Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1915-09-25
tWrittenn Ispecially, {or The Bulletin..l

CWritten Specially for The Bulletin.1
; Considering ythe amount of advice
that we farmers get It might seem as
if we had nothing to do but follow 1T
and get rich. $50 r. ,ss a. ~
Considering the amount" said. &
Considering the character and quail
ity of some of it. the wonder is great
er that don't more of us bring. up on
the poor-fal1n. a
Fiese, for example, is hunk of wis
dom which I've J0st cut out OF "a wide
" circulated paper, ostensibly devoted
to farm and garden Instruction:
s.iCutwoFms can be kept away from
young plants by a simple device. a
strip OF stiff paper four inches wide
pushed two inches down in circle
xTohnd ayoung plant will keep off the
cHtworTn."
3Sinainle,,?. We'll, / should say SO.
Sounds about as tseasy as the tradi-
t:onal rolling OIL a. log.
Let's see how It would work out
IN practical gardening:
" Lest spring my small onion bed was
attacked by hordes of cutworms. How
easily could have saved it, had /
only had this piece of concentrated
wisdom before mel.
Assuming that > T. had thinned the
little onions to, an inch and a half
apart, that would have left Is plants
to the foot; 500 to. each hundred foot
row. There were %. such rows, some
thing over $4,000 little onions in all.
Allowing four inches, by two for each
each onion this would have called for
$500 square feet of paper, an cut
up beforehand" into IS pieces to the
square foot.
Now, assuming that have arrived
&ol- K
pieces of stiff paper, four inches by
two, already cut and neatly stacked
On several wheelbarrows, what next?
Nothing, more to do but pull the
weeds, thin the onions to an inch and
a half apart, roll the papers up and
push one two inches down into the
dirt around each onion.
Practical experiment with twelve
such pieces of actual paper around
actual plants on actual dirt has shown
me that I can do" just about ten
plants in two minutes, If 1 don't have
to waste any time brushing flies away
or wiping the sweat out of my eyes.
In other words, IF I had the paper all
ready and a boy to carry 1t along the
rows for me, I could protect the bed
in the short space of 10000 minutes
or 166 2-3 hours. or about 16 IL days
OF course, thinning the onions and
pulling the weeds, would increase this
any, reference Ito such matters in g
captious spirit?
It might, also. seem almost indecent
to suggest that some of those 16 days
might be rainy.
Nor is it worth mentioning, OF
Curse, that the worms completely
destroyed my bed in two nights AND
one day, or 1923 days before 1 could
have got to the last rows with my pa.
pers. Still, don't think there would
have been much practical good in pro
tecting' the plants in those last rows
after theyshad been Is 2-3 days dead
So. much for one 'EsfmpIe" plan.
1t is only a sample of scores ant
hundreds of others which are being
printed or farmers fnstitut- ed at u:
unfortunate dirt workers and bug.
lighters. sg n
A few years ago asked a man wht
was touring the farmers institutes IL
TayfWpinfty as a. garden expert" how
it was possible in our climate to rails,
early muskmelons. a He answered tn,
question with a bored air of cock
> sureness, much as if had asked hin
how to. spell "hoo.'' Plant the secd