Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-09-11
Home Garden Echoes.
Practical Farmer.

We are now entering upon a season
when we must expect to meet occasional
spells of dry weather. In the garden as
should be directed toward preventing the
I'LL effects of the prolonged absence of rain.
We are now likely to see the benefits from
thorough preparation of the ground, of
perfect drainage, or perhaps of subsoiling,
and certainly of good blowing and thor
ough fning 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 a
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 onl Y means at the command of
the home gardner for guarding against
the i'll effects of dry spells, is the mulch of
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 drouth.
A ine-toothed cultivator is just the i'm
plement for getting the surface soil among
corn, potatoes, cabbages, beans, etc., in
that powdery condition in which it serves
its purpose as mulch best. Level culture
is also preferable for the same reason. 1t
affords chance to keep the whole of the
ground thus evenly mulched, while ridges
and hills present much larger evapora-
ting surface Farmers use the wide blades,
the shovel -plows and even the old-fashion-
ed, clumsy thill-cultivators yet by far too
much. Where hoeing, weed-killing 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
stirring the surface between rows
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 a 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 weed to be seen Or not
The rows appear so clean and b"; ght after
each cultivation, aid the pla1Cs seem tc
respond winh quickened growth ard
thrift. that always feel well repaid fol
the little time it takes to do the job. Oh
course this frequent stirring of the sol
also serves to admit air and moisture dur
ing the night to the stratum where the
plant roots FEED All these are advantage!
vastly out of proportion to the little labor
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 Of
thorough tillage as here indicated The
wedding among small garden crops
onions, carrots. ETC., is done by people
with younger backs than mine. Boys
from 10 to Is years of age, when vel
trained, do quite satisfactory work with 6
small garden trowel, or a broken knife
bent into curve and sharpened on both
sides, but it is always well to give these
youngsters, where there is number Of
them together, close supervision, to keel
them out of mischief 4 thorough weed
ing, especially among onions, has the
same beneficial effect as the stirring OF
the soil between the rows it'll the whee
hoe. The plants seem to jump right along,
and | frequently have a wedding done
when hardly weed is in sight. In small
gardens, where the owner thinks it would
hardly pay him to buy and keep hand
wheel hoe, much good can be done with an
ordinary good steel rake. Of course, the
rows must be little wider than width OF
rake, or the latter made narrower than
width of rows. But in the absences of the
wheel hoe, the steel rake applied vigorous
ly and frequently between the rows will Of
ten leave the patch in very fair shape. In
whatever way the object is accomplished
however, we must be sure to have the
work done right, and this usually means
frequently repeated, so that the surface is
freshened up in the form of powdery
mulch all through the season.