Forcing (horticulture)

“ Where the demand for forced Asparagus is constant, there can be no doubt the hot-water system is the cheapest as well as the cleanest and most reliable; for a casual supply forcing in frames answers very well, but it is attended with the disadvantage that when the crop has been secured the roots are worthless. The practice of forcing may be said to commence with the formation of the seed-bed, for if it is to be carried on in a systematic and profitable manner, every detail must be provided for in the original arrangements. ”

“ The lowest blossoms on the scape will be found to produce the largest, earliest and best fruits. The fruit should not be gathered till it is quite ripe, and then, if possible, it should be quite dry, but not heated by the sun. Those intended for preserving are best taken without the stalk and the calyx.
Forcing.—The runners propagated for forcing are layered into 3-in. pots, filled with rich soil, and held firm by a piece of raffia, a peg or stone. If kept duly watered they will soon form independent plants. The earlier they are secured the better. ”

“ Forcing.—Lettuces do not force well; but as they are so constantly in demand, it is a matter of importance to grow them in every possible way. Nice promising plants from August and September sowings may be selected from the frames, and planted on gentle hot-beds from November to January, and will do well if tenderly lifted. The Commodore Nutt and Golden Ball are the best of the Cabbage varieties for forcing. The Cos varieties do not differ much as to forcing, none of them being well adapted for the purpose ”

“ In dry weather the fork should not be used during the growing or bearing season. The turning down of a stratum of dry, hot soil next to the roots must cause a sudden check and injury from which only a soaking rain can bring full relief. But in moist weather, and periods preceding and following the blossoming and fruiting season, I have often used the fork to advantage, especially if there is a sod of short, succulent weeds to be turned under as a green crop. If the ground between the hills was stirred frequently with an iron garden-rake, the weeds would not have a chance to start. ”

“ The greater acreage which may be cut with a header is important when large acreages are to be harvested, as much seed is lost by shattering if the crop is not cut at the proper stage for harvesting, while the high stubble which may be left when cutting the seed crop with a grain header is a decided advantage, as it not only reduces greatly the weight and bulb of the plants which must be thrashed, but it also leaves the hard, woody portions on the ground, where « 16 » they will decay and be of some value as a fertilizer. ”

“ By rotation grazing, that is, permitting the stock to feed first on one area and then on another, the grasses and forage plants are allowed to recuperate from the effect of grazing and allowed to reproduce. The stock is excluded from one area while the seed is maturing, and after the seed has matured and become scattered on the area the stock is allowed to graze on it. As the stock feeds on the plants it tramples the seed into the ground and thereby furnishes favorable conditions for the germination of the seed. ”

“ It is his belief that over-fertilization tends to cause the disease so well known as the "black knot," which has destroyed many orchards in this vicinity. If the garden has been enriched as I have directed, the soil will probably need little, if anything, from the stables, and certainly will not if the trees are grown in a poultry-yard. During this growing and forming period Mr. Force gave careful attention to pruning. Budded trees are not even symmetrical growers, but tend to send up a few very strong shoots that rob the rest of the tree of sustenance. ”

“ Just as the farmer each year sets aside a certain amount of his seed for next year's planting, just so the stockman saves his calves and cows and lambs for greater growth and each year sees a part of his herd maturing for market, and just so the forester, under the new system, cuts only the mature trees and allows the young timber to remain for greater growth and greater value in the future, or, in the absence of young trees, plants small trees to replace those removed. ”

“ The harrow and rake destroy the weeds.
The harrow brings about conditions favorable to the even distribution of seeds.
It is also the tool generally used to cover seeds sown broadcast.
Harrowing is generally done just before planting, and with some crops just after, to cover seeds or to smooth the ground. Harrowing is also done in the first stages of growth of some crops to kill weeds and make a soil mulch. The harrow should always follow the plow within a few hours unless it is desired to leave the land in a bare fall or winter fallow. ”

“ From one-fifth to three-fourths of the total seed yield of sweet clover is lost from shattering. The percentage of the loss which occurs before harvesting will depend largely on the time the crop is cut. ”

“ Past experiments have shown that fall sowing is essential to success in most parts of the West where extensive seeding projects will be conducted. Experience has also shown that seed on a large scale cannot be extracted in time for use in the same season. Moreover, every year is not a good seed year, so that Forest officers must take advantage of the good years to collect large quantities and store them for use during years of seed shortage. ”

“ Without the help of graft and slip these fortunate accidents, occurring but once and no one knows how, would lead to no further profit after the death of the plant thus favored by chance; and horticulture would find itself compelled to repeat over and over again its attempts to bring about improvements which, almost as soon as effected, would invariably be lost for want of means to fix them and render them permanent. ”

“ Even where a satisfactory supply of sound fertile seed is produced, it does not follow that the trees of that variety will be maintained in the forest, as the seed supply may be scattered in unfavorable positions for germination. Millions of little seedlings, however, start to grow in the forest each year, but only a small number survive and become large trees. This is because so many of the seedlings are destroyed by forest fires, cattle and sheep grazing, unfavorable soil and weather conditions, and many other causes. ”

“ In such cases it is urged that the crop be stacked, as the seed saved by this operation, if the handling is done with care, will much more than pay for the labor. When it is possible to thrash in a week or 10 days after cutting, the crop should be thrashed directly from the field, as little seed ordinarily will be lost during this time and the work of stacking will be avoided. ”

“ A garden fork will be needed in the fall when the potatoes, carrots, parsnips and other root vegetables are to be dug and as wide a one as available should be purchased as the more roots one can lift at a time the more quickly the work will progress. A spading fork is very useful in the garden in loosening the earth about plants, planted a considerable distance apart, when heavy rain has beaten the earth down hard and is especially useful for cultivating about berry plants, young fruit trees and grape vines, where the use of a spade would injure the roots of the plant. ”

“ Summer preparation for grass gives opportunity to destroy a great part of the seeds in the surface of the ground, and it is only when they are near the surface that the seeds of most weeds will germinate. Deep harrowings, continued up to time of planting, not only rob land of water, but they bring to the surface new lots of seed that had been safely buried, and become a part of the actual seeding when the grass, clover, or alfalfa is sown. ”

“ With successful germination assured by the collection of good seed and the protection of it after it has been sowed from rodents, the next problem lies in cheap methods of cultivation and sowing. This will enable the young seedling to develop its root system early enough and rapidly enough to withstand the first annual drought, the dominant feature of the climate of all the western National Forests. ”

“ The objection made to the deep-working implements, like the plow, is that they injure the crop by cutting its feeding roots, and this has been found by careful experiment and observation to diminish the crop.
Some farmers object to using a light harrow for cultivation in the early stages of the crop because they say the harrow will destroy the crop as well as the weeds. This danger is not so great as it seems. The seeds of the crop are deeper in the soil than the seeds of the weeds which germinate and appear so quickly. ”

“ It may even retard hemlock reproduction, both by destroying part of the seed supply and by encouraging the growth of brakes on the area. The question here is a really financial one. The cost of planting fir under these conditions may be more than reimbursed by the resultant more valuable and rapid growing crop. The owner must do his own conjecturing as to future comparative values of the species. ”

“ Not more than one row of carrots or onions should be grown between the rows the second season, and, unless space is of great value, it is as well not to use it at all.
Cultivation must be kept up all through the growing season, to destroy weeds and keep the ground in condition. Many amateurs have an idea that hoeing or cultivating of any sort is solely to destroy weeds, which is a great mistake. Stirring the surface soil breaks the crust, and the powdered earth forms a mulch which keeps the lower soil moist, a condition which liberates the mineral qualities which constitute plant-food. ”

“ In summer they feed on growing grass, clover, alfalfa, and grain, seeds, bulbs, root crops, and garden vegetables. In fall they congregate under shocks to feed on the grain, and in winter often do enormous injury to young or even well-grown fruit and other trees by gnawing off the bark on the base of the trunk and roots, sometimes in this way destroying entire orchards and nurseries.
One species in California destroys large quantities of raisins drying in the field by carrying them off to some shelter, where they cut out the seeds and leave the rest of the fruit. ”

“ When seed is desired, every imperfect or undesirable plant should be rooted out and destroyed, so that none but the best can fertilize each other. In early spring the litter must be either removed from the plants and the ground between the rows given a cultivation to loosen the surface, or it may be raked between the rows and allowed to remain until after seed harvest. ”

“ While the roots are numerous, they are not long; and even the shallowest plowing or ordinary cultivation will effectually destroy the plant. As to multiplication by seed germination, it needs simply to be remembered that good or even fair cultivation of the soil will prevent this weed from growing, and that many species of weeds will get in old meadows and pastures as rapidly as the cultivated grasses are killed by excessive grazing or the casualties of season and climate. ”

“ When the crop is to be hauled to the thrashing machine on wagons it is best to permit the gavels to cure as dropped by the reaper, as it will then be possible to pitch them on the wagon with a large 4-tined fork. If the crop is to be hauled to the thrashing machine on large sleds, which is the practice in western Kansas, less seed will be lost from shattering if the gavels at the time of cutting are placed in cocks of such a size that they may be put on the sleds entire by two men lifting from opposite sides of the cock with 4-tined forks. ”

“ Some growers use a disc harrow instead of the plow to break the land in the spring, but this is a doubtful procedure in most vineyards and is impossible when a heavy green-crop covers the land. Tillage with harrow, cultivator, weeder or roller then proceeds at such intervals as conditions demand, seldom less than once a fortnight, until time to sow the cover-crop in midsummer. About the time grapes blossom, the grape-hoe should be used to level down the furrow turned up to the vines in the spring plowing. ”

“ Thus, cultivation must cease early in the season, and a cover-crop be sown to help harden and mature the vines. The grapes, also, must not be planted in soils rich in nitrogen, and nitrogenous fertilizers must be applied with care. The pruning should be such as does not induce great growth. These simple precautions to hasten maturity often suffice in climates where the danger of winter-killing is but slight, but where danger is imminent the vines must be covered either by wrapping or by laying down. ”

“ When the branches commence to wither, the whole plant is carefully pulled up, so that the pods, which are then mature, remain attached. The plants are then stacked in the fields, and are often covered over with the leaves of the fan-palm. The green parts dry into a hay, which, when the pods have been beaten out, is used as horse-fodder. The advent of rain after stacking often does great damage to the crop, but the occurrence is so rare that it has been found difficult to induce the native to take common precautions against it. ”

“ In many species of fruits, it is undoubtedly better to keep up the surface cultivation continuously, at least wherever the characters of the site and soil will permit it; but there are many situations where the abruptness of the declivities appropriated to fruit-growing, and often admirably adapted to such purpose, absolutely forbid continued cultivation. In such places it will be necessary soon to withdraw the plow, and to depend upon loosening the soil about the trees with the spade or fork, and upon the mellowing and meliorating effects of mulching. ”