THE VEGETABLE GARDEN.

Shannon News, 12 October 1923, Page 3

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN.

Keep the soil cultivated among all growing crops—first of all to 'maintain a, soil mulch,, and secondly to kill off all seeding weeds which appear very rapidly this warm weather. Loose, dry soil also prevents slugs from getting 'about with, ease and . comfort, and mlnimses the danger of frost. Remove all covering from seedlings as soon as they appear above the ground, and stretch two or more strands of .black cotton along the rows to frighten away birds Continue to make sowings of snrb things as spinach, lettuce, radish white turnips, mustard and cress, and peas and 1 beans. Also make small plantings' of cabbage and cauliflower, and gradually work in the soil round those alrdadjy planted! they develop. Autumn-sown peas, will now be coming into flower, and a, watering with liquid manure will assist the growth and the, filling of the pods. Rhubarb, which is growing rapidly now. will mlso benefit considerably by receiving lapplicatioirs of liquid manure, and should the weather continue dry watering with clean water will also be necessary. TOMATOES. • Ohce established, tomato plants should be watered as little as possible; and the foliage should never be watered; a moist warm atniospliere about the plants is one of the surest forerunners of fungoid disease. The top of the plant should not be pinched off until four.or five bunches of fruit are assured. Leaves below the fruit, become worn-out and. useless; they should be removed to conserve the plant’s vigour and to encourage ventilation. If the. plant is showing excessive leaf development, it should be leaf-pruned; an occasional offending leaf may be entirely removed, or ai greater number of leaves may be pruned ,by cutting them off about one-third in, each case. When .a bunch of fruit has been picked;, the leaves immediately above it should b; rehioved. A surface mulch of stable manure is not to be recommended for tomatoes: a heavy rain on such a would tend to produce rank growth and hence susceptibility to fungoid disease. Grass cuttings a,re much, to be preferred for this purpose. The best plan is to lightly stir the surface soil aboutti the plants. The hoe is the best tool for the purpose. As a safe stimulating dressing, a mixture of super and potash lightly applied'' about the plants at the; setting of the fruit will give good results. Fertilisers im , excess—particularly nitrogenous fertilisers such as nitrate of soda and sulphate of am-monia-should never be used.