MANURING VEGETABLES

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLV, Issue 21280, 25 February 1939, Page 15

MANURING VEGETABLES

NECESSITY FOR BALANCE In a recent bulletin, the Ministry of Agriculture, Great Britain, covers the manuring of vegetable crops. In the past, it points out, stable manure has been chiefly relied upon for the enrichment of soils used for the production of vegetables, but with the steady decline in the supply of stable manure, growers are being compelled to adopt other system of maintaining soil fertility. The bulletin points out that it is doubtful whether the vegetable grower can continue to raise crops of the highest quality by the application of artificial fertilisers alone. Some animal or green manure, or both, is necessary in order to maintain the physical and biological characters of the soil, so that the freer use of inorganic fertilisers may be facilitated. The bullet, No. 71, “Manuring of Vegetable Crops,” describes the making of compost by the Indore process, and contains considerable information as to the value of dried poultry manure in the growing of vegetables. It also describes the various organic and inorganic manures and their action on soil and plant growth. The bulletin, while primarily intended for market gardeners and dealing with the manurial treatment required by different soils, covers also the problems of the home gardener. Sections are devoted to the manuring of brassica, root, lemuginous, 'alad, and miscellaneous crops and potatoes. It is likely to prove of just as much practical use to vegetable growers in the Dominion as in Great Britain.