3 48 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



January, 1914 



Vegetable Oardeiv 



Notes for January. 



Work for the month on the Ade- 

 laide plains and similar districts 

 will consist of attention to the 

 growing crops of summer veget- 

 ables — melons, cucumbers, toma- 

 toes, French beans, sweet corn, 

 and in- keeping the beds well cul- 

 tivated by stirring the surface fre- 

 quently and keeping a mulch with 

 manure to prevent drying out. 



Where anv plots are vacant they 

 should be turned over roughly so 

 as to get the greatest benefit from 

 any chance showers which may 

 fall. It is not too late to sow 

 late beds of cucumbers and melons. 

 With caJreful looking after, a pick- 

 ing of beans may be had seven 

 weeks from sowing ; cucumbers 

 may be cut within ten weeks. 



See'ds of cabljage, celery, brocco- 

 li, and onions may be sown now 

 for early crops ; they will need 

 careful looking after during the hot 

 weather, but it is only by doing 

 that or by bu} ing se>;dlings when 

 the first autumn rains come that 

 early crops can be secured. A 

 shaded seed-box, which can be 

 well protected Irom the heat , of the 

 sun is a great help in bringing the 

 seedlmgs on, but care must be 

 taken that they do not run up 

 weak and spindly. Silver beet may 

 still b'e sown, and would give nice 

 cuttings of " spinach "in a very 

 little while. 



Towards the end of the month 

 j)reparations for putting in beds 

 of early peas, carrots, and pars- 

 nijis should Ije made. Select a cool 

 sheltered position, have the soil 

 in good condition — that is, deeply 

 dug and well manured. Mulch with 



NATURAL GUANO 



From Indian Ocean now landing ex 

 Hebe." Analyiis Nitrogen J per 

 cent ; Citrate soluble Phosphate of 

 Lime 13.11 per cent.; Insoluble Phos- 

 phate of Lime 50.25 per oenl. Price 

 70/- per ton delivered to rail, or fiee 

 on board at Port Adelaide*. 



Samples on application. 



short stable manure, and be very 

 careful that the surface does not 

 become baked. 



Water, hoe, and mulch, and 

 again water, hoe, and mulch is the 

 secret of success with summer 

 vegetables. 



Manuring of Potatoes. 



ARTHUR H. HASELL, 



Lii>son Street, 

 POST ADELAIDE. 



Analysis show that the potato 

 consists of 79.7'5 per cent, of water, 

 9.99 per cent, of ash, of which 0.21 

 per Cent, is nitrogen, 0.07 pea: cent, 

 phosphoric acid, and 0.29 per cent, 

 of potash. 



W'e thus see that nitrogen and 

 potash are the manures the pota- 

 toes most urgently require. Where 

 the crop is planted in soil abound- 

 ing in organic matter or humus, 

 the class of soil always chosen for 

 potatoes in the first instance, therq 

 will be little need for an artificial 

 application of nitrogen, especially 

 where the potato grows during 

 that part of the season when the 

 nitr fication of this humus is most 

 active. 



Where, however, the crop is 

 grown in the spring months a li- 

 beral application of immediately 

 available nitrogen will repay hand- 

 somely. Any fertiliser mixture for 

 the potato must be rich in potash, 

 the percentage of phosphoric acid 

 can be modified. 



Massey, in his " Crop Growing 

 and Crop Feeding," recommends 

 potatoes to be grown in rotation, 

 in which the crop preceding these 

 is leguminous, and to which the 

 artificial manures should be added, 

 so nitrogen need not be purchased. 



Where the potato crop is to be 

 artificially manured, a mixture of 

 4 i)arts of sulphate of potash (52 

 per cent, at least of pure potash), 

 and 16 parts of supherphosphate, 4 

 cwt. of this mixture to the acre 

 should lie put in the furrow under 

 the potatoes as it will be nearest 

 to the roots of the plant which do 

 not spread far. 



It is to be specially noticed that 

 the quality of the potato is influ- 

 enced l)y the ])ota,sh used. Sulphate 

 of potash gives a better quality 

 than muriate, although the latter 



gives a little more crop, but the 

 chlorides seem to make .the potato 

 mone clammy. 



A good mixture for manuring po- 

 tatoes is as follows : — per cent, 

 nitrogen, 7 2-5 per cent, phosphoric 

 acid, and 10 per cent, potash. 



How often do we hear potato- 

 growers complain that although 

 the tops look magnificent, thig tu- 

 bers are few in number and sinall 

 in size. 



Now it is the top that makes 

 the potato, and it is natural to 

 expect where the vegetation is 

 abundant the growth under the soil 

 should also be so. 



What is the reason of the poor 

 crop .'' We know the potato con- 

 tains carbonaceous matter, such as 

 starch, that the carbon is absorb- 

 ed by the leaves from the air, and 

 the first compound is a form of 

 sugar, part of which, the plant uses 

 in living, the other part is changed 

 into starch, which it stores up for 

 future use in the potato. Now tlie 

 plant cannot change this sugar 

 into reserve material unless abun- 

 dant supplies of potash, besiides 

 phosphoric acid are present. The 

 effect of nitrogen is to form a 

 heavv growth, especially of the 

 green parts of the plant. 



The soil that gives big tops and 

 few potatoes is defic ent in potash, 

 and where this is noticed, do not 

 gi\'e the soil any more nitrogen 

 manures, but a mixture of potash 

 and phosphoric acid, with the /for- 

 mer predominating. From, experi- 

 ments carried out at the New 

 York Agricultural Station, it was 

 found that an application of 500 

 lb. of fertiliser gave an increase of 

 34 bushels of large potatoes to the 

 acre over the unmanured, and 1,000 

 pounds gave double this increase. 

 The mixture used was 4 per cent, 

 nitrogen, 8 per cent, phosphoric 

 acid, and 10 per cent, potash in 

 the form of muriate. 



The same quantities of n tro- 

 gen, phosphoric acid, and potash 

 as applied in 500 lbs. of such a fer- 

 tiliser can also be applied in a mix- 

 ture made up of : — 



— Per Acne. — 

 loo lbs. sulphate of ammonia. 

 2 cwts. superphosphate. 

 % cwt. muriate of potash. 



