The Osceola times., 1881-06-11
PACTS FOR FARMERS.
Labor Saving a subject Considered In 4,
Formation Of GzrIenS,

Labor Saving a subieot Considered In a..
Formation Of GzrIens,
Our fathers OF honored memory ve,s
worn out by much useless labor. Tbe;,
gardens were little patches Of uncertain
shape; walled in TO prevent the deprs.
dations OF swine; surrounded by currsn,
and raspberry bushes, that soon came 70
be matted hedges, laid out in beds and
walks that required incessant labor 10
keep them clean, and of such geome,,;s
form, or rather lack Of form, as reguiie5
culture with spade. There is a bet,sr
way. Horse culture is as much in al.
vance Of hand culture In the garden ..
in the field; and the object Of this articls
is to explain the principles that are the
foundation OF this practice.
The garden must be the same width
throughout; Of convenient length NJ
furrow, with no distractions, such a.
bushes and young trees at the headlsnd
Instead of beds we have drills, and the
drills are made at any convenient dis.
tance apart. Drills for onions may be
worked twenty four inches apart. cah.
bages thirty for potatoes thirty-fye
inches, and for sweet potatoes four feet
in width, and all these may be worked
with an ordinary one-horse corn plow.
In fact this Is the best possible imple.
ment. The distance apart the other way
in the line Of the drill, may be whatever
seems to be pest. In the case of corn
four feet VIII do; for watermelons six. for
grapeyines eight feet The desideratum
is TO stir the greatest amount Of surface
without interfering with the plant, 10
keep out the weeds. For then We leave
the least work for the h1nd-hoe.
In the first place, plow that part of the
garden that Is used now as soon as the
ground Is sufficiently dry. In plowing.
dnd the middle line, by measurement Of
the land you propose to work, and mark
this line plainly with the drill-hoe. stop.
ping at the distance Of half the width Of
The path from each end. Let the frs
iurrOw be little more than q mark. being
careful to stop at the proper distance
rom each end. Around this central fur.
Iow-geeing abOut-iay up the plowed
land. When finished it has been trod.
den by no hoof, is OF equal width at the
end, Is h CHEST IN the middle, and en-.
closed with dead iurrow. This plow.
ing should be done with two horses
deep and fine, setting the plow more or
less to the ground as it does its work
perfectly. one blowing six inches wide
y worth more than two of twelve inches
Cross-p.Oging has quite gone out of
fashion. Il brings up what you have
been at The trouble 10 turn under. In
narrowing, if YOU use the smooth harrow
with inclined teeth, take one section of
the same and reverse Il, using il IN this
way until all the Jumps are pulverized.
alter which put the sections together and
Use until you get a smooth surface.
Now lay of the headlands SIX or eight
feet in width, across the two ends OF The
paral.eloCram. These are the walks
Of the garden, and the horse turning on
them during the season will keep the
weeds down. They give convenient ac.
cess to every drill. On these two lines
drive stakes at the distance from each
other q! the width Of the drills. and
stretch the garden line from each stake
to iis cJrres p0ndIng stake on the oppo>
site side Of the piece. The line used may
be any convenient length up 10 2j0 feet,
If care be taken 10 keep it from being
varied by the wind. Tne lines must be
straight and parallel, Tor a slight varia-
ton IN the long line requires much labor
with the hand IN subsequent culture. In
marking With the baud -iriIl keep on the
same side Of the line, OF you will makea
iog Of three inches in the row. When
marked, make the marks into flrroWs bv
going and returning with the one horse
corn plOw in the same furrows, other
wise you would affect the width Of alter
nate rOBs.