MAKE MOST USE OF GARDEN

Wairarapa Times-Age, 28 August 1940, Page 9

MAKE MOST USE OF GARDEN

HOW TO PLANT SEEDS. To make the most use of the space, and likewise to make the vegetable garden look tidy, the rows should be straight and the space between each correct. It is therefore necessary to include among the tools a measuring rod and a line, and sticks should be put in at each end to mark the correct position of each row. Begin at the edge of the path, about six inches in, with a row of parsley. It makes a niqa >edging and as it is required at all timgs it is handy to have it next the path, where it can be reached easily, especially in wet weather. With the corner of the draw hoe make a drill half an inche deep, sow the seed evenly, dust with superphosphate, and then with the foot or the head of the rake pull the soil back into the drill, making it firm with the rake teeth upwards, drawing it up and down the row and not across it. The next row can be one of Shorthorn carrots, and this is drawn at 12 inches from the parsley and again half an inch deep. Sow the seed thinly, dust with superphosphate, and cover as before. The next row will be one of an early white turnip, this time 14 inches from the carrots, for turnips have large leaves which need more room to develop. The next row will be one of round beet, also 14 inches from the turnips, but in this case the drill is an inch deep, and as the beet is a larger seed and they stick together- in little balls sometimes, the seed can be put in at six inches apart, and in this case, in addition to the superphosphate, it is an advantage to fill the drill with sea sand, the beet being a seaside plant which will feel at home in the sand. The next row should be one of an early pea, and in this case they should be two feet from the beet. With the hoe draw a flat drill about six inches wide, and one deep, and scatter the seeds evenly in it, allowing about one inch and a-half betweon each seed. Fill in the soil, firm and again level with the back of the rake. To fill in the space between the beet and the peas sow a row of spinach in drills an inch deep. It will be cut before the peas require all the head room, and, as the parsnips, which will come next, are also two feet from the peas, there is room for a row of spinach on each side. As the parsnips take a long time to develop to their full size, and the larger they are the better, they can be sown now. If the soil has been well trenched in recent years and it is a good depth, the seed can be sown in rows one inch deep, dusting it with super in the usual way; but if it has not been trenched and is not deep, it is better to make holes in the drills with a crowbar 12 inches apart, and to fill these up to the top with nice, sandy soil, to which some bone dust has been added. As the plants are eventually thinned out to a least a foot apart, it is better to sow the seeds in little groups at the desired distance apart, and then to thin out to one at each hple. The plant should grow down -'‘.nd fill the hole with a shapely root. This should complete the sowing in the meantime, but on the other side

of the plot again, next to the path, a z row of shallots can be planted. The bulbs are pushed into the loose soil until only the top- is showing at a distance of from six to ten inches apart. In the plot set aside for greens a row of cabbage and cauliflower can be planted at two feet apart, and then a row of bread beans two feet six inches from the greens can be sown. For them a flat drill six inches wide and two inches deep is drawn. The seeds are set out in a double row at nine inches apart; that will be six inches between the two rows, and nine inches between the seeds in the rows. Between the

row of greens and the beans a row of lettuce can be planted, for they will be matured and cut before the beans and cabbage require all the space. Jerusalem artichokes can also be planted now, and as they grow tall and can stand the wind, they are usually planted to form a shelter on the side exposed to the cold south-west winds. They are planted like potatoes, three inches deep and 18 inches between the sets in the row.

In the potato patch, after putting in two or three rows of an early variety, another row of peas can be sown, this time a medium grower such as Dwarf Defiance being selected, and a row of radish can be sown between the first row of potatoes and the path. It is necessary to protect the seeds and seedlings of the beet, turnip raddish, lettuce, and pea from the birds, and if pieces of scrub are not available

stretch two rows of black cotton about two inches above the soil on either side of the drills. Slugs are also very fond of the seedlings, and if the weather is wet, lime should be dusted along the sides of the rows, to be renewed after every shower until the seedlings are safe. It is desirable to label the seeds, putting down the date of sowing as well as the names.