FALL WORK.
The summer was pretty well over, and the various duties which accompany
it accomplished after the manner already described; but there remained
much to be performed as the cool weather approached. Not only is there
the regular planting season in the spring, but Nature and Bridgeman
permit some plants to be set out and seeds to be sown in the fall.
September is the month for starting a strawberry-bed, and as my firm
resolve was to have a grand plot of this best of small fruits, and as my
first summer’s success encouraged me to continue a country residence,
Patrick was dispatched to the nearest nursery to engage two thousand
plants, to be delivered on the breaking out of the first shower.
Here was the chance for me to make my fortune. The author of “Ten Acres
Enough” lays it down as a maxim always to buy some new and hitherto
unknown variety, that will bear the largest fruit in the greatest
profusion, and insure not only a return for the fruit, but a good income
by the sale of offshoots. So Patrick was directed to inform the
nurseryman that I wanted a new kind, just discovered and superior to all
that had preceded it. This request, though natural enough to any man who
had studied the work referred to, must have seemed strange to the
nurseryman, who was probably not literary, and who came back with
Patrick to see about it.
He said he had several new varieties, but he was not entirely satisfied
that they were better than the common ones. There was one, however, that
promised well, called the Bonheur Seedling; but it had not been tested
thoroughly. By-the-by, what excellent scholars all market gardeners are.
Their ordinary language is Greek and Latin, and their nearest approach
to that of common mortals, French. They overwhelm you with
incomprehensible terms that early reminiscences assure you must be from
one of the dead languages, and call every-day fruits _Duchesse
d’Angoulême_, _Louise Bonne de Jersey_, _Belle Lucrative_, _Triomphe de
Gand_, and so forth. I was not surprised, therefore, at hearing the new
strawberry called “Bonheur Seedling,” and rather took to the name as an
omen of good luck. Without more ado, I ordered two thousand of the
“Bonheur Seedling,” while visions of enormous fruit and invaluable
offshoots floated before my mind. The man, anxious, no doubt, to keep
the market to himself, suggested that perhaps I had better divide the
order and take some of the ordinary kinds; but his object was too
palpable to lead me from my purpose. If the Bonheur Seedlings were good
for him to keep, they were better for me to plant, and so the order was
not changed.
The drought of the summer continued, and, having parched the ground till
it was as dry as an Irishman’s throat the morning after election day,
gave no signs of abating. September came in with a beautiful clear sky,
remained with a beautiful clear sky, and went out with a beautiful clear
sky. September is one of the finest months in the year, especially when
the cloudless heavens permit the sun to send his warm beams to temper
the cool breezes that begin to prevail, and, if a person has not a
strawberry bed on his mind, no weather can be more enjoyable; but when
agricultural purposes demand rain, even a cloudless September becomes
tiresome. Patrick waited in daily expectation. He had managed to dig up
the ground by the liberal use of a pickaxe and crowbar; but the sunshiny
days were a trial to him.
“Shure I’m thinkin it’s never going to rain agin,” he said in despair,
and the nurseryman was of the same opinion, for his patience gave out,
and, without waiting for the actual falling of the precious drops, he
took advantage of the first dark day, which did not arrive till the
beginning of October, and sent the two thousand plants. Under these
circumstances, and as Bridgeman says the beds may be made in October, if
not finished before, there was nothing to be done but to soak the roots,
thus trying to make them believe it was raining, as Patrick explained
it, and set them out.
A strawberry is a thrifty plant; the only inconsiderateness it is guilty
of is to fill its delicious pulpy fruit with nasty little crackling
seeds; but give it the least chance, and it will grow. Ours were
assiduously watered, and although, disgusted with the weather, some
wilted away, others managed to “weather it,” as our sailors say, and put
forth a few feeble leaves in testimony of existence. By the end of
October there were gaps in their regular ranks, but still the ranks were
discernible, and the bed was an accomplished fact. I was not a little
proud of this success. It is only necessary, in these cases, to take the
thing in hand one’s self, and I had kept the watering-pot in hand
steadily.
[Illustration]
Success in any undertaking in this life is a pleasant thing. The mere
accomplishment of what we are aiming at, regardless of its importance,
is a satisfaction, and a satisfaction that, so far in my country
experience, I had not frequently enjoyed. There, however, was the bed:
it was green with thriving beauty. To be sure, there were many weeds,
but there were also a few “Bonheur Seedlings.” Weeville made some
disparaging remarks--something about my having a good bed in two or
three years--but I felt too complacent to mind him. So, when the cold
began to increase, I had Patrick cover over my treasures carefully with
plenty of straw, and possessed my soul in patience for the next spring.
The agriculture of modern days is very different from what it was in the
times of our forefathers. Without going back to the days of Adam and
Eve, when the vegetable kingdom managed itself, but after perspiration
became a necessity of existence, the first gardening was rude, seeds
were planted in the merest ignorance of all organic laws, and left to
the fate that the earth and the waters held in store for them. Slowly,
by innumerable failures, certain rules were learned, and fertilizers,
rotation of crops, and suitable soils were dimly comprehended. In later
days science has stepped in, and shed a flood of light on the subject.
Now, before you plant a seed, you ask a chemist to analyze the soil, and
ascertain exactly how much hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphate of
lime, and other ingredients with hard names, the dirt is composed of,
and then you add whatever is deficient. One of the most beautiful
inventions of science is liquid manure; not that it is beautiful in
itself, for it certainly is not agreeable to the senses of smell or
sight, and probably not to that of taste, but it does so admirably
comply with all scientific requirements. The great object in applying a
fertilizer is to so subdivide its particles as to enable the finer
tissues of the roots to take it up by their almost invisible mouths. Not
only is this done perfectly by dissolving the material to be applied,
but water, the second great essential of vegetable life, is supplied at
the same time. Upon this subject all the scientific books, including my
favorites, “Ten Acres Enough” and “Bridgeman’s Assistant,” enter with an
enthusiasm which is surprising to the novice. Of course I was a great
admirer of the liquid theory, and resolved that my strawberries should
not suffer from its want.
Nothing, however could be done till the following spring, and we must
anticipate events to give the conclusion of the attempt. It was with
some anxiety that I watched the removal of the straw covering the next
April, and with no little relief did I observe that the “Bonheur
Seedlings”--if they could be so called now that they had attained
maturity--were still there; not quite so numerous, perhaps, as when they
were covered up, and not by any means the original two thousand, but
still to the number of several scores. The first thing to do was to give
them a strong fertilizer, and that must be liquid. The drainings from
the kitchen had been led into a sink, and, having fermented during
winter, complied with all the requisites for this valuable nourishment.
So deeply had I been impressed with the necessity of saving every thing
that could supply plant-food, so entirely was I convinced of the force
of scientific arguments, and the duty which every man owes to his
country in aiding the fertility of her fields, that not a drop of the
precious liquid had been wasted.
Patrick stared when he was told to water the plants with it, and
murmured something about “its being too hot”--quite an Irish absurdity,
considering it had been out all winter--but obeyed orders, and soon had
a nice coating of what looked much like whitewash over the entire bed.
After a day or two the “Bonheurs” were examined, and, not seeming very
strong, were treated to a second watering; then, as they did not
improve, fresh waterings were given them. In case of sickness science is
our only resource, and, although Patrick ignorantly begged to have them
left to themselves, the liquid fertilizer was applied steadily. It was
given to them early and late; the weaker and paler they became, the more
they had of it; once a day, twice a day, even three times a day, was the
dose exhibited.
I am now satisfied that the “Bonheur Seedling” is not a success--it is
not a sufficiently hardy plant for our climate. They may be good
bearers--of this I can not speak--but they can not be called vigorous.
By the first of June the last had wilted away, in spite of steady
waterings with the best liquid manure. My experience in this matter is
of great value to the public; for, while I can advise no one to invest
in “Bonheur Seedlings,” I can thoroughly indorse the virtues of that
universally praised and admirably scientific liquid fertilizer--the
washings from the kitchen sink, and earnestly urge all young gardeners
never to omit the use of it on their beds. If any thing can insure the
success of the strawberry--even the “Bonheur Seedling”--it is this
invaluable compost, and the directions for saving it contained in all
agricultural works are well worth following, in spite of the trouble
they entail. No one who uses it will fail to thank science for the
benefits that it has conferred on agriculture. It is true that in my
case it was not quite equal to the occasion, and I had to buy new plants
and set them out in the spring; but I always regretted that the
sink-water was exhausted ere this was done, for I felt sure that on any
species but the feeble “Bonheur” so thoroughly scientific a fertilizer
would have had a prodigious effect.
This very interesting matter has led us somewhat ahead of our story,
and, although it seemed essential to give these valuable results of the
application of science to strawberries, we must now return to our fall
work. Next in importance to the strawberries was the asparagus-bed, and
great were the preparations made for it. Bridgeman was consulted. He is
somewhat obscure, and I did not practically understand some of his
directions, especially the one which he lays down as of the first
importance, that the plot of ground must be thoroughly “trenched.” Of
course, I was perfectly acquainted with the meaning of that word in its
ordinary acceptation--it signifies to dig a ditch; but the exact purpose
of a ditch in an asparagus-bed was not entirely apparent. It was not for
drainage, for, as far as I could make out, the ditch was to be filled up
again as soon as made; it was not merely as an ornament, or to separate
these valuable plants from their baser and less aristocratic neighbors,
but it had some occult purpose manifestly connected with a subtle and
technical interpretation. An application to the last pictorial and
unabridged “Worcester” did no good: there “trench” was made to mean a
“pit, drain, or ditch.” As “drain or ditch” were impossible, so “pit”
seemed equally out of the question.
Not seeing any better way out of the dilemma, and the necessity to
proceed being pressing, I put a bold face upon the matter, and, in an
indifferent sort of way, told Patrick to trench the necessary ground. To
my great surprise and relief, he understood me, and I found it was not
making a ditch round the plot, as I had suspected, but digging it well
over and putting in manure. The roots of the asparagus were
queer-looking things, without any green tops, reminding one of the
frogs’ legs seen in market strung on a stick, only that they have rather
more legs than a frog. They were planted under my own supervision, and
there we shall leave them until next spring, in the firm hope we shall
see more of them.
The fruit-trees had to be set out in the fall, besides a forest of
shade-trees; but, as this was done in October, after the cold weather
had driven me to town, some painful mistakes arose in placing them; the
fruit-trees generally found themselves where the shade-trees were to
have been, and the smallest dwarfs usurped the locations of the tallest
monarchs of the forest. This produced an irregular effect. There bid
fair to be great thinness of foliage where we hoped for the densest
shade, and the large trees were generally planted in such parts of the
garden as required most sun; this, however, was not a serious matter, as
they could be arranged in the ensuing fall, and it is not clear, after
all, whether a little shade is not a good thing for plants in our
extreme climate. This, with plowing and digging, closed our fall work,
and in the next chapter we shall get a comparative statement of profit
and loss, showing the manifold advantages of living in the country.
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