ON THE LAND

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 83, 13 August 1929, Page 2

ON THE LAND

FARM AM) GARDEN. IN STRATFORD AND DISTRICT. BY "ARARE". FARM. In these clays one roads and hears much about the relative merits of various fertilisers as top-dressing agents. In this connection there are one or two aspects that are worth taking into consideration. First among these is that of applying for tilisers at at given quantity by \veiglit per acre irrespective of the qual ity or percentage composition of the fertilisers used. To take a definite example:— Basic slag contains from 18-22 percentage of P 205, that is the constituent that it is dsired to place on the sail, bringing this down to manure units (a unit is 1 percent, per ton) wo actually apply from 2.7 to 3.3 units of P 205. Supei-phospate on new land con tains from 36-40 per centago of P2 05, that is with 3 cwt of Superphos phate Ave are actually adding to the soil from 5.4 to 6. units per acre. From this it is obvious that we are asking, with slag, 3 units to' do as much work as 6 units with superphosphate. I contend, therefore, that one of the fundamental ways of comparing fertilisers is fe) see that equal unit quantities of each ferfcilis. er is applied per acre. 1 This would then be undoubtedly a scientific method of camparing the relative values of each, fertiliser. Another method, which may appeal to the farmer, is to put on per acre an equal monetary value of each fertiliser ;used. To take 'two extreme cases to illustrate every point:— Let manure A cost £4 per ton and B £6 per ton. I Then 3cwt of A costs 12s, while I 2owt of B should give as good a re suit as A, if the same margin, pf" profit is to be given in each case. lam satisfied that no accurate balancing can; be obtained unless some such method as thai mentioned above is applied., and that this is further extended by comparing not only the weight of grass produced | but also the quality and palatability las well. . ' * n '. ; ; '|

garden.' ; '^J}/* Tho followiiig vegetables may now be sown in tbe open:—..Broad beans, peas, and early varieties of, ifcumip. These should all be planted in the warmest spots" in the, garden. D 6 not uise too much , farmyard manure with turnips, as they < are likely to "bolt' l ' or become woody.. Carrots/may also be sown in small quantities if, the weather continues as at present. When sowing- carrots, sow ■'■ fairly thin, but do not do any • thinning (of early carrots, as the small young carrots can be quite well used in stews and soups. Cabbage plants and cauliflower plants may also bo set. In selecting plants choose tthe sjhort "chubby" plants in perference tp the long, soft ones. These will transplant better and are harder to stand the bad weather, which iiq doubt is yet ifco come. Shallots should all be planted now. Have the bed well prepared for the sowing of parsnips at the end of this month. Parsnips require a deep, rich soil, so see that there is ample supply of rich humus or well rotted manure put well down. below the surface. FLOWERS. Keep the soil well loosened around the bulbs and work in a little blood and bone superphosphate. There is still plenty of time to subdivide and .plant out agopanthus, amoryyllis, cannas and perennial sholx, and Mi'chaelmiss daises. Begin planting out gladioli if snccessional flowering is desired, but if a masser effect is required delay the planlting for another month. - It is a .good thing to give the whole flower gardens a liberal dress ing of basic slag. This gives excellent results with flowers. There are exceptions to this rule and chief of these are lilies. Tilies do not like lime and so are not well ssorved with slag which contains a considerable quantity of liine, both free and combined.