[gardeners] cane

Allen and Judy Merten (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Mon, 19 Apr 1999 14:10:45 -0500

Hi George,
    I like living in a town like you do. People are willing to go out of
there way to help. The town that I was raised in was like that. I
remember when we could get the pharmacist to come open the drug store on
Sunday to refill a prescription.
    The cane brake in Marshall had the biggest cane of any kind that I
have ever seen in  Texas or Louisiana. I'm not sure exactly what kind it
was but it had the small leaves on it, the cane was beige color.
    I cut the cane that was in a mature stage, looked like a fishing
pole ready to use. I did find green cane bends better. I found out that
the green cane can be too soft and thin walled if it is too green. The
semi green stage works best in my opinion. If you are building something
rigid the older cane is best.
    I have never been snake bit so far. The closest was when I go hit on
the bottom of my shoe by a cotton mouth, that was laying in a cut bank
that I couldn't see. I found out that there is some disagreement on
weather the Canebrake Rattler is just a sub species or regional morph of
the Timber Rattler. Both have the "coon tail".
    We also have the Coral Snake here. Pretty snake, deadly if it gets
you right.
    The weather sure warmed up. I don't appear to have any damage from
the two freezes last week. I suppose that the temp didn't stay cold
enough long enough. I have been weeding and side dressing with
fertilizer this morning. I came back to the house to get some lunch and
to change into a pair of shorts and a lighter colored shirt than the
navy blue one that I have been wearing.
    One thing that I have been giving some thought to is getting a hive
of bees. They are something that I know very little about. We have very
few bees visiting the garden. Last year Bumble Bees had to do the job.
The mouth and throat mites have decimated the wild bee population.
    Back to the garden,
    Allen
    Bastrop Co., SE Central Tx.
    Zone 8