A FEW RULES AND MAXIMS
Suggestive experiences and the methods of successful men are usually
far more helpful than a system of rules. Nevertheless, I have thought
that some concise maxims and formulas would be of use to those not yet
well versed in the labors of a fruit farm. Such rules, also, may be of
service to the unfortunates who are dependent on the "hired man," since
they can be copied and given to this minister of destiny whose hands
work out our weal or woe so largely. There are two types of workmen
that are incorrigible. The one slashes away with his haphazard hoe,
while he looks and talks in another direction. His tongue, at least, is
rarely idle, and his curiosity awakes when he does. If any one or
anything goes by, he must watch it while in sight and then comment and
expectorate. He is not only versed in all the coarse gossip concerning
his neighbors, but also can talk by the hour of the short-comings of
even their horses and dogs. The virtues of man or beast, however, make
but little impression on what answers in his organism for a mind. That
which is good, wholesome, and refined interests him no more than
strawberries would a buzzard. To the degree that he is active, he
usually makes havoc. The weeds do not suffer seriously from his
efforts, but if you have a few choice plants, a single specimen or two
of something unpurchasable and rare, or a seedling that you dream may
have a future, the probabilities are that, unless watched and warned,
he will extirpate them utterly. It rarely happens that you can teach
this type of man better things. The leopard may change his spots and
the Ethiopian his skin, but this man--though resembling both outwardly,
through his uncleanliness--never changes. His blunders, garrulity, and
brainless labor, however, would transform Izaak Walton himself into a
dragon of irritability. The effort to reform such a man would be
heroic, indeed, but let those who enter upon such a task give their
whole souls to it, and not attempt gardening at the same time--unless
the garden is maintained for the sake of the man, and they, in their
zeal, approach Titania in her midsummer-night's madness, when she bade
her attendant fairies to "feed" the "translated" weaver--
"With apricocks and dewberries,
With purple grapes, green figs, and mulberries."
This degenerate descendant of Bottom, however, needs no such
considerate attention; he will help himself to the choicest and rarest.
Scarcely better than the type portrayed above is the deliberate
workman, who can soon show you how easy it is to spend two dollars in
order to make one. His wages--the one thing he is prompt about--will
leave little margin of profit on the berries that he has packed,
although, by reason of his ancient pipe, they may outrank all the fruit
in the market. This man never walks nor runs, no matter how great the
emergency and press of work; he merely jogs around, and picks a
raspberry as he would pry out a bowlder. He does his work fairly well,
usually; but the fact that it would require a hundred such men to care
for a small place causes not the slightest solicitude. He would smoke
just as stolidly and complacently after bringing wreck and ruin to a
dozen employers.
Men of these types are as disastrous on a fruit farm as the
_Lachnosterna_ or currant worm. Unless the reader has far more native
goodness and acquired grace than the writer, he had better dismiss them
speedily, or his feelings may resemble those that Sam Jubilee described
on previously. I have given two extreme examples, but there are also
gradations of these characters, who had better find employment from
those requiring "hands" only. Successful work on a fruit farm, or in a
garden, requires a quick brain, a keen eye, a brisk step and a deft
hand. Many of its labors are light, and no profit can follow unless
they are performed with despatch, at the right time and in the right
way.
The majority of those we employ wish to do right and to give
satisfaction. They are not only willing but are glad to learn; and
while only actual and long-continued experience can make a thorough
gardener, perhaps the following rules, maxims, and principles,
embodying the experience of others, may be of service to beginners,
giving them a start in the right direction:
1. Never put off till spring work that might be done in the fall.
Spring is always too short for the labor it brings, even when not wet
and late.
2. Plow in the fall all heavy, loamy land that you intend to plant in
spring. This exposes it to the action of frost, and if done late, tends
to destroy insects and their larvae. Do not plow sand in the fall
unless there is upon it sod, stubble, etc., that is to decay.
3. Top-dress very light land with an inch or two of clay or heavy loam
in November, and let the winter frosts and rains blend the two diverse
soils to their mutual advantage. Harrowing in fertilizers on light
ground is better than plowing them in.
4. In the fall top-dress all the small fruits with compost, bone-dust
or other fertilizers that have staying powers, spreading it along close
to the rows and over the roots, and working it into the soil lightly by
cultivation. This gives everything a vigorous start in the spring.
5. If possible, take out before winter all perennial weeds--sorrel,
white clover, etc.--but do not greatly disturb the roots of
strawberries, just on the approach of winter.
6. In most localities and soils, raspberries, currants, gooseberries,
and blackberries do better if planted any time after they drop their
foliage in the fall. Such planting can be continued even into the
winter, on mild, still days, when frost is neither in the air nor soil.
Frozen earth should never come in contact with roots. I plant
strawberries, also, all through the autumn, even into December; and
before the ground freezes, hoe upon them one or two inches of soil,
raking it off as soon as freezing weather is over in the spring.
7. The earlier plants are set out in spring, the better, if the ground
and weather are suitable. It is usually best to wait till the danger of
severe frost is over. Do not plant when the ground is wet and sticky,
or dry and lumpy, at any season, if it can be helped. Do not plant in a
high, hot or cold wind. Make the most of mild, still, and cloudy days.
If plants can be set before a storm or shower, much is gained; but this
is not essential if roots are imbedded their whole length in moist (not
wet) earth, and the soil made very firm, around them. Plantings may be
made in very dry weather if the land is forked or plowed late in the
afternoon, and the plants set immediately in the fresh, moist earth.
Keep the roots from contact with unfermented manure.
8. In handling plants at any time, _never_ let the _little_ rootlets
dry and shrivel. Keep them from sun, frost, and wind. If the roots of
plants received in boxes are frozen, let them thaw out in a cellar
undisturbed. If roots are black, shrivelled, or musty from long
transportation, wash them in clean water, and, in the case of
strawberries, shorten them one-third, and then plant at once in moist
soil.
9. In cultivating strawberry plants recently set, stir the surface
merely, with a rake, _not over half an inch deep_.
10. Never disturb roots by working among them in dry weather. At such
times, stir the _surface only, and often_.
11. If you water at all, water thoroughly, and keep the soil moist till
rain comes; otherwise watering is an injury.
12. The easiest and cheapest way to keep a garden clean is to rake the
ground over once a week on sunny days. This method destroys the weeds
when they are just appearing, and maintains moisture.
18. Pick fruit, if possible, when it is dry, and before it is
over-ripe. Do not leave it in the sun or wind, but take it at once to
coolness and shade. Pack carefully and honestly. A quart of small,
decayed, green, or muddy berries scattered through a crate of fine
fruit may reduce its price one half.
14. Mulch everything you can. Save all the leaves and litter that can
be gathered on the place, and apply it around the plants only when the
ground is moist. _Dry_ ground covered with mulch may be kept dry all
summer.
15. Practice summer pinching and pruning only when plants are in their
spring and early summer growth, and not after the wood begins to ripen.
If delayed till then, wait till the plant is dormant in the fall.
16. Sandy or gravelly land can usually be worked immediately after
rain; but if heavy land is plowed or cultivated when wet, or so dry as
to break up in lumps, it is injured.
17. Watch all crops daily. Plants are living things, and need
attention. Diseases, insects, drought, or wet may destroy them in a few
days, or even hours, if left uncared for.
18. If you cultivate strawberries in the spring, do the work _very
early_--as soon as the ground is dry enough to work. After the fruit
buds show themselves, stir the ground with a rake or hoe only, and
never more than an inch deep. I advocate early spring cultivation, and
then the immediate application of the mulch.
19. Just as the ground begins to freeze, in the fall or early winter,
cover strawberry plants with some light material that will prevent
alternate freezing and thawing during the winter. Never use heavy,
unfermented manure for this purpose. Leaves, straw, salt, hay, _light_
stable manure, or any old litter from the garden, answer.
20. In setting raspberry plants, or any fruit, never set in hard,
unprepared soil. Do not stick them in little, shallow holes, nor in
deep, narrow ones, wherein the roots are all huddled together; make the
holes large and deep, either with the plow or spade, fill the bottom
partly with fine, rich, moist, surface soil, free from lumps and
manure, and _spread_ the roots out on this, then fill in with very fine
pulverized earth, setting the plant, in light land, one or two inches
deeper than it grew naturally; and in heavy land at the same depth. If
manure is used, spread it on the surface, _around_, not up against, the
stem of the plant.
21. Both for the sake of economy and thoroughness, use the plow and
cultivator rather than fork and hoe, whenever it is possible. Ground
can be laid out with a view to this rule.
22. In cultivating crops among trees, use short whiffle-trees, with the
traces so fastened as to prevent the young trees from being scratched
and wounded.
23. Save, with scrupulous economy, all wood-ashes, soap-suds, and all
articles having fertilizing qualities. A compost heap is like a
sixpenny savings bank. Small and frequent additions soon make a large
aggregate. The fruit-grower and his land usually grow rich together,
and in the same proportion.
24. Once more I repeat--in handling and setting out plants, _never_ let
the roots shrivel and dry out. After plants and cuttings are in the
ground, never leave them just long enough to dry out and die. Keep them
moist--not wet and sodden, but _moist_ all the time. In setting out
plants, especially strawberries, spread out the roots, and make the
ground _very firm_ about them. In trenching stock, put the roots down
deeply, and cover well half-way up the stems. The gardener who fails to
carry out the principles under this number has not learned the letter A
of his business.
Mr. William Parry gives the following rule for ascertaining the number
of plants required for one acre of land, which contains 43,560 square
feet:
"Multiply the distance in feet between the rows by the distance the
plants are set apart in the row, and their product will be the number
of square feet for each plant or hill, which, divided into the number
of feet in an acre, will show how many plants or hills the acre will
contain, thus:
"Blackberries . . . 8 feet by 3 == 24)43,560( 1,815 plants.
Raspberries . . . 7 " 3 == 21)43,560( 2,074 plants.
Strawberries . . . 5 " 1 == 5)43,560( 8,712 plants.
Strawberries . . . 3 " 16" == 4)43,560(10,890 plants."
The same rule can be applied to all other plants or trees.
I would suggest that fruit-growers take much pains to secure
trustworthy pickers. Careless, slovenly gathering of the fruit may rob
it of half its value. It often is necessary for those who live remote
from villages to provide quarters for their pickers. Usually, the
better the quarters, the better the class that can be obtained to do
the work.