Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1917-03-09
TIMELY HINTS FOR
 THE HOME GARDENER
Soil. Water and Fertilizer Rpquire- ments of a Successful Back.
 Yard Garden.

The damage done to garden crops by the recent widespread freeze has made it necessary for many owners either to replant gardens or to delay planting beyond the usual time. These gardeners whose outdoor schedules have been upset are under the neces- slty of doing everything they can to hasten their crops. The following suggestions regarding the principles and practice of gardening. the horti- cultural specialists of the United States department of agriculture be- lleve, will be timely and helpful both to these gardeners and to others in localities where the planting season naturally is later.
 The gardener who merely wishes to raise vegetables for his own family will do we'll, especially this year, to choose tho crops he will grow from those which previously have done best in his special locality The market gardener must bear this fact in mind. but also must study the market and anticipate it's usual demand and de- termine as far as he can how this de- mand will be affected by any untoward weather conditions which may have occurred in his section.
 Those who desire to produce early crops should bear in mind that a. warm, sandy loam will produce an earlier crop than a heavier soil that retains more water and less heat. Frost is less apt to injure vegetables planted on high ground than those planted in low places or valleys into which the heavier cold air commonly settles. The garden should be fairly level, but well drained. The crop will mature more rapidly on land that has a sunny southern exposure than in other plots.
 The Essentials of Gardening.
 The essentials for successful gar dening on small or large scale arei soil, water and cultivation. Much de- bends also on the grower, the season, and the crops selected.
 The soil is the storehouse of plant food. The garden, therefore, should contain humus or routed material in large quantities. The gardener should remember that about 50 per cent of ordinary earth is not soil at all, but. consists of air and water.
 Water makes plant food that is, present freely soluble. Rain and snow water are soft and contain ammonia. The magic of soft water on the plant world is one of the miracles of good gardening, as every one who has con trasted the effect of rain with that produced by sprinkling with a hose realizes. Plants are succulent and contain large amounts of water which +~ fhn coil
 Seed Bed and Cultivation.
 The conservation of soil moisture is the most important reason for culti- vating crops. The two other principal things accomplished by cultivation are the killing of weeds which draw moisture and plant food from the crops, and the aeration of the soil.
 Too much stress can not be laid on the preparation of good seed bed. A seed bed of fine tilth-made so by deep blowing, careful narrowing, and lining of the soil-is the foundation Of good gardening. 1t is essential for the proper germination and growth of young plants. The soil must be friable and free from clods. A clod can hold no plant food in solution, the only form in which it is available for the plant. Good soil and fine tilth insure an excellent root system to plants. Upon the fine, hairy, fibrous, feeding roots, which are possible only in well-tilled soil, the plant depends for it's stockiness and growth. The careful gardener will regard his whole garden as a seed bed and will culti-' vate and fertilize it accordingly.
 Fertilizers.
 Fertilizers, the plant food for the garden, should be carefully selected. Nitrogen, which stimulates leaf growth, is best supplied by turning under rich, well-rotted or composted manure, or rotting vegetable matter. Nitrogen also is supplied in such fer tilizers as nitrate of soda and sul- phate of ammonia, as well as in bone meal and tankage.
 Potash tends to hasten the maturity of the plant, but also has a tendency to counteract the work of nitrogen. On this account those not experienced in using potash will find sulphate of potash better, or at least safer in most cases, than the muriate. On account of the disturbed commercial condi- tions one of the most available sources of potash is hardwood ashes.
 Plants need balanced ration. If they are lacking in nitrogen, they show pale leaf and stunted plant form. Excess of nitrogen is shown by large leaf and plant growth with in,norfocf fruitape If the n1antS lack