The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-03-07
FARM,

il can De prepared Win morse ant
pillow al the beginning of operations
even if the cultivation of the vege-
tables is carried on without their aid
After being once we'll prepared witt
the horse pillow any home garden no
larger than an acre can be made a:
perfectly as need be with the garden
pillow or wheel hoe, a garden roller. 2
heavy harrow rake and a pronged hoe
Especially is this true where the gar
den soil is of a light sandy nature
has been long in cultivation and is
free from rocks. Most Of the soil in
the South is of this kind and needs
to be cultivated very shallow after the
crops are under way. Deep working
of crops ottener than not do more
harm than good. Such soil needs 10
become compact to meet the needs Of
the growing plant.
There are several makes Of wheel
hoes, some with one wheel and some
with two, and that vary in price from
81 TO S. The poorest or simplest Of
these is we'll worth SO TO any one
who cultivates as much as quarter
of an acre in vegetables. These wheel
hoes are provided with four different
points-tongue, shovel, rake and
sweep-and with one or the other the
work of planting and cultivating can
be done as effectively almost as with
the horse plow, once the soil has been
put in good shape by the latter.
With the rake or sweep attachment
the crust of the soil can be broken
about the young plants as soon as
they come up and without danger of
covering them with soil.
AS the motto of the gardener is, or
should be, kill weeds before they
come up" this whee-hoe will do the
work of weed or grass killing as per-
fectly as any horse implement. 1t is
always hitched up and ready for work
In fact, it is an indispensable tool
Next to the wheel-hoe, perhaps, in
value in the small garden is a twelve
inch roller. These can be bought al
ready made and furnished with ham
dies and extra weights. A common
wheelbarrow, provided with a wide
wheel (ten or twelve inches) makes
a fine implement for the purpose. 1t
can be used for other purposes than
a roller, too Some kind of a roller
is indispensable for frming the soil
after the seeds are put in. 1t is the
only tool that will pulverize the clods.
II encourages the capillary flow of
moisture from the lower soil, and
used on alternate days with the har-
row or heavy rake. it promotes the
deposit of dew, which is very helpful
in periods of dry weather The roller
is more of a cultivating implement
than the casual thought would credit
it with.
A heavy rake. one twelve inches
wide, with strong fiat four-inch teeth,
and with long handle eight feet long.
is a valuable implement in the home
garden. 1t is good for raking trash
and it is a good implement for Guilt
waiting young plants. A light rake Is
desirable, and so is a scufffe hoe. 1t
is we'll to have a pronged hoe. With
a trowel and a dibble, these are about
all the necessary tools that are needed
to make a garden in the most econom-
zeal manner possible.
The garden should be laid off into
plats as long as possible. but It should
not be cut up into too many perma-
nent walks.
There is no better arrangement of
a square garden than to have 1t in
tersected by a broad walk each way
in the center. Granting that 1t is
fenced securely. as it should be. a
three or four-foot bed should be laid
off next to the fence along
the sides Next to this a
three-foot walk all the way around
This narrow bed along the fence
should be used for growing lettuce.
for raising all kinds of plants that
are to be set out and later climbing
plants-butter beans, squashes. and
even tomatoes, can be set along it to
use the fence as a trellis.
All permanent walks should be Dor
l.
we'll to border one of the beds with
strawberries. AS many berries as a
small family will need can thus be
grown. Another bed can be bordered
with asparagus.
In the South there Is no month in
the year that calls for more varied
work in farm and garden than the
month of March.
Over large area it is the month
for corn planting.
1t is the month above all others
when no suitable day for blowing
should be lost. Cotton land should be
bedded up this month.
This is the month for bedding sweet
potatoes. Soil should be prepared for
sugar cane 1t is the time for maxi
ing a sowing of fodder corn. An acre
of it near the barn comes in handy
for any one that has mule or a COW
to provide for
In the garden there is so much work
TO be done in this month 1t is diff
cult to decide which to do first.
From first TO last, In one section or
another of the South Atlantic region
nearly every vegetable in the cata-
logue can be planted either in the
open ground or in cold frames-nearIy
all in the open.
In the northern half of the state
Irish potatoes planted in March do al
most as we'll as when planted in Feb
ruary, and in the same section Eng
lish peas of the dwarf kinds can still
be planted, with every prospect of a
good crop If given suitable soil and
are well cultivated.
- IS not too late yet to plant out
asparagus roots If these are procured
from sections further north where dor.
mant plants can be had.
The first shoots of asparagus are
rarely seen in Middle Georgia before
the last of March, and home raised
plants are transplantable during the
first half Of the month, if not later
In cold frames or protected seed bed.
OF some kind seeds of pepper. egyptian
and tomatoes should be sown, so a.
to have stocky, well grown plants
ready to set out in April. Every HON,
garden should have at least two o.
three cold frames for raising early
plants. In them the young plants ar,
better protected from insects thai
when in the open ground. Even swee
potato plants are better raised in colC
frames, and several weeks can b,
gained in starting the crop off whei
the potatoes are bedded in well-pro
tected frames.