Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1886-09-30

| assisted
the Hollander in Wrestling from the
ocean one of the gardens of the world.
We must again dwell on the principles
already emphasized that soils must be
treated according to their nature. If too
damp, they must be drained; il of the
fortunate quality of sandy loan resting
on a clay subsoil, they can be abundantly
depended and enriched from the start;
if of heavy clay, inclined to be cold and
wet in spring, and to bake and crack in
summer, skill should aim to tighten it
and remove its inertia; finally, as we have
shown, light porous soil should be
treated like a spendthrift. All soils, ex-
| cept the last-named, are much the better
for being enriched and deeply ploughed
or forked in October or November. This
exposes the mould to the sweetening and
mechanical action of the frost, and the
fertilizers incorporated with it are gradu-
ally transformed into just that condition
of plant from which the rootlets take up
with the greatest ease and rapidity. A
light soil, on the contrary, should not be
worked in autumn, but beleft intact after
the crops are taken from it.
In one respect light soil and stiff
heavy one should be treated in the same
way, but for different reasons. In the
first instance fertilizers should be APP
piled in moderation to the surface, and
rains and the cultivation of growing
crops depended upon to carry the rich
ness downward to the roots. The por-
Gus nature of the earth must ever be
! borne in mind; fertilizers pass through
| it and disappear, and therefore are ap-
! piled to the surface to delay this pro-
cess and enable the roots to obtain as
much nutriment as possible during the
passage. Equal and even greater ad-
vantages are secured by top-dressing
of barn-yard manures and composts to
the heaviest of clay. The surface of
such soils, left to nature, becomes in hot
dry weather like pottery, baking and
cracking, shielding from dew and show
er, and preventing all circulgtion of air
about the roots. A top-dressing prevents
all this, keeps the surface open and mel
low, and supplies not only fertility, but
the mechanical conditions that are es-
sential.
If we are now ready to begin, let US be-
gin right. I have not much sympathy
with financial fussy gardening. One of
the chief destinations of gardening is the
endless field it affords for skillful sleight-
of hand, shortcuts, unconventional
methods, and experiments. The true
gardener soon ceases to be a man of
rules, and becomes one of strategy, of
expedients. He is prompt to act at the
right moment. The man of rules saws
that the first of July is the time to set
out winter cabbage, and out go the
plants though the sky be brazen and the
mercury in the nineties. The gardener
has his plants ready, and for few DAYS
watches the sky. At last he perceives
that rain is coming; then he sets out his
plants, and natures watering starts them,
unwilted, on their new growth.
At the same time. [ protest against
careless, slovenly gardening-ground i'm
perfectly prepared, crooked rows, seed
half covered, or covered so deeply that
the germs are discouraged long before
they reach light. One of the best aid to
success is a small compost heap compos-
ed equally of manure from the horse-sta-
bic, the constable, and of leaves. This
should be allowed to stand so long, and
be cut down and turned so often, that it
becomes like fine black powder, and is
much the better for being kept under
shelter from sun and rain.
All who hope to have a permanent gar
den will naturally think first of aspara-
gus, one of the vegetables that have been
longest in cultivation, and one which is
justly among the most valued. It was
cultivated hundreds of years before the
Christian era, and is to-day growing
In popular esteem among civilized peo-
pies.
will give in brief just what is essen
tial to secure good and lasting aspara-
gus bed. We can if we choose grow our
own plants, and thus be sure of good
ones. The seed can be sown in late Octo-
Der Or early spring on light rich soil in
rows eighteen inches apart. An ounce of
seed will SOW fifty feet of drill. If the
soil is light, cover the seed one inch
deep; if heavy, half an inch, pack the
ground lightly, and cover the drill with a
good busting of that fine compost we
spoke of, or any fine manure. This gives
the young plants a good send-off. By
the use of the hoe and hand wedding keep
them scrupulously clean during the grow
ing season, and when the tops are killed
by frost NOW thsm off. l should advise
sowing two or three seeds to the inch,
thinning them out so that they stand four
inches apart. You thus insure almost the
certainty Of good strong plants by au-
tumn, for plants raised as directed are
growth, and by most gardeners are pre-
ferred. In most instances good plants |
can be bought from nursery-men, who |
usually offer for sails those that are two
years old.