The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-07-24
Gardening That Gives Profit and
Pleasure.

An intelligent mind gets a great deal of
pleasure from gardening Year after year
interest is renewed in it and great indeed,
would be the disappointment if circum-
stances forbade its continuance. Among
doctors, lawyers and preachers We find
our most enthusiastic gardeners.
In times of ordinary prosperity it is won
derful the money returns to be secured
from a garden of one acre. There are To-
Caliiies where the product of one acre fur
nishes very satisfactory income to a
small family. An acre of land can be puI
IN such condition as to produce fifty times
what an average acre produces under or
binary care and cultivation.
What vast range there is or should be
between an acre in corn or cotton and an
acre in asparagus. caulifower, lettuce.
ce,enry, hOrseraddish and other crops of
like character. Think even, of an acre in
onions or cabbages here in the South under
the highest cultivati lion, compared to an
acre of cotton or corn. Under conditions
of prosperity in all lines of business even
an acre of onions can give a net return of
several hundreds dollars to the intelligent
cultivator. Near some of our cities and
large towns an acre of Boston market"
lettuce in its highest perfection may
stand for hundreds of dollars clear money
Under the highest cultivation and most
| intelligent care what may not an acre Of
! Japan plums, of grapes, of peaches, repre-
| sent in hard cash? There is a vast diff
ference in the several crops that we have
! named. With some it is only a matter
i of three or four months from seed sowing
| to maturity. Others being established
/ once. endure for many years requiring only
| a small amount of care to secure their ex-
| istence. a plantation of asparagus once
well established is good for twenty years,
and grapes, how much more enduring still
they are!
Enrich an acre to its maximum capacity
! and what il may be made to return Ia
iniuated-those who have had no observa-
| ton or experience. The acre that was
! made to produce five bales of cotton. or
! 800 bushels of corn was no better ma tur-
| ally than are thousands of acres in close
vicinity to them. and there are thousands
| of instances where it would pay 10 put $10(
worth of manure to the acre TO grow such
crops as we have named. This much ma
| Eure applisd TO an acre would probably
| render it able 10 produce 100, perhaps 200
more bushels Of Irish potatoes or onions
than it did before, and the land would be
left in better condition besides.
From long experience and observation
We are quite positive it is no very difficult
matter to bring up fairly good land to a
J cOndii ion to enable 1t to produce 600 TO so,
bushels of tomatoes, onions or sweet po-
| tatoes to the acre. and easily that much
| and more Of artchokes and turnips and
| beets
II is no difficult matter, either, to grow
twenty tons of hard-head cabbage on an
acre of hrst-class soil, properly fortified
| and cultivated
OF course practical farming will MOI
justify putting on more manure on an acre
than can be paid for by the crop, what
ever It may be, but there are certain
| crops that justify the most liberal manur-
| ing. Time and again men, who knew well
what they were doing, have put 500 worth
| of manure on an acre of land that did
| not cost more than $25 TO start with. In
| te'ligent market gardeners or truckers dc
| TINS every year. Small tracts of arabic
land close to cities and large towns thus
prove a vertable bank both TO the owners
| and to the renters.
Cultivating the soil after the manner
that they do there is a vast amount OF
genuine pleasure, as Wen as pecuniary
profit, derived from the occupation.