five acres

408 Pages·2012·8.93 MB·English

T he greatest fine art of the future will be the making
oj a comfortable living from a small pIece of land.
ABR.AHAM LINCOLN
FIVE ACRES
The land! That is where our roots are. There is the
basis of our physical life. The farther we get away
from the land, the greater our insecurity. From the
land comes everything that supports life, everythmg
we use for the service of physIcal life. The land has
not collapsed or shrunk in either extent or produc
tivety. It zs there waiting to honor all the labor we
are wtlling to invest m it, and able to ttde us across
any local dislocatzon of economic conditzons. No un
employment insurance can be compared to an alli
c.'.ce between man and a plot of land.
HENRY FORD

F I V E ACRES
AND INDEPENDENCE
A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO THE
SELECTION AND MANAGEMENT
OF THE SMALL FARM
'By
M. G. KAINS, B.S., M.S.
Special Crop Culrurist, U. S. Department of Agriculture;
Formerly Head of Horticulture Department, Pennsylvania State
College; Hortlculcure, Agriculture and Botany Editor,
New Internal10nal EncyclopedIa,
Garden Editor PictorIal Revzew and ocher National Magazines;
Lecturer on Hortlculture, Columbia Universlty
Author of
Modem Guide to SucceJJ/1I1 Gardening,
Plant Propagation, Pnnclpie; and PractlJe of Pruning,
Culmary Herbs, etc., etc.
Revised and Enlarged Edition
Copyright 1935 by
GREENBERG, PUBLISHER, INC.
All Rights Reserved
First Pril~ting, Febr!tary. 1935
Second Printing, April, 1935
Third Printing, January, 1937
Fourth Printing, February, 1938
Revised and Enlarged Edition, January, 1940
Sixth Printing, September, 1940
Seventh Printmg, Jamtary 1941
Eighth Printing, April, 1941
Nmth Printing, July, 1941
TeHth Printing, October, 1941
Eleventh Pnnting, January, 1942
Twelfth Prlllting, February, 1942
Thirteenth Printing, March, 1942
Fourteenth Printmg, May, 1942
Fifteenth Printing, December, 1942
Si:r;terl1th Printing, ]}latch, 1943
Seventeenth Pz.inting, April, 1943
Eighteenth Printing, May, 1943
Nineteenth Printing, r~ruary, 19+4
Twentieth Printing, Aprd, 1944
This book is manufactured under war
time conditions in conformity with all
government regulations controlling the
u~e of paper and other materials.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGR
1. INTRODUCTION • 1
A word about the author, his practical experience,
and qualifications suggest reliability of the text.
2. ciTY vs. COUNTRY LIFE. . 4
Advantages and disadvantages; city vicissitudes; de
pendence upon "income" to supply "outgo"; country
stability, productivity; dependence upon "outgo" to
supply "income" ; self-supporting; occupancy of
home in country vs. tenancy of "flat" in city; health,
wealth, happiness in country home .
../ 3. TRIED AND TRUE WAYS TO FAIL. •. 7
Too little capital, unfavorable location, uncongenial
soil, too large area, inefficient soil preparation and
tillage, lack of feeding, big-headed ness, inexperience,
city hours, laziness, too many pets and guests.
4. WHO Is LIKELY TO SUCCEED? 11
Thinker and worker; owner on the spot; absentee
direction; book farming; observation as a teacher;
hired help.
5. FIGURES DON'T LIE . . . 15
Striking figures from U .. S. Census and Department
of Agriculture reports; supply and demand; relation
to and contrast with individual owner's problems on
productive land.
~6. THE FARM TO CHOOSE . 18
Soil survey maps; character of soil; nature of plant
growth already on the land; depth, drainage, slope,
freedom from stones, previous crops and yields,
neighborhood crops and yields.
v
vi CONTENTS
CHAPTER
7. WHERE TO LOCATE 22
Good roads; their up-keep; snow re,moval; site with
respect to roadside sales; distance from market;
schools, churches, electric current, buses, stores,
doctors, etc.
8. LAY AND LAY-OUT OF LAND 27
Elevation; aspect; frostiness; impediments such as
fences, boulders, stone walls; fields-sizes and shapes ;
roadways, lanes and paths; arrangement of buildings.
9. WIND-BREAKS, PRO AND CON 30
Importance; types; influence on crops, animals and
residence; workability in their shelter; good and bad
kinds; saving of fuel; production of fuel.
10. ESSENTIAL FACTORS OF PRODUCTION 37
Good seed; good breed of animal; variety; "strain";
abundant water and available plant food in the soil j
rational tillage; ample space between plants and for
animals.
11. RENTING vs. BUYING 47
Advantages and disadvantages of each; various ways
to manage depend upon each; renting with option of
buying; buying a small place but working large rented
area.
12. CAPITAL 52
Investment and working money; cost of land; rent of
property; insurance; equipment; nursery stock and
other plants; animals; labor; time needed to get
returns.
13. FARM FINANCE 56
Importance of credit; origin of capital; how secured;
borrowing for production; usury; fundamental rules
for borrowing; character of borrower and business
ability; annual inventory and budget; bank cashier
as adviser and confidant; safety d~osit boxes.
14. FARM ACCOUNTS 63
Planning for production; knowledge of market, and
the truth about one's business; records of crops and
CONTENTS vii
ClIAl'TEll PAGE
animals individually and of the farm as a whole; ac-
count books. .
15. WATER SUPPLY 66
Rain water and cisterns; filter cisterns; cistern capaci-
ties; cistern cleaning and purification; springs; grav-
ity piping; pneumatic pressure systems; hydraulic
rams. -
16. SEWAGE DISPOSAL 75
Primitive methods; cess pools; septic tanks; tank
construction; personal experience.
17. FUNCTIONS OF WATER 82
Necessity in plant and animal growth; quantity
needed by plants; types of water in soil; conserva-
tion by tillage and mulching.
18. DRAINAGE 88
Importance; methods; instances to prove their value.
19. IRRIGATION 96
Methods; types of apparatus; assurance of adequate
water; success in spite of drouth; use to supply fer
tilizer and certain kinds of spraying.
20.. FROST DAMAGE PREVENTION 105
What frost is; how it affects plants; plant resistance
to damage; hardy and tender plants; preventing fall
of temperature tp or below danger point; forecasting
local frosts; metbods available.
0
21. LIVE STOCK 112
Advantages and disadvantages of keeping cow, pig,
poultry, rabbits, bees; dJ!Sirable and undesirable
kinds to have.
22. POULTRY 116
Chickens for eggs and meat; ducks, geese, turkeys,
pigeons; scrubs vs. breeds and strains; housing, feed-
ing, yarding, range, management; hatching vs. buy-
ing day-old chicks; brooding; sanitation; etc.
23. BEES 125
Honey the principal interest; importance in fruit pro
ducti0!1; management easy but imperative.
viii CONTENTS
CHAPTER
24. GRl;ENHOUSES. .. 128
.Standardized styles preferable to home built; ad
vantages; sizes desirable; avoidance of mistakes;
types of houses; ventilation; heating; greenhouse
builders' contracts and propositions.
25. COLDFRAMES AND HOTBEDS 136
Invaluable to start seedlings; limitations of each;
types of each; how and where to make them;
hardening-off plants; electric heating and regulation
most desirable. •
26. SOILS AND THEIR CARE 146
Nature's spils injured by man; reclamation; types
of soils and how to handle them; humus; how to
judge soil values; soil erosion and its prevention.
27. MANURES 154
Stable manure best; why; scarcity and cost; fresh
'Vs. rotted j dried and pulverized; amounts to apply;
functions in the soil; experiences and experiments.
28. COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS 159
Supplements to manures; organic and inorganic;
value of each; cautions in using; composition; most
important unmixed ones; functions of each; "mixed
goods"; home mixing; determining soil needs; fer
tilizer distributors; concentrated goods.
29. GREEN MANURES AND COVER CROPS 166
Humus suppliers; importance; savers of Soluble plant
foods; developers of others; some gather costly nitro
gen; prevent soil washing, deep freezing and soil
heaving; collect fallen leaves; aid dtainage.
30. LIME 171
Functions in soils: neutralizes acidity, makes condi
tions favorable to growth of bacteria, improves physi.
cal properties of soil; experimental data; when and
how much to apply; must not be used with manure.
31. COMPOST 1 75
Importance in gardening, especially under glass; ways
to make it; best seasons to start it; handling for best
results.
CONTENTS ix
ClL\PTl!:ll PAGEt
32. CROPPING SYSTEMS .••• 177
Rotation-methods dependent upon types of cash
crops grown; good and bad sequences; double crop
ping--companion, succession, marker and partnership
crops; examples of each and methods of handling.
33. SOIL SURFACE MANAGEMENT 182
Effects of tillage; when and how to till; right and
wrong implements and ways to use them; deepening
soils to increase water capacity and root range;
trenching methods; good tools for various purposes.
34. WEEDS 196
Their significance and control; species and size sug-
gest character of soil; annuals, biennials and peren
nials; when and how to destroy.
35. TOOLS 200
Kinds needed dependent upon type of soil and work;
essential and non-essential kinds; good and poor
styles; storage; cleanliness; oiling, sharpening, etc.
36. RE-MAKING A NEGLECTED ORCHARD 206
Importance of competent advice before attempting
such work; many trees not worth reclamation; how
to determine useful ones; tree surgery not desirable
from income basis; personal appraisal methods; ren
ovation ~ethods.
37. FRUIT TREE PRUNING 213
Principles; applications; methods good and bad;
times to prune; tree architecture; building strong
trees; vine and bush training and pruning; knowl
edge of flower bud formation and position essential.
38. GRAFTING FRUIT TREES 223
Simple methods; trees not to graft; best ones and best
branches to use; how to get and keep scions; time to
graft; grafting waxes; paraffin; repair or bridge graft-
ing to save girdled trees.
39. How TO AVOID NURSERY STOCK LOSSES. 232
Buyers, not nurserymen, most often responsible for
death of stock; right and wrong handling j loose
x CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
planting; bearing age trees unsatisfactory; young
stock best to order; pruning after planting; treat
ment of Y -crotch trees; staking; label removal.
40. VEGETABLE CROPS TO AVOID AND TO CHOOSE· . 239
Quick and slow maturing kinds, staple and fancy
kinds, high and low quality varieties, good vs. poor
keepers, kinds saleable in several ways.
41. SEEDS AND SEEDING .. .. . . 243
Types of seeds; effect of weight on sprouting and the
crop; seed testing; age of seed; seeds man's reputa
tion; "special stock" seed; seedsmen's trial grounds;
seed growing, selection; sowing times; temperature;
depth; etc.
42. TRANSPLANTING . . 253
Stages of development; pre-watering; preparation of
soils and flats; lifting, pricking-out, spotting board
and dibble; depth, watering, hardening; planting in
the open; after-care.
43. PLANTS FOR SALE . . . 261
Often highly profitable near town of amateur garden-
ers; general and special stocks and sales; sales meth
ods; advertising.
44. SOMETHING TO SELL EVERY DAY 265
Crops in demand; crops that "work over well";
pickles, jams, jellies, juices, syrups, preserves,
"canned goods"; eggs; chickens; ducks; honey;
plants; flowers.
45. STRAWBERRIES. . . 267
Regular season and everbearing kinds; culture; sys
tems of tra~ning; after fruiting, what?; companion·
and succession crops; quickest fruit to bear; often
highly profitable; every farm should have them.
46. GRAPES. 281
Planting; pruning; training; precocious and annual
fruiting; long season of fruiting by successional ripen-
ing of varieties and storage.