GROUND FREED FROM CROPS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23707, 14 January 1939, Page 21

GROUND FREED FROM CROPS

SUMMER DIGGING AND CLEANING At this season several crops complete their growth. Early potatoes are being continually dug for use, early and second early peas have been gathered, and broad beans have almost or quite finished. Then, again, most of the spring cabbages have been cut, late broccoli have long since yielded to time, and summer cauliflowers are daily in request. An effort should always be made to deal with ground as soon as the crop has finished; even if the plot is not at once required for planting, it is very bad practice to allow it to remain untended for even a short period. The evils of such neglect are many; weeds flower and seed, thus laying up a store of trouble for the future, and coarse, deep-rooted kinds delve deeper and deeper into the soil to exhaust it. Moreover, the longer they remain undisturbed the mort difficult it will be to eradicate them. A SIGN OF BAD GARDENING One of the greatest mistakes is to permit the stems of cabbages and of other brassicas to remain on the ground longer than is necessary. The powerful root systems of these plants impoverish the soil to an alarming extent, the plants present an untidy appearance, they are often offensive, and, in short, such neglect is the seal of bad gardening. An exception, under some circumstances, must be made for at least a portion of the spring cabbage bed, for the plants will yield a secondary crop of considerable value. With all others pull or dig up the stems as soon as the crop is finished. If they are laid out for a few days in full sunshine they can later be burnt. The leafy portions should be stacked to rot; such a heap should be maintained in every garden, and on every allotment. Here can be placed all the soft vegetable refuse, grass, and any material which will easily decay. If occasionally turned and treated with lime, or with one of the preparations advertised for the purpose, it will provide valuable humus for returning to the ground in autumn and winter. Potato and pea haulms must not be permitted to remain on the ground; it is best to burn this material, for it may breed and spread disease. Pea stakes, if in good order, may be utilised for the later rows, when thoroughly cleansed of all remnants of the earlier crop; if not wanted, tie neatly into bundles, and stack, upright, under cover. If of no further use, burn at once—it will form the foundation of a rubbish fire. Rotten wood is a prolific breeding ground for many fungoid diseases and insect pests. REMOVE WEEDS

Weeds must be dealt with at once when a plot of ground falls vacant. It is a good opportunity to get rid of such strong and persistent weeds as docks, dandelions, and nettles. Dig deeply, and at once destroy them. All annual and small weeds must be hoed and raked off. If a plot of ground was well supplied with manure last autumn or winter it should not now require a fresh supply. One from which early potatoes have been lifted, if it was liberally enriched for that crop, will not require much preparation in order that it may be planted with, for instance, spring cabbages. Give it a liberal dressing of old soot, and dig as deeply as possible. Ground from which exhausting green crops have been cleared will need more thorough preparation. A liberal dressing of well-decayed manure must be dug in and buried well below the surface, at a sufficient depth to ensure that the roots of the succeeding crop will not find it until they are sufficiently strong to assimilate food. When digging ground—it is invariably hard where brassicas have been growing for any length of time—wide spits should not be turned over, but rathe: thrust in the spade or fork to its full extent, and turn over narrow strips, breaking well down as the work proceeds. There is not now any frost to pulverise the soil, so it must be done as digging proceeds. Moreover, as it will perhaps be planted in the immediate future, it must at once be broken up as finely as possible. ' If the ground is at all loose or hollow, it may be trodden down after digging, and then lightly raked over. The treading must be done when the ground is moderately dry. An effort snould Jways be made to 'in all ground at least a few before it is again planted. It will thus have time to settle and become consolidated, a condition so necessary to free root action. Opportunity should be taken to edge the adjoining paths, and especially very carefully to dig up any couch grass which may be invading the ground from the paths. Where grass paths divide allotments this grass is a common nuisance, and unless it is constantly attacked it will rapidly invade a large area and prove difficult to eradicate.

Plantings and Sowings

Planting and sowing occupy much attention. Some small sowings of a shorthorn carrot, globe beet, and an early turnip may be made. These are quite distinct from the mam crop, and. in the case of the turnips, from that for winter use. Successive sowings maintain a supply of welcome young roots. It is not too late to fill up vacant plots with all kinds of winter greens, and especially late broccoli. Leeks can be planted, and the venturesome may like to gamble with a row of peas, choosing a dwarf early variety. In a propitious autumn they may yield some welcome produce.

A piece of ground must be reserved for the spring cabbage bed. The seed can be sown at once on a prepared seed bed; and, if strawberries are grown, February affords the best opportunity for forming a

new plantation. For this purpose a plot from which early potatoes have been lifted may be utilised. Dig it as deeply as possible, enrich it with manure, and give a dressing of bonemeal used at the rate of about three ounces to the square yard. The bonemeal, with a sprinkling of old soot, may be forked into the surface after the initial digging.— R. E. A., in Amateur Gardening.