Agriculture of Great Britain.

Great Britain is a developed industrial and agricultural country. The greater part of lands in the country belongs to big landowners who, as a rule, lease their land to farmers. On big farms fertilizers and up-to-date agricultural machinery are used.

The prevailing type of agriculture in England is suburban farming. Sheep-farming, cattle-farming and dairy-farming are important branches of the British economy. Chicken farms produce a great number of chickens and eggs for the population.

Britain’s arable farming specializes in fodder crops, market-gardening and horticulture. Almost half of the tilled area is under forage crops (barley and oats). Cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, and other vegetables are grown mainly in the suburbs of big towns. The south of Great Britain is often called the ’’Garden of England”. This is because there are many gardens and orchards.

Seeds and seeding.

The time of seeding has an important influence on both the rate of seeding and the amount of fertilizer to use.

As a rule, small grains are seeded at a heavier rate on poor soils than on the more productive soils. In the case of intertilled crops ¹, such as corn, potatoes, and tobacco, the plants may be left thicker on rich soils than on poor soils. These crops must be planted at the rates that will utilize the plant nutrients of the soil most economically. Different methods of seeding are practiced in soils of different moisture conditions at planting time. In those sections of the country where rainfall is likely to be abundant at planting time, corn and other cultivated crops are planted just deep enough to ensure germination. In sections where soil moisture is likely to be low at planting time and during the early stages of growth, listing is often practiced, especially with corn. (’’Listing’’ consists in opening a furrow several inches deep by means of an implement with a double moldboard and depositing the seed about 2 inches below the bottom of the furrow). Where drainage is poor, crops are often planted on ridges or beds².

Notes:

¹Intertilled crops-пропашные культуры

²ridges or beds-гребешки борозды или грядки

Вариант №3.

Symptoms in the Seedbed.

Tobacco seedlings with erect leaves in small patches in the seedbed are usually the sign of early blue mold infection. Seedlings with leaves between 2 and 4 cm in diameter show clear round yellow spots on the upper surface with corresponding gray or bluish mold¹ in the lower surface. At this stage some of the leaves are usually cupped. Young seedlings, up to 4-weeks old, are very susceptible to blue mold and are easily killed by the fungus². Leaves of older seedlings are puckered and deformed and dark, dead areas may develop. Diseased seedlings are stunted, and in severe cases the stem and root become infected and turn brown in color.

The presence of the downy mold on the under surface of the leaf is the most reliable symptom of blue mold. This downy mold carries thousands of tiny reproductive units called "conidia "³. If sufficient conidia form at different spots in the seedbed an outbreak is likely to occur and all seedlings in the greenhouse become infected overnight.

Notes:

¹bluish mold-голубоватая плесень

²fungus-гриб

³conidia-конидии

Cucumber growing.

Cucumbers can be grown on almost any good soil. The crop, however, is produced largely on the sandy loams. In order to avoid diseases, it is essential that cucumbers be grown in long-period rotations and on new land. Good drainage, together with moisture - holding capacity is essen­tial in soils on which cucumbers are to be grown.

Even where considerable manure is available, one or more of the soil-improvement crops should be included in the rotation, and these should be turned under to enrich the soil and add humus. Where a winter cover crop is grown on the land it will be necessary to turn it under at least 2 or 3 weeks in advance of planting.

Commercial fertilizers containing 4 to 5 percent of nitrogen, 8 to 10 percent of phosphoric acid, and 4 to 5 percent of potash are applied broadcast at the rate of 1 ton to the acre by most cucumber growers.

Soils for cucumbers are easy to prepare. The more successful growers disk and harrow the land several times after plowing in order that all the manure and fertilizers may be thoroughly mixed with the soil. The methods of soil preparation depend upon locality. Where a soil-improvement crop is grown during the late summer, it is plowed under before it is killed by frost.