Thus all the hard, sodden surface is
loosened or scarified, and opened to the reception of air and
light, dew and rain. The man is charged emphatically that in this
cultivation he must not lift the plants or disturb the roots to
any extent. If I find a plant with its hold upon the ground
loosened, I know there has been careless work. Before digging
along the row the fork is sunk beside the plants to prevent the
soil from lifting in cakes, and the plants with them. In brief,
pains are taken that the plants should be just as firm in the soil
after cultivation as before. Let the reader carefully observe that
this work is done EARLY in April, while the plants are
comparatively DORMANT. Most emphatically it should not be done in
May, after the blossoms begin to appear. If the bed has been
neglected till that time, the SURFACE MERELY can be cultivated
with a hoe. When the plants have approached so near to the
fruiting, the roots must not be disturbed at all. EARLY
cultivation gives time for new roots to grow, and stimulates such
growth. Where the rows are sufficiently long, and the ground
permits it, this early loosening of the soil is accomplished with
a horse-cultivator better than with a fork, the hoe following and
levelling the soil and taking out all weeds.
My next step during the second season is to mulch the plants, in
order to keep the fruit clean.
Pages:
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172