THE GARDEN.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 957, 4 July 1890, Page 14

THE GARDEN.

THE VALUE OF LIMEThe value of lime as a re-agent in the vegetable garden is seldom understood and appreciated it should he. Fresh or virgin soils do not as a rule require lime; and the same may be said of heavy staples, though a little quicklime applied to rough lumps of clay, when trenching, breaks .them down more surely and swiftly than almost everything else, as I have repeatedly noticed. But T have often come across cases in which an old garden has uecr. cropped and manured, manured and cropped for so many years that it had become utterly tired ’ and unwholesome so that nothlng could be induced to grow in it satisfactorily ; all kinds of cabbage inevitably ' clubbed ’ and perished, insects destroyed all young seedlings as they appeared above ground, grubs riddled the carrots and parsnips, turnips were ruined by the ‘ finger-and-toe ’ disease, and so forth. Under these circumstances, I always prescribe a good dressing of either gas lime, or such as la in a fresh condition, if not quite quick and invariably with perfect success. In such cases lime acts as a powerful purifier and sweetener, and in addition sets free the nutritive piinciples that, though already abundant m the soil, are so locked up that the roots of the various crops cannot assimilate or profit by them. The application of a moderate quantify of lime has a marvellous effect in renovating exhausted ground, more. especially where this is of a light description, and now is the best time in all the year to do it. Nothing siiould be planted in the ground for > some months subsequently, but allow it to lie fallow through the winter, and by the spring it will be found in first-class condition for being cropped. 6