ipll 



BETTER FRUIT 



Page 



THE FEEDING OF THE GARDEN SOIL A NECESSITY 



trash and manure accumulate about the 

 buildings and grounds. These amounts, 

 when raked up and collected, are too 

 small to pay for hitching up to the wagon 

 and hauling to the fields, hence we use 

 the shovel and wheelbarrow and get this 

 stuff on the garden as fast as it is formed. 

 The ashes from our wood stoves are 

 removed at frequent intervals and placed 

 about the base of the grapevines, bush 

 fruits and larger fruit trees. The winter 

 and spring rains leach out the easily sol- 

 uble potash and other mineral elements 

 of the ashes and carry them to the roots 



A VARIETY of plants with a variety 

 of plant food requirements are 

 grown in the garden. To meet the grow- 

 ing needs of all these different plants 

 many different kinds of fertilizers must 

 be used on the garden soil. The garden 

 gives large yields in proportion to the 

 area cultivated, and no labor or means 

 should be spared to make it yield in 

 abundance. 



We like to begin to fertilize our gar- 

 den soil early in the winter, in fact just 

 as soon as the crops are harvested in the 

 late summer and fall. Small amounts of 



mcmc 



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of the fruit trees, bushes and vines for 

 early feeding when spring growth begins. 

 Wash water and other soapy slops are 

 poured on the vegetable garden, the 

 small fruit patch and on the flower beds. 

 It is true these slops do not contain 

 large amounts of fertilizing elements, but 

 they must be disposed of in some way, 

 and it is better to save them for fer- 

 tilizing food and flower crops than to 

 throw them out in the back yard any- 

 where, or to alow them to run away 

 through the underground drain pipe. 

 The dirt and waste about the dwelling 

 can be utilized in the garden soil better 

 than in any other way, and in a few 



years the fertilization amounts 



to considerable. About twice 

 each week the cow lot is 

 cleaned with the rake and 

 shovel, and the scrapings, 

 amounting to some half a 

 dozen wheelbarrow loads, are 

 removed to the garden and 

 dumped in piles. By spring 

 gardening time these small 

 piles are decomposed and in 

 fine condition for working 

 into the soil, either for the 

 vegetable or for the flower 

 beds. Cow manure is mild 

 and safe to use with the ten- 

 derest of plants, as very little 

 heat is given oi¥ in decompo- 

 sition. That which has re- 

 mained in small heaps over 

 winter in the garden works 

 up in spring as fine as the 

 finest garden loam, and is one 

 of the best all around garden 

 fertilizers that can be used. 



The droppings from the 

 poultry houses are cleaned 

 out regularly during the win- 

 ter and either applied direct 

 to the garden soil or mixed 

 with the stable manure and 

 applied with it. As poultry 

 manure is very strong, it 

 should be applied thinly over 

 the surface. A little of it will 

 go a long way. Where coal 

 ashes or other similar absorb- 

 ing material is used with the 

 droppings there is less dan- 

 ger of overfertilizing the soil 

 with them. The ashes absorb 

 and hold fertilizing elements, 

 and when they are worked 

 into the soil they give up 

 these fertilizers as plant foods 

 and at the same time improve 

 the texture of the soil, mak- 

 ing it light, friable and easy 

 to work. Absorbing material 

 should always be used with 

 poultry droppings, since it 

 keeps the poultry house more 

 sanitary and almost doubles 

 the value of the manure. 



Where not enough refuse 

 about the home can be had 

 to properly fertilize the gar- 

 den during the winter we use 

 the manure from any of the 

 animal stables. In spring all 

 the coarsest portion is raked 

 off and hauled to the fields. — 

 California Cultivator. 



