Plant cultivation

“ All these grow wild, and are used exactly in their natural state, unless burning the leaves of one plant in dry seasons to improve the root, or similar trifling pains respecting their growth, can deserve the name of cultivation. ”

“ Cultivation.—"When the plants have attained a height of five or six inches, they are earthed up slightly for support; and, when more advanced, they are sometimes staked along the rows, and cords extended from stake to stake to keep the plants erect. When the young pods appear, the tops of the plants should be pinched off, to throw that nourishment, which would be expended in uselessly increasing the height of the plant, into its general system, and consequently increase the bulk of crop, as well as hasten its maturity. ”

“ From this fact we should take our start in every process of orchard, nursery, and garden cultivation of fruit-trees; and if philosophically employed it will, we will not say revolutionize, but materially modify the processes of cultivation peculiar to colder climates and poorer soils. In respect to esculent vegetables—cabbages, radishes, celery, rhubarb, lettuce, etc., this rank and rapid growth is beneficial, since it is not the fruit but the plant which we eat. ”

“ Propagation and Cultivation.—It is propagated from seeds, which should be sown in spring, as soon as the ground has become well settled. They may be sown where the plants are to remain; or in a nursery-bed, to be afterwards transplanted. The plants should be grown in rows eighteen inches or two feet apart, and about a foot apart in the rows. The after-culture consists simply in keeping the ground loose, and free from weeds. The plant is said to yield a much greater amount of herbage if the top is broken or cut off when it is about half grown. ”

“ For garden culture where hand cultivation is to be practised, the plants may be set in hills two or three feet apart each way, leaving room to cultivate between each way for the first few years. Two year old roots are the best to use and in planting a little mound of earth should be made in each hill, the roots of the plant spread out around this so that the earth will fit in beneath, close to the under side of the crown, then the earth should be firmed about the roots, a handful of bone meal sprinkled over the soil and the remainder of the soil filled in. ”

“ Cultivation.—Soon after planting, and again just as the young plants are beginning to appear above ground, the field should be harrowed, inclining the teeth of the harrow backward. This is a cheap method of cultivation, since a wide space is covered. ”

“ When the seed is sown with a drill, the line of the row may be plainly seen even before the plants come up, thus making it easy to commence cultivating it in advance of the weeds. In case of such crops as carrots, onions, parsnips and beets, which are quite delicate when young, cultivation should begin with some hand garden cultivator, even if it is intended later on to cultivate with a horse, and the crop is planted with this purpose in view. ”

“ To circumscribe the growth in any given direction, to train the tree on the one hand, and to let in light and air by thinning on the other.
2nd. By pruning fruit trees we operate so as to check undue growth of wood and leaf, and thus, by what the botanist calls the “arrestation of development,” cause flower and fruit to be formed instead of leaves. In the western counties, if a tree or plant of any kind grows leaves too freely, it is said to be too “frum,” probably derived from the Saxon from, strong, stout. ”

“ Thorough cultivation serves to retain moisture, increases the activity of the bacteria which convert the plant food into available form, prevents weeds, and promotes heavy root development which in turn increases the growth and productiveness of the plants. ”

“ And in this proceeding it is not enough to raise a few plants in one spot, for two or three generations; for such a course would prove our varieties of kitchen-garden annuals to be all distinct species, which we all know is not the fact; the cultivation must be on a large scale, under circumstances of soil, climate, &c., as varied as the plant will bear, and for many generations ”

“ I plant thirty-two feet east and west and sixteen feet north and south. I believe in thorough cultivation with plow, harrow, etc., as long as the orchard lives. Sometimes the orchard requires a certain kind of cultivation, at other times a different cultivation. ”

“ Cultivation.In the laying out of a new plantation the young shoots are generally made use of, which sprout so abundantly from the roots that each individual one soon becomes a perfect plant. In favorable ground the custom is to allow a distance of about ten feet between each plant; in poor ground six feet. The only care necessary is the extermination of the weeds, and clearing away the undergrowth during the first season; later on, the plants grow so luxuriantly and strongly that they entirely prevent the growth of anything else in their vicinity. ”

“ Our stock of European hardy plants (whether herbs or shrubs) is small, and consists of the commonest and oldest-fashioned things in cultivation. These, and every Californian, Oregon, and Texan plant of which you have duplicates to spare us (or seeds) , whether hardy or not,—these are the plants I am just now most desirous to accumulate. Greenhouse plants are scarcely less welcome, but of those I will write more particularly hereafter. ”

“ The reason for this difference in reaction between native and culture formations seems evident. In harvesting, not merely the grain, but the stems and leaves, and in gardening often the root also, are removed, so that the plant makes little or no return to the soil. In nature, annual plants return to the ground every year all the solid matter of roots, stems, leaves, and fruits, with the exception of the relatively small number of seeds that germinate. ”

“ When the plants are fairly started in their growth, the planter tops and primes them, processes performed, the first by pinching off the top bud, which would else run to seed, and the second by removing the lower leaves of each plant, leaving bare a space of some inches near the ground, and retaining from six to a dozen stout, well-formed leaves on each stem, according to the promise of the soil and season, and these leaves form the crop. ”

“ They should be cultivated frequently during the summer or well mulched and supplied with water as needed. No seed should be allowed to form, as the plants make new bulbs each year, sometimes several, and that, with the production of flowers, is enough for one plant. ”

“ The plants must be put out on the level a foot and a half apart each way, and be planted as shallow as possible. Before planting, trim carefully to remove lateral shoots that might divide the stems, and after planting water freely. The cultivation will consist in keeping the crop clean, and frequently drawing the soil away from the plants, for the more they stand out of the ground the better, provided they are not distressed. ”

“ As crop plants are derived from wild ones, as the effect of cultivation, it follows as a matter of course that these will be varied, both in form and constitution, according to the circumstances under which they have been produced. ”

“ The operation of planting is performed with astonishing rapidity. A labourer takes a quantity of plants under his left arm, and drops them in bundles over the land about to be planted, as he knows, almost to a plant, what number will be required. These little bundles are then taken up, and the proper number of plants selected and plunged by the hand into the muddy soil. The water, when the hand is drawn up, immediately rushes into the hole, and carries with it a portion of soil to cover the roots, and the seedlings are thus planted and covered in without further trouble. ”

“ The farmer steps in and selects those plants which give promise of being most useful or most beautiful and then decreases or eliminates the struggle for these selected plants, by destroying the plants which are least desirable, by fertilizing and tilling the soil, by conserving moisture, and by improving the physical conditions of the land, thereby making it more comfortable for the plants which he has chosen. The selected or "improved" plant, by reason of being more comfortable and better nourished, tends to vary in one or more directions from the wild and unimproved types. ”

“ We have the possibility of a brand-new agriculture, depending not upon grains, but upon tree crops, provided someone will breed the crop-yielding trees which we can use. This will permit us to use entirely different kinds of land from that now considered best for agriculture. The natural necessities for plant growth, I believe, are heat, moisture, sunlight and fertility. ”

“ We have plowed the furrow and planted the good seed; the hard beginning is over. If we would reap the full harvest, we must cultivate the soil where this good seed is sprouting and the plant is reaching up to mature growth. ”

“ Level cultivation is usually practiced, the same as in ordinary field crops. Drawing the earth to the stems, [Pg 38] as sometimes recommended and practiced abroad, is unnecessary, though with tall growing varieties it serves a useful purpose in preventing the plants being blown over by the wind. ”

“ Let us fix our attention on a single plant. It has a certain amount of root pasturage and space in which to grow. Since it is not permitted to produce an indefinite number of young plants, it begins to develop itself. The soil is rich, the roots are busy, and there must be an outlet. The original plant cannot form others, and therefore begins to produce fruit-crowns for the coming year. All the sap, all the increasing power of root and foliage, are directed to preparation for fruit. ”

“ In planting, a little extra care in the disposition of the roots in the soil will be well repaid, for plants merely thrust into the ground cannot develop that robust root growth on which the future of the crop largely depends. ”

“ In size it is scarcely large enough for a field crop, but though not at present recommenced for the farm, its history may well serve to explain the origin of crop plants, as derived from the cultivation and improvement of wild species. ”

“ Again we say to the would-be grower of medicinal roots or plants to observe closely the conditions under which the roots thrive in their wild state and cultivate likewise, that is, grow in the same kind of soil, same density of shade, same kind and amount of mulch (leaves, etc.) as you observe the wild plant.
The growing of medicinal plants may never be a successful industry for the large land owner, for they are not apt to pay so much attention to the plants as the person who owns a small place and is engaged in fruit growing or poultry raising. ”

“ Cultivating is done by use of the hoe and “cultivator,” the rake-like tool which has but few prongs. Draw the cultivator between the rows of plants every day or two. Use the hoe in smaller spaces. Use the hoe to chop down weeds below the surface of the ground, being careful not to cut into the roots of the garden plants.
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In breaking up the hard soil, or “cultivating,” the weeds are destroyed, but hard soil is a worse enemy of plant babies than weeds even, although every child knows how dreadful it is for a garden to let weeds steal all the food from the baby plants. ”

“ The culture of this plant is besides extremely easy, as it requires no other labor than clearing the grounds from brush-wood, and lightly turning up the earth with a plough, before the seeds are scattered, which being done, the planter leaves the crop to its own chance, and in five months gathers abundant fruit, if, at the time the bud opens, it is not burnt by the north winds, or rotted with unseasonable showers. ”

“ We till or work the soil to produce plants. Plants are living, growing things, and certain requirements or conditions are necessary for their growth and development; we cannot intelligently prepare the soil for plant growth until we know something about the work of plants and the conditions they need to do their work well.
For our first study of plants let us get together a number of farm and garden plants. Say, we have a corn plant, cotton, beet, turnip, carrot, onion, potato, grass, geranium, marigold, pigweed, thistle, or other farm or garden plants. ”

“ Have you considered growing your own? Being a weed, grass is very easy to grow if it gets enough water and sun. Get your seeds together, travel over to Jersey or Staten Island, find a field and plant your seeds. Draw a furrow in the ground about half an inch deep and plant the seeds about two inches apart. Cover the seeds with soil and water the area. Returning every two weeks to tend your crop will be sufficient. ”

“ Thus, probably carrot, but certainly celery, sea-kale, asparagus, and cabbage. This would seem to point to the fact that cultivation requires a complete change of the circumstances necessary to maintain a wild condition; and hence cultivated plants can only be kept up by the labours of a cultivator. ”

“ If the ground is so flat that water lies upon it in wet seasons, then throw it up into beds with a plow, thus giving the plants a broad, level surface on which to grow; for I think the best success will generally be obtained with level culture, or as near an approach to it as possible.
Always make it a point to plant in moist, freshly stirred earth. Never let the roots come in contact with dry, lumpy soil. Never plant when the ground is wet and sticky, unless it be at the beginning of a rainstorm which bids fair to continue for some time. ”

“ In such cases, Nature, who abhors bare ground, is endeavouring to clothe it with useful vegetation.
The fights which are going on are of the most ruthless character. Many weeds are said to produce some 30,000 seeds in one year, and every plant which grows in a meadow is scattering thousands of seeds. But of course the number of plants remains much the same, so that 29,999 seeds are wasted (or the seedlings choked out) for every one that grows up! ”