Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-10-14
MINISTER TELLS HOW he
MANAGES HIS GARDEN
Rev. +. f.. Warren Writes Prize.Win.
ming Story of Personal
Experiences.
HAS HAD WONDERFUL SUCCESS

His Garden, in Ginter Park, Has I'm.
proved With Each Season-Chicl..
ems Recommended Us Best Way to
Get Rid OF Wiregrass.
The following article by Rev. r. r..
warren. 702 Hawthorne Avenue. won
the prize offered by tho American Ma.
| tlonai Bank for the best story on r,r
dening based on personal experience.
-Four years ago. when | moved 10 nv
present home. | became possessor Of :.
| plot OF ground. the greater part of
| which has already been used for car
| Gen purposes Roughly speaking IN.
size OF the garden lot is 100 feet squire,
knowing very little about gardening.
! hut having heard most glowing ac
counts OF what could he done on such
! lot. Immediately started work
! The first work consulted of moving old
| tin cans and other rubbish, which laid
bare the fac. that the garden was fun
OF wiregrass. Friends and neighbors
| ted me il was impossible To get rid OF
| wiresrass. and even IL dug up and
burned. everywhere the ashes fell wire
grass would Immediately sprout. For
/ u while my heart sank at the prospect
After thinking the matter over. | de-
cidsd that even wiregrass IL entirely
removed could not possibly cause trou-
/ bic In my garden. and with this idea
! III mind, | proceeded to work. as il
was already late in the fall. only a
small patch of kale was planted. which
yielded excellent results In the early
| spring.
PURCHASE OF HENS
SOLVES WIREGRAsS PROBLEM
| During the winter a great forward
step was taken. Although l had no
| such idea in mind. nor did | in any
way connect the two things, and, In
faet, had been told over and over again
hs.f III !,
still the purchase OF n few hens was
really the first important step In the
development of my garden. BY feeding
wiregrass and weeds. especially tho
former. TO my chickens. ] converted a
nuisance into delicious eggs and re-
valuable fertilizer. The wiregrass
/ problem was solved dug i, up and
| gave /, to the chickens. To-day you
cannot find II handful in the plot
The following spring. ! applied some
! stable manure and had the garden
plowed Right then learned Il valu
able lesson. Never pillow land. especial
ly Ginter Park land. when IL Is too
wet. The plowman assured me that
the land WAS in fine shape. but after
wards ! found that wherever a horse
had set his foot there was a great
clod OF dirt as hard brick and as
big mans head. / spent hours
/ pulvcrizing these clods. Since that
spring. have dug my garden with
spading fork and have derived excel
len, exercise and much improved
garden. II may seem like a big task 10
dig garden 100 feet square. but when
one becomes adept III tho use Of the
fork, a great deal can be accomplished
in an hour.
The first spring was an exciting
time l planted al! tho usual garden
crops and waited for results. Some
0 a
plenty Of fresh vegetables during the
summer. and how good they tasted,
fresh out OF the garden! The soil both
ereh me great deal that summer.
After every rain. II set almost like
concrete. on making inquiries de-
cided that humus and lime were need
cd, which applied with wonderful re-
suits The humus came largely from
the chicken yard in the form OF pull
verified weeds including the despiscd
wiregrags DO not think that am IN
love with chickens because ] mention
them go often, but II seems TO me that
the good back lot garden and chickens
are inseparable. Every ounce OF waste
from the garden the chickens Will con-
vert either into valuable food or fer
tilizer. Chickens can be kept In 4 run
Now and again one viii seam 10 DEFY
all efforts. but the AK is always nancy
FOR these very few refractory ones.
i make X lo!H 6lptS Sb'' - N''"N 49,
year we raised enough vegetables Tor
our own summer use, and gave away
quantities to our neiEhbors and fricnds
In addition we had all the fresh eggs
We could use and about fifty nice young
chickens for the table
The second year We did n little bet
ter. rs had learned something about
plnnting and spraying. About nifty
quarts OF Vegetables were canned. be-
sides more than enough for our own
use.
The third year was better still, as we
canned about 100 quarts of vegctabies
and had enough Irish potatoes 10 last
through the winter, and also raiser
200 chickens. Celery was tried TINS
nearly zoo chickens Celery was tried
this year and with great success
PAST SEASON WAS
BEST OF THEM ALI,
This past season has been the best
of all In addition to what we nave
given away. we have sold $4l oil Tehe
tables. have cannGd 1856 quarts haVe
raised ninety chickens and thirty-one
ducks we have enough Irish pota-
toes to last through the winter, ana
in addition practically the whole gar
den is planted in winter crops-tnrse
different varieties of cabbage, bruSse'S
sprouts, caulifower coiiard. parsn,ps'
satisfy, celery, turnips. kale. lettuce
spinach. and we have plenty OF carTo's
and beets for burying when the hrst
frost comes. Also by using col"
frame. practically all plants were
home grown and hundreds given away.
This cold frame has been so sue
cessfuI and so profitable that j must
do more than merely mention it. MY
frame is feet by feet; it holds COM
fortably ninety eight lettuce plants,
which If planted in the fall will thrive
all winter. and give delicious lettuce
whenever one wants 1t. In the early
spring, plants Of al sorts can be raised
in il, and during the summer IL can
be used for small things such as rad
ishes. I made mine especially for let
tuce and it more than repaid time and
expense the first season.
In addition to the garden and poul-
try, we have plenty OF cranes. dam