CULTIVATING SPRING CABBAGES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23442, 5 March 1938, Page 21

CULTIVATING SPRING CABBAGES

—-—♦ OTHER SEEDS FOR AUTUMN ' SOWING Crisp, solid, but tender-hearted cabbages are to be greatly appreciated at any . time- between October and November, but often they might be more valuable than they are if only greater care were exercised in securing the best of seeds and giving the plants more liberal cultivation. Those who have to buy young plants, instead of raising their own, should be very careful to buy fresh, healthy young stock from some grower who takes pride in supplying the best Crowded Seedlings, roughly pulled from the ground, tied in bundles, and offered for sale with roots exposed to sun and wind, start life under a severe handicap. The low price of such plants does not make them cheap in the end. Such dodges as stem-slitting and lifting non-hearters to break their roots, are only belated attempts to remedy previous faults, but with ordinary care in an average season, such extrenuous aids should really be unnecessary. Two sowings should be made, the first during February for Harbinger or Ellams's Early Dwarf, and the second for Myatt's Early Offenham or Wheeler's Imperial about the middle of March or as soon after as possible. Sow the seed very thinly in a prepared bed of one square yard for each 500 plants required. THE CLUBROOT DISEASE It should be remembered that clubroot, the most deadly enemy of cabbage is a soil fungus., and that the plants as a general rule are infected in their seedling or very early stages only Lime is the great preventive, so use three to four ounces of good garden lime to ,each square yard when preparing the soil Work this in about four inches deep with a hand-fork. Mix soil and lime well together, break up all as fine as possible, and make the surface even and level Then water with a fine-rosed can . T!v; seed to be sown broadcast thinly and evenly, as soon as the surface has drained: press the seed into the surface with a piece of flat board and cover half an inch deep with ine.< gritty nearly drv soil The seed.* will then' be in a moist bed where germination will be quick, and the seedling? able to push their wav throttgn wi'hou* kinks in their tender young stems A piece of fish netting on one-foot sticks over the bed is a wise precaution against birds taking the young seedlings TRANSPLANTING As soon as the plants are in their second rough leaf, prick them out in a bed prepared as for sowing, spacing them two to three inches apart, pressing the soil fairlv firm over the roots, and leaving a .shallow depression by the side of each stem to act as a ittle catch pit for dew or rain Give a light watering if the weather is dry. Ground vacated by onions, late peas, or French beans is a good place for the cabbage bed, as such soil is usually in fairly good trim. Give a dressing of fish guano, four ounces to a square yard ... By mid-A.pril die plants will oe sufficiently advanced for putting m their permanent quarters Lift each plant carefully with a good ball of soil at the roots, and set out at one foot between the plants; one and. ahalf between the rows. "Press the soil firm about the roots, leaving a shallow depression by the side of the stem, and give a watering to ensure close contact between soil and roots. Dust a little weathered soot or garden lime around the plants occasionally to : rd off slugs; and about mid-May draw a ridge of soil up to the plants on both sides of the rows to prevent winds or rains from rocking them about. Red or pickling cabbage should be sown by the second or third week of March

in beds, as for spring cabbage, and the seedlings pricked out to four inches apart in nursery beds, where they are to remain until the following March. FEED IN THE SPR' ' Although it is unwise to encourage soft autumn growth by using rank manure at planting time, it is very necessary that cabbages shall have liberal nourishment from the time growth starts in spring. If the ground was well manured for such previous crops as those already mentioned, the plants will be quite all right until about September or early October. Then a light sprinkling of sulphate of ammonia—not more than two ounces to the square yard—will give just the fillip to growth that will be of great advantage. Later on liquid manure or a good soluble fertiliser may be used. WINTER ONIONS A few rows of winter onions are very useful for summer and early autumn cooking, ind. if good varieties are used, such as Mammoth, Red Italian, White Leviathan, or Golden Rocca, and the sowing it made on reasonably good land, there is no need to transplant. Give a fairly heavy dressing of weathered soot- say about a five-inch potful and four ounces fish guano to a square yard: dig tha soil a good spit deep, break it up as fine as possible, then lightly tread and rake the surface for drills drawn one inch deep and one foot apart. Sow the seeds thinly, and cover them by drawing the back of a rake lengthwise along the drill, tapping the soil down moderately as the covering proceeds. DO NOT SOW TOO SARLY There is often a tendency to sow autumn onion seeds earlier than is prudent. The object in view is not to get plants as big as possible before winter. Often it is the largest, soft, sappy plants which rot at the base before spring The end of March or first week in April is soon enough to ensure germination and production of firm, tight little plants, not more than three inches high by the time growth is brought to a halt They are the kind of material best able to t?o through the winter unharmed. An onion which in recent years has proved itself of exceptional merit for autumn sowing is Unwin's Reliance. It Is broad, but not. too shallow, the flesh is firm, solid, and weighty: ana, whilst it attains serviceable size *any in summer, it ripens off good, fullfleshed bulbs, which keep sound much longer than the soft types. SPINACH For winter using sow good breadths of New Giant-leaved prickly smnach at intervals of 14 days from oarty March to the first week in May. A fairly rich, well-tilled soil is needed, and the rows should "be spaced, at one foot apart, so that it is easy to ply the hoe between them. Thin out the plants to six inches apart before they get crowded. On wet, heavy land ordinary spinach is sometimes difficult in winter, and In such cases a good spinach beet, as Lucullus, should be sown in March. It Is convenient to have a good row of Lucullus at about a foot from a path, so that it is easily accessible in all weathers.— D. W. S., in Amateur Gardening.