The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1878-02-19
HILLSDALE, MICH, TUESDAY FEBRUARY 10. 1873


in boiling coal tar containing thre
quarts Of costic lime TO the barrel.-
That he had some prepared in this VA.
that had been set 10 years. and wer'
now apparently sound.
Mr.. Williits said he had ash rail-
now good that had been in the fence II
years.
Next came
FarmC They Pay.
BIT JOEL D. NORRIS, OF CAMBRIA.
Mn. PRESIDENT AND BROTHER FARM
rns:-To appear before an audience
like this. is a new departure for me.
But as the committee for this institute
has not invited any one to apologize
shall not, but hasten 10 the subject as
signed TO me, which is Farm Gar.
dens. Do they pay?" means, / sup.
pose. the greatest quantity OF vegets-
bles and fruit produced with the least
amount OF labor. In farm gardening,
the first and most essential thing TO be
considered is the soil and location. bat
the soil is not everything that warrants
success. The size Of the garden depends
on the family. Do not be afraid OF
getting it too large. The soil should
be sand, loan, or muck. For general
purposes for gardening, the soil that
have had the best success with is re-
claimed willow swamp, OF about one
acre, where good seeds never fail TO
grow il properly put i'll.
IL you have low rich piece Of land,
convenient to the house, by all means
use it for your garden. II it is not dry
enough, nothing will pay you better
than to tile il. But should not your
land be rich enough naturally, you
must make it so by fertilizing. Do not
undertake TO make your garden on
poor soil, without msnuring. Put on
the manure thickest where certain
crops are to grow that require the most
manure. You need not be afraid Of
making il too rich. Do not undertake
to make your garden on stiff clay soil,
my experience in that direction is that
it does not pay. Prepare your seed
bed as for wheat or oats. Be sure and
have it mellow. Do not plow Il say
plow, for do not think it will pay TO
spade much) until you are ready to
plant it, then the seeds will have an
even chance with the weeds. And by
all means do not pillow it when wet.
The next thing TO be considered is
the seeds and plants. The selection OF
seeds is a very important matter, and
in the wisdom OF the choice, success
may, in a great measure depend. You
not only want the best seeds, but you
want the best varieties. One caunot
afford to spend his time with poor
kinds. Do not understand me Is adj
vising you to buy every new variety of
seed that is advertised as the best. it
will be time enough to invest when it
proves itself worthy OF cultivation.
1t is great damage to SOW poor
seed. II you do not raise your owp,
make out your list from the catalogue
of some reliable seed house, then send
for il early. Do not wait until the day
yop want to SOW 1t, then send boy to
the nearest grocery for il, for in my
opinion, You will be disappointed. l
waste no time in making raised beds,
which is time thrown away. But when
get my land fitted / take the horse
aud pillow aud make light straight
ridges, from two to three feet apart, or
SOW by a strong line drawn tightly
across the garden, the longest way, for
the convenience Of working with the
horse and cultiyator.
1o not SOW your seed until the
ground gets warm. Do not plant all
at once. but leave space for planting
moro for a succession. Be care
ful aud not cover the small seeds so
deep they cannot grow, then blame the
scotsman for selling You poor seeds.
rhe larger seeds may be covered deep
er with good results. Nothing is so
discouraging TO the gardner as to have
his seeds fail to grow.
/ SOW in drills so that can tend the
garden with the horse and cultivator;
never think OF hoeing it, unless when
the plants are very small. i do not
make the garden until the earth gets
warm, then the most Of the seeds will
grow rs soon rs the weeds. The best
way to keep weeds down is TO stir the
ground often while they are small.
(rhe old maxim is very applicable
here. "a stitch in time caves nine. y
IL you let the weeds run up TO seed one
year. just think what you will have to
contend with the next. Ny observa-
ton il, where horse power is not used
in the garden, where one is not kept free
from weeds, in the next three years,
the weeds are principle crop. On rich
land do not SOW too earl y the yegeta-
bles you grow for winter use, such as
turnips, cabba2es, cucumbers, etc.
The only trouble that have exper-
fenced in growing csbbages until last
year was, / put them out so early in the
season, they got their growth and
burst open before the cool weather
came to check il. Then by planting
the cucumber in succession, say in
May, June and July, you will be very
likely to escape the drouth, which is so
very Obstructive to the vines.
In laying ont the garden, set the cur
rent and raspberries, grapes, pieplant
aud asparagus on one side, IN rows by
themselves, so you can run through
them with the cultiyator at your con-
venience, for these are q great luxury
that no farmer can afford TO do without.
Aud, as n friend said in an essay here
last winter, should come TO be esteem
ed as necessities.
II there is one thing in a farmers
garden that pays better than another,
II is q well titled awberry bed, from
the fact that they ripsn when there is
no other fruit. have a short state
ment from one Of nv neighbors IN re-
gard to gardening for profit, which i
will state. He says, "a few years ago
gave my son, lad of 10 years, a
small piece OF land for gardening, sew
en- rods and one-half long, and three
rods wide, making twenty-five and one
half rods, or trife over one-eighth Of
an acre. He planted IL TO cabbages,
cucumbe's aud tomatoes. and sold the
crop in Hillsdale for S3l.00.." In the
same ratio an acre would produce about
500. We think this answers the ques.
ton, "Does it pay7" in the Affirmative.
have omitted to say anything about
the different varieties OF vegetables
from the fact that what would suit ore
would not suit another. but left each
one to choose for themselves.
And now brother farmers let me say,
that gardening, on paper is one thing,
aud gardening in the garden is quite
another. Bot in following the above
instruction, will take the responsible
ity Of saying Subject 10 criticism, }
that no part OF the farm pays as good
returns, In proportion to the outlay, as
a we'll cultivated garden.
have been requested bv some OF
the committee, to dwell somewhat on
the growing Of roots for domestic ami.
mails. As IL is closely connected with
farm gardening, we thought IT would