Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1908-03-04
The Joys and Woes Of
Gardening
Mistress Mary, cutie contrary,

Mistress Mary, cutie contrary,
How does your garden grOw?"
When we determined on making
garden" in the very inviting plot that
lay to the west of the house, 1t was
with a calm confidence begot of read
ing such aphorisms as Tickle the
ground with hoe and it will laugh
into harvest" and other such hand
made maxims. Our first investment
was in the services of a neighboring
farmer who plowed and narrowed the
space Of about half an acre which we
intended to use in the experiment. 1t
was good thing. Never listen to
anyone who tells you to spade up the
ground. Anyone who deliberately ad-
yises man to spade up a garden is
1t for treason, strategems and spoils.
It would make a graduate of West
Point hump-shouldered in half q day.
Hoeing is mere child's play compared
TO spading up soil.
When this job OF blowing and har-
rowing was completed, the weeds,
which had lain dormant during the
winter, sprane forward with a glad
short and proceeded to preempt every
solitary square inch of territory avail
able in the garden patch, and Shout
der out of the way, or smother in pure
''cussedness" any lone volunteer veg
etable from the las: years garden.
There is this to be said about weeds.
they know what they want, and they
go after it. You take lxlnch of purs.
lane, commonly known as "pussley,'
and give it half chance and it will
go all over your garden in week, and
develop more, longer, and thicker ten
tacles than devil-fish.
Meantime, we had sent on for our
garden seeds to Philadelphia, and
with true Quaker elaboration, they
were still considering the question of
forwarding the order. After a couple
of letters, one imploring and the other
indignant, the seeds finally arrived on
the scene of action. A book which
accompanied them showed beautifully
colored half-tones of mammoth vege.
tables grown from that particular
brand of seed, and with the picture
went q grist of directions as to just
how to prepare the ground so as to
attain the best results possible.
A careful scrutiny of the formula
laid down revealed the fact that the
best kind of ground for these unriv.
aled and carefully selected seeds was
soft, warm, moist, loamy, rich, high.
ly fertilized, sandy, dry, juicy soil
which must be kept constantly stirred
up night and morning by systematic
hoeing, and which yielded best when
kept absolutely free from clods and
insects. One comfort, the onion was
no such fragile plant. After my expe
rience in planting onions, I came to
the belief that you can't kill 'em
They grow almost equally we'll wheth
er put under or on top of the ground
All an onion wants is to get to the
proportions Of an oni0n-set and then
give it room to peel and go in, and it
will grow all right.
A neighbor of mine told me that he
planted onion.sets with a Winches
ter repeating shotgun, as it saved
time. He planted them this way, six
at time, simply drawing the shot out
of each shell and replacing with an
onio,l-set, and firing the sets" into
the ground as fast as he could load
and discharge the weapon. He said
they never failed to come up. I rec
ommend this plan to anyone who is
rushed for time, as my neighbor as
sured me it was one of the greatest
labor-saving devices of the age. There
is green joyance in newly sprout
ing onion bed that is enough to draw
tears from an enthusiastic amateur
gardener. Indeed, later on. they Otter
draw tears from those handling anl
peeling them.
Cecile and worked very diligentl,
at our garden. My attire was mainl,
hickory shirt, a pair of brown over
alls, and close-fitting mantle Of
logged determination. My better-hal1
supesintended the annoying details
rugged out as to headgear with blue
sunbonnet, and finding considerable
comfort in eating green currants
which had been planted at the edge
Of the garden by the latest inhabitant
of the farmhouse. The baby rolled in
the dirt and got cramps from eating
green gooseberries, and the neighbors
helped us with friendly advice and
valuable. I was credibly informed
after planting lot of cabbage seed
that it would probably come up some
time in February, or maybe January
But that If l really wanted cabbage
during the summer or fall l would
have to procure young plants ana Sc,
them ont.
So went to town and negotiated
for IS young and vigorous cabbage
plants and set them out with heart
beating high with pictures of "slaw,'
"krout" and other delicacies in which
the meek and lowly cabbage plays a
star part. dug hole for every sin
gle one of these devoted plants, and
poured generous supply of water in
each miniature cave in which they
were set. think there was nearly as
much ceremony over every one OF
them as there would be at the laying
Of the cornerstone of a million dollar
hospital. When the sun came out
good and hot the next day those cab
bages laid down like taking pugilists
We were dreadfully distressed. A
neighbor told us to erect little shade
houses over each one Of them with
shingles. and offered to supply the
shingles. We went over to his house