THE HANDLING OF THE LAND - Continued
In most cases the best and most expeditious method of marking out the
garden is by the use of the garden line, which is secured to a reel
(Fig. 96), but various other devices are often useful. For very small
beds, drills or furrows may be made by a simple marking-stick (Fig.
115). A handy marker is shown in Fig. 116. A marker can be rigged to a
wheel-barrow, as in Fig. 117. A rod is secured underneath the front
truss, and from its end an adjustable trailer, B, is hung. The wheel of
the barrow marks the row, and the trailer indicates the place of the
next row, thereby keeping the rows parallel. A hand sled-marker is shown
in Fig. 118, and a similar device may be secured to the frame of a sulky
cultivator (Fig. 119) or other wheel tool. A good adjustable sled-marker
is outlined in Fig. 120.
[Illustration: Fig. 119. Trailing sled-marker.]
[Illustration: Fig. 120. Adjustable sled-marker.]
Enriching the land.
Two problems are involved in the fertilizing of the land: the direct
addition of plant-food, and the improvement of the physical structure of
the soil. The latter office is often the more important.
Lands that, on the one hand, are very hard and solid, with a tendency to
bake, and, on the other, that are loose and leachy, are very greatly
benefited by the addition of organic matter. When this organic
matter--as animal and plant remains--decays and becomes thoroughly
incorporated with the soil, it forms what is called humus. The addition
of this humus makes the land mellow, friable, retentive of moisture, and
promotes the general chemical activities of the soil. It also puts the
soil in the best physical condition for the comfort and well-being of
the plants. Very many of the lands that are said to be exhausted of
plant-food still contain enough potash, phosphoric acid, and lime, and
other fertilizing elements, to produce good crops; but they have been
greatly injured in their physical condition by long-continued cropping,
injudicious tillage, and the withholding of vegetable matter. A part of
the marked results secured from the plowing under of clover is due to
the incorporation of vegetable matter, wholly aside from the addition of
fertilizing material; and this is emphatically true of clover because
its deep-growing roots penetrate and break up the subsoil.
Muck and leafmold are often very useful in ameliorating either very hard
or very loose lands. Excellent humous material may be constantly at hand
if the leaves, garden refuse, and some of the manure are piled and
composted (p. 114). If the pile is turned several times a year, the
material becomes fine and uniform in texture.
The various questions associated with the fertilizing of the land are
too large to be considered in detail here. Persons who desire to
familiarize themselves with the subject should consult recent books. It
may be said, however, that, as a rule, most lands contain all the
elements of plant-food in sufficient quantities except potash,
phosphoric acid, and nitrogen. In many cases, lime is very beneficial to
land, usually because it corrects acidity and has a mechanical effect in
pulverizing and flocculating clay and in cementing sands.
The chief sources of commercial potash are muriate of potash, sulfate of
potash, and wood ashes. For general purposes, the muriate of potash is
now recommended, because it is comparatively cheap and the composition
is uniform. A normal application of muriate of potash is 200 to 300
pounds to the acre; but on some lands, where the greatest results are
demanded, sometimes as much as twice this application may be made.
Phosphoric acid is got in dissolved South Carolina and Florida rock and
in various bone preparations. These materials are applied at the rate of
200 to 400 pounds to the acre.
Commercial nitrogen is secured chiefly in the form of animal refuse, as
blood and tankage, and in nitrate of soda. It is more likely to be lost
by leaching through the land than the mineral substances are, especially
if the land lacks humus. Nitrate of soda is very soluble, and should be
applied in small quantities at intervals. Nitrogen, being the element
which is mostly conducive to vegetative growth, tends to delay the
season of maturity if applied heavily or late in the season. From 100 to
300 pounds of nitrate of soda may be applied to the acre, but it is
ordinarily better to make two or three applications at intervals of
three to six weeks. Fertilizing materials may be applied either in fall
or spring; but in the case of nitrate of soda it is usually better not
to apply in the fall unless the land has plenty of humus to prevent
leaching, or on plants that start very early in the spring.
Fertilizing material is sown broadcast, or it may be scattered lightly
in furrows underneath the seeds, and then covered with earth. If sown
broadcast, it may be applied either after the seeds are sown or before.
It is usually better to apply it before, for although the rains carry it
down, nevertheless the upward movement of water during the dry weather
of the summer tends to bring it back to the surface. It is important
that large lumps of fertilizer, especially muriate of potash and nitrate
of soda, do not fall near the crowns of the plants; otherwise the plants
may be seriously injured. It is a general principle, also, that it is
best to use more sparingly of fertilizers than of tillage. The tendency
is to make fertilizers do penance for the sins of neglect, but the
results do not often meet one's expectations.
If one has only a small garden or a home yard, it ordinarily will not
pay him to buy the chemicals separately, as suggested above, but he may
purchase a complete fertilizer that is sold under a trademark or brand,
and has a guaranteed analysis. If one is raising plants chiefly for
their foliage, as rhubarb and ornamental bushes, he should choose a
fertilizer comparatively rich in nitrogen; but if he desires chiefly
fruit and flowers, the mineral elements, as potash and phosphoric acid,
should usually be high. If one uses the chemicals, it is not necessary
that they be mixed before application; in fact, it is usually better not
to mix them, because some plants and some soils need more of one element
than of another. Just what materials, and how much, different soils and
plants require must be determined by the grower himself by observation
and experiment; and it is one of the satisfactions of gardening to
arrive at discrimination in such matters.
Muriate of potash costs $40 and upwards per ton, sulfate about $48,
dissolved boneblack about $24, ground bone about $30, kainit about $13,
and nitrate of soda about 2-1/4 cents per pound. These prices vary, of
course, with the composition or mechanical condition of materials, and
with the state of the market. The average composition of unleached wood
ashes in the market is about as follows: Potash, 5.2 per cent;
phosphoric acid, 1.70 per cent; lime, 34 per cent; magnesia, 3.40 per
cent. The average composition of kainit is 13.54 per cent potash, 1.15
per cent lime.
The fact that the soil itself is the greatest storehouse of plant-food
is shown by the following average of thirty-five analyses of the total
content of the first eight inches of surface soils, per acre: 3521
pounds of nitrogen, 4400 pounds of phosphoric acid, 19,836 pounds of
potash. Much of this is unavailable, but good tillage, green-manuring,
and proper management tend to unlock it and at the same time to save it
from waste.
[Illustration: Fig 121. A good cart for collecting leaves and other
materials.]
Every careful gardener will take satisfaction in saving leaves and
trimmings and stable refuse and making compost of it to supplement the
native supplies in the soil. Some out-of-the-way corner will be found
for a permanent pile, with room for piling it over from time to time.
The pile will be screened by his garden planting. (Figure 121 suggests a
useful cart for collecting such materials.) He will also save the power
of his land by changing his crops to other parts of the garden, year by
year, not growing his China asters or his snap-dragons or his potatoes
or strawberries continuously on the same area; and thus, also, will his
garden have a new face every year.
Lest the reader may get the idea that there is no limit to be placed on
the enriching of the soil, I will caution him at the end of my
discussion that he may easily make the place so rich that some plants
will overgrow and will not come into flowering or fruiting before frost,
and flowers may lack brilliancy. On very rich land, scarlet sage will
grow to great size but will not bloom in the northern season; sweet peas
will run to vine; gaillardias and some other plants will break down;
tomatoes and melons and peppers may be so late that the fruit will not
ripen. Only experience and good judgment will safeguard the gardener as
to how far he should or should not go.
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