The Agricultural Calendar

Plant life is now on the point of coming to a halt. The trees have lost their leaves. The summer vegetables and flowers have gone, or will go little by little.

In this season we should prepare certain plants and flowers for the coming spring, in such a way as to have them ahead of their time.

Flower beds and gardens:

In the plains: If you have neglected your garden because you lingered late in the mountains, it is not yet too late. You can seize the opportunity of the next twenty days to work; otherwise your garden will fall into a bad state.

First — dig over the ground and manure it.
Second — gather refuse and tree leaves as nutrient matter.
Third — plant the new stock that you have prepared or bought from the local nurserymen.
Fourth — as for the roses, continue the treatment we indicated previously, for Beirut's autumn is damp.
Fifth — the chrysanthemums have begun to bloom, so they need no treatment at present. Simply put your garden in order for its flowering in the spring.

In the mountains: Gather refuse and tree leaves for the purpose mentioned above.

Vegetable gardens:

On the coast: The planting of vegetables should have been renewed in October. Its time has now passed; still, today you can plant potatoes, to be dug in February–March. Gather the withered refuse, as was said.
In the mountains: What was said about the gardens should be done here as well.

Fruit trees — on the coast:
Their treatment is now finished and their season has begun; but the ground must be dug over one last time to remove the basins and the irrigation channel. Also, after the fruit is picked and before blossoming, the trees must be pruned. In this way you avoid cutting the fruit-bearing branches, on the one hand; and on the other, only a little of the blossom and fruit will drop, since the tree's sap will feed only a few branches.
Then dig holes at a rate of 80 x 80 centimeters for planting the new trees, with no less than 7 centimeters between one hole and the next.

In the mountains: Dig the ground over one last time to remove the basins and the irrigation channel; but before digging, the ground under the trees must be manured according to the height of the tree. The rate is from one tin to five tins of manure, covered over with earth. And if you wish to plant new trees, the ground must be dug to a depth of 80 centimeters and the weeds pulled out of it.

Planting in December requires airing the ground for at least fifteen days after it is dug. And if you wish to plant in January–February, or in March, take care, for holes dug from now on are liable to cave in in the season of storms.

As regards orchards, you can plant apple, pear, peach, cherry trees, etc. Apples are planted first as rootstock of the following kinds: Malus, Doucin, or Paradise, and then grafted with the desired varieties, such as Golden or Starking.
The Malus tree lives from fifty to seventy years, grows very tall, and bears fruit in the fifth or sixth year after planting. Between one tree and the next a space of 7 or 8 meters is required, and in this space you can plant an apple tree of the Paradise or Doucin kinds, which live only 15 to 20 years but bear fruit in the third year after grafting; they do not grow very tall. These latter trees must be pulled up when the first grow large and their branches spread, so that their growth is not hindered.

Plant pears on Pyrus; the intervening space is from 7 to 8 meters, and in this space you can plant pears as well. As for peaches, make the space between one tree and the next from 5 to 6 meters; peaches may be planted among the apple or pear trees. For cherries, the space between one tree and the next is 8–10 meters.

In closing, we advise you to devote some of your time to fruit trees. This year a kilo of fruit on the tree was worth 100–110 Lebanese piasters; then prices fell to 85–90 piasters, and most of the crop was shipped abroad. Now, however, prices have risen again, and the kilo is worth 125–140 piasters.