Ten Acres Enough*— Chap. VIII 



{Continued from page 312, June, 1913) 



RASPBERRIES followed the strawberries. My 

 stock of boxes was thus useful a second time. 

 But raspberries are not always reliable for a full 

 crop the first season after planting — mine bore 

 only moderately — but by exercising the same 

 care in rejecting all inferior specimens, the first 

 commanded twenty-five cents a quart in the 

 market, gradually declining to twelve, below 

 which none were sold. I marketed only 242 

 quarts from the whole, netting an average of 16 

 cents a quart, or $38.72. In addition to this, we 

 consumed in the family as much as all desired. 



As my raspberries disappeared, so in regular 

 succession came the Lawton blackberries. I had 

 cut off the tip of every cane the preceding July; 

 by thus stopping the upward growth, the whole 

 energy of the plant was concentrated in the forma- 

 tion of branches, which had, in turn, been shortened 

 to a foot in length at the close of last season. This 

 process, by limiting the quantity of fruit to be pro- 

 duced, increased the size of the berries. It also 

 prevented the ends of the branches from resting 

 on the ground, when all fruit there produced would 

 otherwise be ruined by being covered with dust 

 or mud. Besides, this was their first bearing year, 

 and as they had not had time to acquire a ull 

 supply of roots, it would be unwise to let them over- 

 bear themselves. Some few which had grown to a 

 great height were staked up with pickets four and 

 a half feet long, and tied, the pickets costing $11 

 per thousand at the lumber-yard. But the majority 

 did not need this staking up the first season; but 

 many of the canes sent up this year, for bearers the 

 next, it was necessary to support with stakes. 



The crop was excellent in quality, but not large. 

 I began picking July 20th, and thus had the third 

 use of my stock of boxes. I practised the same 

 care in assorting these berries for market which 

 had been observed with the others, keeping the 

 larger ones separate from the smallest ones. They 

 sold rapidly and netted me thirty cents a quart, 

 the smaller ones twenty-five cents. The crop 

 of Lawtons amounted to 592 quarts, and netted me 

 $159.84 an average of twenty-seven cents a quart. 



Small Fruits After Cropping 



AS SOON as the picking was done, while the 

 plants were yet covered with leaves, all the 

 canes which had just fruited were cut off at the 

 ground using a strong pair of snip-shears, which 

 cut them through without any trouble. These 

 canes, having done their duty, would die in the 

 autumn; they could now be more easily cut than 

 when grown hard after death, and if removed at 

 once, would be out of the way of the new canes of 

 this year's growth. 



The latter could then be trimmed and staked 

 up for the coming year; the removal of all super- 

 fluous foliage would let in the sun and air more 

 freely to the cabbages between the rows. The old 

 wood being thus cut out, was gathered in a heap, 

 and when dry enough was burned, the ashes being 

 coUected and scattered around the peach-trees. 

 After this the limbs were all shortened in to a foot. 

 They were very strong and vigorous, as in July the 

 tops of the canes had all been taken off, leaving 

 no cane more than four feet high. The branches 

 were consequently very strong, giving promise 

 of a fine crop another season. After this, such as 

 needed it were staked up and tied, as the autumn 

 and winter winds so blow and twist them about 

 that otherwise they would be broken off. The 

 subsequent practice has induced me to cut down 

 to only three feet high; and this being done in 

 July, when the plant is in full growth, the cane 



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becomes so stiff and stocky before losing its leaves 

 as to require no staking, and will support itself 

 under ordinary storm. 



In the meantime the fame of the Lawton black- 

 berry had greatly extended and the demand in- 

 creased, but the propagation had also been stimu- 

 lated. A class of growers had omitted tilling their 

 grounds, so as to promote the growth of suckers, 

 caring more for the sale of plants than for that of 

 fruit. Hence the quantity to meet the demand 

 was so large as to reduce the price, but I sold 

 enough plants to produce me $213.50. Of this I 

 laid out $54 in marl, which I devoted exclusively 

 to the blackberries. I had been advised by a 

 friend that marl was the specific manure for this 

 plant, as of his own knowledge he knew it to be so. 

 A half-peck was spread round each hill, and the 

 remainder scattered over the ground. A single 

 row was left unmarled. It showed the power of 

 this fertilizer the next season, as the manured rows 

 were surprisingly better filled with fruit than that 

 which received none. 



The Balance Sheet 



WITH the sale of pork, amounting to $58, the 

 receipts of my second year terminated. My 

 cashbook showed the following as the total of 

 receipts and expenditures: 



Paid for stable manure 



Ashes, and rawbone superphosphate 



Marl .... 



Wages of assistant 



Occasional Help 



Feed for stock . 



Pigs bought 



Garden and other seeds 



Lumber, nails, and sundries 



Stakes and twine . 



S709.80 



The credit side of the account was much better 

 than last year, and the receipts were as follows: 



Strawberries, 6 acres S 857.60 



Lawton blackberries, 1 acre 159.84 



Lawton plants 213.50 



Raspberries, 2 acres 38.72 



Tomatoes, 1 acre igo.oo 



Cabbages 70.20 



Garden 63.00 



Peaches, 10 trees in garden 58.00 



Potatoes 24.00 



Pork 58.00 



Calf 2.00 



S200 



00 



92 



00 



54 



00 



144 



00 



94 



00 



79 



30 



12 



00 



13 



00 



14 



50 



7 



00 



Si. 734- 



In addition to this cash receipt toward the sup- 

 port of a family, we had not laid out a dollar for 

 fruits or vegetables during the entire year. Having 

 all of them in unstinted abundance, with a most 

 noble cow, the cash outlay for the family was 

 necessarily very small; and in addition to this, we 

 had a full six months' supply of pork on hand. 



The result of this year's operations was ap- 

 parently conclusive. My expenses for the farm 

 had been $709.80, while my receipts had been 

 $1,734.86, leaving a surplus of $1,025.06 for the 

 support of my family. But more than half of their 

 support had been drawn from the products of the 

 farm; and, at the year's end, when every account 



350 





had been settled up, and every bill at the stores 

 paid off, I found that of this $1,025.06 I had $567 

 in cash on hand — proving that it had required 

 only $458.06 in money, in addition to what we con- 

 sumed from the farm, to keep us all with far more 

 comfort than we had ever known in the city. Thus, 

 after setting aside $356.06 for the purchase of 

 manure, there was a clear surplus of $200 for invest- 

 ment. 



I had never done better than this in the city. 

 There, the year's end never found me with accounts 

 squared up and a clear cash balance on hand. 

 Few occupations can be carried on in the city after 

 so snug a fashion. 



(To be continued) 



What to Plant In July 



WHEN July or August has arrived we almost 

 always neglect the garden. And this is 

 just where we fail to get the best out of it. July- 

 planted sweet com and often dwarf sorts planted 

 in early August make the most acceptable corn of 

 the year; and so far as prices and profits go, if 

 frost holds off and any of these tidbits can be 

 spared for sale, everybody wants them. Good 

 seed should be selected that the late planting may 

 not be disappointment. 



The transplanting of cauliflower and cabbage 

 and the sowing of turnips should not be over- 

 looked, as these things are among the most 

 profitable, especially on the small farm, say four 

 to ten acres. A peculiar phase of gardening at 

 this season is that the crops may be raised on soil 

 from which earlier vegetables have been already 

 taken. The ground must be fertilized just as much 

 as in the spring. The failure to raise good crops 

 of late garden delicacies is traceable usually to 

 neglect of this one rule. 



July and August are the months for the sowing 

 of lettuce to be grown fully and then retarded for 

 the early and middle winter sales. This is easy to 

 do, as the crop is very readily produced, if planted 

 early enough before the days become too short. 

 That for sale before Thanksgiving may be protected 

 at night by covering with canvas which must be 

 kept from injuring the delicate leaves by resting 

 on short stakes driven among the heads just high 

 enough to hold the cloth off the crop. The edges 

 of the canvas must be pegged down to keep wind 

 from turning it over, unless earth is thrown on the 

 edges, which is good practice, as this aids in keeping 

 out cold. 



Lettuce grown without heat for the holidays must 

 be sown now in open coldframes, and covered, 

 sometimes closely blanketed before then. If 

 good spinach is to be sold next spring while prices 

 are high, sow it now and keep down the weeds. And 

 the delectable strawberry is now to be set. One's 

 own, home-grown plants have the advantage over 

 plants brought from a distance, because one may 

 transplant now with balls of earth on the roots 

 and be certain that a large percentage of the plants 

 will live. The sowing of onion seeds for the raising 

 of sets is made profitable on many small places 

 and should not be done earlier in the season. 

 Choose soil that is not too rich; and if the sets 

 threaten to make too much size, let the weeds choke 

 them. 



A midsummer mistake in most gardens, par- 

 ticularly on busy farms, is the neglect of things 

 already grown or nearly ready for use, letting weeds 

 come in and make the place uninviting and difficult 

 to harvest because hiding the vegetables. Not 

 infrequently also they prevent the full culmination 

 and perfection of the plants so the crop is a partial 

 failure. "Eternal vigilance is the price of success" 

 in the garden. 



New York. Julius Brown. 



