SALT FOR WEEDS

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 103, 25 January 1935, Page 18

SALT FOR WEEDS

Particularly on Gravel Paths If yours are gravel paths, the weeds will now be coming thickly. It is necessary for vou to get them out before they seed, otherwise you will have trouble all summer. It is next to impossible to hoe weeds properly on a gravel path. The blade of th® hoe cannons about and. 111 nine cases out of ten, only just chops the top off the weed. In addition, you disturb the path foundations. . Hand-pulling is satisfactory in . itb way but what a weary, tedious job. The hours pass, and you seem to have done nothing. . The best way is to sprinkle agricultural salt or even common salt on the weedy surface at the rate of 2 ounces per square yard. Whether the weather is wet or dry, the weeds will shrivel up in a few hours. Salt is effective not only against the tops, but also.the roots of even stubborn weeds, which occasionally cause much trouble in garden paths. . x An alternative method is.to water with a solution made by mixing 1 pint of carbolic acid with 6 gallons of water. Stir the solution at least three minutes, before use and wash out the watering can thoroughly afterward. Of course, if plants are growing in the path, you must hand-weed. Both solutions are as fatal to them as to the weeds. THE COLD FRAME For Early Seedlings The cold frame, correctly can be an immense asset to the gardener. With its aid seedlings may be brought on many weeks earlier than would be possible outdoors, while a great variety of cuttings may be rooted and grown on. But it must not be supposed that the frame will work wonders with little or no attention. Tiny plants require careful nurturing, and cannot be expected to thrive in any waste soil that happens to be at hand, or in a draughty, changeable atmosphere. The provision of a suitable rooting medium, whether for seed raising, seedling rearing, or striking cuttings, is a matter of paramount importance. In none of these instances is a great demand made upon the food reserves of the soil. It is questions of permeability by air and water, retentiveuess, and the like that have principally to be considered. Plants invariably make roots most freely in a warm, moist, open, and rather gritty soil. Indeed, many cuttings, which can be rooted in no other way, will make roots readily in a close propagating box, filled with pure silver sand, and placed over the hot-water pipes in a heated greenhouse. Such Spartan treatment as this involves constant attention, and is not to be recommended to the amateur, much less the beginner, but it serves as an illustration of 'the conditions most conducive to vigorous root action. For general use a mixture of equal parts good fibrous loam, sweet, wellrotted leaf-mould, and sharp river-sand is most suitable. This may be varied considerably to meet the individual needs of plants. Most shrub cuttings will thrive better with a double helping of sand, and a similar compost will suit cuttings and very small divisions of many alpine plants. Only the uppermost three or four inches of soil must be sifted. A depth of at least-one foot of compost should be provided, and the lower layers be merely broken up with a fork. Finelysifted soil tends in time to settle down Into a solid mass, which quickly becomes sour and waterlogged, sickening all plant growth. Even the surface soil must not be made too fine. A sieve with a half-inch mesh is the smallest that should be used, and the compost must be rubbed through this so as to retain as much as possible of the natural fibre.