Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-03-21
Maintaining the Fertility Of the



Garden
Garden soils should either be rich
or made so artificially. Vegetables
are best when they mature quickly.
Their season of growth is as rule
rather short, therefore supplying an
abundance of plant food for garden
crops is an essential matter. Of
course, it goes without saying that
a garden should be cultivated inten-
sively. This means that the rows
| should be made close together and
| hence there will be a greater demand
on the soil by the growing crops for
plant food than would be true of field
crops. Field crops often have a
longer period of growth than garden
crops and can, therefore, gather a
| larger part of their food from the
| soil by reason of the time in which
| they have to assimilate it. There is
| a very distinctive difference, there
fore, in the fertilization which should
| be accorded garden and a field
crop. If your garden soil does not
contain plenty Of organic matter, it
| is not likely to withstand drouth
well, nor to provide that abundance
| of nitrogen which crops of this char
acter require. In fact, a garden re-
| quireS an abundance of all the ele-
ments of plant food. These briefly
are nitro IN, essential to the growth
| and development of the leaf and stem,
| phosphoric acid, most Intimately con-
| cerned of all the elements with the
| proper fruitton of the crop, and pot
ash, concerned in the development of
| starch and also the framework of
the plant, and affecting particularly
| the color, quality and flavor of fruits.
Sometimes a garden soil may need
| lining, though certain garden crops
are injured rather than benefited
! by an application Of lime. The lime
is used, of course, to sweeten the
soil If it becomes acid, and there is
tendency for intensively cultivated
soils which are kept literally sup
piled with vegetable matter to be-
come acid. When lime is used it need
| only be applied once say in five years,
and then possibly at the rate of one
ton per acre, the raw, finely ground
rock being used for this purpose.
OF the many other elements which
enter into the composition Of plants,
| all are apparently available in most
soils in sufficient quantities to meet
| the needs of the average garden crop.
| We are, therefore, only concerned in
| seeing that our garden land is first
| of all abundantly supplied with or
| ganic matter and then enriched with
such supplemental fertilizers as those
mentioned above. Organic matter may
be derived from one of several
| sources. The average garden is prob
| ably so small that only a limited
| amount of space can be devoted in
| any one season to what might be
| termed enrichment of the crops. A
section of every garden, however,
should be set aside for the produc-
| ton of legumes, such as peas, beans
| and peanuts. These crops, under
proper conditions, will tend to enrich
| the garden soil by gathering a part
| of the nitrogen they need from the
| air. The refuse, or tops, if plowed
etable matter to the soil and thus
part of the organic matter may be
| supplied every year from the refuse
| of the garden. Often there are trees
| in the front yard which shed an
abundant crop of leaves in the fall.
If these are gathered up and put
| on the land instead of being burned,
| they will add further enrichment to
| the garden and also supply the es-
sential organic matter.
Wherever cow or horse is kept in
connection with the home the yard
manure should be carefully conserved
and thickly coated over the garden
area. There is nothing more Valu-
able for the enrichment Of the soil
than the droppings of the barnyard.
There is, of course, some danger of
purchasing manure from unknown
| sources, because it is the habit OF
our people to throw the refuse. from
the home table out into the barn lot.
AS a rule when disease of any kind
develops in the garden the affected
plants are thrown in the barn lot
instead Of being pulled up and care
fully burned, so it frequently happens
that such disease as the wilt of to-
matoes is widely scattered through
out the country through the use of
manure which has been affected in
the manner indicated above. There
fore, destroy all diseased plants by
burning and be somewhat chary bout
using yard manureS which are pur-
chased from unknown sources for the
enrichment of your land. The fact
that the manure may have been brok-
en- down in compost heap will not
result in destroying many forms of
fungus transmitted from one location
to another from the use of manure in
which they have found a foothold in
the manner indicated.
By conserving all possible sources
of organic matter by rotating crops
in the garden, and through the liber-
al use of yard manure the friabil-
ity of the land may be maintained
and a texture of an ideal character
preserved for the garden soil. The
next question arises as to how much
organic matter is necessary. 1t is,
of course, possible to override this.
The equivalent of ten tons Of yard
third year will not be too much to
use. 1t is better policy to apply say
five tons every year, however, than
larger quantities at less frequent
| dates. One may properly inquire
as to the possibility of supplying the