VEGETABLE GARDEN

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLII, Issue 20610, 26 December 1936, Page 15

VEGETABLE GARDEN

WHEN VEGETABLE MARROWS , FAIL

It is a common complaint, especially in a dull, damp season, that the crop of marrows is- unsatisfactory. This may be due to planting in a too rich soil, or in a shady place, and failure to fertilise the blooms if necessary. Also the flowers may be smothered with a too luxuriant growth of foliage It Is beneficial to thin out some of the growths and expose the remainder to the sunshine. Although fertilisation of the flowers is not commonly practised, it is worth while if there are signs of a poor crop. It is done by transferring the pollen from the male or staminate bloom, to the stigma cf the female or fruiting one. The latter are distinguished from the former, by the swelling immediately behind the bloom as seen in the sketch. THE VEGETABLE MARROW The vegetable marrow, though much hardier than either the melon or

cucumber, is by no means a hardy

plant, and does not make much satisfactory growth until the warm weather sets in. To get good crops it ts necessary to bring on the plants in their earlier stages in a frame or some temporary shelter. Marrows like plenty of manure and organic matter, and succeeded very well on an old hotbed which had been prepared for raising seedlings in early spring, or when planted on the manure or compost heap they will soon cover it up with their large leaves and produce quantities of excellent fruits. When planted in the garden it is advisable to take out a trench and put in at least one barrow load of manure as well as rich soil. The seed can be sown where the plants are to grow provided they are protected by a handlight or bell glass, but it is really better to sow them in pots and bring them on through their first stages in the greenhouse. When planted out they must be sheltered in some way, a suitable handlight being made by knocking the sides out of a fruit case and putting some sheets of glass on top. Peg down the young growths, and pinch out points as they continue to make headway, but stopping should cease after about a fortnight or three weeks. Damp the plants over-head after warm days, and all through the growing season keep them well supplied with both clear water and liquid manure. GREEN MANURING To the farmer who keeps himself up to date the term "green manuring” conveys a clear meaning; to the average amateur gardener it is a term casually met with, seldom fully explained, and but little understood. There are, however, very decided advantages in adopting a system of green manuring when conditions are such as to warrant it, and, generally speaking, it is of greatest value when dealing with a newly made garden that is at present in an unfertile state.

When describing garden soil, it is difficult to avoid the statement that it consists of clay, sand, and humus. If the sand represents a larger proportion than the clay, It is called light, dry soil, or if the proportion is reversed, it is heavy. Both may be made fertile, but that is largely dependent upon the addition of a judicious proportion of humus which is the ultimate result of decomposition of vegetable matter. It should be added that decayed animal matter also forms a certain amount of humus. Discussion of the functions and value of humus in the soil would provide an engaging topic, but, at the moment, it must suffice to say that its absence will render any soil unfertile, and its excess will cause a degree of acidity that reduces or even destroys fertility. When gardens have been under cultivation for many years, dead roots, burled leaves and garden refuse, the vegetable matter in manure, and the carcasses of dead insects and small animals combine to form as much humus as is necessary, and, in time, more than is beneficial. It follows that green manuring is seldom necessary or helpful to old garden ground. In the case of newly-made gardens, the soil is generally either too sartdy, gravelly, chalky, or stiff, unwieldy clay, and all of these require decayed vegetable matter to improve them. That is when green manuring is of greatest benefit, and should play an important part in the plan of soil preparation. The definition of the term is simply to sow a crop of a quick-growing subject, thickly, and dig the whole of its herbage in when It has attained considerable size.

Common mustard, rape, tares, annual lupins, clover, and sainfoin are the usual kinds of plants recommended for the purpose, but those who have surplus seeds of any of the cabbage tribe may put them to use by broadcasting them on vacant patches of ground. The one point to watch is that plants of this character must be dug in while still young, before they begin to make hard stems. The whole aim should be to get the maximum quantity of soft, sappy, leaf growth which will rot quickly when buried. Such material returns to the soil all it has extracted in the way of plant food, and, in addition, will leave a goodly deposit of decayed fibre, which helps to open tenacious clay, and to improve the spongy, moisture-holding capacity of gravel, chalk, or sand. Woody stems take more nourishment out of the soil than soft green leaves, but, as they decay more slowly they do not return their full complement, and are therefore extravagant. There is no one season for green manuring; it may be practised whenever seeds will germinate and grow freely, and at any period between spring and autumn a vacant patch of ground may be dug and sown for this purpose. March is quite a good month, but it is seldom profitable to sow later than the middle of that month because growth will be too slow to produce a crop worth digging in before winter.

It is always better that ground should be occupied than that it should lie idle until it becomes covered with weeds, and, as it takes only a brief spell for mustard, rape, or tares to grow to a height of four or five Inches, two or oven three such crops may be dug in during the period required for getting new ground into good planting condition. It should not be expected that one crop alone can convert hungry, uncultivated ground into fertile soil, but each instalment will effect progressive improvement. Sulphate of ammonia has often been described as a chemical that encourages rapid and rank leaf growth. That Is precisely what is required for the purpose under present consideration, and when the plants become strong enough to make good growth a light sprinkling, not exceeding two ounces per square yard, will quickly have the effect of forcing the pace of progress. The whole value of the ammonia Will be returned to the ground when the crop is dug in. Growers of gladioli, irises, and other bulbous subjects Which like a fairly well nourished soli, but do not like close contact with fresh manure, cannot adopt a better plan than to prepare the site by digging in a good dressing of manure, and immediately sowing a green crop, so calculating that a period of six months may elapse before planting time. Thus, for gladioli the manuring should be done in September, one green crop being immediately sown, and dug in as soon as ready, a second sowing taking place at the latter end of August or beginning of September. For tulips or daffodils manure in August, and get the second green crop dug in by February. The ground will then be in good trim for bulb planting in early autumn.