Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1917-04-28
YOU UNDERSTAND?
PLANT A GARDEN--DO
YOU UNDERSTAND It
PROF. A. L. DAcY, OF THE UNI
VERSlTY, GIVES SOME VALU-
ABLE SUGGESTIONS.
MOST SOILS, HE SAYS, HAVE NOT
BEEN PROPERLY HANDLED
OR ENRICHED.
USE YOUR STABLE OR BARN.
YARD MANURE-lT'S ONE OF
THE VERY BEST.
(By A. L. Dacy, West Virginia Col
lege of Agriculture

4
The first step in making a produc-
tive garden is to loosen thoroughly
and pulverize the soil from nine to
| twelve inches deep. This is done to
let air into the soil and make it warm
so that seeds will terminate freely.
The soil must be broken up too, so
that the roots as they develop will
come into close contact with the fine
soil particles and find moisture and
plant food for the growing plant.
Most soils that have not been prop
erly handled or enriched are com
pact and difficult to work a condi-
ton which Is due to lack of organ
ic matter. Good yields are seldom
possible from such soils unless this
deficiency is supplied. Organic mat
ter is decaying animal or vegetable
matter usually the latter and may be
supplied in the form of stable ma
nure, leaves, sod, weeds, refuse from
garden crops or green matter. Or
ganic matter is an important constit-
uent of the soil because it loosens it's
texture admitting more air, increases
the capacity of the soil to hold mois-
ture for the use of the plant, warns
the soil and its decay adds plant food
and sets free other plant food that
may be locked up in the SOIL To
bring about its decay, organic mat
ter should be mixed with and cover
ed by the soil.
One Of the best forms of organic
matter for use in the garden is sta
BILE or barnyard manure. A goodsiz-
ID one-horse load is sufficient for
garden 1000 square feet in area
When secured in the spring it should
De put in a pile and compacted by
,ramping to prevent it from heating
unless one is ready to spade it into
he garden at once in which case it
should be spread evenly over the sur
ace of the garden.
The work of spading the garden
will be easier and better results will
be obtained if it is done when the
ground is neither too wet nor too dry.
A good test for this 'just right" con-
dition is to lift a spadeful of the soil
from it's place, take a handful of it.
and squeeze it together rather tight
y. If when the pressure is removed
the soil sticks tightly together, it is
too wet. If it just holds together
but can readily crumble apart, it is
in the best condition to work Soils
that are handled when too wet break
up in clods which as they dry become
very hard and difficult to pulverize.
A four-tined spading fork is bet
Ter implement for putting the garden
soil in good condition than the solid
bladed spade. When ready to spade
the garden, proceed as follows: Be
ginning at the left hand corner of one
end of the garden, remove the soil
from a trench across that end of the
garden about a foot wide and nine
inches to a foot deep. Place this soil
across the opposite end of the garden.
When this is finished the manure on
op of the ground for foot or so
back from the edge of the trench
should be pushed into the bottom Of
the trench. Next, take a spadeful of
soil directly back of the place where
you began and turn it upside down in
| the farther side of the trench in front
of you. Break up any Jumps there
| may be in this soil by striking and
cutting them with the prongs of the
spading fork. Take another spade
| full to the right of the last and re-
peat the operation clear across the
| end. Fill the bottom of the trench
| thus made with manure and repeat
| the operation with another narrow
strip (of six inches) across the gar
den and so on until the whole garden
is done. When the opposite end OF
| the garden is reached the extra dirt
placed there will fill the last trench
to the general level of the garden. As
you spade, try to. keep the nearer
side of each trench open nearly TO
its full depth and keep the farther
side as near the new level of the gar
den as possible. BY so doing, the
manure will be covered we'll and
there will be little raking necessary
after the spading is done.
Just after spading is the best time
to apply lime and fertilizer. Most
garden soils will be benefited by an
application of 100 lbs. of ground
limestone and Is lbs of Is per cent