Bemidji Daily Pioneer Newspaper, April 8, 1911, Page 6

W ROLLING THE GROUND J Lol R o R T S I T ) L & <+ o - * + Onion-Growing. + L * * K e ————emeett Oy L L3 =+ By C. R. Barns, Minnesota Uni- < * versity Farm. & * < R R T T T O Among the vegetables which most invite the skilled ‘éndeavor of the farmer, by the promise of large pro- | duction and rich pecunlary returns, the onion has few, if any, superiors. From a thoroughly prepared seed-bed, carefully planted, sedulously cultivat- ed, watched and weeded, the culti- vator may gather a crop of 1,000 bush- els or more to the acre. worth some- times $1.00 and seldom less than 25 cents per bushel. There is always a market for them. The .onion successfully and tri- | wmphantly flouts the theory of rota- tion; and is certified by that very suc cessful grower, Mr. F. H. Gibbs— whose fields adjoin the University Farm—to “thrive better and mature earlier if grown on the same ground Jear after year, providing the land is ¥ept well manured.” And he backs this certificate by pointing to a yield on his land of 1,000 bushels per acre, on several acres, for successive years. The best crops can seldom if ever be raised the first year, on any land | cbosen for onions. But land that has | yreviously grown any crop requiring | high culture and heavy manuring, and is free from weed-seeds, will generally " do better than any othe Cultivation and the persistent spreading of horse- manure, vear after year, until the soil, like that of Mr. Gibbs’, takes on the | appearance of powdered velvet—this is what the onion appreciates. Tt ap- | preciates, too, a smooth, nearly Ipvwli surface, which will be little affected | by Washing in a heavy rain. Having been plowed in the fall, as, early in the spring as the ground can | he worked, the land should ba gone | over with.a disc harrow. Then, as.soon | ar it will work up fine, the soil should | be pulverized with a smooth-harrow or ! plank, and the seed sown before the i soil gets too dry for germination. Mr. ! Gibbs sows four pounds to the acre, not more than an inch deep, with the drill set to throw two to three seeds to the inch—-that is, if the previous test- | ing has shown the germination to be strong. After the onions are up, a | Cultivating onions planted in rows | twelve inches apart. | | _—— stand of from twelve to fifteen plants | to the foot is considered good. To! growers using the “Planet Jr.” wheel- hoe, a distance of only twelve inches‘ between rows is recommended. | Mr. Gibbs rolls his ground before | planting; begins cultivation as soon as the rows can be seen; and there- after cultivates once a week with a| wheel-hoe. The last hoeing Le does' with a single high-wheel cultivator. Hand-weeding commences with the first wheel-hoeing, and is repeated three times in the season; care being taken that the weeds get no such start that their removal will disturb the onions. Globe onjons pay better than flat ones, as buyers prefer them, and be- cause the yield is 25 per cent more in weight than that of flat onions. Harvesting should .commence the last week in August. Once pulled, the onions should not be left on the ground more than three or four days before topping, lest they deteriorate’ in the sun. They are packed in two- bushel crates for storing. A ready sale is more certain if they are grown in lots large enmough to make a car foad. | smuts, | The standard strength of solution is | five gallons of water. the seed in the solution, or spraying it {on the tubers and in the soil. i effectively ! soils by affected tubers." g oo ok o ok | UST BEFORE PLAN‘TING. LR S T O T T A 3 * 3 ¥ Clean Seed---Method H of Disinfection. . ! <+ o+ L % By E. C. Stakman, Minnesota i University Farm, * The importance of clean seed to suc- cessful farming is more and more rec- ognized. Seed may be impure, not only on account of the presence of noxious weed-seeds, but also on ac- count of the presence of plant disease- germs (spores). It is a matter of common knowledge that many serious plant-pests are distributed by means of infected seeds. The classes of dis- eases which persist in the seed are caused either by fungi or bacteria. very minute parasitic plants. Fungi may live in the seed in a vegetative form; that is, their threads may live during the winter inside of the seed- coats; or their reproductive bodies (spores) may adhere to the outside of the seed. Naturally, then, there are two meth- ods of getting clean seed. When the fungous threads are inside the seed, one of two things must be done: Wither the seed must be replaced by some known to be free from disease, or some special method of destroying the fungous threads, without prevent ing the seed from germinating, must be devised. As an example of the first class, in which the fungus lives inside the seed during the winter, may be mentioned the anthracnose of beans, . which causes the unsightly spotting of the rods. No seed-treatment has been Jde- vised which will kill the fungus with- | out also killing the seed. Seed from | nnaffected pods must be selected. As an example of the second class, the loose smuts (blackheads) of wheat and barley may be mentioned. To kill tire smut-threads which are inside of the barley or wheat kernel, a special method of treatment with hot water has been devised. In case the fungous spores live on the outside of the seed, treatment is easier. [t is only necessary to kill the spores on the outside of the ker- | 1el. The covered smut of barley, oat- | smut and stinking smut (bunt) of wheat can thus be prevented. n | treating grain to prevent these thier formalin is most often used. one pint of formalin to forty or forty- Merely dipping n the seed, will prevent the occur- rence of these smuts. The same is true of flax wilt. In this case, how- ever, a double precaution must be taken; the seed must be treated and sown on land which has not grown ilax for five or six years. There are two diseases of potatoes common in Minnesota, both of which can be prevented, at least partially, by using clean seed. The common pota to scab can be prevented by seed- freatment combined with ecrop rota- lisn, since the disease persists both The seed potartoes, if soaked for two hours in formalin, used at the rate of oue pint to thirty gallons of water, can be disinfected, If they are then planted on land which has not grown potatoes, beets, turnips, or cab: bage—which are subject to the same disease—Ior four or five years, a scab free crop should result. The internal brown rot of potatoes also persists in the soil, and may be carrie§ to new In this case the fungous threads are inside the tissues of ‘the potato, so seed-treat- ment would be of little value. It Is necessary, them, to select absolutsly clean seed. The presence of the dis- ease can be detected by cutting across the stem end of the potato, a brown- ish discoloration indicating its pres- ence. : jone is apt to select strong growers, < bkl R bbb i All flowers should be kept trimmed: off i-i-+++++v-iéx-++4;+;x-+-_|-.—+ A Farmer’s Strawberry Bed. * +* dkd * By LeRoy Cady, Minnesota University Farm, & bttt SR B o R S R ) The strawberry is one of the first fruits to appear on the market in the spring, and probably is more general- ly used during its season than' any other. It is easy to raise, prolific, and should be found in every farmer’s gar- den. Any land that will grow corn| will grow a fair crop of strawberries: A well-drained, rich, friable loam is best. A northern slope is to be pre- ferred. : Plants—Procure plants from some nurseryman, as unear home us possi- ble. Tt is not a good plan to get them from a neighbor’s bed, unless he takes greats care in growing the plants, as Lot ) which may not be fruiting plants. Varieties—There are two classes of = strawberries, distinguished from one enother by their blossoms—one having hoth stamens and pistils, that is both the male and female organs in the flower, called staminate, and the other having only the pistils, the female or- gans, called pistillate. There are a few varieties of staminate, or perfect flowering strawberries, which may be planted by themselves with good re- sults. Among these is the Senator Dunlap. Usually it is better to plant both pistillate and staminate' varieties, as the pistillate varieties seem to.bear the most strawberries. When this is done two rows of pistillate are planted to one row of staminate. Among the best varieties for general culture of | the staminate are Bederwood, Splen- did, KEnhance. and Senator Dunlap. Among the pistillate Warfield, Haver- land and Crescent are the best.: Planting—The plants should be set as early in the spring as the land can be worked. It is therefore a good plan to manure and plow in the fall, and then disc and harrow finely in the spring. Mark out the rows the long way of the strip of land that is.to be used for the bed. Four feet between the rows, and from eighteen to twenty- four inches between the plants in the row, is'a good distance to set. In set- ting the plants, be careful to make | —_— _ S P — CULTIVATING 'STRAWBERRIES: —_— _ the hole deep and wide enough, so that the roots may be well spread out Never double up the roots. As soon as the patch is planted, cul- tivation should begin, and continue during the season as long as vossible. the first seasom, as they only weaken the plant. Runners should be en- conraged to fill the space between the plants, thus forming a matted row two or three feet wide. In the case of va- rieties that send out a great many run- ners, they should be thinned, so as not to stand closer than six or eight inches in the bed. Assoon as the ground freezes, in" the fall, solid enough to hold up.a wagon, the bed should be mulched with clean straw or marsh hay,’ ‘in which there are no weed seeds. Un- less the location is very much ex- posed, from four to six Inches. of straw over the plants will be suffi- cient. In the spring when this is re- moved, a very little may be left on the plants and the rest of it placed be- tween the rows until all danger of frost is past. In the event of a cold night. this straw may be quickly scat- tered over the plants, :and in some, cases will protect the flowers from se. | rious injury by frost. Enough should be left between the rows to keep the fruit clean when ripe. Renewing the Bed—Some growers fruit strawberries only one season, | planting a new bed each year. Good results, however, may be obtained by | fruiting. two, or in a few cases, three seasons. As soon as the strawberries are through fruiting, mow the bed with an ordinary mowing machine or scythe. Then ‘either rake the bed] clean of straw and vines, or if the growth is dry, the bed may be burned. Choose some 'day 'when there is a || good breeze and the plants are thor- oughly dry. If the fire runs over the. bed very slowly, damage to the plants will | result; ' but if: it burns liké ‘a flash, no injury will result. This method of trimming and burning the | plants will destroy many insects and keep in check some of the disease that trouble the plants. After the foliage has been disposed of, Tun a plow on both sides of the row, leaving about twelve inches of the old row standing. ool ok okl ok e o e b b + + + ‘When you are plowing up a < 4 sloping field, always have the < < furrows run. across the slope. < ++ This will go a long way toward « <+ preventing the washing away < 4 of the top soil. If the land is. 4 4 plowed the other way; a raln + 4 will fiow off with a rush, car- <+ rying away your best soil. +* [AXZ XXX XY 2 This furrow may then be filled ‘with thoroughly rotted manure and the soil cultivated back into it, or if the land 1s rich thorough- cultivation : mey be given the rest of the season. ekt Mrs. Housewife Isn’t this all you are looking for in Baking Powder? Everythir{g that can be put into a baking powder to make it good, pure and effective will be found in Calumet. Everything—and more— that you desire and expect of any high- grade baking powder is positively assured you s in Calumet. Then why pay exorbi- L ; tant prices when Calumet will s Calumet i( ¢ more :atilfactorily attain /;’,:’,//,/’/ is strictly a high- | g for you a better result ’//:::/,’/;" quality product, sell- —more delicious, g ing at a moderate cost. lighter and bet- h"::“’o"""/ F il You can't get better at any price—you g:.lic f;‘g‘ § ed \@‘?‘:‘fl:q\*;g:/ can’t get as good for the same money. £ A e N Calumet Baking Powder is guaranteed under every pure food law—both State and National. This is as much—and all—that can' be said for the purity of any baking powder. proven in the baking. Substitutes are imitations and never as good as the criginal. Ask for Calumet and get it. AN AN ) NPT, 5 ‘:‘é@ \9@"‘" Its superior goodness is Received Higflesf Award Wo}ld’i "ure Food Exposition Chicago, 1907, thereby recognizing its supreme merits, The manufacturers of Calumet Baking Powder have just prepared a new edition of their handsome Cook Book, and will gladly mail it Free to anyone who sends for it. 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