The Wilmington morning star., 1947-03-16
GARDEN CALENDER

All questions pertaining to your
garden problems will be answered
through e e columns if ad.
dressed to the garden calendar
editor in are Of the Wilmington
NEWS society editor.
SOIL FERTILITY
The addition of sand ana woods
earth, peat, compost from the pit,
muck from streams, old manure,
any humus. in large enough
amounts will make soil light and
porous, even heavy clay. But to
have fertile soil, we must have
rot only plenty OF humus but all
the elements needed for the
growth and fruiting of plants in
the right proportion and in avail
able form, especially nitrogen,
phosphorus and potash. Humus
gives these but not in correct
amounts nor in the right proper
tioa.
Probably non Of us makes his
garden soil fertile enough. English
gardeners use from 20 to 80 tons
Of manure to the acre each year.
This means a wagon load to every
500 square feet, equal to a strip
so by 10 feet, which seems almost
incredible to US. Most of us are
delighted if we can get a ton for
a whole garden, but none OF us
feed our plants enough.
And few of us dig deep enough
to keep bringing up the chemicals
contained in this good clay soil OF
ours. Even in sandy soil, deep dig
ging brings up clay with It's valu-
able chemicals that have leached
down through the sand.
Few things can take the place
Of good strawy stable manure, for
it is humus. food and stimulant
for the plant, but it is now al
most an unobtainable luxury for
the gardener. 1t is really a ''com
piete" fertilizer, while h e com
mercial C h e mical fertilizers,
though labeled complete" are
not because they lack organic
matter.
A complete commercial fertil-
izer contains the three elements
necessary to soil which are usu.
ally lacking in correct AMOUNTS for
plant growth, nitrogen, phosphorus
and potash. With plenty of humus
In the soil, the commercial tertil.
izer is good, because it supplies
the plant food and stimulant for
the production Of leaf, stem and
fruit. A complete commercial fer
tilizer should be used on plants
only during the growing season.
or can be worked into the soil a
week or SO before seed are plant
ed for the immediate use of the
growing plants. 1t is quick "a citing
and either stimulates the plant to
growth and is used at once, or
it is lost before the plant can us
it If put on during t h e plant s
dormancy.
There r certain plants on
which a complete commercial fer
tilizer should not be used, such
as conifers, rhododendrons and
azaleas, which are slow growing
and do not like nitrogen. Only old
rotted manure from which all am
monia %(nitrogen) is gone should
be used around them. They really
prefer woodsearth to old manure,
such as they had in their native
! soil.
Old manure that was put on as
a winter mulch should be dug into
the soil now and will act as a
summer mulch with the loose soil
to keep roots protected against
summer heat.
MORE ABOUT SOIL AND
FERTILIZERS
The texture or physical condi-
ton of the soil must be considered
at the time Of digging, that is,
in the preparation of the soil for
seeds or plants. Il heavy clay soil
Is dug when wet, clods will form.
Sandy soils can be worked when
relatively wet. Soil is right for
digging when it does not stick to-
gether in. a mass when released
after being pressed firmly in the
palm of the hand. Neither should
it be too dry and pour through
the fingers like powder sand. A