The Harrison County Cattlemen's Association will host their annual meeting Thursday, Nov. 12, at the Harrison County Extension office, which is within the Courthouse Annex Building. The program will start at 6 p.m. with a meal.

Dr. Billy Higginbotham, extension wildlife & fisheries specialist from the Texas AgriLife Research & Extension Center in Overton, will be the guest speaker for the event. Billy will discuss feral hog control in his speech, "What's legal and what's not." We will also be offering 1.5 CEUs toward your pesticide license on this topic as well.

The Harrison County Cattlemen's Association will also be awarding the annual Bill Davis Award to a deserving Harrison County beef and forage producer. If you would like to attend, please be sure and RSVP by calling the Extension office at 903-935-8413 for the meal count.

The Texas AgriLife Extension Service office here in Harrison County will also be hosting a free web-based program called "Small acreage horticultural crops — fruits, pecans and grapes" Wednesday, Nov. 18, in the extension office meeting room. The course will start at 10:30 a.m. and conclude at noon.

This short program is part of a series that is geared toward those folks who would like to start a small horticulture business. This first session will deal with fruits, pecans and grapes. In April 2010, we will host a program dealing with vegetable production.

For more information, you can call the Extension office at 903-935-8413 or go online to http://harrison-tx.tamu.edu/publications/fruits.pdf. You can also pre-register for the November seminar online at http://hortdev.tamu.edu/smallacreage/registration.

The program is free, and we will also take registrations at the door.

Prepare for bulbs now

Planting spring bulbs in the fall is as natural as falling leaves and football games. It is an opportunity neglected by the home gardener if he does not include some of the hardy, easy-to-grow spring beauties in the garden this fall.

Bulbs are truly some of the simplest, easy to care for and inexpensive flowers to grow. All they ask is a fall planting, and they will reward you with weeks of early spring color, fragrance and beauty.

Success with spring bulbs will depend to a large extent on selection of good, healthy quality bulbs. Second-rate bulbs or bargain bulbs produce second-rate flowers, and often first-rate disappointment. To be assured of top quality bulbs and desirable varieties, order or purchase bulbs as early as possible.

In general, good bulbs produce flowers the first season after planting, as the flower buds are already formed when the bulbs are purchased and planted.

This emphasizes the importance of purchasing quality bulbs, as the quality of flowers is determined by the bulbs and not affected to a great extent by cultural conditions or growth practices. One can be assured that the larger the bulb, the larger the bloom. Many disease problems can also be eliminated by obtaining healthy, disease-free bulbs.

If you purchase bulbs early — before planting time in October and November — store them in a cool, dry well-ventilated area until planting. Excessively high temperatures will cause the bulbs to dry out and result in injury to the flower bud inside the bulb.

When thumbing through a colorful bulb catalog, one quickly sees the wide variety and selection of spring bulb choices.

The grower, however, should be aware that not all varieties produce well in the South, out of their native colder areas. Yet there remain enough successful types to make the decision about which to choose very difficult. Texas growers may choose from daffodils or narcissus, tulips, Dutch hyacinths, French-Roman hyacinths, grape hyacinths and Dutch iris, to name a few.

Some spring bulbs, such as tulips and Dutch hyacinths, require a cold treatment prior to planting to have them perform better in the South, where the winters are comparatively mild.

Tulips and Dutch hyacinths should be placed in the vegetable bin of the grower's refrigerator for 45 to 60 days prior to planting. They should never be frozen, and should be planted immediately upon removal from cold treatment, usually in December.

An early selection and proper treatment of bulbs now will ensure a beautiful and colorful spring come March.

For further information on Extension programs, call 903-935-8413 or visit http://harrison-tx.tamu.edu.