St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1922-04-29
Gives His Experience In
Farm and Garden; Cul-
tivating New Plants
PAST AND
PROSPECTIVE
A Wonderful Region Favor
ed by Salubrity; Adap-
tation to Variety
(By w. II. Garrison } e,

map of Louisiana issued a fen
years ago by the State Department
Of Agriculture and immigration al
Baton Rouge intended for genera
information contains brief infOrma
ton and statistics relative to tbs
states several subdivisions and has
the following summary of St. Tam
many parish:
"Afea 590,720 miles. Formation
pine hills, alluvial and wooded low
lands. Soil very productive. Pro-
ducts, sugar cane, rice, cotton, corn,
potatoes, garden truck and fruit
Timber very fine. In the oyster belt.
Some stock. Mean temperature at
! Covington, January, 4O.2; July, SIT
Rainfall, January, 3.S9; July, 49,
inches. :"
Likewise St. Tammany parish ha,,
many particular features OF much III
terest Ii any sketch OF her resources
and resourcefulness. Here within
her borders are the clear streams
that meander now by her GRASSY
plain, now by the swamp, loving
Oush and vine. The thoughts eaten
something of musical ripple, somc-
thing OF an idylic picture in the
names: TchetuncUd, Pearl, Abita,
Lacombe, Bogue Falaya. Here too
arg q RI u i
1--we oak trees, familiars some OF
them ol the red man and the sturdy
log cabin settler Of by-gonv years.
Here too are the few remalnin,
sentinel expresses, the last OF a noble
race.
what wonderful PHILOSOPHERS in
nature have been unfoldeu year by
year where they towering stand
bright sunny hours, mystic night,
thick With their trysting stars, the
angry, beast, the first faint aurbra
flush Of spring along the rivers wood
ed banks and the instructive quest Of
the wild honey bee
Here III these confines stood tina,
forest primeval," soon to become
but name and memory, hewr down
by mans relentless saw and axe.
The pine woods! Odoriferous
with balm and resin with the grace
tul topmost branches stirred by the
soughlng winds into one un5roko:.
and peaceful chant-whc did nu,
I love the dear old pine forest?
What heart, has not sometimes,
Walked through those somDre brown
a;S,es, and marveled to knoN. wn.i.
n.!:terious and unseen hand, fash
!oned, Inc symmetry, the girth, the
helght and the strenStl of the beau
titul forest pines. y wonderful,
region favored by salubrity and
adaptation to "a wide variety of culti-
Vated crops is the Gulf Coast country
mat borders the Southern States
from Florida to Texas.
Situated near the Gulf Of Mexico
with Lake Ponchartraih close by. St.
lammany parish is part and parcel
ol the semi-tropical Gulf Coast, en-
!oylng all the rights, privileges, IN
munltles and benefits, including
ample sunshine and rainfall.
sugar cane, coWpeas and sw4eI po-
tatoes are old stand-bys, flowers
pioom each month in the year and
lss ana grapes may be grown at will
Even the tropical orange has bcc,,
grown with some success in favored
parts OF the parish for near..y 100
years, notably the Louisiana Seeding
sweet orange.
me soil and climatic environment
causes the native orange to attain q
eprlghtllness and flavor that rivals
any from the sunny groves OF Cali
fornia.
Manifestly to portray St. Tammany
parish as a paradise for farming
"ouid be unfair. Serious difficulties
ale TO be encountered here as else
nnere and the fence problem, the
s1ump problem, and others, are t.
ee fecaoned with i'll getting start.
admitting the aw-backs, yet the
vase cons dered fairly, and this
.eslon promises those who TIL the
.oli d good measure of health, sue
eess and happiness.
Duflllg a residence of over 80 years
IL the parish the writer has acquired
suAle garden and farm experiences
snlt are mot without interest To
NJ. n,Ne or them fully would be beyond
- .ue limits of a newspaper article, but
4, - wishes to submit few notes ~on
nanes r..., tested, some in cooperation
49,, ai,h lhe U. S. Department Of Agri-
sul'ure and some received from other
sources:
Elba Strawberry-In 1894 the Bo-
tanlcas Garden at Washington sent
- me a few small fig and olive trees
th. ana ~ plants of strawberry under
a's H. name. Planted, they proved to
- me variety for this soil, and
seaeed an interest in strawberries
rau "" their culture from that moment.
never seen the variety liste1
~ ny "here and do not know OF any
Aef Ilants so have been careful to
naa s tne Elba rawberry over each
sua'' oua The plant is a strong, vigo~-
MO. No grower, free from leaf blight.
iaec. II nowered, makes runners free
IL sa ~ produces fruit very early, OF
s,r, svou quality and appearance. The
nv m, oelry that pleases me greatly.
=, trinidad Dasheen-This is a food
go from the tropics, introduced