Farm and Garden.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 401, 14 January 1904, Page 2

Farm and Garden.

r • ORIGINAL • ABMOLES, f' | /COMMERCIAL FBBTILISEBS, ffifJPO AMY soils as a rale are deficient jgjjJßb considerable nitrogen and a fair amount of potoh. Lt&m soils, unless thoroughly up; are apt to be a little sour;\ and'so it is desirable to give them a coat jot lime every three' to five years, at the rate of about a ton of lime to the aore/ ; Burnt ordinary kftailime, suoh aaißi'tmsd for building purposes,! and ait slacked. i£ .j&G,,kinji r to ._That sweetens the soil, makes it alkaline, neutralises the sourness lid '* 'soilsV/WBalin. creases the effect of any. fertiliser' the soil, and also gredients ia the food more quickly >yajtfoib|^.-;.•,- Lime M >bc to say, the key to the whole arrangement ote growing crbp^; ; which pliant life will not thrive, although other necossary ißgredients may be fcheta#n fcht soil. Liming the land m especially i& commended on ckjW»«S|j:*a sacb lauds have a tendency to cirwßH§M*fce. Lighi sandy soils are deficient in nitrogen aac phosphoric acijgfcand are not at.all strong in potash. ' : w^;'alßyft|e,;"'Bligh^y. : "in' cliaed ' to be liming;' l proves its' t.<

and thuß retain'"'' The beat and meat economical methodof applying, co'mmerciftl fettilißera; ia by meaas of drills. The manufactnrerß pf. "gratia drills now make fertiliser drills connection with grain drills. That at-' tachment consists of an extra box back of vthe grain 'box feeds, so that can be ''-?mi out - with the grain; at the time of planting at a controllable rate, varying tern 100 4o 600 pouads per acre. The problem is to get? the plant food distributed over a large area of surface soil, bo <that ■ the roots, 'bfe the plants may be induced to spread over as much surface as possible, in oroier that they may absorb as much moietnre as is needed in the growing of the crop. For that reason it is very desirable* to scatter the fertiliser evenly all ; 'over the soil. ThereJ 4 is no 1 fleld'Vof where fertiliser,, pays better than for. the. fertilisation of permanent., pasture . lands. Stock-growers and dairymen Trill find that by the use of fertilisers on permanent pasture laada many mora cattle can be pastured on the earns acreage during the grass season, and teat the nutrition of the grass is ; y«ry increased. In conclusion we say, Feed your farm crops well, and they will feed you well in return.' ■•■■"-. ■■ ■/■ ; j,o.< ? ■>

THE CULTURE Of PERNS. : Ferns are among the most beautiful of all plants j possibly tssey would "foe much more generally; cultivated than they are were it not for the fact that masy people have the impression that they cannot always be grown successfully- Bat many beautiful ferns m&j even foa grown• ia a window garden. Failure in a general way arises from neglect to giv.e the plants proper attention, rather than from the inability of the adapt' themselves to existing conditions. Fo? use in j mdinieres and for table decoration nothing can be finer* and' a few plants should always be ' grown' to' <v furnish greenery to accompany flowers from the window garden. Ferns like a rather moist atmosphere—but of course one like, that surrounding them in their native habitat cannot be obtained in a living room—but the prevailing dryness of the aic in such rooms can be modified to a considerable extent by keeping water constantly evaporating } also they may occasionally be taken outside the house and well sprayed with 5 water. 5 It is also a very good plan to stand the pots in saucers or some receptacle where an inch or two of sand or moss may be placed and kept quite wet, in that way securing,a continuous moisture among the plants. It is important that the pots should be perfectly drained; if drainage is not good there is great danger of souring the! soil, and that brings on weakness and disease of the roots. Another* important item ia not to allow the roots to become dry. i The best Eoil for ferns is one of leaf mould and sand. But any light spongy soil, made porous and friable with sharp sand, will do very well fox most varieties. It should have, sponginesa enough , to prevent it from becoming hard and compact. Among the best varieties for house culture are the sword ferns, but there ia now available, with recent introductions, a great variety of very beautiful ferns to choose from; for, although one may apeak of the beauty of this or that bne» it is a matter of taets or choice With individuals, Borne preferring one kind and others another variety. - ! Tf