If the plot to be used can be ploughed up, well manured, and sown to clover, the clover turned under in the fall, a good top-dressing of manure given, and the whole turned again in the spring, the soil should be in good garden condition.
Where the soil is a good, warm loam the addition of fertilisers will always give excellent results, though there is the disadvantage of weeds and extra cultivation to consider. The first cost of suitable earth is great, but it pays in the end in the saving of fertilisers, labour, expensive seeds and flowers.
Chapter THREE
Fertilisers
Fertilisers in the form of animal manures, chemicals or vegetable matter come next in importance to a good soil. Horse, cow, sheep, and poultry droppings are the cheapest and most direct in results. Of the four, cow manure is probably the best for the majority of plants, especially Pansies, Iris, Violets, Ferns and others which love a cool soil. Cow manure is known as a cool manure, and is suitable for a warm or sandy soil. Horse manure, which is more heating, especially when from young stock, is better on cold or clayey soil, as it has the effect of breaking up the adhesiveness of the clay and promoting the formation of sand. Hen manure is very warm and is therefore most suitable for cold soils. Sheep manure is especially desirable for Roses and house-plants, about one part manure to six of earth being the proportion.
Good results may be obtained by the use of any or all of these, if in the proper condition and judiciously applied. Manure is in proper condition when it has passed completely through the heating or fermenting stage. Fresh manure should never be placed where it, or the water that leaches from it, can possibly come in contact with the plants; manure should be six months or, better still, a year old before being used. Old and well-rotted manure has much the appearance of rich, black earth, and is readily assimilated by the plants. It should be fine and free from such rough litter as corn-stalks, cobs, and long straws, and should be thoroughly mixed with the soil. As manure is full of the seeds of weeds and grasses, it is better, when applying it in the spring, to remove a portion of the top-soil and work the manure into the subsoil by spading, and then to return the top-soil. This will prevent their germination and save a great deal of weeding during the summer.
Manure that retains its original form is too fresh to use and should be thrown in a heap and frequently forked over to hasten decomposition. It will be fit by another season, but older stuff must be procured for present use. Where there is room it is a wise provision to keep a pile of manure from year to year, in order to avoid the inconvenience of looking for it when you need it. No better expenditure can be made by the gardener than in purchasing several loads of old manure, when it is discovered in some neighbouring barn-yard. If one has no supply and must purchase, the matter should be attended to in the fall at latest, to allow ample time for saving it. Farmers usually draw the manure on the land as it accumulates, so that it is difficult to obtain in the spring.
Ashes contain a certain amount of phosphates, which tend to sweeten the soil. They are also beneficial in increasing the strength or stiffness of the stalks, and for this reason are valuable for Aster and Gladiolus beds; they should never be mixed with manure, as is frequently done, but should be strewn over the surface of the soil after the other fertilisers are worked in. Ashes mixed with manure release the ammonia of the latter, depriving it of one of its most valuable properties. Ammonia itself is not a fertiliser but a stimulant, creating in the plant a desire for the food stored up in the manure—in other words, an appetiser. Plants, like people, will not eat unless they have an appetite, and manure mixed with ashes is poorer and much less valuable in every way to the farmer and gardener. Soot is another excellent chemical fertiliser, adding much to the richness of colour in both flower and foliage. Apply either dry or mixed with the surface-soil, or in the form of a tea made by pouring water over the soot in a vessel. Draw off the liquid after the mixture has settled and apply it around the roots of the plants, taking care that it does not touch the foliage. It is especially good for Pansies and Roses.
Manure-water is a good way to apply animal fertiliser, as it is fairly free from the seeds of weeds, which constitute the chief drawback to the solid form. To prepare it take a water-tight barrel or half-barrel and put a spigot in the side near the bottom. Place three or four inches of clean straw in the barrel, letting it come well up above the spigot, then fill half full of manure. It is not necessary that the manure should be so very old; it needs only to have passed the fermentation period. Fill the barrel with water. Fit a tight cover over it and it is soon ready to use. As long as the liquid runs the colour of coffee or a strong tea the manure will not need renewing, and more water may be added from time to time, but when it shows signs of exhaustion empty the barrel, put the refuse on the compost heap and fill the barrel as before. If the liquid is to be used on pot-plants it will be better to use boiling water in the barrel to destroy the eggs and chrysalis of the white-worms and other larvæ that infest the manure; or add a half teaspoonful of Paris green to the water. The first drawings from the barrel should be well diluted before using, especially when applied to dry soil. If hen manure is used, it should be made much weaker than other manures, as it is very heating and likely to burn the roots of plants. A convenient way to handle the manure barrel is to carry a watering-pot of water to the barrel each time, emptying it in at the top and drawing off a corresponding amount at the spigot—in this way the barrel is kept constantly full and extra steps saved. Liquid manure may also be prepared by filling a pail half full of manure, adding boiling water, and dipping off the liquid when the sediment is settled.
MANURE WATER IS A GOOD WAY TO APPLY ANIMAL FERTILISER