BROCCOLI

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLV, Issue 21210, 3 December 1938, Page 17

BROCCOLI

Broccoli, like the cauliflower, is a cultivated variety of the wild cabbage, the Inflorescence becoming succulent and white. By some it is considered to be a hardy cauliflower, but 'there are several marked distinctions. Its growth is more prolonged than that of the cauliflower, and it is often treated as a biennial, being planted one season to produce its heads the next. Its leaves are more numerous, broader, and stiffer, than the cauliflower. The leaf stalks are bare, and the veining of the leaves is stouter and whiter. Broccolis should not be planted in soil which is loose and has been heavily manured with stable manure. The best place is where the early potatoes have been dug, and instead of digging or forking the soil over it should be tramped to make it firm, unless it is wet and liable to puddle. A dressing of lime and superphosphates, or simply basic phosphates, is all that is required. Tire seed is sown in shallow drills about the middle of October, and if the plants are going to be too far advanced before the potatoes are dug, they can be transplanted to an open border, and later on lifted with a ball of soil attached to their roots. The best method is to plant out with a crowbar or stout dibber, making the soil firm round the roots, and, after watering well, to fork over the surface soil lightly. The distance apart will be from 24 to 27 inches between the plants and 27 to 30 inches between the rows. AU the after cultivation necessary is to water during dry weather, scuffle hoe the surface, and to earth up when well grown. The head of the ordinary broccoli is close and white like a cauliflower, but there are sprouting kinds which produce an abundance of elongated flower heads and are very useful for small gardens. There are both white and purple varieties, but the purple is considered the hardier. By planting different varieties it is possible to have broccoli from autumn, right through winter, spring, and continuing into early summer. Varieties to plant for autumn are Veitch’s Self Protecting; for winter Penzance; spring Snow White and Purple Sprouting; and for late crops Late Queen. In districts where frosts are very severe during the winter it will be an advantage to lay the plants over on their sides and cover with bracken.

FEEDING FRUIT BRUSHES Now that the warm days are here again our thoughts turn to the soft fruits and we wonder how they should be encouraged to produce good crops. The following is a list of the more common kinds with a few hints as to manuring and general cultivation: — (a) Strawberries. These should be kept free from weeds and care must be taken not to disturb the roots by deep cultivation between the rows. They should be given a dressing of superphosphate or blood and bone at the rate of about four ounces per square yard. Hoe the manure in and finish off the bed with a good mulch of lawn grass mowings.

(b) Respberries. They like a nice cool root run and consequently will also approve of a mulch of lawn mowings. Bone meal is quite useful but they prefer a four ounce yard run dressing of sulphate of potash towards the end of the month. It is very surprising how many growers are loth to top their raspberry canes in case they lose a few flower buds. Most British growers top their canes. They find that the topping induces the canes to throw more and longer fruiting sprays, besides plumbing and firming up the canes.

(c) Gooseberries respond to a similar fillip—four ounces of sulphate of potash per square yard, just hoed in, is all that they require. (c) Black currants must have plenty of strong growth and give very good results in return for two ounces of sulphate of ammonia and a mulch with lawn clippings.

(s) Red currants always see’.n to do best with a mixture of sulphate of potash and superphosphate—at the rate of one part of the former to two parts of the latter—applied now giving two ounces per square yard. Manures can only be of real value when the bush has been planted at least one year; when it has plenty of fibrous roots; when it is in good health, and particularly when it is bearing freely. It is, indeed, in the late stage that the plant requires additional food to enable it to perfect and mature its crop. Amateurs too often make the mistake of thinking that liberal applications of manure will resuscitate a sickly plant and bring it into healthy condition. Such treatment usually has the opposite effect. On the other hand there are those who believe that the more you feed a healthy plant, the more productive it will be. This is also a serious mistake, excessive manuring encourages excessive growth and few fruit buds, because the nature of the food is not suitable for storing up in fruits. Thus we see that the successful cultivation of soft fruits requires the application of all manures with caution and judgment.