Archive image from page 6 of Currie Bros' horticultural guide . Currie Bros.' horticultural guide : spring 1888 curriebroshortic1888curr Year: 1888 ( CURKIE BROS.' HORTICULTURAL GUIDE. 3 the base. But there is generally found between the surface of productive soil and the harsher subsoil, or lower stratum, a neu- tral stratum, which may in time become fertile if gradually brought into use, but which in its raw, natural condition is sour and unproductive. To bring such stuff to the surface in bulk, or even to the thickness of a few inches, would be madness, and productive of great evil; indeed
Archive image from page 6 of Currie Bros' horticultural guide . Currie Bros.' horticultural guide : spring 1888 curriebroshortic1888curr Year: 1888 ( CURKIE BROS.' HORTICULTURAL GUIDE. 3 the base. But there is generally found between the surface of productive soil and the harsher subsoil, or lower stratum, a neu- tral stratum, which may in time become fertile if gradually brought into use, but which in its raw, natural condition is sour and unproductive. To bring such stuff to the surface in bulk, or even to the thickness of a few inches, would be madness, and productive of great evil; indeed, some three or four years of hard, patient cultivation would elapse whilst nature, allied to human labor, was doing its best to correct the defect. AVhen a mistake in trenching of that kind is made in gardens, the only course open is to grow strong-growing Potatoes, Broad Beans, Broccoli, or Sea-Kale upon the sour soil. To sow seeds would be to reap disappointment. The farmer, however, is in a worse case than the gardener, because the bulk of his crops is pro- duced from seed, and a sour seed-bed must result in failure. No wonder, then, that farmers have found the bringing of the sour subsoil to the surface in considerable quantity has been a mistake. In ordinary gardens the cultivation which results from the constant use of spade aud fork is productive of remarkable good, and when to that is added trenching in the form of a casting over of the surface soil to a depth of twelve inches and the brt-aking up deeply of the subsoil to an equal depth, almost the liighest form of soil culture is attained. In that case the fertile properties of the cultivated surface will gradually pene- trate into the subsoil, and in time that too will become thor- oughly fertilized, and may in moderate quantities be brought to the surface. It is also well aerated because frequently and deeply moved. The farmer's method of cultivation-by tl)e plow serves at once to harden materially the lower soil, a
Size: 957px × 2091px
Photo credit: © Bookive / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1880, 1888, archive, book, bookauthor, bookdecade, bookpublisher, booksubject, bookyear, bulbs_plants_seeds_catalogs, currie_brothers_company, drawing, flowers_seeds_catalogs, gardening_equipment_and_supplies_catalogs, henry_g_gilbert_nursery_and_seed_trade_catalog_collec, henry_g_gilbert_nursery_and_seed_trade_catalog_collection, historical, history, illustration, image, milwaukee_wis_currie_bros_, nursery_stock_wisconsin_catalogs, page, picture, plants_ornamental_catalogs, print, reference, vegetables_seeds_catalogs, vintage
