IN THE GARDEN

Wairarapa Times-Age, 8 April 1939, Page 4

IN THE GARDEN

HINTS FOR THE AMATEUR FRUIT, FLOWERS AND VEGETABLES WORK FOR THE WEEK VEGETABLE GARDEN. Sow cabbage and cauliflower (early varieties), lettuce for winter supplies, early horn carrots and prickly spinach. Sow onions for transplanting later, also parsley for use in spring. If land is likely to lie wet in winter, it is better to ]sow seeds on raised beds from now on. Waste or empty ground should be cleared of weeds and prepared for putting down in winter crops. Potato sets for early planting should be placed in boxes and stood in the sun. This will green the sprouts and produce short, green shoots. When soil is moist plantings of cabbage and cauliflower can be made. Fork ground between standing .crops of Brussels sprouts and other winter crops. Remove and bury yellow or decaying leaves. Prepare ground for sowing onion seed. Clean ground is essential, otherwise weeds will smother them. Earth-up celery and leeks as required and feed the later crops with liquid manure. Collect and dry pumpkins and marrows ready for storing, but see that they are mature before harvesting. The dry weather has given a good opportunity to clean the garden of or weeds. As soon as rain falls, ply the hoe regularly to get rid of the seedling weeds, which will soon take possession. Ground for next year’s root crops should be trenched; now is a good time to get the job started. ( Make a fairly large sowing of spinach. This will stand through the winter. Celery should have bad leaves removed. if there is any sign of rust spray with lime sulphur 1-120. While the weather is fine soil should be well cultivated and weeds kept down. FLOWER GARDEN. Plant seedlings of stocks, wallflowers, calendulas, pansies. Weedy ground should be cleared and prepared for spring planting. Dry weather has held up bulb planting, but once the soil is moist the job should be speeded up. The planting of primula malacoides can be made when the soil is moist. Prepare the iground for autumn rose planting. The earlier the beds are prepared the better chance they have to consolidate before planting. Anemones and ranunculus should be planted without delay if early flowers are required. Remove spent annuals from the borders, and cut down dried stems of herbaceous plants. The stems of liliums should not be cut while there is still any green in them. Lift and dry the gladioli corms; when dried, clean and store away for the winter. Sow down new lawns when there is a prospect of a good rainfall. Secure the tall autumn-flowering plants against sudden storms by staking well. FRUIT GARDEN. Where fruit trees have been badly infested with insects or disease, it is a good plan to give a good spraying as soon as the fruit has been removed. Some burning of the foliage will not matter. Citrus trees developing their fruit will need supplies of water if the March application of fertiliser is to do any good. Any trees it is .wished to discard should be taken out now and the wood destroyed is diseased. Make a list of the fruit trees required for the coming planting season. Evergreen fruit trees can be planted in the autumn with advantage. Rake up and burn the fallen leaves from rust-infected quince trees; the spores are carried over on the old foliage. Grease banding should be done as soon as possible. Old-fashioned, perhaps, it is still an operation worth practising to control insects.

GARDEN REFUSE

SHOULD BE RE-USED. In all gardens there occurs a quantity of organic refuse which is ultimately burnt or consigned to some out-of-sight or out-of-way rubbish clump. Ashes from the burnt refuse may eventually find their way back to the soil, but their full manurial value is not obtained in this way, while rubbish consigned to a dump represents a dead loss to the cultivator and remains an eyesore as well as a possible danger spot. Vermin, pests, disease and weed seeds from the rubbish heap spread to cultivated areas. Artificial stable manure may be formed from many diverse forms of plant refuse. Provided the material is not too woody, or does not carry a resting form of destructive fungi or pests, it should be conserved and treated until it is properly rendered down to a substance suitable for incorporation with the soil. Properly treated, its manurian value is high and all gardeners should take steps to obtain the full value, especially in these days when animal manures are becoming so scarce. The process involves the application of nitrogen anu phosphate compounds to the waste materials to enable the micro-organisms which are always present to break down the organic matter of the plants tissues.

Sufficient moisture must be present and it is necessary that the reaction of the mass remains neutral or non-acid in character. When properly treated and turned, the finished product resembles farmyard manure in its chemical composition and physical properties. \

Hitherto many difficulties have confronted the cultivator who has contemplated using such substances for manurial purposes in that weeds or pests and disease have been introduced to the land. These difficulties have been overcome and, if correctly handled, synthetic stable manure can be used with every confidence. To Begin with, any form of garden or farm refuse may. be used, except that which is woody or dangerous from a disease point of view. Grass, hedge trimmings, fallen leaves, vegetable garden refuse, root crop trimmings, straw, and annual weeds from the borders, etc, may be utilised. The essential points to remember when undertaking the treatment of refuse are the air supply, temperature, moisture content, a supply of soluble nitrogen together with some phosphates, and the application of a “base” to render neutral the acid reactions during decomposition. The characteristic breakdown changes remain definitely suspended when a free air supply is excluded. This can occur through intense consolidation of the material or through immersion in a trough or pit of liquid. Temperature is dependent on proper air and moisture, and the proper i’unc-

tioning of the breakdown bacteria. If the water and air relationship are wrong, and the work of the bacteria is inhibited by acid reactions, the temperature of the compost is affected, and further fermentation and decomposition is prevented. The rapid heat generated during the early stages of decomposition may serve to drive off the moisture from the heap. This, is in the form of a steamy vapour which may carry with if the ammonia gases and result in a direct loss of nitrogen. Should the compost get unduly dry, the work of the breakdown bacteria is slowed up considerably and certain fungus growths are encouraged. The compost is soon permeated with a mass of white mycelium, which absorbs the nitrogenous reserves of the material. Experiments have shown that the most rapid breakdown of organic material occurs when some source of nitrogen is supplied, and then only in those cases where reaction of the matter is neutral or non-acid.

Addition of nitrogen in the form of urine, urea, ammonium carbonite, calcium cyanide or nitrolin sets in motion rapid decomposition changes; and. provided all other factors are favourable, it results within a few weeks in the production of a well disintegrated, structureless, dark-coloured material resembling farmyard manure. During all decomposition changes heat is generated and the decomposition bacteria leave in their wake an accumulation of organic acids. If these acids' are not neutralised by the use of a suitable base they gradually accumulate until they inhibit the work of the breakdown bacteria and decomposition is arrested.

Forms of lime are used as suitable bases. The site selected for manure preparation should be convenient for cartage and general working. A plentiful water supply should be at hand.

A concrete platform with low sides and sloping to a small well is ideal for the purpose, as the compost is then easily turned and the seepage periodically thrown back over the compost. When sufficient rubbish is at hand it should be made up in layers about 9in deep, and if at all dry it should be watered before applying the decomposition accelerators. It is difficult to say exactly how much water should be applied, but it is known that 800 gallons is required to each ton of dry straw before it is sufficiently moistened. ,

When the refuse is moistened sufficiently it should be built up into layers and given a scattering of one of the substances used. The material should be moderately firmed, but not if at all too wet.

Construct the heap so that it is comnarativcly high and compact. After a little while the compost will begin to ferment and generate heat, and after about a fortnight (or sooner if steam is being rapidly evolved from the heap) it should be turned. The inside of the

heap should be thrown outwards and the outsides of the heap inwards. The heat generated during decomposition causes the weed seed within the heap to germinate. There, reciprocal turning should be the rule, so that all weed seeds are encouraged to germinate. Several turnings should be given the heap, lengthening the turning periods as decomposition progresses. If at all dry during turning a sprinkling of water should be given. When ready for use it should be dark in colour, structureless, light in comparison to bulk, and having a fine, friable texture. The following are recommended as suitable substances to use to accelerate decomposition: Sulphate of ammonia, lewt per ton of refuse; superphosphate, lewt.

RHODODENDRONS PEAT THE IDEAL SOIL. However much lime may promote soil fertility, it is quite certain that soil which contains lime in any appreciable quantity is unsuitable for rhododendrons and Ericaceae generally. Peat is the ideal soil for these plants. But the term peat, like that of loam, is applied to soils most diverse in character. Some peats are' so close and acidy that no plant will grow in them. Such are the peats of bog land; yet even these, if drained, broken up, and exposed to the influence of air and frost, become suitable for peat-loving plants at any rate. . The light, sandy peat that often occurs in the heaths and moorlands is the best soil for rhododendrons, but it is often poor, and requires the addition of humus in the form of decayed leaves or stable manure. What is known as barren unreclaimed heath, has a soil which consists almost entirely of very fine sand from which chalk is entirely absent, but it is comparatively rich in humus. Rhododendrons have a close, finely fibrous root-system. They are surface rooting; the roots never extending far, nor descending lower than a foot. A soil to suit them must be one that is sweet as opposed to sour, must retain moisture for a reasonable time, and resist drought. Such a soil is generally rich in humus. It is not the chemical composition of the soil so much as its mechanical texture which decides' whether it is suited to any particular plant. Fertility is not a question of chemistry so much as one of physical properties. A soil that is quickly responsive to freshly applied manure is often the best from the cultivator’s point of view; and it is certainly most easily controlled. In their native homes many rhododendrons are epiphytes. They therefore obtain nourishment entirely from water plus the little humus that is contained in the debris which accumulates about their roots. In this respect the’plants resemble orchids, and the experience of cultivators supports the belief that rhododendrons, like orchids, obtain pretty well all they require . from water. It is difficult to say why the presence of lime, either .in the water or the soil, should have such ill effects on the health of rhododendrons and orchids. Although a peat of a certain quality is the ideal soil for rhododendrons, other kinds' of soil suit them to a greater or less degree. Rhododendrons, therefore, will grow in any soil that does not contain lime, is porous without being dry, and' is fairly rich in humus. Even absolute sand, if enriched by adding leaf-soil or well-rotted manure, is suitable, and some loams which appear to be heavy have been known to suit them.

After all, .the proof of the pudding is in the eating! It is easy to be deceived as to the fertility of a soil. A great deal of theory is to be found in books as to what is, and what is not, suitable for certain plants. Chemical analysis, is sometimes, misleading; . what has been termed a mechanical analysis, with information derived from men experienced in the cultivation of the soil, is-a far safer guide. A soil may be made to meet the requirements of rhododendrons by draining it or by adding humus in some form; but it must be non-calcareous. Soils on which the Spanish chestnut, birch, conifers, particularly pinus pinaster thrive, are not unlikely to suit rhododendrons. The important points to be remembered are that rhododendrons are moisture-loving plants which dislike stagnation at the roots, and are quite happy in any soil that does not contain lime. Annual mulchings of dead leaves or well-rotted manures serve the double purpose of providing nourishment to the roots and preventing the escape of moisture from the soil. When they are cultivated in tubs or pots, there is no difficulty. Peat, light, loam, and sand will suit all the stronger-growing kinds, but the loam should be omitted for Indian azaleas and the smaller-growing sorts. Where the soil of a garden or park is not suitable for rhododendrons, beds

formed of fresh soil must be made. The right way to do this is. not to make a hole and fill it with the prepared soil, but to form a mound large enough to accommodate the plants and to retain moisture. Much money has been spent in 'excavating beds and filling them with a peaty mixture. The rhododendrons will thrive in this until the lime from the surrounding soil impregnates the bed. and then the plants are bound to suffer. When the soil for the rhododendrons is placed above the level of the rest, there is little danger of the lime affecting it.