10
THE PROGRESSIVE FARMER.
Thursday July 18, . 1907.
Story of tHe Georgia Collard.
How a Georgia Farmer Got $300 From Two Acres of This "Cabbage
Without a Head" Full Instructions for Successfully Growing This
Vegetable.
Messrs. Editors: The old Georgia
collard is still the stand-by on the
majority of Southern farms, both for
man and beast. During the fall and
winter months it furnishes the house
wife with that excellent vegetable to
boil, and the cows, pigs and chickens
all appreciate it. Evenin the city
and towns of the South it is quite
astonisnmg me demand there is for
this vegetable, and the market gar
deners around Atlanta find it neces
sary to devote a constantly increasing
acreage to this crop. In fact, the
Georgia collard has come to be one
of the most profitable crops they
grow.
The writer has received recently
quite a number of letters from farm
ers and gardners asking advice about
growing this crop. It seems that last
year the seasons were very peculiar,
and for some reason it was more
difficult to obtain a stand than usual
until very late in the season, and this
seems to have been the main reason
for the poor crop that was made genT
erally.
Objections to Planting Between Other
Vegetables.
My own experience last season was
of a like nature, and only the col
lards which I succeeded in getting
started in June and the early part
of July amounted to anything to
- speak of. Ordinarily, I prefer to
plant my collards from the middle
of July to the middle of August, as
planted at this time they are brighter
and less affected by worms than when
planted, in early spring. I have also
tried planting them between the
rows of other vegetables, but this I
have abandoned, as the land is usu
ally in poor physical condition, and
they do not grow off as well as they
should. Then, too, they are more
likely to become choked with grass
if the weather is wet and it costs so
much to work them out that it ma
terially affects the profits. In fact,
I cannot recommend planting any
thing between rows of some other
growing crop unless it be in small
gardens where the land is extremely
rich. As a rule, we have plenty of
land to be able to devote what is
necessary to each crop, and follow
out a rotation that will bring more
of. our-land up to a higher state of
cultivation. jk
It takes riclr land to grow fine col
lards, just as it does cabbage, al
though we can grow excellent col
lards on land that would not make
a paying cropof cabbage, especially
if we start early and get our land
into fine physical condition.
Fining and Fertilizing the Land.
"Probably the finest crop of collards
I ever grew was on a piece of three-year-old
new ground. The land had
been in cantaloupes the year before,
followed by oats,. and I may add; the
stumps had been dug out so. we could
plow and work the land thoroughly.
The oats came off in June,, and then
we turned the land deeply with .a
two-hOrse plow, and began fining it
for collards. Every week we did
something to that two acres, cutting
it up with "cutaway harrow, and fol
lowing with drag and smoothing
harrow until we had it in excellent
shape. Then we laid off our rows
three feet apart and applied our fer
tilizer in the drill, putting about
1,000 pounds per acre. This was
stirred well into the soil and a low
bed made over it with V scooter.
I should state that the fertilizer
was high-grade and analyzed about
4 per cent ammonia, 7 per cent phos
phoric acicL and 5 per cent potash.
This was a very simple fertilizer
whJch we made ourselves by com
bining the following:
Cottonseed meal. .
Acid phosphate . .
Muriate of potash.
To make a ton . , ,
1,000 lbs.
800 "
200 "
2,000 lbs.
We would have used more potash
had the land been sandy, but it was
a stiff clay loam; had only been
cleared a few years, and we judged
already contained a considerable
amount , of potash. As it was, our
formula seemed to fit the case, for
I never saw collards grow off in
finer shape.
Plant Seed in Hill, Then Thin.
After preparing the land and ap
plying the fertilizer we were fortun
ate in having a nice rain, and a rath
er cool spell of weather, and we em
braced the opportunity to plant our
seed. We dropped them by hand
eight or ten seed in a place
making a shallow hole with the heel
of our shoe, in which we dropped
them, about a foot and a half to two
feet apart. We then covered them
half an inch deep and pressed them
firmly with the ball of the foot.
They were up in a few days, grow
ing off nicely, and we had an abun
dance of plants to supply all missing
places, and gave away hundreds to
our neighbors. We thinned the plants
when about six inches high to one in
a place, and kept them - well culti
vated at all times.
And There's a Bug to Watch.
At that time I was not as familiar
with his majesty the Harlequin bug
as I became later, and he had thor
ougly entrenched himself in our
patch before we were aware of his
existence. Then we started in to pick
them off by hand, and we gathered
them by the quart. We got some
little darkies, gave them a tin can
apiece, with a little water and kero
sene oil, and paid them so much a
quart and a prize to the one who
caught the most. In this way we
cleaned them up, but it cost us at
least thirty dollars to do it. The
collard patch, however, was a suc
cess, bringing us in over $300. I
should add that late in October when
the collards were not growing quite
so well as we thought they should,
we rave them ar top dressing of cot
tonseed meal, putting " about 500
pounds of the two acres. This gave
them another start so that practically
all of them grew large enough to
retail readily for forty cents per doz
en on the Atlanta market.
I have my experience with this
crop, as It carries all the essential
points necessary to make a success
with' the Georgia collard. It is a
great vegetable, and one of our stand
bys, even though some of our North
ern friends may smile at us, Southern
gardeners, growing a cabbage that 13
not expected to head:
Y. J. MERRIAM.
.Atlanta, Ga. .
K;twmfyW:lawtmmglllMlll
1! t.. I
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HAMPTON
ROADS.
THE EXPOSITION" JLTKE TO -NORFOIiK.
JAMESTOWN EXPOSITION.
APRIL 26TH TO NOVEMBER 30TH
NORFOLK,
VA.
1907.
Round trip season tickets
SPECIAL BATES FROM BALE1GH,
CO Off T7 A IA J A.B1 J ' M. aa
Round trip 60 day tickets 7.60 Round tlp coach excursion tickets - 4.00
w,tr'i?acn excur8ion rates sold day prior to opening date and on each Tuesday thereafter,
limited seven days and endorsed "Not Good in Sleeping, Pullman and Parlor Cars." Other
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Uvea named belo frm 0ther 0lntS apily to yQur nearest Seaboard Agent, or representa-
Unexcelled Passenger Service via Seaboard Air Line Railway.
Watch for announcement of Improved ; Schedules. For Information and literature, ad
dress O. H. GATrJTraveling Agent. Raleigh, N. 0., J. P. MITCHELL,
City Passsnger Agent, Raleigh, N. C.