THE USE OF GARDEN WASTE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20290, 24 December 1927, Page 3

THE USE OF GARDEN WASTE.

Nowadays it is generally recognised that the beat results in the cultivation of flowers and vegetables can only bo obtained by the use ,of plenty of manure, both natural and artificial.

In the summer a pile of lawn mowings will constantly be accumulating and these should ho spread over the soil among the plants to check tha weeds and to keep tho ground moist. Not a scrap of green stuff should be wanted, but should bo thrown on the heap to be used as manure. The borders should be trenched in tho autumn. That is, the trench should bo two spits deep and a thick layer of the manure and decayed vegetable rubbish forked into the bottom spit. This keeps the soil rich and damp throughout the summer months, when tho plants send their roots deep into the ground to find moisture. Provided that all the green stutf is saved throughout the summer and autumn and not burnt, enough vegetable manure will be obtained to enrich the soil during the following year. A large part of the garden refuse cannot be used in this way. Stalks, prunings, and weeds must be burnt; a few big bonfires yield a surprising amount of ash, and this, supplemented by a little bone meal and soot, is used as the fertiliser. Ashes being rich in potash are extremely valuable to the gardener and should be scattered evenly on the top spit and lightly raked in. Soot, which should first be exposed t-o the air for some weeks in a tub or box, makes an excellent liquid manure; a bag full of soot is suspended in a can of water, and this liquid sprinkled on the ground. Everv autumn there will be considerable quantities of fallen leaves. These should lie carefully swept up and stacked in a heap, together with lawn mowings and other soft garden refuse. This heap should be occasionally turned over, and decomposition will quickly result. _ In this way the garden will be, so far as manure is concerned, practically self-sup-porting ; every two or three years a load of cow manure is helpful, but this is not essential. The whole idea is to put back into the ground as much as you take out of it.