Jasper County Democrat, Volume 4, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 May 1901 — GARDEN AND FARM [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

GARDEN AND FARM

THE YIELD OF POTATOES. The average yield of potatoes in the United States seldom reaches 100 bushels per acre, yet 300 bushels would not be a large average if farmers would select their varieties and use sufficient fertilizer for producing large crops. THE IMPORTANCE OF BREED. Experienced dairymen declare that it costs no more for the food consumed by a cow that produces 300 pounds of butter per year than for one producing 150 pounds. The two kinds of cows will eat about the same quantity of food, but one will convert more food into milk and butter than the other. This fact demonstrates the importance of the breed. The cost of butter from the better cow is consequently one-half less than that from the other, and gives a profit, while other cows in the herd may entail loss. OBTAINING GOOD GARDEN CROPS. Two things are absolutely’ necessary in order to obtain good garden crops, one being the use of good seed, and the other a thorough preparation of the soil. When there is a failure in either of these, neither liberal manuring nor cultivation while growing will enable the gardener to get a good crop, while under these conditions we have seen very fair crops grown on land that was not very heavily manured, or cultivated very carefully after planting. Of course it is better that the four requisites should go together, yet the two we deem most important cost the least and are the most frequently neglected. MIXING CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS. Chemicals can be mixed together and used without any material for dilution. In years of their use for all crops and under all conditions, I have in no case used any dilutant. It is not advisable to use them in large amounts in the hill unless they are thinly spread. The practice of using large quantities in the hill in any event is one not to be commended, so that little danger exists in their use alone when wisely or lightly used. Nitrate of soda and muriate of potash are not safe materials to use in the hill, as it is found that these, materials in the early stages of plant growth, when in execess, tend to retard growth. It is my custom to use half and half quantities of yard manure and chemicals and for corn to spread the chemicals broadcast when used to the amount of 500 pounds to the acre. This system may not give the corn so quick a start, but it calls the roots out and feds them well for the final crop and succeeds.—J. W. Sanborn, in New England Homestead. TO MAKE A GARDEN.

The first thing to be decided is the contour and size of the beds. Often this is predetermined by the shape of the lot; still, beds should follow 7 the curves of paths, as plants rarely look well if grown in straight lines. Curves are not always possible to secure, and. after all. shape is merely a question of taste. Consider the garden and lawn as a whole, trying with fine eye of imagination to see the garden in all its summer luxuriance. An uninterrupted lawn vista is one of the beautiful things in nature; though if one desires a brilliant bit of color to break it with a becTof golden-leaved salvia or one of Madam Bruatit geraniums would lie striking. A decidedly tropical effect can be secured by using the bronze fohaged ricimts in mass, surrounded by glowing scarlet cannas. If one is fortunate enough to have lilacs, syringas, or the pretty barberry-brushes grouped near the edge of the garden or lawn, here will be the very nook for the fragrant lilv-of-the-valley and the lovely amaryllis. Poppies and delicate larkspur all thrive admirably among the hardy shrubs. In planning borders, place tall-growing varieties in the background-^:>r this, cannas with their orchidlike “oom, or the amaranthus may be used. I'be double dahlia is particularly effective in this way. As soon as the ground can be worked, the soil must be spaded and turned, that the spring sunshine may warm it sufficiently before seed-sowing.— Harper's Bazaar.

HOUSING THE FARM IMPLEMENTS. There are many fanners throughout the country who should have better shelter for fanning tools. In passing a farm recently 1 noticed a mowing machine, rake and two cultivators standing outdoors. How long they had been exposed I do not know, but it was probably since last used. Allowing good farm implements to stand out in this way is bad management, and the time is not far distant when they will have to be replaced with new. There are some tools that would be almost mined by being exposed in this way for only one winter, and none □f the things would be in as good shape for use next spring as they would had they been properly homed since they were last used. At present there are many tools that the farmer, cultivating one hundred acres should have, but many of these tools will be short lived unless protected from the elements. I would advise the purchasing of these improved implements if the farmer can afford them and has a suitable place for them when not in use, if not he would better hire from his neighbors for a time. A good substantial building, to shelter all the tools needed on any odinary farm can he built ior a moderate sum, say SSO to $75 according to location. Ihe damage done tools left outside all the year through, would amount to enough h* four years to erect a good building and then it is so much better to have the tools free from rust and in good order for tiling. From a business standpoint the interest on cost of and wear on such a building is far less than the wear on the tools when exposed Therefore build a tool house. If you cannot afford to put up shelter of some kind for the tools, you certainly cannot afford to own them. Shelter your tools. Again in many instances farmers who have no tool house are obliged to run their binders and rakes into the barn or stable, where they are much in the way and unhandy to get at, the result is they are often left out until long after done using. Years ago there were not so

many tools in use, but that they could be stored without an extra building. There are more used now and some of them cost a great deal of money. Some farmers have put up a kind of shelter for these tools, but not what it should be. A shed is better than nothing, in fact a shelter made of poles and straw or swale hay is better than leaving them out in the comer of the fence.—V. M. Couch, in The Agricultural Epitomist. TO CHECK THE SQUASH VINE BORER. A handful of tobacco stems placed around a hill of squashes is said to do much to keep away the fly that is the parent of the squash borer. It is also a good fertilizer, particularly if ground fine. But it is said that even more effective remedy is the use of bisulphide of carbon. Make a hole about an inch deep in the soil of the hill, among the vines, and put in a few drops of the liquid and cover it up.- The fumes will find their way up to the plants, and if the moth is there it means instant death to her. If she has been there it destroys the eggs of the young borers. If she has not come she will detect the odor and keep away. The fly usually appears in the latter part of July, and the borer begins its work about August 1, and the vines begin to wilt and turn yellow about the first of August, but they are sometimes earliers When they are seen in a single vine it is quite time to make the application if it has not been done before. It may not be necessary to cauton any one of the poisonous or explosive character of this compound, or the danger of inhaling the fumes or carrying fire near it, but better a few unnecessary words than the trouble that might result if these precautions were neglected. We have known gardeners to give up growing squashes because of these squash borers, or bccauSP of the abundance of the large squash bug, yet the latter is easily disposed of by spraying with the Bordeaux mixture, a single spraying being usually enough if the vines are well coated with it. They live by sucking the sap, and do not like the lime and copper flavor.— Massachusetts Ploughman.

FERTILIZERS FOR GARDENS. Before the fanner applies bis fertilizer he should determine the kind of crops to grow. At this season the garden will receive much attention, and, as the different vegetables require different proportions of foods, a knowledge of what to use for each crop may save for the farmer many dollars. Of course, when the farmer buys fertilizers the cost is increased, and it is a direct cash investment, the returns for which depend upon future conditions of weather and treatment given, but experiments published in Farmers’ Bulletin, No. 124, by the United States Department of Agriculture, demonstrate that, while the medium amounts of fertilizers may give profitable yields with staple crops, the profit from the garden may be greatly increased by heavy applications of expensive fertilizers. Nitrogen, however, should be used with a view to its probable loss, as an excess may not remain in the soil, while any excess of phosphoric acid ’will remain over for use during the succeeding season. At the New Jersey station experiments were made on rich sail to furnish information as to the relative usefulness of nitrate, ammonia and organic form of nitrogen for crops belonging to that class in which rapid and continuous growfih are important factors in determining the profits to be obtained. The crops grown were tabl^ 1 beets, tomatoes, muskmelons, sweet corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes and certain forage crops. The plots were well fertilized with phosphoric acid and potash before the nitrogen was applied. VV ith table beets, on very rich soil, nitrate of soda was applied in various amounts, heavy applications of fertilizer having been also given the previous year. Ihe earliness of the crop was greatly hastened by the use of the nitrate. For every dollar invested in nitrate of soda for beets there was sufficient earliness and increase to return three dollars. With tomatoes a comparison was made with nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia and dried blood as sources of nitrogen. Nitrate of soda was used at. the rate of 150 pounds, sulphate of ammonia, 120 pounds, and dried blood, 200 pounds- per acre. The yield of tomatoes was 12 per cent, greater from nitrate of soda than from sulphate of ammonia, and 68 per cent, greater than that from dried blood. The net gain front the nitrate of soda was $53-33 f° r every dollar expended, while sulphate of ammonia returned $44.26 and dried blood $22.50 for every dollar expended. The plants that received nitrate also produced the best fruit and but little that was inferior. It is, therefore, established that in growing tomatoes, even on the richest soil, progressive farmers will use nitrogen in some form, but the best results from the use of nitrogen arc obtained when the very soluble nitrate of soda is used. With muskmelons the best results were also obtained from the use of nitrate of soda as a source of nitrogen, though dried blood proved superior to sulphate of ammonia for muskmelons, the sulphate having a tendency to produce more vine at the expense of fruit. In regard to ‘culls’ it is stated that the percentage of them on the nitrate plots were lower than on plots treated with other forms of nitrogen. Dried blood gave the best results with sweet corn, the nitrate being more liable to be carried beyond the reach of the plants early in the season owing to its solubility. It has been demonstrated in a great many experiments that plants have their preferences of food, and that for a farmer to attempt to feed all kinds of crops with only one kind of food would be to incur a loss. Plants also utilize certain foods at different stages of growth. Nitrogen promotes rapid leaf growth, but at maturity. when the seed is forming, phosphoric acid is essential. When the land is lacking in any particular element the farmer must supply it or the crop will be deficient, according to the deficiency of the desired element. With garden crops the farmer undertakes to grow early plants and as rapidly as possible. To succeed he must not J>e too economical with nitrogen, no matter HTIw rijh his soil may be, for the experiments mentioned above, with some crops, show that not only is the cost of the nitrogen returned, but a profit over the expense as well, with the advantage of larger yields, better product and earlier use, which points of excellence arc vary important with all garden crops.