THE CULTIVATION AND CARE OF A GARDEN. 



This chapter will be a sort of "General good of the order," a 

 gathering together of scraps of information and experience that I 

 cannot make fit anywhere else. 



There are two schools of cultivators in Florida ; one which 

 believes it to be better to let weeds grow in summer, merely 

 mowing them down; the idea being to shade the ground. The 

 other school believes in clean culture. As a matter of fact we 

 see good plants grown by both methods. Personally I believe 

 in clean culture, though I do not, by any means, always live up to 

 my ideas. It is well to begin to cultivate one's plants as soon 

 as danger from frost is past in spring and to continue it until a 

 short time before it may come in the fall. Hoe or cultivate 

 your plants often, giving them a little fertilizer every time they 

 are worked, and if they are mulched the material can be taken 

 away before cultivating and replaced afterwards. The mulch 

 will soon decay and enrich the soil. 



For the past two years the rainfall in this vicinity has been far 

 below normal. Within that time during the "rainy season" 

 there have been months with scarcely an inch of precipitation 

 and very little cloudiness. Yet in these two summers a neighbor 

 of mine has raised fine crops of cow peas, sweet potatoes, velvet 

 beans, peppers and other things on pine land without irrigation, 

 largely because he kept the hoe and cultivator constantly going. 



Many cultivators have put irrigation systems in their grounds 

 and there is no doubt but that the judicious use of water on 

 naturally dry land is beneficial. There are a number of different 

 systems on the market but, generally speaking, one should get a 

 plant which has as little obstruction from pipes as possible. For 

 a small place a windmill will do the pumping, forcing the water 

 into an elevated tank, but a gasolene engine is better. Where 

 one can have an electric current it can be used to run a light 

 engine with tank that works automatically, a most excellent 

 arrangement. It is better to water plants in the evening or 

 when it is cloudy, and it never should be done when the sun is 



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