20 DECEMBER 1940, Page 14

Poultry Manure

All manures, especially artificials, are increasingly difficult to obtain. Poultry manure is much advertised, but it seems worth recording a season's experience of it. Long ago I was given a warning that, on onion crops, it encouraged attacks of maggot-fly. This year it was heavily used in light soil where turnips, carrots, cauliflower and cabbage plants in many varieties were subsequent crops. All suffered severely from root-grub ; the turnips were totally useless ; ninety per cent. of the cauliflowers collapsed ; at least fifty per cent. of the cabbage plants failed to reach planting-out size ; the carrots alone failed to be seriously affected. But no crop was attacked on un-