The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-01-22
THE FARM AND THE GARDEN.
MATTERS OF INTEREST TO AGRI-
CULTURIsT AND HOUSEWIFE.

Good Preparation and High Manur-
ing the secret of Profitable Crops.
FertiIIzing Fruit Trces-Value OF
Cotton Seed on the Farm-Prncti-
cnI sheep Husbandry.
The weather for the past several weeks
has certainly been in the highest degree
favora Bile for all kinds of farm garden and
orchard work. The cold weather just af-
ter Christmas was not of kind to injure
the young plants of the different crops
started in the fall. The cold wave of Dec.
81 was accompanied by two or three inches
OF snow-here in Middle Georgia at least
and this acted as q mulch which pro-
tected the young plants from any serious
consequences of freezing. Young onions,
spinach and cabbage were not injured in
the least apparently. We can only nope
that there is no cold wave in reserve that
later will put the young crops to a test
that thus far they have readily withstood.
Encouraged by the favorable weather,
there has been an unusual amount of work
done in the gardens and truck farms dur
ing the past month or two and a cold
wave with a temperature OF u 20 Is, would
amount of harm.
Every gardener should be prepared to
do all that is possible 10 ward off the
damage from these sudden cold waves.
but little can be done toward protecting
plants that have been transferred to the
open ground. The principal thing to be
done, as a rule, is TO see to it that there
MA Of hal in, To
The cold frames or in the borders, where
protection can be given with comparative
ly little trouble or expense The profess
sional trucker must regard this as a very
important part of his work. Seeing that
there is an ample reserve of cabbage, let
tuce caulifiower, celery, beets and toma
to plants, etc, to take the place promptly
of such as are destroyed by freezes that
may be more or less out of season. Nor
NAL winter weather should. not give us,
even in Middle Georgia, so low a temporal
ture in February as to be seriously in
furious TO such plants as we have named,
excepting tomatoes. But in the past ten
years it has not been an unusual thing for
the weather to give us a surprise in this
respect, and so we have had cold waves,
not only in February, but once or twice
in March and severe enough TO injure
riously both hardy and half-hardy crops
that were in an active state of growth at
the time.
Since the cold wave in the early part
of the month the weather has been COM
paratively mild, and the garden crops and
the small grain have been melted to
new and vigorous growth. A very severe
freeze now would do these crops con-
siderable damage. There is no practical
way of keeping them in check for they
are bound TO respond 10 the influence of
the warm, moist weather. AS stated, all
that can be done is to have plenty of
seeds and plants in reserve to replace
such crops as are seriously damaged by
the cold. Possibly the cold may not oc-
cur-that is, severe enough to injure Sc
riousiy. But one must be prepared for il.
nevertheless. There is a marked differ
ence between the January work of the
Florida trucker and that of his co-worker
in Middle Georgia. The first is market
ing or about to market the crops that the
latter is now planting or thinking of plant
ing. While the Middle Georgia gardener
is planting out his crops of onions beets,
lettuce, cabbage English peas the Mid
die Georgia grower is shipping his prod
ucts north.
There is a vast difference in the plant
ing season of the two localities, and sug-
Sestions that are appropriate for the one
is Of little value and application for the
other:
Whatever the locality, however, it is
quite certain the work to be done in the
next thirty days is about the most i'm
portant that will be done during the sea-
son. Over a large section of territory
south of Atlanta several of the most val
| liable crops of the trucker and gardener
will be a feature of their work. The cab
bage crop, that of Irish pota toes, onions,
grown from the Seed beets, English peas,
satisfy, celery. are all important crops to
be gotten under way in the next four to
six weeks
The soil for these crops should be put
in the finest condition possible. This is
half the battle, having the soil thoroughly
manured, well plowed and narrowed, If
the soil is light, as doubtless most of It
is, the roller also should be used in get
ting it in that condition that we may call
ideal.
The experienced trucker or gardener is
not likely to regard an application of 200
to 400 pounds of fertilizer as good manur-
ing for any of these crops. He counts by
tons rather Than by hundred pounds If
he is a renter he may be deferred from
putting on the fertilizer he thinks is best
for the purpose, but the man that owns
his land viii moi stop under Two or three
tons of good fertilizer for such crops as
have been named To grow the most prof
table crops of cabbage there must be ma
nure without stint. 1t pays to make q. 900
pounds of hard-head cabbage per acre and
500 bushels of potatoes or onions but one
must not be afraid to pile on the manure
Put it on. 1t win not be wasted 1t will
make othsr crops besides the first plant
ings. Successful trucking hinges upon
I high manuring.
FertilizinE Fruit Trees.
II is only of late years that the necessity