is a supply of waste or refuse vegetable stuff; material which is not good enough for the house and not even suitable for the fowls and rabbits. Although unfit for consumption it should certainly not be thrown away, since most of it can be converted into valuable plant food and humus provider with little trouble.
When the various plots are being cleared it will be found that there are two different kinds of refuse. Some of it, like cabbage stumps, does not rot down, but much is soft and succulent and decays rapidly. The former should be consigned to the bonfire—the resulting ashes are extremely useful—but the latter should be stacked. There are two ways of doing this. A heap can be formed on the ground surface, or a hole can be dug and the soft material thrown therein. A 6 ft. by 5 ft. area provides a suitable place, and it is suggested that as there is usually a considerable quantity of refuse to deal with, a pit should be dug.
As the refuse is gathered—surface-rooting weeds, turnip and carrot-tops and the like—it should be deposited in the pit, and now and again a few shovelsful of soil should be scattered on top. In the ordinary garden it is possible to improve the compost greatly by throwing on all the household “ slops,” including soapy water, but this is not a practical suggestion when the allotment is some distance from the house. To obviate any unpleasant odour a little lime may be scattered over the refuse occasionally.
SUBSTITUTES FOR FARMYARD MANURE
One of the best substitutes for farmyard manure is hop manure. There are numerous proprietary manures of this description; all have spent hops as the basis (these supply humus) together with various chemicals. They are excellent, while they are easy and clean to handle and apply. They should be used at the rate advised by the vendors.
Many different kinds of organic refuse are converted into manure. They include shoddy, leather dust, damaged cattle cakes, rape dust, cotton-seed dust, feather waste, hair waste, hoof and horn waste, and so on. The amateur gardener should make inquiries in his own district concerning whether any of these are obtainable. If so they should be applied and dug into the soil in the autumn or winter in the same way as natural manure and at the same rate—three barrowloads to the rod.
Those who live near a large town or in a city may be able to obtain regular supplies of sewage. The solid matter is extracted and usually mixed with lime, alumina, and other chemicals and disposed of to agriculturists. It is usually obtainable in two forms—sludge which is something like soft clay, or dried and ground into a fine powder. The former is the better. It should be applied at the rate of 4 cwt. to the rod and dug in during the winter, preferably after it has lain on the surface for a short time and been subjected to a few frosts.
Gardeners living at the seaside may be able to collect seaweed. This is excellent and about equal in value to farmyard manure. It should be stacked up and allowed to rot down. Apply and dig into the soil in the autumn or winter.
GREEN MANURING
Green manuring is a highly satisfactory way of increasing the fertility of the soil and increasing its humus content. It can, however, be practised to only a limited extent in the garden or on the allotment, since it implies leaving the ground vacant for eight to ten weeks. If you are making a new allotment, however, where the ground is not particularly rich and planting or sowing is not to be carried out for a while, green manuring is recommended.
The surface of the area should be reduced to as fine a tilth as possible, mustard seed broadcast thickly (this must not be confused with the mustard of mustard and cress, for it is the agricultural variety), and in seven or eight weeks the resulting crop should be rolled or trodden flat and then dug well down into the land and covered with a good layer of soil.
ARTIFICIAL MANURES AND CHEMICAL FERTILISERS
Artificial manures can be divided into two classes. Some of them are slow-acting and this necessitates their being dug into the soil in the autumn or winter, while others are quick-acting and these are applied during the growing period.
Among the slow-acting chemicals basic slag, steamed bone-meal, and bone-meal provide phosphates, and kainit and sulphate of potash supply potash. These chemicals should be scattered over the surface of the soil after digging is completed and then pricked in with a fork so that they are mixed with the top two or three inches of soil.
Of the. quick-acting artificials, superphosphate of lime supplies phosphates, sulphate of ammonia and nitrate of soda are nitrogenous foods, and guano is a good fertiliser.
The rate at which these chemicals should be applied and the crops for which they are most suitable, together with general mixtures which can be prepared at home, are detailed later under the various crop headings.
SOOT DETERS INSECT PESTS
Soot is valuable as a plant food, is a grand deterrent to insect pests, and is also a heavy-soil lightener. It contains a fair quantity of potash, and it may be dug into the soil in the autumn or used as a top-dressing during the spring and summer. Fresh soot should not be used, however; it should first be stored for a couple of months.
TO MAKE AND USE LIQUID MANURE
Liquid manure is beneficial to a number of vegetable crops. This does not refer to the liquid excreted by animals, but consists of a solution of the soluble ingredients of different natural manures. Horse droppings, cow and pig manures, poultry and rabbit manure can all be used. A bushel of the available natural manure, or a mixture of them, is placed into a sack and suspended in a barrel of water. In a few days the water may be used, but it must be diluted first so that it assumes the colour of weak tea. As some of the liquid is taken out plain water should be added. After a time, when the strength of the manure water is becoming weak, the sack may be squeezed against the side of the barrel. This extracts the remainder of the soluble plant food.
Soot water can be made in the same way, but if the garden is only a fairly small one it is usually more practical to use one-half natural manure and one-half soot together.
LIME AND LIMING
Lime must be present in the soil; it neutralises acidity or sourness, it helps to break up stiff clay and to bind very light soil. It is a plant food, but it plays a much more important part than providing nutriment. It sets free food matter from the humus and it helps bacteria in their work of converting insoluble plant food into a soluble form. It is also a soil tonic, for it makes the land a healthy place in which the plants can grow steadily, and helps to prevent disease.
As a general rule lime should be applied every third year, but never at the same time as natural manure.
Lime can be obtained in many different forms. The following are all satisfactory :
1. Chalk, broken into small pieces and dug in at the rate of 1 lb. per square yard.
2. Gas lime. This should be weathered for three or four weeks by exposure to the air, scattered on the surface at the rate of 1 lb. per square yard, and dug in.
3. Ground lime, which should be distributed over the surface after digging, using 1/2 lb. per square yard.
4. Limestone, which should be used as chalk.
5. Quicklime. This must be stacked in small heaps and slaked ; then it should be scattered all over the surface at the rate of 1/2 lb. per square yard, and dug in.
6. Slaked lime. This should be evenly distributed, using 1 lb. per square yard, and dug in.
Do not bury lime deeply. It tends to sink through the soil, so it should just be pricked into the top two or three inches.
If a three-year cropping plan1 is adopted, one plot should be given a full dressing of natural manure or a manure substitute, the second plot a half-dressing and the third plot left unmanured each year. The lime should be applied to the unmanured