HOME GARDENS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 88, 20 January 1950, Page 3

HOME GARDENS

(By J. S. Yeates, Massey Agricultural College) ORGANIC MANURES The importance of organic matter in the soil is understood in a vague way by most gardeners, but all too often they do nothing about il. . This is a sure indication that they do not really appreciate the full value of the organic matter. What can be done about the organic matter or humus in the soil? As usual, this depends on many things. The Farmers’ Vegetable Garden First of all, many farmers who have suitable land and some implements would be well advised to set aside an acre or so near the house for vegetables. Arrange it so that one long narrow strip of that area can be cropped for say three years, while a temporary fence allows the rest to be grazed by stock. It is important to topdress the grass and graze it. because in this way the clovers plus the dung and urine, build up fertility. The strip in use, being long, can readily be cultivated with farm implements, and costs are kept low. The labour of handdigging and breaking down soil in a garden is-too expensive. The Townsman’s Problem The towp dweller cannot, as a rule, have enough land, implements, or stock to follow lout the above method, and he has to do his best by adding various types of organic The country gardener is in the same position as the townsman when he is dealing with parts of the garden which are. fixed in position—the flower beds and the shrubberies around the house, for instance. The farmer usually has the advantage of being able to secure easily good quantities of stock manure.

The forms of organic manure which can be used can be listed as folows: Stable manure, cow manure, sheep manure, pig manure, poultry manure, seaweed, sti'aw, and sawdust. I am leaving “compost” out of consideration now, as this is a subject which needs separate treatment. Green manure crops also merit a special article. Stable manure is occasionally available, more particularly near racing stables. It usually consists, in these days, of much straw, mixed with dung, and partially soaked with urine. Its average composition varies according to the proportion of straw. It contains as a rule much less than one per cent of nitrogen and potash, and still less phosphate. It should be stacked fairly tightly and covered with a layer of soil, until it has rotted down—and when you see how much is left you will realise it is not worth a very high price if you buy it and cart it the unrotted state. Stable manure has one advantage. If the horses have been fed largely on chaff, it will have few bad weed seeds in it.

Cow manure has about the same chemical composition as horse manure, but in this case is more often available without straw, and already rotted down. The practice on many dairy farms of making a heap of the scrapings from the yard and milking shed produces a very good black friable material once it has thoroughly rotted. It is a real pleasure to use but has usually many weed seeds.

Sheep manure, on the average has more nitrogen, prosphate, and potash than either of the above. It is freely available in many places from under shearing sheds or from railway trucks. When mixed in the soil it quickly decomposes. It, too, is liable to contain many weed seeds —according to whether it was produced when the seeds*werd* ripe

Poultry manure is by far the richest of all these manures, and if it has been raked from under the perches and kept dry, it is a most valuable material. It can be mixefl direct in the soil or first composed. Seaweed, to those who can get it easily, is on a par with stable manure. Piled on the beach to dry out for a few days, it can then be carted away and either dug into the garden or composed. It rots quickly and contains no weed seeds. Sawdust and straw are not manures in themselves, but they do contribute large quantities of organic matter, and quite a fair amount of nitrogen, potash, and phosphate to the soil. Of the two I much prefer sawdust because it is cheaper, easier to handle, and rots down quite rapidly. I have already expressed my views on .it in a previous article. It is necessary to add some fertiliser like blood and bone, or ammonium sulphate and superphosphate, when digging in straw or sawdust.