Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1913-04-11

; when it intends to do it, what it mead
! t., assist it, and hen diligently h"l
it all we can. Upon our intelligen
preparation Of the soil and the cult
walton Of the crops depends our sue
cess if the soil is suitable to the croI
| Sorghum is easily grown here. Their
it. We have found that high, dry
sandy loan, preferably clover We sod, i
should be plowed as deep as you can
then thoroughly disced or otherwis.
brought into fine condition for cult
waiting. Use little, if any, manure, Al
it is liable to impart a strong taste t.
the syrup that is hard to get rid of
We consider spring blowing best here
as ground plowed in the fall pack:
rather too hard. A northern slope is thu
best location for cane field as it gets
the first peep Of the sun in the morn
ing and the last ray at night, while the
southern inclinations are in the shade
also the rays Of the sun coming more
obliquely it is not so hot and drying in
the middle of the day. Plow in April
as early as you can, if you can at all
and harrow often-you won harrow
too often, no fear Of that. Now, about
the night of May 4, put the cane seed
you expect to plant into a jar or pail
large enough that it is only about half
full of seed, fill about full Of warm,
not hot, water and stir q few minutes.
Then skim off the seeds that float and
give them to the chickens as they are
not good to plant because they will
not grow and would be weak if they
did. Set the jar, covered with a cloth,
in a warm place over night. In the
morning strain the water off and set
the jar back. In two to eight hours
the seed should be sprouted and the jar
should be set in a cold place to hold it
for May 6. On May 5, 1913, if possible,
drag the ground you intend to plant in
cane (and corn too for that matter)
and mark it four feet each way. On
May 9th or 9TH, the first days Of the
new moon, when it is growing lighter
and lighter every night, plant your
cane and corn. Plant the cane rows
north and south, hill between each
shock, leaving the hills two feet one
way and four feet the other. Then you
have 5,445 hills to the acre. The best
way we ever found to plant it is to make
wooden spoon about ten inches long,
the bowl sharp at the edges so the seed
will not pile up and holding six to
eight seeds. A child 6 to 16 years Of
age can drop the sprouted seed as
fast as man will care to cover. But
the children are at school in some dis
tricts, learning to avoid agriculture,
now, so you will have to do it yourself.
Drop two rows then cover them, cover
about one inch deep and stamp over
the seed with the back Of the hoe. Be-
fore planting the seed, cane or corn;
put on enough kerosene to glaze it
over by gentle stirring and it is said
cutworms, crows, etc., will let it alone,
and we have found it true in our ex-
perience. If you have to use shock
rover or some other rush way of plant
ing you will probably put in enough
seed anyway and will have some
thinning out to do. Six to eight stalks
to the hill or five inches apart in the
drill is about right. If the weather is
>vorable your sprouted seed will be
: ahead OF the weeds and if the
= " is not stumpy you may harrow
rounH 'ght slanting spike tooth har-
,n. +han d week after plant
~ wv wo, noI sSonid do something to the
=, rgen I'd either drae: or cultivate, to dry
nJwoym The soil 9ro, und the seed. Five
inches down in the g 'ound tne tenn,
erature is nearly always one third
hat Of the aid and cult Vat1ng TENDS
q raise the temperature below the sur
ace. Being frostbitten in spring does
,ot iniure cane for us. Cane is SEMI
rid plant and will stand cultivatlng IN
verv dry weather when corn will not
md "A it's roots 20 almost straight
Town it is best to keep up the cultiya-
ion about two inches deep long after
4 is unsafe to cultivate corn. Some +
years cane suckers, or stools badly,
and when it begins to head out 80 you
IAN tell the suckers from the stalks, |
take a sharp knife and cut the suck |
ers off about three inches from the |
root with an upward draw of the
kn;fe To make clean cut, not a break.
After a few days cut again and the
+ha w;lted suckers will add so much
hnmns and the natural cane plant
food to the soil. A few last words or
cn1t;vatinp and we will pass on to the
harvesting of the crop. Keep the Guilt
ui going-you never did and never
viii cultivate crop too much-keep it
in vour mind and learn to love your
work and keep the nine large capital
letters M always on your mental bulletin
hoard. always in plain sight Guilt
VATE.
The first and second weeks in Sep
+amher the cane should begin to rlpen
and as soon as the heads Of Amber
Goose Neck of other black varieties De-
Gin to turn black you may begin cut +
ting and hauling to the mill II the ms Is
one near by. The Honey OF Honey lev 3,oH;
Early Orange ana o %hen the seed is il
tba stiff dough IF you want to max.
snJ $50. Tia cane should be worked
the day it is cut i possible; then s tn tn
1 p ha remoyed. 10 make syrup, however
the H. long longer il can be kept in good con
d;tion after cutting before WORKING