CROPPING HINTS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 2 December 1938, Page 2

CROPPING HINTS

KEEP THE HOE GOING.

It is much better for the gardener who aims at supplying his own household With a continuous supply of vegetables to aim at having moderate supplies over a. long period rather than having a large quantity of Shy particular sort. For this reason supplies of What rhdy be termed quick-matttring or fancy softs should be soWh or planted in small quantities, and frequently; whilst the roots and long maturing crops must be sown in much larger quantities. The varieties of vegetables which have the best flavour can easily be selected, but it is only the good gardener who can make the best of even goocj, varieties. Attention to manuring and cultivation is necessary to produce vegetables of first-class flavour. It is scarcely possible for hoeing to be done too frequently and it is not probable that the average gardener will ever supply too much manure. This can be done, of course; and it must be remembered that large quantities of artificial fertilisers should not be placed toO near growing crops; superphosphate ih particular is apt to burn young plants. If a gardener wishes to fotefi his crop along, the best pldn is to give successive applications of readily soluble mahUrOs. A tablespoonful of nitrate of soda and sulphate of potash dissolved in a small' watering cah of water will make most plants flourish. Peas and beans respond rapidly to phosphates and lime. Frequent sprinklings of lime on these plants help to keep them Healthy, whilst an occasional spritiklihg of potash helps to fill the pods.