February, 1914. 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



389 



Manures. 



— Mauurcs. — 



What iiiauure are yovi going to 

 use ? Is your soil heavy f 11 so, 

 then the saudy gutter sweepings 

 will be a splendid thing to dig in. 

 These scrapings, beside the sanil, 

 contain a cons derable amount ol 

 horse manure, so that they do 

 good in two ways. A word ol 

 caution is needed with regard to 

 these same sweepings. II the 

 roadway from which, they are 

 taken is traversed by an asphalted 

 tramway track there lis almost oer-, 

 tain to be a ccrtam percentage ol 

 tar in them, which entirely pre- 

 cludes them for garden use. A 

 little tar goes a long way, especi- 

 ally in a llower garden, 



— Cow Manure. — 



Can you get cow or pig man- 

 ure ? • If you can, then do so by 

 all means. Both are splendid fer- 

 tilisers for a llower garden, there 

 being little heat in either of them, 

 there is no fear of harm being 

 done when they are being dug into 

 the soil between growing plants. 

 Mo manure — let it be cow or pig, 

 horse or sheep or fowl — should be 

 dug into the soil in a fresh state. 

 It is better to stack it in some 

 protected place and only use it 

 after it has been in the heap some 

 months. Many gardeners have 

 their manure arranged in three 

 heaps. The fresh manure is placed 

 in one ; this, after a month, is 

 turned on to heap No. 2, where it 

 is allowed to lie tw-o or more 

 months, and is then turned on to 

 No. 3 — the heap from which it is 

 used. 



— Sheep Manure. — 



Sheep manure, w^hich is particu- 

 larly rich in nitrogen, is rather 

 difficult to procure, and conse- 

 quently expensive, but should you 

 have a chance of getting a load do 

 so at once, especially if you 

 are a carnation grower. This iman- 

 ure is one of the very best for the 

 dianthus tribe, and at this season 

 face of the beds to the depth of an 

 inch and lightly forking it in. 



— Fowl Droppings. — 



■Fowl droppings are a very valu- 

 able and rich manure, but owing 

 to its 'heat must be used wilth cau- 

 tion, especially amongst youn^g and 

 things. Its value is considerably 

 increased by being dried in the 

 sun, after which it is best stored 

 in large boxes and kept in a dry 

 ]3lace. Nowadays, most everyone 



kevps a few fowls, and by careful 

 colkvting and storing of their 

 manure an appreciable increase in 

 the profit accruing from them nvay 

 be made. This is not sulUciently 

 recognised bv poultrv-kecpcrs. 



— Stable Manure. — 



Stable manure should be kept 

 long enough in the heap to enable 

 all straw to become rottc<l, unless 

 the soil be of a heavy clayey sort, 

 when it would be benefited by dig- 

 ging it in quite fresh. A layer 3 

 in. thick spread over tHe surface 

 and turned under would not be 

 too much in such ground. 



Among chemical or artificial 

 manures suitable for the ilower 

 garden may be mentioned (a) Sul- 

 phate of ammonia ; (b) Superphosr 

 phate ; (c) Basic slag or Thomasj 

 phosphate ; (d) Bone dust ; (e) 

 Sulphate of Potash. 



The first of these— sulphate of 

 ammonia — is a powerful nitrogen, 

 ous manure, and can be applied to 

 the beds during early autumn or 

 spring at the rate of i lb. of the 

 manure to 20 square yards. Before 

 sowing it I break up all lumps small 

 enough to pass through a Y^-in. 

 mesh sieve. Sow thinly and 

 evenly, carefully avoiding letting 

 any fall upon the foliage of plants, 

 as they are likely to be burnt by 

 it. 



A little of this manure sprvnk.ed 

 between two rows of cabbages or 

 cauliflowers and hoed in makes 

 them jump forward as nothing else 

 will, the dilierence being noticeable 

 in a week. 



— Sulphate of Ammonia. — 



makes a splendid liquid manure for 

 cinerarias, pelargoniums, etc. A 

 tablespoonful in a gallon of water 

 is quite strong enough. It is bet- 



ter to err on the .side of giving 

 it too weak than that of giving it 

 too strong. 



— I,i([uid Manure. — 



In giviuj^r lici^uid manure of any 

 kind, there are two rules that 

 must always be kept in mind c — 

 1, only give it to healthy, growing 

 plants ; 2, water first with clear 

 water. 



— Superphosphate. — 



may be applied at the same time 

 as the sulphate of ammonia, the 

 two being thoroughly mixed and 

 sown together. Four pounds of 

 superphosphate and i lb. of sul- 

 phate of ammonia on '2o sqjuare 

 yards of surface is a safe quantity 

 to use. This fertiliser is a splen- 

 did one for rose beds. Basic slag 

 or Thomas phosphate will be of 

 small value unless broken and 

 ground verv small. 



. — Basic Slag. — 



Basic slag must not be spread at 

 the same time as sulphate of am- 

 monia, or the goodness of the lat- 

 ter will escape in a gaseous state. 



When preparing new gardens, 

 digging holes for trees, shrubs, or 

 roses, renovating borders, a sprink- 

 ling of basic slag on the lower 

 spit does good. 



— Bone Dust. — 



This is one of the safest of arti- 

 ficial manures and one of the 'best. 

 It contains phosphoric acid and 

 nitrogen. 



— Sulphate of Potash. — 



This is one of the neglected man- 

 ures. It brightens the colours of 

 flowers and is also very valuable 

 in the vegetable garden. 



Koonoowarra Poultry Farm - Fnfiem. 



6 minutes' walk from electric tram. 'Phone 273. 



Breeder, Exhibitor, and Itnporter of Highest Class 

 BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCKS. WHITE PLYMOUTH ROCKS. 

 WHITE ORPINGTONS RHODE ISLAND REDS. 



WHITE LEGHORNS. 

 PEKIN DUCKS. WHITE RUNNER DUCKS. 



(, Never beaten in Show Pen). (Wonderful Layers of White Shell Eggs). 

 Stock have won numerous prizes at Adelaide Leading Shows. 

 Eggs and Stock for Sale in Season. 



For further particulars write — 



P. O. MANUEL, Proprietor. 



