The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1912-02-21

road station. it would pay him to spend
| a good deal of labor in hauling sand
upon it rather than go out two or three
miles to find land naturally adapted,
and be obliged to wagon his berries
that distance over rough roads before
they are shipped.
| On light sandy soils, where orange
| culture would prosper, it is an almost
| hopeless undertaking to plant straw
berries. Nothing will warrant the at
tempt except the possession of facid-
! ties for copious irrigation.
irrigation.
The time will probably come. under
a higher system OF cultivation and inn
| proved methods of transportation
which viii preserve tender. high grade
fruit in transit, when irrigation viii
be profitable. Under present circum-
stances 1t may well be considered
| problema&ical IN a great majority OF
| cases. An enterprising wide-awake
| grower will prepare his land early,
breaking It up deep and making 1t fine
and firm, set his beds before the end
of the summer rainy season. securing
deep grown powerful plants which will
| on suitable soil, go through the Sc
Verest autumn drouth without detT1-
ment. growing right along. In the
usual spring drouth judicious frr1ga-
| ton wcnfd doubtless increase the size
| of the berries-not their nuznber-and
| enhance their market value. But large
strong plants on q deep f1atwoods soil
will endure a drouth surprisingly well;
| and the reduced yield Of the carelsssly
cultivated plantations win give
| higher value to the output OF those
which were we'll cared for. nearly, IL
not quite, counterbalanc1ngt the falling
off in quantity. Still, we believe that,
even with the abundant though badly
distributed rainfall of this state, some
| inexpensive but effective system OF
| irrigation will eventually be adopted
by the best growers.
But care must be taken not to give
excessive watering. A certain modi-
the berries size, gloss. plumpness and
| fir1nness, but too much Injuries their
shipping quality.
Cultivation.
The first cultivation may be given
when the plants have been set about
ten days. The fat or weeMng hoe Is
the proper implement. File It UP sharp
and shave of the grass around the hfll
very shallow, merely to break the
crust Clean out the middleB with a
hand-sweep. Keep the sloptng edge OF
the bed unbroken; let the weeds and
grass grow there as retaining wall to
prevent the bed from being washed
down by heavy rains.
In three weeks the stirring niny go
as deep as 1t is intended to go any
time during the season; but IL the
weather is continuously very dry, let
the cultivation be shallow. simply
enough to stir the surface half-inch
or an inch deep. The "dust-muloh Is
the best protection of plants against,
drouth, that is, a thin carpet of soil
kept very finely divided and frequently
disturbed and level. In ordinary wealth
er, with seasonable rains, the cultiva-
ton may be as deep as a strong man
can drive the pillow down; but after the
first month or so, especially when the
cool autumn nights set in, 1t should go
more shallow each time. In the hot
weather Of summer the roots go down
by instinct in search of moisture; when
the nights grow longer and cooler they
begin to run nearer the surface to re-
ceive the effects Of the sunshine. The
depth Of the stirring should be guaged
accordingly.
If the bed has stood over the sum
mer, the first cultivation win be labee-
ious 1t will take a strong man and he
will have to pass two or three times
in each balk to drive the plow down
deep enough. For this he should use
bull tongue. Between the plants in
broken up with prong hoe; it should
be struck down it's full depth and the
crust pried up and meilowed by a
stroke or two with the back of the
hoe. This is tedious work, but it will
pay.
Occasionally an enterprfsing grower
breaks up old beds IN the fail with a
narrow cultivator drawn by horse.
This is great saving OF labor and Is |
advisable where the balkS are wide |
enough to permit it. II the weather
Is unusually dry great care should be
taken not to cultivats so close az to |
break the old plants loose; 1t may be |
well to remove the outside teeth of
the cultivator to narrow it down sum |
GENTLY.
It will pay to run sweep or light !
mandrake through the rows every |
week or ten days, even IL there is no
trash in sight. It promotes the growth |
Of the plants greatly; it is worth al
most as much as a shower.
Ferkilixins.
A good fertilizer Is as follows:
Ammonia. to 4 per cent; phoS-
phoric acid, to 9 per cent; potash. |
10 to II per cent
We would have no cotton seed meal |
in il, or, at any rate, the less of 1t the /
better. Some growers argue that cot
ton seed meal will answer every pur-
pose as an autumn application merely
to make growth. We object TO IT even
for this purpose. 1t will produce beau
tiful foliage and an abundance of 1t.
but next spring il viii be found that
the foliage is out of proportion 10 the
frHitage. The fruit win be short-stem
med, lurking down among the leaves,
and viii never color up properly. The
mineral fertilizers are better in every
respect No animal manure, unless II
has been rotted at least year, should
be applied to Strawberries that have
TO be shipped thousand miles; they
viii be too soft TO stand the ordeal.
And, for the same reason, nitrate Of
soda should not be applied to them for
three months before shipping begins.
The judicious grower will keep be-
fore him as his great object in ferul-
izing to feed the plant progressively.
never to let il come to the end of its
supply and begin to retrograde. In the
thin soils Of Florida the SRA Wherrv