November, 1908.] 



443 



Edible Products 



that we have used. Some planters have 

 covered their beds with cheese clotb, 

 but this is no protection from the heavier 

 rains, which may readily destroy their 

 entire planting. Others have used 

 canvas, but canvas is too heavy and 

 thick and its cost is prohibitive. We 

 have used the waterproof so called 

 " horticultural cloth," the preparation 

 of which is described below, and this 

 suits the purpose perfectly. 



(a.) Preparation op Beds. 



Preparation for the seed beds of the 

 coming year should certainly begin just 

 as soon as the last year's crop is out of 

 the way and the planter is free to give 

 his attention to other things. Good seed 

 beds need a very large quantity of the 

 best and most perfectly rotted manure, 

 and it is almost never possible to obtain 

 this at the last moment. It must be 

 secured very early and afterwards 

 properly handled to get it into the right 

 shape for seed bed work. It must be so 

 exceedingly well rotted that it can be 

 mixed into the seed bed with mattocks 

 and produce a very fine soft and friable 

 loam. Undecayed portions and bits of 

 straw aud sticks greatly increase the 

 possibility and rapidity of fungus attack. 

 Too great care cannot be wasted on the 

 preparation and proper mixing of the 

 seed bed soil. And it cannot be empha- 

 sized too strongly that enough compost 

 must be used to completely modify the 

 character of the soil in order that it 

 shall be most suitable for good seed beds. 

 In the permanent seed beds which 

 should be built in every vega the cost 

 will of course be far greater for the first 

 year than it will be for any succeeding 

 year. 



There is a good deal in picking out the 

 right location for seed beds. It should 

 be a spot protected by trees or shrubbery 

 or buildings from prevalent winds, and 

 a spot with very free surface drainage. 

 When properly built and well prepared 

 seed beds are once established, their 

 maintenance will involve far less ex- 

 pense than the preparation of new seed 

 beds in the mountains or elsewhere. 

 Initial expense will be somewhat greater 

 in the former case, but results amply 

 justify it. Besides, in the case of the 

 mountain and other seed beds more or 

 less loss is always probable, and this 

 has led to the preparation of far greater 

 areas than there is any need foi . The 

 losses certain to come to any planter 

 putting his faith in the old style seed 

 beds will cover many times over the cost 

 of preparation ot the new, whereas the 

 results of the latter have a v ery high 

 degree of certainty. 



The extra expense of the new seed 

 beds lies chiefly in the preparation of 

 covers, and this work should he concluded 

 before the end of July. The cost of 

 material of the light framework over 

 which to spread the covers is very small. 

 The upright posts may be cut iu any 

 manigua, or even all the necessary 

 material. If other material be not 

 available, we have found that ordinary 

 drying poles split by rip-saw serve the 

 purpose admirably. 



If beds are made where there is no 

 danger from surface wash, there is no 

 need of banking them at the sides with 

 poles or old boards. They should, how- 

 ever, in any case be built up to at least 

 six inches above the surrounding ground. 

 The beds in figure I. were on ground 

 subject, in neavy rains, to a rapidly 

 running wash of 2 to 4 inches sometimes, 

 so they were banked as shown, with old 

 six inch boards. Even such boards 

 should last for several years. A planter 

 in this immediate vicinity built beds 

 last year in a place subject to a similar 

 wash and did not think it " practicable " 

 to go to the expense of banking or pro- 

 perly ditching them, aud as a result lost 

 his entire plantings iu the first heavy 

 rain, and was compelled to buy posturas 

 after having borne the expense of pre- 

 paring the seed beds. Cheap and care- 

 less methods will never give reasonably 

 safe results that can be depended upon 

 iu any business. The beds in figure I. 

 could stand a freshet stream of even six 

 inches without being lost. We would 

 recommend that the beds be made not 

 more than 3 feet wide or better a little 

 less, and not more than ten feet long. 

 This width and length makes them con- 

 venient in many operations such as 

 building, weeding, managing covers and 

 so on, and has commended itself to us 

 for use in all vegas of ordinary size. 

 The production of posturas as a business 

 by itself is another matter. Prof. 

 Earle has shown that beds constructed 

 on exactly this same plan can be just 

 as easily built and operated to a size 

 of 12 feet wide and 50 feet in length. 

 In these large seed beds the framework 

 for the cover is highest iu the centre, 

 and the covers roll up iu one continuous 

 sheet on either side. 



The covers are best made of so- 

 called "Factory Cloth, " two yards wide. 

 This cloth is a cheap, coarse, but 

 close-woven and stout muslin, and 

 should not cost more than 6 to 8 ceuts 

 per yaird. If this is dipped in boiled 

 linseed oil, the excess wrung out, and 

 then hung over lines, fences, or bushes, 

 until dry, afterwards with brushes 

 given another coat of the same oil on 



