The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-12-22


charge hera- IL any farmer has ANYTHING
=, e. say IN rebuttai, let him say i. We De
isFe We are Offering him good advice when
We suggest to wipe out the recollection CT
past failures with CAS- ard rye ao1 start
new series OF trials or experiments, if he
chooses TO call them such, and In the higher
latitude alluded 70 sow his oats on fair up-
lands between Sept. Is and Oct. Il, using
three OF four bushels of seed. narrowing
them in and then rolling the land. II lie is
prevented from sowing in that period. let
MN ueier the sowing until February, ard il
~ is made then on good soil that has been
thoroughly plowed ara the seed narrowed
IN and the soil well rolled, il properly dry at
the time of sowing, there is no need for so
many failures of this valuable crop. Plowed
IA loosely with turn shovel in Octobe-, as Is
the common practice. and sown generally en-
poor or half worn out land at that, is there
any an reason for expecting satisfactory cropl
We trow not.
There is plenty of work Co be done IN the
gardens and truck farms of the south if the
weather IS at all favorable to outdoor work.
Even If no sowIngs or paintings are to be
made during the rest of this month, or dur
ing the greater part of next, the average
gardener feels that he hes no more time
tnan he really needs for getting the soil in
good preliminary condition il the way of
piowlng and manuring for the crops that
are to be put in in January or February.
Garden SOIL is very greatly helped by being
rIuged up before all the hard freezes ara
over. All pats not occupied by the hardy
vegetables that were put out Ia the fall
should be "huted," if possible, some time
early IN December, If not sooner. This is
very rapidly done by furrowing the land
with turn shovel, or a round shovel either
Will do, running the burrows as close to each
preceding one as possible without throwing
any dirt into it. Soil thus furrowed in time
10 receive the full benefit of all the freezes
and thawings of December and January
will be left in fine condition for preparation
ana planting early In the spring. If the
freezes are normally severe, a very thor
ough pulverizatlon of the surface soil is Sc
cured 10 land thus treated. This plan il
not observed to the extent that it should be.
On clayey soil, especially, it is equivalent to
a 1alr manuriDg Of it, and renders it more
easily prepared IN good order and cultivated
In the summer. Soil of this character thus
treated Will not have the same tendency to
run together as it would if left fat until it
Is plowed in the spring Just before
planting time. While in this fiuted
or furrowed condition any stable manure or
other crude organic manure on hand or to be
mad should be applied broadcast soon after
turrow1ng Such commercial fertilizers as
are used should not be applied until Just be-
fore the blowing or narrowing which is
preparatory TO planting the crop. It is
hardly possible to pursue a more economical
aud satisfactory plan for the primary prep
aratlon and manuring of either field or
garden land, bearing in mind that the
rldging is designed for the purpose of having
the freezes pulverlze the soil. The burrows
should be run about a foot apart. After
the manure has bean applied, if every third
ridge Is split open with a large round
shovel, all the manure will be covered by
soil. Now, GO ahead and subs0l this same
furrow and bed back in it, and the land
viii be left in three feet beds all ready for
planting. A good many garden crops are
very properly planted in rows only two
feet, such as carrots, onions, dwarf peas
spinach. etc. In the case of these, then
split open any other ridge and bed back.
For plants requiring more distance, such as
tomatoes, cucumbers, sQuashes, butter
beans, etc., every fourth ridge can be bed
ded to.
The truckers Of South Georgia and along
the coast experienced very fine weather for
the establishing of the hardy crops this sea-
son. Onions, cabbage, spinach and the like
up to Dec. Is had met with very little check
to growth, as no severe freezes had occurred
up 60 that date Ice formed several times,
but no lower temperature than 80 had
been experienced on the 33rd parallel up to
the middle of December. This cannot be
taken as a sign that there will be any lack
of cold waves in January and February,
however Remembering what Mother
March brought last year, it will be well not
to indulge in too much premature planting
of any of the half-hardy vegetables. Eacn
man must be the judge of how much risk he
is able to take without seriously embarrass-
ing operations that are to follow. While
every reasonable effort to secure the earliest
crops is justifiable, it will not do to attempt
it on so large a scale and without due re-
gard to reasonableneSs as to make ones sue
cess hinge upon the escape Of premature
paintings from frosts and freezes that it is
reasonable to expect after awhile.
$. A. G.