The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-11-18
GO Ar TT RIGHT

L do not care how good your loca-
ton. soil, climate, fruiting vigor of
your plants or environments are, / in
sist you can't raise uniformly large
crops of big berries that sell in the
market readily at fancy prices, and
give the grower fame and name. with
out beginning at the beginning and
going at it right.
The time to begin is not few
hours before the plants are to be set,
by blowing under lot of coars, half
rotted manure, or even thoroughly rot
ted manure, it is rank poison to their
roots, and if it comes in contact with
them in any quantity it will surely re-
suit IN injury. 1t must be thoroughly
| decomposed and become a part of the
soil itself before the little rootlets can
take it UP as liquid and pass it through
the plant cells to the leaves and digest
1t, to furnish the material for manu-
| featuring wood, foliage and fruit. No
matter how thorough your after tillage
| may be, you cannot atone for the lack
of proper preparation in advance.
! There is yet time to do it, but little
| time to lose.
The land should be deeply and care
fully plowed, thoroughly narrowed,
then draw out any kind of the best ma
nure you have and spread it evenly.
| In no case leave it in piles. The fall
rains will wash all the juices and plant
food into the soil and distribute it even
~ throughout.
If You apply unleached wood ashes.
put them on before you do the manure
and harrow them in thoroughly. not
over fifty bushels to the acre on sandy
'9nd and twenty-five on clay. Bear in
mind ashes are a disinfectant; and if
you put on the manure without mixing
the whole with soil at once it will set
the amonia free to go off in the air.
ana thus the most ble,part of the
manure will be lost
AS early in the spring as you can get
on the ground without poaching it.
rake up every particle of the litter and
draw it off for mVlching currants and
gooseberries When the ground is dry
enough put on the spading or disk har-
row. or cultivate it about six inches
deep, roll and harrow it repeatedly I'M
til it is as fine as the finest ashes: then
pillow as deep as possible without bring
ing too much of the subsoil to the sur
face, then roll and harrow as before.
finishing with the roller
When You ploW in the spring have
the subsoiler follow, breaking it I'D as
much deeper as you can. If you do
not have a subsoil pillow use a narrow
shovel plow set as slanting as posi-
bic. The object of this is to break up
the capillary passages that exist all
| through the lower strata, and separate
the particles of earth, so capillary ac-
ton will be slower and hold the wa
ter there to tide over the drouth. If
the soil is sufficiently fine roots will
penetrate and will fill every square
inch of it down and far out, and when
the great strain of perfecting the fruit
comes, the plant has the tools and ma
terials to do it to the greatest salts
faction.
As an evidence of the priceless value
of this method of preparing the ground
L cite you to my plantation of over
twenty acres of strawberries set last
spring. 1t is conceded by old settlers
of Michigan that we have never had a
year of such drouth as the present
Corn, potatoes and pastures are ruined
and yet there has not been a day when
You could not remove an inch or so
of the dust mulch and get soil, not
only moist, but wet The growth of
the plants is a perfect marvel to all
our visitors, and what shall the har-
vest be?
Pardon a little personal pride, dear
reader, if 1 smile at the stunted, sick
ly growth of some of my neighbors'
plantations, who have poohed at my
method of throwing away work.
What has been said applies with
equal force to the planting of any
kind of small fruit trees. An apple.
peach or pear orchard started on
ground thus prepared will show the
effect of the work for many years.
Shall we irrigate? Yes, certainly, if
you can; but if people will practice the
above method Of preparing for their
crops, it will not make much difference
whether the science of rain-making
and irrigation advance or not The
surplus water falling in April is held
for the plants in July and August, but
you cannot succeed if You wait till the
water is gone. Keep the surface loose
and mellow. When a crust forms the
water gets away fast.
Begin in time and keep at it and you
are a winner.-R. NJ. Kellogg in Farm,
Field and Fireside