VEGETABLE GARDEN

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIII, Issue 20639, 30 January 1937, Page 15

VEGETABLE GARDEN

PHOSPHATIC FERTILISERS Phosphates in some form are a valuable manure for such root crops as turnips, carrots, beet, and parsnips, and for potatoes and all pod vegetables, as well as for most flowers and fruits. The most popular form of phosphatlc manure is superphosphate, which is made from rock phosphate obtained from Nauru and Ocean Islands. The phosphates received from these islands is really guano, from which the soluble nitrates have been washed away, so that it is now more mineral than ani-

mal in its appearance and general characteristic. When received it is ground to a fine powder and treated with sulphuric acid, which renders a larger portion of the phosphates soluble in water or weak acids. Superphosphate is really an acid manure, but this acidity can be removed by mixing about 15 per cent, of slaked lime with it, when we get basic phosphate, a much more useful manure for most garden soils which are liable to become acid in character owing to the accumulation of quantities of organic matter, due to frequent manuring. Basic superphosphate has all the advantages of super, without any of its disadvantages. It contains about 12 per cent, of water soluble phosphates, and is almost as quick in its action as super. When ordinary super is applied it is an advantage to give a good dressing of lime some time earlier. Basic slag is also an excellent phosphatic manure suitable for the heavier types of soil, giving good results in the wetter districts. As a garden manure, however, is it not as valuable as basic super or bone meal. Bone dust or bone meal is a very valuable garden manure, useful alike for the nitrogen it contains as well as the phosphate. A good sample of bone dust contains from 31 to 41 per cent, of nitrogen and 22 per cent, of soluble phosphates. It is really not so readily available as super or basic super, but is very valuable for crops which have a long season of growth, for fruit trees and bushes, and for most flowering plants. Phosphatlc guano is composed of the excreta of sea birds, carcases of dead birds, scraps of fish and seaweed, which have been deposited on tropical islands, where there is a low rainfall. It contains nitrates and some potash as well as phosphates, so that it may be called an all-round manure suitable for stimulating the growth of all garden crops.

Blood and bone manure is made from the offal at freezing works and is suitable for all garden crops, containing as it does both nitrogen and phosphates in a readily available form. Phosphatlc manures push crons ahead through their early stages of growth, giving them the extra vigour necessary to enable them to forage for themselves later in life, Tliev are specially suitable for root and uod crops, and should be applied when sowing the seed or preparing the ground for planting, or as a top-dress-, ing after the plants are established, when it is scattered on the surface’ and worked in with the fork or scuffle hoe. SALADS ALL SUMMER SOW LITTLE AND OFTEN Some vegetables will keep in really good condition for quite a length of time, but salads of any description must be cut when just at their best. More than anything else they deteriorate rapidly if kept for even a very short time after they are just right for use. Nor is it wise to cut and endeavour to keep them in good condition in an ice box or pantry, for a salad that is not fresh and crisp is not worthy of the name. Every tine who has grown mustard and cress knows that it must be cut in the seedling stage, and that one day's extra growth can make it too strong-flavoured to be pleasant. If the same principle of catching the crop at just the right moment were applied to all salads and vegetables there would be fewer tough lettuces, pungent radishes, and stringy beet roots consumed. Plants are naturally inclined to go past their prime more quickly in hot* weather than in cold. In making sowings of salad crops from now onwards, this possibility of arid weather must be taken into consideration, and certain modifications of ordinary cultural practices are advisable in consequence. If a large number of plants reach the ideal stage at the same time many will have to be wasted, for the surplus cannot be kept in good condition during the summer. Avoiding a Surplus The obvious remedy is to make small sowings of seed at regular intervals, so that there will be only a few plants actually ready for use at a time, with a continuous supply of younger specimens coming on to follow them. The demand will naturally vary in different households, but practice and experience will soon enable the grower to gauge the amount required. In some cases a mere pinch will be sufficient, but a small margin should always be allowed for mishaps. It is quite a good plan to make a practice of sowing a little radish and lettuce seed once a week, bearing in mind that each sowing has only to produce the supply needed for one week’s consumption. Beetroot is slower-growing, and need not be sown so often. In this case, it is better to make several successive sowings between the middle of October and the beginning of February, so as to provide young roots for use during the summer. These sowings, quite distinct from the main sowings of long beet for storing, are required to mature quickly and a round-shaped variety should, therefore, be chosen, such as Crimson Globe or Detroit Globe. Small beetroots need not stand more than six inches apart, and the most economical method of sowing is to place two or three seeds at six-inch intervals along the drill. The seeds are quite big enough to be handled singly, and, later on, the seedlings can be thinned out to one at each station. Sow Thinly Radish seed, though smaller, is still large enough to be individually sown. Only a pinch should be taken at a time, and the seeds worked down between the first finger and the thumb. If the hand his held with the finger tips close to the drill, it is soon possible, with a little practice, to drop them at approximately one-inch intervals. A thin distribution should also be aimed at when sowing the seeds broadcast, and when handling other seeds, such as lettuce and onions, which are rather too small to be dealt with jn the above manner. In addition to the economy by so doing, great benefit is seen in the growth of the plants, for those which will develop in advance of those which have not enough room. This point is emphasised because it is one of the factors which make for that rapidity of development essential to a crisp and succulent salad plant. Any check during growth will tend to make the Ingredients tough and unpalatable, so no effort should be spared to keep them growing as steadily as possible. For this reason it is wiser not to attemot

to transplant onions or lettuces after the month of October, but to sow them where they are to remain, and thin the seedlings to the required distance, particularly as they are more liable to bolt if moved during dry weather.

The question of moisture is another governing factor in the rate of growth. All sorts can have their moisture-hold-ing capacity increased by the addition of some humus-forming material, when dug in preparation for the crop. Those which are naturally light and dry need it all the more. In manuring such

soils, preference should be given to farmyard manure, which is cooler and more binding than stable manure. The latter is more suitable for heavier types of soil. If difficulty is experienced in obtaining natural manure, a good substitute Is prepared hop manure, which consists of spent hops, enriched with a fertiliser. The decaying hops furnish the required humus which is not supplied to the soil by the use of artificial fertilisers alone. Deep digging in Itself does much towards retaining moisture in the soil for the benefit of the plants. Although to the uninitiated it may seem that a well-drained piece of ground would always be drier than one which is badly drained, the fact is that it is drier in wet weather and wetter in dry weather, for the simple reason that it is more capable of raising reserves of moisture towards the surface by means of capillary attraction. There it must be checked by means of regular hoeing, or a great deal will be lost through evaporation into the air. During the growing season the hoe should be regularly used to maintain a loose surface tilth, and especially after watering, to break up the caked surface soil. Shade in Summer In all gardens there is a certain latitude of choice as to aspect and situation. Those sunny, sheltered spots which are ideal for early crops should be avoided for those which have to stand hot weather. Summer lettuces and other leaf crops will appreciate a certain amount of shade. If a south or west aspect cannot be found for such, it is often possible to grow them between taller vegetables, such as peas and beans, where they will not be exposed to full sunshine throughout the entire day. Beetroot, however, requires an open situation, for in shady positions it is likely to make too much leaf growth at the expense of the root.