Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1890-09-05

should De directed toward preventing the
Ill effects of the prolonged absence of ram.
We are now likely to see the benefits from
thorough preparation of the ground. OF
perfect drainage, or perhaps OF subsolllng,
and certainly of good blowing and thor
ough lining of the soil before planting.
where the work of preparation was not
perfectly done, the crops. even with the
best OF after care, are liable to suffer IN
moderate drouth much more than where
the preparatory conditions were Just right,
and only the most energetic efforts can
prevent serious injury should the drouth
be protracted one The simplest. and
usually the only means at the command of
the home gardner for guarding against
the Ill effects of dry spells. Is the mulch or
loose soil provided by frequent cultivation.
Weed killing is merely Incidental, al
though of hardly less Importance, since
useless eaters and drinkers are not wanted
at any time. least of all In a drouth.
il hne-toothed cultivator Is just the i'm
plement for getting the surface soil among
corn, potatoes, eabbages, beans, etc, in
that powdery condition in which it serves
It's purpose as mulch best. Level culture
is also preferable for the same reason. 1t
affords a chance to keep the whole of the
ground thus evenly mulehed, while ridges
and hills present much larger evapora-
ting surface. Farmers use the wide bl9aes,
the shovel-plows and even the old-fas .icn-
ed, clumsy thlll-cultlvators yet by far too
much. Where hoeing. weed-kllllng and,
above all, the protection against drouth Is
the object, narrow hoes are by far the best
and really the only blades that farmers
should use.
In the garden we can do this work of
stirring the surface between rows of
close-planted vegetables in so thorough a
manner and with so little effort by the
use of our modern wheel hoes that this
work is more of a pleasure than task;
and go over all the patches every few
days, especially shortly after every rain,
merely for the satisfaction of seing the
fresh, new, live soil; and this | do,
whether there is a weed to be seen or not.
The rows appear so clean and bright after
each cultivation, AID the plants seem to
respond winh quickened growth ard
thrift, that always feel well repaid for
the little time it takes to do the job. OF
| course this frequent stirring of the sol
also serves to admit air and moisture dur
ing the night to the stratum where the
| plant root, fee&. All these are advantage
VASTLY Jul VI piOpOIIlou W JUe llJllS ldUul
and effort involved. This we should no
overlook, namely, that the best satisfac
ton in field and garden cannot be secured
except through just such a course o
thorough tiliase as here indicated. Tn,
wedding among small garden crops
onions, carrots. ETC., is done by peopl
with younger backs than mine. Boy
| from 10 to Is years of age, when vel
trained, do quiCe satisfactory work with
small garden trowel, or broken knit
! bent into curve and sharpened on boil
sides, but it is always well to give thes
| youngsters, where there is number o
them together. close supervision. to kee1
them out of mischief. i thorough weed
ing, especially among onions, has tn
same beneficial effect as the stirring o
the soil between the rows with the whee
hoe. The plants seem to jump right along
and | frequently have a wedding don
when hardly weed is in sight. In small
gardens. where the owner thinks it woult
hardly pay him to buy and keep a hand
wheel hoe. much good can be done with al
ordinary good steel rake. Of course. tn
rows must be a little wider than width 0
rake, or the latter made narrower thai
width of rows. But in the absences of tn
wheel hoe, the steel rake applied vigorous
ly and frequently between the rows will of
ten leave the patch in very fair shape. i
whatever way the object is accomplished
however, we must be sure to have tn
work done right, and this usually mean
frequently repeated. so that the surface
freshened up in the form of a powder
mulch all through the season.