Keeping the Hoe Busy

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23489, 28 October 1939, Page 8 (Supplement)

Keeping the Hoe Busy

Jj\ROM now on the hoo should novor be idle in the vegetable plot. It is in the vegetable garden that surface cultivation counts for most. Few, if any, vegetables will give good return if allowed to become dry at the roots. Many homo gardeners still labour under the delusion that the chief purpose of hoeing is to keep- down weeds. This it undoubtedly does, but, more important, it reduces tlio loss of moisture in the soiL by reducing the surface to a flue frmble tilth. It is tiseless to wait until early summer before making a start, for by then, much of the reserve of moisturo may already have been lost. The hoe should be brought into uso just as soon as the soil is in a fit condition to bo worked,

Cultivation in the Vegetable Plot

and from that time on, should be constantly employed. Tho push hoo is the best tool for the job. Mulches will, of courso, do much to reduce labour and these, too, should be laid down early if they are to be., of uny real service. As a general rulo, it may be taken that feeding should not commence until the plants are well established. Quick acting stimulants, given in the early stages of growth will not bo needed if tho soil is in good heart. Used judiciously, fertilisers can do a great deal to improve the yield. There are instances, however, where it is permissible to use stimulants at a fairly early period of growth. Members of tho cabbago tribe for example, are often slow in getting away; one ounce of -sulphate of

ammonia per yard run of row will havo a wonderful effect on their progress, • ns it will on green vegetables of any description. It is a wonderful stimulant in tho vegetable garden. Sprinkled along the rows and we'll watpred in it will have a marked effect on growth. The making firm of the soil along the sides of the rows of carrots, after thinning, has been emphasised in a previous article. This is helpful in warding oif attacks of the carrot fly. It has been found effective to lay a line of lawn mowings along the side of tho rows and close enough to enclose the i>aso of the .leaves. The flies cannot then reach the roots to deposit eggs. It is also a good plan to scatter sand or sawdust between tho rows, the material having first been impregnated with kerosene or creosoto. These dressings need renewing when tho odour has passed away. For a like purpose horticultural napthalene can be used. The use" of any of these materials is to camouflage the odour of the carrots Which attracts the fly. The first brood will bo on the wing by early November.