The Savannah morning news., 1903-02-02


There was very little winter in jan
uary and probably as it generally does
it tempted gardeners to do more in the
way of planting than was altogether
safe. 1t has happened quite a number
of times in the past twenty years that
the mean temperature of January was
higher than that of February. 1t is
not normal, however, for January is
the real winter month. Its mean
temperature should be several degrees
lower than either December or Feb
ruary. We are either to have another
very late spring or we are to have one
of those winters that occur now and
then when spring comes in February.
We can only wait and see.
In the Southern garden February is
the busiest month of the twelve. What,
with sowings in the open ground and
In the hotbeds or cold frames, togeth-
er with the work of preparing the soil
and fertilizing it, there is no time for
fdIeness if one would do the work that
is called for.
Nearly everything from A to V can
be planted either in the open or in
the cold frames. There are just
few exceptions. In the order of hardi-
ness the following should go into the
ground without delay, if not already
in: English peas, onions, spinach sal
sify, turnips, carrots, parsnips,
beets, cabbage, kale, Brussels
sprouts, asparagus, Irish potatoes all
can be planted one time or another
during the month. Some of these are
real money crops" and are grown
largely by Georgia, Carolina and
Florida truckers for shipment. Some
few of them enter only into the home
garden or to supply a small local
market but more or Jess profit is made
from all of them according as the
quality of the soil and the skill of the
grower effects the result.
What more delightful occupation
than raising vegetables on rich soil.
On poor soil it is rather a poor bust
ness, affording neither pleasure nor
profit. II pays to make the soil rich.
There are not many farmers or gar
deners in the South who really know
rich land. The idea with many is that
land is rich when two acres will
make 500 pounds of lint cotton, very,
very rich when an acre will make a
bale
VI course for ordinary farming
man is fortunate indeed when he pos
sesses any considerable number of
acres that are as rich as that. But
for gardening or trucking purposes
such land cannot be regarded as suit
ably rich for many crops and their
most profitable growth. 1t is very
different to classify soil or determine
exactly it's condition of fertility. One
year an acre may produce its bale of
cotton and the next, with same treat
ment, only half bale. Much depends
upon the season.
For trucking purposes 1t is essential
TO have land so rich that its average
crop must be profitable, more or less,
and it is a correct principle that one
had better have five acres made real
~ rich than to have fifteen acres only
moderately so.
The possibilities of a rich acre of
land is $500 pounds of lint cotton. or
200 bushels of corn. 500 bushels of
Irich potatoes, the same or more of
sweet $4,000 pounds of hard-head
cabbage, 500 bushels of onions, and
trucker realizing that these are posi-
Bile crops on really rich land will not
be content to go on year after year and
allow his land to produce only one
fourth such crops. There may be a
little money in even them, but it is
not what he ought to have. 1t may
require several years to bring up land
to something like it's best capacityA but
it will pay the trucker or gardener in
the end to enter upon the undertaking.
acre by acre, until he has his little
farm of twenty acres that will stand
him in lieu of 200 A few crops of
velvet beans or Wonderful peas, a
crop on two of crimson or bur clover
(winter growers) a crop or two of
ragweed given to the land and, besides
concentrating all the available stable
manure on one or two acres instead
of spreading it over ten or twenty.
Then there will be lots of money in
growing cabbages, potatoes, onions.
asparagus, tomatoes, melons and the
like. There will be more clear money
made from twenty or even ten acres
than there is from 200 acres cultivated
in corn and cotton. There is a lot of
pleasure, to be sure, in growing crops
on really rich land. You haven't any,
probably?