398 Market-Garden Soifs aitif Ciojts 



It will be ohsorvod that the percentages of potash and phosphoric 

 acid are very much lower in the case of the dark sands. Hall and 

 RusselP found a similar low content of plant food in tho uncultivated 

 sands of the Folkestone Beds. 



The dark sand formation is now extensively used for market-garden 

 crops. The usual procedure is to grow early potatoes followed by white 

 turnips. Sometimes rtirly potatoes are grown as half crops with 

 brussels sprouts or runner beans. In a few cases late potatoes are 

 planted after taking off a crop of early potatoes. The land must be 

 exceedingly well dunged. Thirty tons to the acre with sixty bushels 

 of soot is commonly used on this formation. 



The extensive slopes towards Sandy face the sun and are particularly 

 early soils. These slopes are very uniform in texture and contain few- 

 stones and little gravel. Their situation, fine even texture, and depth 

 make the soils on these slopes particularly suited to the growth of 

 radishes and early carrots. Radishes and carrots are sown broadcast 

 very early in February. The radishes are ready for picking in March 

 and gradually give way to early carrots which are ready in the second 

 week of June. Fre<|ueiitly parsley seed is sown among the carrots 

 and this is ready for cutting in November and December. 



It would seem, at first sight, strange that radishes are not grown 

 on the brown sand formation. This seenys to be due to the fact that 

 the dark sand formation, particularly on the slopes just referred to, has 

 a fine even texture and contains only a small percentage of stones and 

 gravel. At Flitwick, another market-garden centre of Bedfordshire, 

 the writer noticed that radishes w-ere grown on dark greensand soils. 



The following figures show the salient points of difference from the 

 brown sand formation. 



The dark sand formation is reported by market-gardeners as being 

 not quite so "hungry" as the brown sand formation and particularly 

 is this so on the Sandy slopes. The custom on these slopes seems 

 to be dung one year and soot the next. 



' Hall and Russell, Afiricullure and Soils of Kent, Surrey ai'd Snsser. Published 

 by the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, 1911. 



