iv.] LIME NITRATE OF SODA GUANO 17 



the surface, but its rich juices percolate down into the 

 soil with every fall of rain. 



Old gardens which have become sour and over-fed 

 with vegetable matter will get much benefit from a dress- 

 ing of lime every few years. The lime should be brought 

 fresh from the kiln, distributed in heaps over the border, 

 covered with soil, and when slacked worked into the 

 ground. This should be done some time before sowing 

 or planting. Chemical manures, such as nitrate of soda, 

 bone flour, and guano, are excellent stimulants, as well 

 for plants in pots as in the borders. They, too, should 

 be applied early in the year before active growth sets in, 

 and are best given in liquid form, or as top-dressing in 

 showery weather. For greenhouses, Cannell's or Carter's 

 or Icthemic (fish) guano mixtures are the safest to use.* 



I know of nothing better, however, as a top-dressing 

 for flowers, vegetables, and fruit trees than the scraping 

 of the fowl-house mixed with five or six times its bulk 

 of fresh earth, and kept in a dry heap in the potting-shed 

 ready for use. 



CHAPTER IV 



HALF-HARDY PLANTS AND GREENHOUSE CULTURE 



MR PUNCH'S advice to those about to marry might very 

 well be offered to another class in the community those 



* Bassic slag is an excellent artificial manure, but, like others, it 

 must largely depend on the nature of the soil it is used on. 



B 



