Part 3

Clay soils, like the preceding, are greatly improved by the addition of organic matter. It should be applied in the fall, in the form of strawy stable manure, and buried deeply. Leaves also are a valuable addition. Liming is good, as this causes the flocculation of the clay particles and renders the soil more open and permeable by air and water. The addition of sand, sifted coal ashes, or wood ashes serves the same purpose. Clay soils are benefited by being plowed or spaded in the fall and left rough over the winter. This allows the frost to penetrate more readily, resulting in the breaking up and disintegration of the clods. Another advantage of fall plowing in the case of land of this type is that by so doing it dries out more rapidly in the spring and it is possible to get your crops planted earlier.

Muck and swamp soils are frequently waterlogged, and before they will support a crop it is necessary to underdrain them; but as this is an operation that is scarcely practicable for those for whom this book is written, it will not be dealt with here. As there is always a lack of basic salts in this type of soil, liming is practised, usually to good advantage.

Those who contemplate taking over a piece of land for the purpose of growing vegetables should, if the land has not previously produced a crop, obtain the opinion of a competent gardener as to its possibilities from a gardening standpoint. Such men are usually available in every community, and as a rule are glad to help. If expert opinion is not available, the novice can form an approximate idea of its value by making careful observations in the following manner. Take notice of the vegetation growing on the plot. If it is luxuriant and consists mostly of grasses it will probably be all right for growing vegetables. Dig holes here and there with a spade or trowel and examine the soil. If you find, an inch or two below the surface, nothing but tin cans and broken bottles it is not a safe gardening proposition. Neither should you go ahead if you find only a thin layer of topsoil, two or three inches, above the subsoil. It is usually easy to tell the difference between what is known as topsoil and subsoil. The topsoil is darker in color, due to the presence of humus, and of a finer texture. This topsoil should be at least eight inches deep to get good results. Soils which contain too many large stones should be avoided, also those which consist of only a thin layer overlying a rock ledge.

Most vegetables succeed best in a soil that is slightly alkaline, and land intended for garden use should be tested with litmus paper to discover if acid is present in excess. Take a piece of blue litmus paper and press it upon a handful of moist soil. If it turns red it indicates the presence of acid and the advisability of liming. Lime is a valuable element in the soil, as it assists in making plant foods soluble. It is best applied in the fall, spreading it over the surface and digging or plowing it in. It can also be applied in the spring, but in no case should it be put on so that it comes in direct contact with manure. Lime applied with manure causes ammonia to be liberated too rapidly in the form of gas, which escapes into the air, and thus much of the fertility of the manure is lost. When it is necessary to apply lime in the spring, the manure should first be dug or plowed under, and the lime then spread on the surface, and raked or harrowed in. Use about 20 pounds of air-slaked lime or 30 to 40 pounds of ground limestone to 400 square feet.

Thorough preparation of the soil is essential if best results are to be obtained. This means that the soil must be broken up and pulverized as deeply as possible. There are several reasons for this. Breaking up the soil to a good depth increases the water-holding capacity of the soil—a very important point because of the fact that plants have to take all of the food substances that they obtain from the soil in solution. It provides a greater bulk of soil in which the plant roots may ramify in search of food. The less fertile the soil the greater is the necessity for breaking it deeply to increase the area from which the roots may draw nourishment. Deep tillage encourages the roots to penetrate downward, and plants whose roots go down deeply in the soil are less likely to suffer during dry spells.

It is well to remember, however, that although it is desirable to have the soil broken up deeply it is not a good practice to bring too much of the subsoil up to the surface in digging or plowing. In farming operations a greater depth of soil is obtained by using what is known as a subsoil plow. This implement frequently is used after the field has been plowed in the usual way and penetrates below the topsoil and breaks up the subsoil, but without disturbing their relative positions. In gardens the same result is obtained by what is called bastard trenching, of which more will be said later.

In preparing a piece of ground that has not previously been cultivated the first thing to do is to remove all large stones and rubbish that may be on the surface. If it is a large area, the work of breaking it will, of course, be done with a plow. Supposing the land is covered with a growth of sod, it is a good plan to go over it several times with a disk harrow before plowing. This will cut up the sods, cause them to decay more rapidly when they are turned under, and insure the soil being pulverized throughout its whole depth. After plowing, harrowing is necessary to break the lumps and to compact the soil somewhat. The fining process can then be completed by hand, using a rake for the purpose.

Small areas can be prepared for planting by digging with a spade or spading-fork. A trench should first be dug a foot or eighteen inches wide and a foot deep, provided that the topsoil extends that far. The soil from this trench should be placed on one side so as to be available for filling in the last trench when digging is finished. Having opened the first trench, proceed with the digging, turning each spadeful of soil bottom up in the trench. The soil can be turned over with greater ease and more efficiently by always maintaining a trench when digging. It is the only way by which sods, manure, and weeds may be properly buried so that they may decay and form plant food.

Bastard trenching is carried out in the same way as digging except that the trench is made at least two feet wide and the subsoil thus exposed is broken up with a spading-fork before the topsoil from the next trench is turned over upon it.

When digging, the soil should be broken up as finely as possible with the spade or fork, so as to leave no lumps, and all large stones should be thrown out.

Digging or plowing should never be attempted when the ground is frozen or when it is so wet that the soil sticks to the tools used.

After the soil has been turned over and broken up the rake should come into operation and the surface fined so as to fit it for seed-sowing.

V FERTILIZERS

The most important elements that it is necessary to apply to the soil in the form of fertilizer are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potash.

Nitrogen greatly stimulates the production of leaves, and an excess of it applied to crops grown for their fruit or roots is undesirable. It is contained in all the animal manures, associated with other fertilizing elements, and in a practically pure state in nitrate of soda.

Phosphorus is a valuable and necessary fertilizer which has a great influence on the production of fruits and seeds. It is found in greater or less quantities in animal manures, and in bone meal. Phosphatic rock that has been treated with acid is another important source of phosphorus.

Potash. The rôle of potash in the soil is similar to that of phosphoric acid. It is considered to be a valuable fertilizer for all crops that are grown for their roots. It occurs in animal manures and in wood ashes. Muriate of potash and kainite contain potash in a more concentrated form, but are difficult to obtain at present.

All of these three elements must be present in the soil for the production of healthy crops.

It is generally conceded that the best all-round fertilizer for plants is decayed barn-yard or stable manure. It not only adds fertility to the soil, but by its decay it helps to make the mineral particles soluble and thus available as plant foods. As already indicated, it also improves the physical condition of the soil, making sandy soils more retentive of moisture, and rendering clay soils more porous. When applied in the spring it should be decayed or partly decayed, as in this condition it is immediately available for the use of the crop. If it is put on the ground in the fall, fresh manure may be used and plowed under. By the time that the planting season arrives it will be sufficiently decayed. If there is no objection on the score of appearances, stable manure, either fresh or decayed, may be applied in the form of a thin mulch (a layer on the surface of the ground) at any time when the plants are growing. The fertility is gradually washed down into the soil by rain, and a loose covering of this kind is of additional advantage in that it helps to prevent the loss of water from the soil by evaporation. This mulch must not be worked into the soil so that it comes in contact with the plant roots, but should be left on the surface until it is dug under the following fall or spring. Discretion must be exercised in its use. Root crops, that are already growing luxuriantly, such as beets or carrots, or crops that are grown for their fruit, such as beans and tomatoes, would probably be harmed by a surface dressing of this kind. Barn-yard manure is rich in nitrogen, which is a great stimulant of leaf growth. If it is applied too freely to the crops just mentioned it is likely to result in an excessive crop of leaves at the expense of roots or fruit.

A dressing of stable manure two or three inches thick all over the plot or at the rate of from three to five hundred pounds to a plot twenty by twenty feet is about the right quantity to use when the ground is dug or plowed.

Sheep manure is perhaps the next in importance of the organic manures and is more concentrated than barn-yard or stable manure. It can be applied at the rate of forty pounds to four hundred square feet. It is better to spread it over the surface immediately after the ground has been broken up, and thoroughly mix it with the surface soil by means of a rake or harrow.

Hen manure is still more concentrated and should be used in the same way, or as a top-dressing after the crops have started their growth. Twenty pounds to four hundred square feet is a suitable amount to apply. To facilitate its distribution it should be mixed with dry earth and kept in a dry place for a few weeks before it is desired to apply it.

Of the so-called chemical fertilizers, those that are sold by seedsmen as “complete” fertilizers are the best for the amateur to buy. These at the present time are usually made up in the proportion of 5 per cent. nitrogen, 8 per cent. phosphorus, and 1 per cent. potash. Use twelve pounds to four hundred square feet.

All of the preceding are “complete” fertilizers containing nitrogen, phosphorus, and potash in varying proportions. If they are used in combination the quantities must be reduced.

Bone meal is a fertilizer which contains phosphorus and nitrogen. In some of its forms it is rather slow acting and sometimes does not become fully available for the use of the crop until the year succeeding its application. Use twelve pounds to four hundred square feet.

Nitrate of soda is the quickest-acting fertilizer that we have and is very valuable for stimulating the growth of plants early in the spring, when the nitrogen content of the soil is usually low. It is especially suitable for those crops that are grown for their leaves, such as spinach, lettuce, and cabbage. Great care must be exercised in the use of this fertilizer, as an overdose will injure or kill the plants. As it is very soluble, it should not be applied until the plants are up and ready to use it, otherwise much of it will be washed out of the soil and wasted. It should be sprinkled on the surface of the soil, first crushing the lumps, and then mixed in with a hoe or cultivator. An ounce to each square yard, applied at intervals of about three weeks, until the crops have a good start, is the right proportion to use. It is impossible to lay too much emphasis on the necessity for care in the use of this fertilizer. It must not be allowed to come in contact with the leaves of the crop, or it will cause them to burn and turn brown. Generally speaking, it is not a good fertilizer to use on root or fruit crops, although it can be used to good advantage in helping young plants of tomato, cucumber, muskmelon, etc., to get a start just after they have been planted out. Its use later in the season is likely to result in the production of leaves at the expense of fruit.

Wood ashes contain potash and lime. This fertilizer is a valuable dressing for heavy, clayey soils, as it improves their physical condition. It is good for root crops, such as beets, carrots, radishes, etc. Use twenty pounds to four hundred square feet.

It is best to apply all concentrated fertilizers as surface dressings, and then harrow or rake them into the soil, rather than to plow or dig them under.