Page:Australian enquiry book of household and general information.djvu/231

 Potatoes require a strong soil and should be planted in rows in trenches; cover them to a depth of three inches, leaving the trenches then not quite full, so that when they come up there will be room to fill in. A side of a hill is a good site for potatoes, and if not very good soil they can be forced by having cow-dung spread between the rows. It need not be dug in, the rain will wash the goodness into the roots.

Onions are a very profitable crop if the soil is good and has been well worked. The soil should be fine and dry under the rake. If heavy rain comes just before planting, it is best to wait a few days for it to dry.

In sowing vegetable seeds, much time is often lost through bad seed—seed which you wait and wait to see above ground, and which never comes. Now a very good plan, if you have only a small vegetable garden, is to germinate or burst your seeds before putting them in. Say you are going to sow turnips, well, put your seeds in to soak in a basin or dish overnight, pour off the water in the morning and place the seed in the sun, spreading it out well so that one is not on another. At night, again put water on, and leave all night, and again put out in the sun next day. Repeat this process until the seeds begin to shew life and burst, then sow them at once, of course picking out all those that are no good. I have done this with nearly all the seeds I know—melon, pumpkin, peas, beans, cabbage, turnips, etc., etc, and also with flower seeds.

Many growers sow this seed in a hot-bed, and then transplant into long narrow beds easily worked, they are better than the very wide ones, but all depends upon the room one has to devote to each vegetable. If the seed is sown on a small patch where a heap of brushwood or grass has been burnt, the plants will not be so troubled with beetles. I saw this in an old newspaper, tried it, and was surprised at the result, not a cabbage plant was eaten by the bugs. The way is to prepare a small piece of ground, and then collect a heap of dry grass and undergrowth, enough to leave a good deal of ash. Burn this and then lightly rake in the ashes and sow your seed. Sow cabbage seeds rather thin, so as to have strong plants, and after sowing roll or flatten the ground with the back of the spade, till quite firm. If the beetle or bug does come, sift some fine ashes or soot over the plants.

Before transplanting, thoroughly prepare and manure a piece of