Keeping Up Fertility 



BY JUNE we have finished planting, and have 

 commenced cultivation. Weeds can be 

 easily prevented or destroyed by cultivating just 

 before they appear, or just when they are breaking 

 through the surface of the soil. Another good 

 reason for thorough cultivation early in the sum- 

 mer is the frequent aeration of the soil which pre- 

 vents fermentation and cleanses the soil from waste 

 material. Old gardens, however heavily manured, 

 become less fertile year after year because of the 

 fermentation that takes place. Ferments pre- 

 vent plant nutrition; they are comparable to an 

 excess of worn-out or waste material in the animal 

 body. Rather than correct this condition by the 

 application of lime we now use lime for plant food 

 when it is needed, and sweeten and cleanse the soil 

 by aeration and cultivation. Early in the summer 

 when the soil is so dry that it crumbles in the hand, 

 cultivate deeply around newly set plants and trees 

 so that the soil is finely pulverized. This lets air 

 and moisture all through the soil. 



Another reason for thorough cultivation is to get 

 the fullest benefit from the soil moisture. When 

 the soil is pulverized in fine particles by culti- 

 vation, water does not rise continuously to the 

 surface to be lost by evaporation. 



We now have implements so effective and which 

 work so easily that the work of cultivation can be 

 made almost a recreation. When one owns or can 

 conveniently get the use of a horse, it is well to 

 own a horse wheel cultivator. I find a tool like the 

 12-tooth garden cultivator to be just what I need. 

 There are twelve small teeth, and the cultivator 

 is quickly narrowed to twelve inches for narrow 

 rows, or widened to four or five feet where it can 

 be used as a harrow. The pulverizer is attached 

 to the rear, as can also be the furrowing plow. 



Another one-horse tool I have used with much 

 satisfaction for years is the one-horse Acme culti- 

 vator and pulverizer, that can be bought five to six 

 feet wide. This follows shallow plowing between 

 cane and bush fruits, where the rows are six to 

 eight feet apart, and pulverizes sods and lumps 

 without turning them over. There are several good 

 hand wheel cultivators, furnished with different 

 attachments that are all useful. Early in the 

 season I use these handwheel hoes mostly after the 

 horse cultivators. When strawberries are planted 

 in check rows, eighteen inches each way for hill 

 culture, one can cultivate each way with the horse 

 wheel cultivator, then run the hand wheel cultiva- 

 tors so close to the plants that there is little space 

 left uncultivated. For working very close to small 

 plants I have used the narrow-forked onion hoes. 

 With the above-named implements, a small one- 

 horse plow, and with various hoes and weeders, the 

 owner of the small place has a very good equip- 

 ment for cultivating the fruit garden and small 

 family orchard. 



PRUNING SMALL FRUITS 



All the runners should be clipped on the newly 

 set strawberry plants up to July first. I often 

 use a sharp hoe for cutting runners, as I can work 

 standing up straight. The disc cutter on the tooth 

 cultivator will cut most of the runners, but it is 

 generally used only on large plantations of straw- 

 berries. The last of May and early in June, the 

 sucker plants that are coming up in the rows of 

 raspberries and blackberries should be thinned, 

 so that the stronger plants of hardy varieties that 

 do not need to be layered and covered in winter 



will stand at an average of one foot apart in the 

 rows. The finest fruit is obtained by pinching these 

 back at four feet high, and training them to the 

 tree form. These canes will need to be supported 

 by wires on either side. Tender varieties should 

 not be so vigorously thinned, and the canes not 

 pruned, as they can be bent over and covered. 

 The blackcap raspberries and all "tip" varieties 

 need less thinning and pruning than sucker varieties. 



THE GRAPE ARBOR 



Grapes require some attention in June, such 

 as tying up the trellis or supports, and pinching 

 back the new growth where it is too close together 

 to admit sunlight sufficiently to develop fully and 

 ripen the fruit. Grapes that were well pruned in 

 late fall or early winter (which is the proper time to 

 do the work) will require less thinning of the vines 



Cultivate thoroughly alt summer to keep moisture 

 in the soil and to let air into the roots 



in summer. When grapes, currants and goose- 

 berries are pruned late in the fall, much of the wood 

 cut off can be saved for propagating new plants. 

 Trees that have not been sufficiently pruned should 

 be pruned before the summer spraying. Pruning 

 often saves thinning of the fruit. * 



SPRAYING BEGINS 



With the coming of the warm weather, insects, 

 pests and fungus commence to be active, and we 

 should be ready with our remedies for spraying 

 either before or after the blossoming of the fruit, 

 or both. For the fruit garden and orchard on the 

 small place I have used a copper knapsack 

 sprayer, costing $10 or $12. This can be carried 

 on the back, or placed on a wheelbarrow or cart, 

 or on a step ladder or wagon for the taller trees. 

 I try to keep ready-made stock solutions for making 

 Bordeaux mixture, which is the remedy for fungus 

 diseases. Lime-sulphur wash is now largely used 

 in place of Bordeaux mixture for some diseases. 



Spray strawberries to prevent rust or leaf blight 

 which may develop before the berries are all matured. 

 The varieties which are of the highest quality 

 are most susceptible to blight. Strawberries 

 should be sprayed with Bordeaux mixture just 

 before the buds open, the leaves being thoroughly 

 covered, and the propagating bed should be kept 

 sprayed all summer. One can buy stock for 

 making up nearly all spraying solutions, and this 

 is a good way where only small quantities 

 are used in the garden, and especially with the 

 lime sulphur wash. Information about spraying 

 solutions can be obtained from your own state insti- 

 tution free of cost; but first consult the article on 

 spraying on page 294. 



310 



As soon as the blossoms fall, spray for codling 

 moths with one pound of Paris green or four 

 pounds of arsenate of lead mixed with one hundred 

 gallons of water. Repeat the operation ten days 

 later. This solution is sometimes combined with 

 Bordeaux mixture for apple scab and leaf- 

 blight. 



Currants and gooseberries should be sprayed 

 twice with the same solution of Paris green or 

 arsenate of lead, as is used for codling moth. 

 Do this soon after the leaves are out, and again 

 later when the green worms appear. The only 

 means of controlling black knot is to watch close 

 for the infection, cut off all diseased parts and 

 burn them. 



Encourage the birds to build nests by providing 

 plenty of trees and hedges on your place. The 

 birds destroy insect pests better and cheaper than 

 you can do with insecticides. Have also a few hives 

 of bees to aid better ppllenization of fruits. 



In June the fruit grower begins to enjoy some 

 of the rewards of his labor. He can have better 

 strawberries than money will often buy — those 

 of the highest quality as Marshall, Wm. Belt, etc., 

 that have been left on the plants until they are 

 fully ripe, and are sweet and luscious. If the 

 strawberry plants have not been well mulched, 

 place green grass or lawn clippings between the 

 rows, using litter that will keep the berries clean 

 and retain moisture. Later in the month the 

 cherries begin to ripen; it is cheaper to feed the birds 

 on mulberries than on cherries, so plant a few 

 mulberry trees in the cherry orchard. If the birds 

 will only come and stay with us we can afford to 

 plant sufficient fruit for both them and ourselves. 



New York. W. H. Jenkins. 



Utilizing Old Fruit Boxes 



WE used to throw away our empty berry boxes 

 and peach baskets, but we save them now, 

 for we find them very useful in the garden in the 

 spring. 



Some of the smaller boxes are used to plant 

 cucumber seed in, allowing one plant to a box. 

 These are kept in a sunny window until the weather 

 is warm enough to put them out, when they are set 

 in the ground, box and all. Thus one may have 

 "cukes" three weeks earlier than if the seeds had 

 been planted out-of-doors. 



I cut the bottoms out of some of the boxes, put 

 the bottomless box over tender seedlings, cover each 

 box with a piece of glass, and thereby have a minia- 

 ture coldframe. The bottomless boxes are also set 

 over small plants that might otherwise be injured 

 by too much sunlight or late frosts. They may 

 be quickly covered with papers, or a cloth, and the 

 plants will not be crushed. These boxes are espe- 

 cially good to put around dahlias, for the tender 

 sprouts are very easily broken off. 



Tomato plants are often transplanted into berry 

 boxes, and planted in the ground in the box, which 

 soon rots. The plant is thus saved the shock of 

 transplanting. 



The peach basket is usually of the greatest value 

 during May, when we have very high winds. We 

 just turn them over the tomato plants and tell the 

 wind to "blow, if it wants to!" Last spring my 

 plants were uninjured by a three days' gale, while 

 those in my neighbor's garden were ruined. The 

 baskets kept off the wind and cold from my plants 

 yet let in sufficient light and air. 



Massachusetts. Ella M. Beals. 



