And so we come to Cuthbert’s last post….Yes, we’ve reached the last page of the book and the final entry is his recipe for top-dressing. I will miss dipping in each week – and have enjoyed tomato time travel back to 1953. But with the evenings lengthening and spring sort of in the air – it will soon be time to concentrate on home-grown tomatoes 2011 – so here for the last time is Mr. Cuthbert’s advice:
Growers who are unable to get stable or other organic manure and old loam for top-dressing will find the following mixture of chemical fertilizers very suitable for tomatoes and other crops.
All are parts by weight:
- Sulphate of ammonia 1
- Nitrate of potash 1
- Superphosphate (30 per cent) 3
- Dried blood 5
Apply at the rate of 2 oz. per square yard.
I find Dried Blood (stated so casually) always throws me – so its interesting to see what manufacturers of prepared top-dressings do today in light of more squeamish gardeners like myself – some like J. Arthur Bower – seem to know that they probably need to tone it down but are perhaps too thoughtful to confuse their more established customers so call theirs “J. Arthur Bower’s Salad Vegetable Plant Food (Dried Blood)” where as Vitax is just “Vitax Q4″.
