RUBBISH HEAPS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2623, 22 June 1904, Page 10

RUBBISH HEAPS.

These have always been considered use-ful adjuncts to the garden, th&ir value being estimated according to this composition and 'the methods of their preparation. Tho usual* plan is to collect all refuse from the ground indiscriminately, and build neatly in a heap in an out-of-the-way spot, where tho

contents are allowed) to decompose in duo

time. An error pervades this system. All , kind? of vegetablo refu3© are not of equal j value, and ,a large portion of the best i fertilising properties is lost by injudicious \ handling. Turnip-tops are grand fertilisers, i and should be dug into tho ground when

'. green and! their virtue imparted to the ; soil. It is not very enduring, however, as i they exhaust themselves in one season. !If the - tops are gathered in a heap j and mixed with others, and left to rot, their j value is to a great exte-nt lost before bamg applied. Potato shaws have little manurial

i value, and what there is of ifc is secured <in the ash on burning. The fire has this ether advantage : the haulm of th© i potato is peculiarly attractive to disease 1 germs, down which the poison travels until

| the tubers are infected. The fire com- : pietely destroys these germs, whereas, if I buried in the ground or collect&d in ike

i heap, diey are pi-eservcd, and multiply, ' ready to issue forth on the first opporfcu- ! nity, renewing their attack and causing wide-spread devastation. Where a large area is used as a garden, these compost heaps accumulate to a- considerable size, and should receive attention tin turning over and having fresh lime 1 added il'o decompose and swee-ten the contents. This entails much labour and expense in gathering, heap'ng, turning, and wheeling out again to tho place -where the compost is to bo applied. This cost is not felt when thp owner is in affluent circum&tantes, but to tli-e market gardener and

small grower it does away with much of the profit. Another objection to the heap system is thati unless under cover, a large portion of the value is washed away and lost.

The merits of tho different systems are receiving considerable attention at present in garden papers, and one treatise now before us advocates a method of treatment of the weeds and! garbage generally which the writer has satisfactorily followed for several years, and which has no doubt been largely adopt-ed with us, although not with similar skill and observation a,9 to results. Long and extensive experience both a3 an employee and latterly on his own account entitle his remarks to attention, written, as they are, cogently and without ostentation. His idea was that by returning to the soil in a green state such portion of the crop as is not required for consumption, much additional manure would not be needed. On a north border, for 15 successive years, he has raised crops of winter greens and turnips, which wore produced each year without any appreciable difference in the quality and weight of the czops. Not a barrowful o£ other manure was used.

There is something in this statement worthy of notice by our gardeners, and which requires full consideration. First, the fa oil that the. soil produces its own support in production if carefully attended to, the waste being returned. It is well known that vegetables generally are not ha]f consumed for domestic use, the larger portion being discarded, and if by utilising this a very great saving is effected as to time alone, tho advantage is quite apparent. Ifc must be admitted that in certain crofs no by-produce is available. Fruit and grain crops will not return to tho soil oneten'i'h of their produce, and the loss must be made up. Among the Brassicas this can easily be done — blades, stems, and roots being left on the ground, and at once dug in, not deeply, but close to the surface. Another point is this : the writer, in giving his 15 years' experience in growing cabbages and turnips without any inteimediato crop, slates that neither crop has suffered from a>ny disease This may be accounted' for by no imported matter in the shap of manure being introduced, thu same crop, in the fame land, or both combined, having no tendency to produce or fester disease. Nature in all departments is sim.p^ in operation, easily understood, and only when innovations aie made resu7>s follow opposed to the order of things. The wiiter makes no mention of chemical fertilisers having been used in his steady, perpetual cropping, and possibly none were brought into u«e. At the sajne time tho samo rule will not apply to the greater majority of plants, their products being mo inly carried off and absorbed elsewhere.

The" wri'tor is careful to remark that in the case of shallow-rooted vegetables, the-sui-faco b&ing bare, a large evaporation takes place, which muse cither be provented by a covering of litter or supplemented by frequent watering. If moisture is deficient the crop will a 1 so be deficient, whatever quantity of manure may be given. His attention wjs first directed to the fact in •growing celery, usua'ly hea\ily and expensively manured — often, indeed, too much so, as the plant only demands a certain quantity of food, and to give more is waste. His experiments we^e wi'ih richly-manured rows of celery and others unmanured alongside. The advantages varied at- times, but the ultimate sho-<ving was no great difference on either side.

Summing up the result-, tho writer's advice, is to keep all rubbish where it prows, digging in green or dead where produced, and not depending on out&icie artificial aid. His conclusion may be correct, n«, judging from observation, the more a plant or animal is coddled and provided for ilhe loss hardy it becomes, and 1 more su.cceptiblo to the ill' of 'Nature. Of course, we should not by any means discard highest culture in special plants, but ordinary plants under ordinary culture are the healthiest and best.— l. M. I.