Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1912-03-21
INFO R N ALTON
FOR GARDENERS
APPROACH OF SPRING CALLS FOR
INTEREST OF PUBLIC IN THE
l.. GARDEN PATCHES. 2
METHODS ARE SIMPLE
Best Results are ObtainabIe by Fol
lowing Treatment Of Soil That
Every Person Will Find Easy
to Administer. ~

Persons who are intending to have
their own garden patches this sum-
mer large or small, will be interested
in knowing how to obtain the best
results from their labors. Simple
treatment and preparation of the soil
and careful blowing will produce sur
prising improvement in the quality OF
vegetables and other products.
Preparation Of Soil.
It is almost time to start gardening
out of doors. AS soon as the frost Is
out of the ground and the earth has
become dry enough not to be muddy,
all the rubbish and Accommodations OF
winter, such as leaves, sticks, etc.,
, should be raked to an out-of-the-way
corner of the garden and piled with
alternate layers of manure, sods and
anything that by it's decay will make
compost of rich earth. This may be
used as potting soil for house plants
and the greenhouse next autumn.
After the rubbish has been removed,
applications of various materials
should be made to the soil. If the
earth contains much clay and is very
heavy, sand, sifted cinders, muck and
leaf mold, If obtainable, should be ap-
piled literally to the surface for plow-
ing under.
If the soil has become sour through
neglect or through improper man
agement, applications of air-slacked
lime and wood ashes may be made
Both of these materials tend to break
up Jumps of clay and thus are also
useful to apply on heavy soils as we'll
as soils that are sour. One OF the
s,.I $l,0% Sc
the presence of weeds known as sor-
rel. If there is much wild carrot and
oxeye daisies, wood ashes should also
be given. Neither of these weeds do
we'll in soil that has been properly
managed. ~. ,-..-
If the soils are very light or sandy
clay may be added, or preferably
heavy loan, if either can be- secured.
The loan is more easily handled than
the clay, unless this is in the form OF
dust. A good way to get it In this
form is to collect it from road where
wagons have pulverized 1t more or
less. Leaf mold and muck are also
useful to add to light and sandy soils,
because of their ability to retain
moisture.
Every soil in which garden crops
are to- be grown should be we'll
drained because such soils are warm.
er and therefore earlier in pro-
ducing crops than wet ones. They
not only dry out more quickly
in the spring and after rain,
but, paradoxical as it may seem,
are more retentive of moisture
during the summer, especially when
the surface is kept loose and open by
weekly civilizations and civilizations
also after every rain that forms a
crust.
Should Not Turn SubsolI. ...
In order to have good crops it is
essential that the soil be we'll sup
piled with plant food. Internationally
the best fertilizer to apply is stable
manure II partly decayed, so much
the better for spring application.
Preferably the manure should have
been applied fresh in the fall or at
any convenient time during the win
ter. Good results in amateur garden:
ing can be secured with half ton to
each 1000 square feet. After the ap-
plication of manure the soil should
be plowed as deeply as convenient
without bringing up the subsoil,
which is not as good for growing
plants as the surface soil. If the soil
is only five or six inches deep it will
be we'll to plow only about an inch
deeper so as to turn up thin layer
Of the subsoil, which during cultural
operations may become mixed with
the surface soil. If this method Is
practiced the thin layer of subsoil will
not only do no damage to the crops,
but will actually deepen the soil. On
gathering tomorrow are expected to
tell their experiences in testing seed