that they are mixed with the top two or three inches of soil.
Of the. quick-acting artificials, superphosphate of lime supplies phosphates, sulphate of ammonia and nitrate of soda are nitrogenous foods, and guano is a good fertiliser.
The rate at which these chemicals should be applied and the crops for which they are most suitable, together with general mixtures which can be prepared at home, are detailed later under the various crop headings.
SOOT DETERS INSECT PESTS
Soot is valuable as a plant food, is a grand deterrent to insect pests, and is also a heavy-soil lightener. It contains a fair quantity of potash, and it may be dug into the soil in the autumn or used as a top-dressing during the spring and summer. Fresh soot should not be used, however; it should first be stored for a couple of months.
TO MAKE AND USE LIQUID MANURE
Liquid manure is beneficial to a number of vegetable crops. This does not refer to the liquid excreted by animals, but consists of a solution of the soluble ingredients of different natural manures. Horse droppings, cow and pig manures, poultry and rabbit manure can all be used. A bushel of the available natural manure, or a mixture of them, is placed into a sack and suspended in a barrel of water. In a few days the water may be used, but it must be diluted first so that it assumes the colour of weak tea. As some of the liquid is taken out plain water should be added. After a time, when the strength of the manure water is becoming weak, the sack may be squeezed against the side of the barrel. This extracts the remainder of the soluble plant food.
Soot water can be made in the same way, but if the garden is only a fairly small one it is usually more practical to use one-half natural manure and one-half soot together.
LIME AND LIMING
Lime must be present in the soil; it neutralises acidity or sourness, it helps to break up stiff clay and to bind very light soil. It is a plant food, but it plays a much more important part than providing nutriment. It sets free food matter from the humus and it helps bacteria in their work of converting insoluble plant food into a soluble form. It is also a soil tonic, for it makes the land a healthy place in which the plants can grow steadily, and helps to prevent disease.
As a general rule lime should be applied every third year, but never at the same time as natural manure.
Lime can be obtained in many different forms. The following are all satisfactory :
1. Chalk, broken into small pieces and dug in at the rate of 1 lb. per square yard.
2. Gas lime. This should be weathered for three or four weeks by exposure to the air, scattered on the surface at the rate of 1 lb. per square yard, and dug in.
3. Ground lime, which should be distributed over the surface after digging, using 1/2 lb. per square yard.
4. Limestone, which should be used as chalk.
5. Quicklime. This must be stacked in small heaps and slaked ; then it should be scattered all over the surface at the rate of 1/2 lb. per square yard, and dug in.
6. Slaked lime. This should be evenly distributed, using 1 lb. per square yard, and dug in.
Do not bury lime deeply. It tends to sink through the soil, so it should just be pricked into the top two or three inches.
If a three-year cropping plan1 is adopted, one plot should be given a full dressing of natural manure or a manure substitute, the second plot a half-dressing and the third plot left unmanured each year. The lime should be applied to the unmanured plot—that is once every three years.
1 See page 77.
2 See page 18.
1 See page 2.
NOTE.—For every vegetable there are dozens of named varieties, all of them very nearly equally excellent provided they are properly handled and given the conditions they need. Moreover, every gardener with the smallest experience has his own favourites, knowing very well which varieties he considers give the best results. Particular varieties, therefore, are not, in general, given here, and any gardener desiring information on this point should take the advice of his seed merchant.
SOME vegetables are best sown where they will come to maturity; others should be sown in a seed-bed. The former include the root crops, peas, beans, lettuce, spinach and the like. The cabbage family—a term which comprises cabbages, cauliflowers, savoys, brussels sprouts, broccoli and kale—should always be sown in a special seed-bed and transplanted later when weather permits and space can be found for them in the plot allotted to them.
All members of the cabbage family, with the one exception of kale, are very greedy feeders. They require a large quantity of food and this you have to supply. The plot should be deeply dug and liberally manured. If you can get stable manure, work three barrowloads into every thirty square yards; that is, twelve barrowloads into plot I, but omitting the strip to be planted with kale. You will have to feed the plants somehow or other, so if stable manure is short use well-decayed garden refuse from the compost heap. The plants will require extra nourishment, but the chemicals to use are given under the various crop headings.
In every case the right amount of seed to sow is 1/2 oz. for each 42-ft. row, so how much you have to buy depends upon the number of rows to be planted. To save you figuring this out, the necessary quantity is given for each green crop. You can make do with slightly less, so if your rows are only 25 ft. long, 1/8 oz. of seed will see you through.
FROM SEED-BED TO PLOT
When the seedlings are large enough to handle safely, or when the site is vacant, they must be transferred to their permanent quarters. This planting-out is a simple enough job, but do see that you do it correctly,1 because such a lot depends upon your adopting the correct procedure.
But there is a special task to be performed when transplanting members of the cabbage family. All of them are subject to two diseases—the cabbage maggot and club-root. You must examine every individual root before it is transplanted. If the root is knobbly, one of the knobs should be cut open. If the trouble is due to the presence of a maggot this will be seen—it is whitish-grey in colour. Burn all plants with such knobs and dip the roots of the remainder into a paint-like mixture of clay, water, and a little carbolic acid.
If there is no maggot it is a case of club-root. Again, burn all the plants with knobbly roots and dip the others into a mixture of soot, lime, and clay, mixed with water.
Give the plot a good dusting with lime and fork this lightly into the top 2 in. of surface soil—an excellent preventive.
CAULIFLOWERS
