage and cauliflowers can still bo proceeded with. There arc numbers of plants on sale that are. comparatively immune to the cabbage aphis and if planted in deeply worked, well-manured ground should quickly become established. Older plants that have been some time planted, and that have suffered more or less from the fly, will often recover and produce good heads if tho soil is kept frequently stirred and if occasional applications of superphosphate or nitrate of soda are given around the roots and stirred into the soil. Few crops respond more readily to good culivation than do tlioso of the cabbage family, though all vegetable crops are benefited by this treatment. To keep up a supply of vegetables during the winter, the ground requires to bo well enriched with plant food, so as to induce as rapid growth as possible after the seedlings are raised. Crops, of course, vary somewhat as to the amount of manure required, though, as previously stated, few exhaust the soil as quickly as does the cabbage tribe. If these are planted on the same ground two years in succession without an abundance of manure being given the plants rarely succeed well. An effort should always bo made to change or alternate the crops grown. ASPARAGUS BEDS. Asparagus tops, as soon as they have become yellow and ripened, should be cut down and the beds cleaned of all weeds and be lightly forked over. In doing this, however, special care must be taken not to fork too near so as to injure tho crowns, while no further manuring should be applied until the heaviest winter rains are over. If applied at this time, tho roots are liable to rot through excess of moisture, while on the other hand if a good mulching is given toward tho end of the wet season the manurial properties soon find way to tho roots and create healthy root action. Tho beds should always be kept free of weeds during their season of rest, while hand weeding instead of forking over the crowns is the safest means of protecting them from injury..