Gardening for Amateurs 



409 



Composts, Seedlings, and Cuttings 



SUBSTANCES USED FOR COMPOSTS 



THE Turf Heap. The turf heap 

 should be an important feature of 

 a well-organised garden. Potting 

 soils and mixtures for raising seedlings or 

 striking cuttings are always in demand, and 

 the basis of them all is a good fibrous 

 loam. The best for gardening purposes 

 consists of the top 3 inches from old pas- 

 ture land ; this is cut and stacked with 

 the grass side downwards, while in 

 between each layer is spread a nice 

 covering of good cow manure, and the 

 heap will be rendered richer and better 

 if a little gypsum or sulphate of lime be 

 added to each layer. Stack the turf in 

 the open, for in such a place the heap be- 

 comes mellow much sooner, the moisture 

 of the atmosphere assisting the process 

 of amelioration going on inside the heap. 

 It should always be built in a ridge or 

 conical form so as to throw off heavy rains. 

 When the loam is required for potting or 

 other purposes it is cut down from top to 

 bottom in sections, not simply lifted off in 

 layers ; the fibrous lumps are then chopped 

 up to the requisite degree of fineness and 

 mixed with the other necessary components 

 of the compost. Ordinary loam does well 

 enough, but to enrich the compost and at 

 the same time to allow manurial humus to 

 intermix with the fibrous heap, the addi- 

 tion of cow manure is greatly to be desired. 

 The gypsum prevents loss to the atmosphere 

 of any volatile nitrogenous plant foods. 

 Different plants require different potting 

 mixtures. For ordinary purposes such as 

 the raising of plants in boxes, striking cut- 

 tings, or potting flowers, this compost heap, 

 after lying for some months, is all that is 

 really necessary perhaps with the addi- 

 tion of a little sand to render it compact 

 yet porous but, especially in greenhouse 

 gardening, other substances are necessary 

 for the varied subjects to be grown. 



Sand. Sand is first in importance. Silver 

 sand is the finest and cleanest of all, but 

 ordinary builders' sand is cheaper and quite 

 good enough for most purposes. Sea sand 



should be well washed in water before use, 

 in order to remove most of the salt in it. 

 Red sand contains too much iron to be 

 safe for potting. Road grit, if clean, can be 

 regarded as a coarse sand. 



Leaf-mould. Leaf-mould will come in 

 handy for supplying additional humus to 

 the soil. Leaves of hardwood trees like the 

 Oak, Elm, and Beech are collected in 

 autumn and allowed to decay in the open; 

 the heap will rot sooner if turned over once 

 a month, and at this operation a little soot 

 or lime may be added to clear out insect 

 pests. The process of decomposition should 

 not be allowed to proceed too far ; if the 

 mould is reduced to a fine soil it can be used 

 for the flower border, but for potting pur- 

 poses the nature of the leaves should be 

 apparent, though decayed into a light 

 porous matter. Leaves with thick stalks or 

 ribs are always to be avoided, and sticks 

 should be removed when the heap is turned 

 over. As a rule a year's decomposition is 

 allowed before use. 



Charcoal. Charcoal is a valuable horti- 

 cultural substance. It can be purchased, 

 but gardeners often collect their own from 

 bonfires, in which case the small amount of 

 potash and other salts present makes the 

 substance more valuable manurially. Char- 

 coal is generally used in small pieces from 

 the size of peas to the size of large beans. 

 It removes bad vapours from the soil ; it 

 conserves soluble plant foods, yet allows 

 the tiny rootlets to remove them ; it acts 

 as an antiseptic, and keeps the soil sweet 

 and clean. 



Peat. Peat is occasionally in demand 

 especially for heaths, azaleas, and others. 

 Country enthusiasts may collect their re- 

 quirements from moors or hillsides, but often 

 the substance must be bought ; the ama- 

 teur requiring but a little should get some 

 |><-ut IIHI-* littrr and pax it through a 

 J-inch riddle. Peat should be dry, light, 

 fibrous, and easily crumbled down ; black, 

 >c<l(l,-n |>i-at i- I.. \- a\.'i<l-<l. 



Sphagnum, Lime and Manure. Sphag- 

 num moss is needed for covering the 



