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Manual of Gardening (Second Edition)

L >> L. H. Bailey >> Manual of Gardening (Second Edition)




[Illustration: Fig. 96. A stack of gardening weapons, comprising some of
Tarryer's weeding spuds and thimbles.]

The great width of the common blade does not admit of its being used in
very narrow rows or very close to delicate plants, and it does not allow
of the deep stirring of the soil in narrow spaces. It is also difficult
to enter hard ground with such a broad face. Various pointed blades have
been introduced from time to time, and most of them have merit. Some
persons prefer two points to the hoe, as shown in Marvin's blades, in
Fig. 95. These interesting shapes represent the suggestions of
gardeners who will not be bound by what the market affords, but who have
blades cut and fitted for their own satisfaction.

Persons who followed the entertaining writings of one who called himself
Mr. A.B. Tarryer, in "American Garden," a few years back, will recall
the great variety of implements that he advised for the purpose of
extirpating his hereditary foes, the weeds. A variety of these blades
and tools is shown in Figs. 96 and 97. I shall let Mr. Tarryer tell his
story at some length in order to lead my reader painlessly into a new
field of gardening pleasures.

Mr. Tarryer contends that the wheel-hoe is much too clumsy an affair to
allow of the pursuit of an individual weed. While the operator is busy
adjusting his machine and manipulating it about the corners of the
garden, the quack-grass has escaped over the fence or has gone to seed
at the other end of the plantation. He devised an expeditious tool for
each little work to be performed on the garden,--for hard ground and
soft, for old weeds and young (one of his implements was denominated
"infant-damnation").

[Illustration: Fig. 97. Some of the details of the Tarryer tools.]

"Scores of times during the season," Mr. Tarryer writes, "the ten or
fifteen minutes one has to enjoy in the flower, fruit, and vegetable
garden--and that would suffice for the needful weeding with the hoes we
are celebrating--would be lost in harnessing horses or adjusting and
oiling squeaky wheel-hoes, even if everybody had them. The 'American
Garden' is not big enough, nor my patience long enough, to give more
than an inkling of the unspeakable merits of these weapons of society
and civilization. When Mrs. Tarryer was showing twelve or fifteen acres
of garden with never a weed to be seen, she valued her dozen or more of
these light implements at five or ten dollars daily; whether they were
in actual use or adorning the front hall, like a hunter's or angler's
furniture, made no difference. But where are these millennial tools made
and sold? Nowhere. They are as unknown as the Bible was in the dark
ages, and we must give a few hints towards manufacturing them.

"First, about the handles. The ordinary dealer or workman may say these
knobs can be formed on any handles by winding them with leather; but
just fancy a young maiden setting up her hoe meditatively and resting
her hands and chin upon an old leather knob to reflect upon something
that has been said to her in the garden, and we shall perceive that a
knob by some other name would smell far sweeter. Moreover, trees grow
large enough at the butt to furnish all the knobs we want--even for
broom-sticks--though sawyers, turners, dealers, and the public seem not
to be aware of it; yet it must be confessed we are so far gone in
depravity that there will be trouble in getting those handles....

"In a broadcast prayer of this public nature, absolute specifications
would not be polite. Black walnut and butternut are fragrant as well as
beautiful timber. Cherry is stiff, heavy, durable, and, like maple,
takes a slippery polish. For fine, light handles, that the palm will
stick to, butt cuts of poplar or cottonwood cannot be excelled, yet
straight-grained ash will bear more careless usage.

"The handles of Mrs. Tarryer's hoes are never perfectly straight. All
the bayonet class bend downward in use half an inch or more; all the
thrust-hoe handles bend up in a regular curve (like a fiddle-bow turned
over) two or three inches. Unless they are hung right, these hoes are
very awkward things. When perfectly fit for one, they may not fit
another; that is, a tall, keen-sighted person cannot use the hoe that is
just fit for a very short one.... Curves in the handles throw centers of
gravity where they belong. Good timber generally warps in a handle about
right, only implement makers and babes in weeding may not know when it
is made fast right side up in the hoe.

"There are plenty of thrust-hoes in market, such as they are. Some have
malleable iron sockets and bows--heavier to the buyer and cheaper to the
dealer--instead of wrought-iron and steel, such as is required for
true worth."

Scarifiers.

[Illustration: 98. A scarifier.]

[Illustration: 99. Home-made scarifier.]

[Illustration: 100. Home-made scarifier or scraper.]

For many purposes, tools that scrape or scarify the surface are
preferable to hoes that dig up the ground. Weeds may be kept down by
cutting them off, as in walks and often in flower-beds, rather than by
rooting them out. Figure 98 shows such a tool, and a home-made implement
answering the same purpose is illustrated in Fig. 99. This latter tool
is easily made from strong band-iron. Another type is suggested in Fig.
100, representing a slicing-hoe made by fastening a sheet of good metal
to the tines of a broken fork. The kind chiefly in the market is shown
in Fig. 101.

[Illustration: 101. The common scarifier.]



Hand-weeders.

[Illustration: 102. Good hand-weeders.]

[Illustration: 103. A hand-weeder.]

[Illustration: 104. A finger-weeder.]

[Illustration: 105. A small hand-weeder.]

For small beds of flowers or vegetables, hand-weeders of various
patterns are essential to easy and efficient work. One of the best
patterns, with long and short handles, is shown in Fig. 102. Another
style, that may be made at home of hoop-iron, is drawn in Fig. 103. A
finger-weeder is illustrated in Fig. 104. In Fig. 105 a common form is
shown. Many patterns of hand-weeders are in the market, and other forms
will suggest themselves to the operator.



Trowels and their kind.

Small hand-tools for digging, as trowels, dibbers, and spuds, may be had
of dealers. In buying a trowel it is economy to pay an extra price and
secure a steel blade with a strong shank that runs through the entire
length of the handle. One of these tools will last several years and
may be used in hard ground, but the cheap trowels are generally hardly
worth the buying. A solid wrought-iron trowel all in one piece is also
manufactured, and is the most durable pattern. A steel trowel may be
secured to a long handle; or the blade of a broken trowel may be
utilized in the same way (Fig. 106). A very good trowel may also be made
from a discarded blade of a mowing machine (Fig. 107), and it answers
the purpose of a hand-weeder.

[Illustration: Fig. 106. Long-handled trowel.]

[Illustration: Fig. 107. Improvised trowel.]

[Illustration: Fig. 108. Weed-spud.]

[Illustration: Fig. 109. A good weed-spud.]

[Illustration: Fig. 110. Weed-cutter.]

[Illustration: Fig. 111. A weed-spud that lifts the weed.]

Weed-spuds are shown in Figs. 108 to 111. The first is particularly
serviceable in cutting docks and other strong weeds from lawns and
pastures. It is provided with a brace to allow it to be thrust into the
ground with the foot. It is seldom necessary to dig out perennial weeds
to the tips of their deep roots, if the crown is severed a short
distance below the surface.

Rollers.

It is often essential that the land be compacted after it has been
spaded or hoed, and some kind of hand-roller is then useful. Very
efficient iron rollers are in the market, but a good one can be made
from a hard chestnut or oak log, as shown in Fig. 112. (It should be
remembered that when the surface is hard and compact, water escapes from
it rapidly, and plants may suffer for moisture on arrival of warm
weather.) The roller is useful in two ways--to compact the
under-surface, in which case the surface should be again loosened as
soon as the rolling is done; and to firm the earth about seeds (page 98)
or the roots of newly set plants.

[Illustration: Fig. 112. Hand-roller.]

[Illustration: Fig. 113. Roller and marker.]

Markers.

[Illustration: Fig. 114. Roller and marker.]

[Illustration: Fig. 115. Marking-stick.]

A marker may often be combined with the roller to good advantage, as in
Fig. 113. Ropes are secured about the cylinder at proper intervals, and
these mark the rows. Knots may be placed in the ropes to indicate the
places where plants are to be set or seeds dropped. An extension of the
same idea is seen in Fig. 114, which shows iron or wooden pegs that make
holes in which very small plants may be set. An L-shaped rod projects at
one side to mark the place of the next row.

[Illustration: Fig. 116. Tool for spacing plants.]

[Illustration: Fig. 117. Barrow rigged with a marker.]

[Illustration: Fig. 118. Hand sled-marker.]

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.

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.

[Illustration: Fig 121. A good cart for collecting leaves and other
materials.]

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.



CHAPTER V

THE HANDLING OF THE PLANTS

There is a knack in the successful handling of plants that it is
impossible to describe in print. All persons can improve their practice
through diligent reading of useful gardening literature, but no amount
of reading and advice will make a good gardener of a person who does not
love to dig in a garden or who does not have a care for plants just
because they are plants.

To grow a plant well, one must learn its natural habits. Some persons
learn this as if by intuition, acquiring the knowledge from close
discrimination of the behavior of the plant. Often they are themselves
unconscious of this knack of knowing what will make the plant to thrive;
but it is not at all necessary to have such an intuitive judgment to
enable one to be even more than a fairly good gardener. Diligent
attention to the plant's habits and requirements, and a real regard for
the plant's welfare, will make any person a successful plant-grower.

Some of the things that a person should know about any plant he would
grow are these:--

Whether the plant matures in the first, second, third, or subsequent
years; and when it naturally begins to fail.

The time of the year or season in which it normally grows, blooms, or
fruits; and whether it can be forced at other seasons.

Whether it prefers a situation dry or moist or wet, hot or cool, sunny
or shady.

Its preferences as to soil, whether very rich or only moderately rich,
sand or loam, or peat or clay.

Its hardiness as to frost, wind, drought, heat.

Whether it has any special requirements as to germination, and whether
it transplants well.

Whether it is specially liable to attack by insects or disease.

Whether it has a special inability to grow two years in succession on
the same land.

Having suited the situation to the plant, and having prepared the ground
well and made a resolution to keep it well, special attention must be
given to such matters as these:--

Guarding from all insects and diseases; and also from cats and chickens
and dogs; and likewise from rabbits and mice.

Protecting from weeds.

Pruning, in the case of fruit trees and bushes, and also of ornamental
woody plants on occasion, and sometimes even of annual herbs.

Staking and tying, particularly of sprawly garden flowers.

Persistent picking of seed pods or dead flowers from flower plants, in
order to conserve the strength of the plant and to prolong its season
of bloom.

Watering in dry weather (but not sprinkling or dribbling).

Thorough winter protecting of plants that need it.

Removing dead leaves, broken branches, weak and sickly plants, and
otherwise keeping the place tidy and trim.

_Sowing the seeds._

Prepare the surface earth well, to make a good seed-bed. Plant when the
ground is moist, if possible, and preferably just before a rain if the
soil is of such character that it will not bake. For shallow-planted
seeds, firm the earth above them by walking over the row or by patting
it down with a hoe. Special care should be exercised not to sow very
small and slow-germinating seeds, as celery, carrot, onion, in poorly
prepared soil or in ground that bakes. With such seeds it is well to
sow seeds of radish or turnip, for these germinate quickly and break the
crust, and also mark the row so that tillage may be begun before the
regular-crop seeds are up.

Land may be prevented from baking over the seeds by scattering a very
thin layer of fine litter, as chaff, or of sifted moss or mold, over the
row. A board is sometimes laid on the row to retain the moisture, but it
must be lifted gradually just as soon as the plants begin to break the
ground, or the plants will be greatly injured. Whenever practicable,
seed-beds of celery and other slow-germinating seeds should be shaded.
If the beds are watered, be careful that the soil is not packed by the
force of the water or baked by the sun. In thickly sown seed-beds, thin
or transplant the plants as soon as they have made their first
true leaves.

For most home-grounds, seeds may be sown by hand, but for large areas of
one crop, one of the many kinds of seed-sowers may be used. The
particular methods of sowing seeds are usually specified in the seed
catalogues, if other than ordinary treatment is required. The
sled-markers (already described, p. 108) open a furrow of sufficient
depth for the planting of most seeds. If marker furrows are not
available, a furrow may be opened with a hoe for such deep-planted seeds
as peas and sweet peas, or by a trowel or end of a rakestale for smaller
seeds. In narrow beds or boxes, a stick or ruler (Fig. 115) may be used
for opening creases to receive the seeds.

The depth at which seeds are to be planted varies with the kind, the
soil and its preparation, the season, and whether they are planted in
the open or in the house. In boxes and under glass, it is a good rule
that the seed be sown at a depth equal to twice its own diameter, but
deeper sowing is usually necessary out of doors, particularly in hot and
dry weather. Strong and hardy seeds, as peas, sweet peas, large
fruit-tree seeds, may be planted three to six inches deep. Tender seeds,
that are injured by cold and wet, may be planted after the ground is
settled and warm at a greater depth than before that season. As a rule,
nothing is gained by sowing tender seeds before the weather is
thoroughly settled and the ground warm.

_Propagating by cuttings._

Many common plants are propagated by cuttings rather than by seeds,
particularly when it is desired to increase a particular variety.

Cuttings are parts of plants inserted in soil or water with the
intention that they shall grow and make new plants. They are of various
kinds. They may be classified, with reference to the age of the wood or
tissue, into two classes; viz. those made from perfectly hard or dormant
wood (taken from the winter twigs of trees and bushes), and those made
from more or less immature or growing wood. They may be classified again
in respect to the part of the plants from which they are taken, as
root-cuttings, tuber-cuttings (as the ordinary "seed" planted for
potatoes), stem-cuttings, and leaf-cuttings.

Dormant stem-cuttings.

Dormant-wood cuttings are used for grapes (Fig. 122), currants,
gooseberries, willows, poplars, and many other kinds of soft-wooded
trees and shrubs. Such cuttings are ordinarily taken in fall or winter,
but cut into the proper lengths and then buried in sand or moss where
they do not freeze, in order that the lower end may heal over or
callous. In the spring these cuttings are set in the ground, preferably
in a rather sandy and well-drained place.

[Illustration: Fig. 122. The planting of the dormant-wood cuttings.]

Usually, hardwood cuttings are made with two to four joints or buds, and
when they are planted, only the upper bud projects above the ground.
They may be planted erect, as Fig. 122 shows, or somewhat slanting. In
order that the cutting may reach down to moist earth, it is desirable
that it should not be less than 6 in. long; and it is sometimes better
if it is 8 to 12 in. If the wood is short-jointed, there may be several
buds on a cutting of this length; and in order to prevent too many
shoots from arising from these buds the lowermost buds are often cut
out. Roots will start as readily if the lower buds are removed, since
the buds grow into shoots and not into roots.

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