VEGETABLE CULTURE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3898, 27 November 1928, Page 11

VEGETABLE CULTURE.

(By “ Syringa,” in the Garden Lover.) GROW VEGETABLES QUICKLY. A good tilth and a well pulverised surface are the main soil necessities in the vegetable garden at present. Frequent cultivations will keep in the soil moisture, and will obviate the necessity for constant surface waterings. At the same time it should be remembered that the vegetable garden requires more water than the flower garden, owing to the quick growth of the plants. Quickly-grown vegetables ate more tender and more luscious than slowlygrown ones. Thus a good water supply will need to be maintained. Weeds are great moisture robbers, and they should be kept rigorously out of the vegetable garden at this time of the year. Systematic and thorough hoeing should always follow watering or rains as soon as the surface is sufficiently dry that it can be worked without turning over in sticky lumps. The benefit *hus given to the crops will make them reach maturity much earlier than if left untouched.

All vegetable crops should be thinned early, partly because delay means overcrowding and weakly plants, and also because there is less disturbance of the roots of the plants that remain if the work is done while the plants are yet small.

Generally speaking, it is best to make two operations of the thinning, the first time as soon as the seedlings have grown big enough to handle, or just when they have made their first true leaf, and again when they are considerably larger, when they are left at the proper distance before maturing. Many of the vegetable crops can be materially assisted by the application of quick-acting plant foods during the growing season. Such crops as cabbages, cauliflowers, onions, melons, cucumbers, etc., are greatly benefited by small dressings of sulphate of Ammonia or nitrate of soda applied at intervals of two weeks. It is best applied in quite small quantities, just the merest sprinkling along the sides of the plants, but not touching the stems, as the pure crystals are liable to scald them. Previous to applying, the larger lumps should be crushed and made fine, as this will allow for a more even distribution of the fertiliser. It will act immediately if applied during the showery weather, as it dissolves quickly, the rain carrying it in liquid form to the feeding roots. When given while the soil is comparatively dry, it should be touched into the surface with the hoe, but moisture is necessary to make it quickly available. Floraphos is another quickacting. fertiliser, which will be found of great benefit to growing crops. It is clean and easily applied. The main varieties to concentrate on for quick returns are French beans and salads. The former, which will reach maturity in from six to seven weeks from sowing, should be sown at intervals of two weeks for at least another two months yet. Sow two inches deep, spreading the seed quite thinly. If several rows are sown, they should be at least two feet and a-half apart. Lima beans are immensely prolific. They are cultivated similarly *to French beans, but take longer to mature. Crops sown this month being ..readv for use in about 12 weeks. Lima beans are cooked like broad beans, and their flavour is delicious, and is nearly the same in the dry bean* as when cooked in its green state. Lettuce, cucumbers, beet, spring onions, and radish must all be sown to keep a supply of salads for the table and a few plants of tomatoes should be planted. To obtain fine heads of lettuce, a rich bed of light soil should be prepared, as tough and compact soil will not tend to make growth. The ground must be kept loose and fine and well watered. Radishes will grow in any soil, but not in all equally well. A sandy loam is best; or rather, that soil is best which will grow them quickest. If they are a long time in growing they are tough and stringy.

Carrots, preferably early varieties, may be sown at intervals. They do best in light soil, and rank, fresh manure should be avoided.