GARDEN PROFITS
BIG MONEY IN SMALL PLOTS
56
Garden Profits ?i
BIG MONEY IN SMALL PLOTS
By
E. L. D. SEYMOUR, B. S. A.
ILLUSTRATED
GARDEN CITY NEW YORK
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
1913
Copyright, x$n, by
, *A6* ft GarfAKY
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
In the following pages the keynote is experience. The results
stated, the methods suggested, the varieties advised — all are
the results of actual, sincere experience. For it is by such
means that the uninitiated can be really assisted and given
practical, usable directions towards success.
Whatever matter I have quoted has been generously offered
by its originator or discoverer, with the idea of helping his fellow
gardener. Personal experiences, individual results, original
ideas, have been submitted that the success that followed them
might be shared, not monopolized. It is in this spirit of common
interest, that of a member of a fraternity of tillers of the soil,
that I acknowledge the assistance I have received. I wish to
mention especially "The Vest-pocket Garden Record System,"
devised by Mr. J. L. Kay an; and the details of coldframe
management supplied by Mr. George Standen. For much
of the material for Chapter V. on "A Year's Cycle in the
Garden," I am indebted to Mr. William C. McCollom, for his
articles on the seasons' work in the vegetable garden. The
tables in Chapter VII. on the insects and diseases of plants
is the work of Dr. E. Porter Felt, State Entomologist of New
York; and the methods of mixing spray materials in small
quantities were worked out by Mr. W. C. O'Kane.
In conclusion, I acknowledge the assistance rendered by The
Garden Magazine, from which I have obtained numerous ideas
and valuable data.
E. L. D. S.
Garden City, N. Y., February, 1911.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
PAGE
THE SELF-SUPPORTING HOME 3
Intensive vs. Extensive Culture 6
The Danger of Undercapitalization ...... 7
The Consumer Coming Into His Own .... 9
CHAPTER II
MONEY IN THE BACK YARD 10
How To Make Twenty-four Tomato Plants Hand
You Fifty Dollars II
Does Hoeing Pay? Well, Rather! 14
What a Garden Did for an Invalid 14
A New Kind of Economy in the Garden ... 16
Plant Early and Smile at Your Neighbours . . 16
The Versatile Hotbed 17
Growing Plants in a Chicken Brooder .... 18
Hotbed Results — Without a Hotbed .... 19
How to Grow Vegetables Before You Plant Them . 19
Modern Success — With Old-fashioned Methods . . 21
Getting Better Seed 21
The "Best" Potato and How to Obtain It ... 22
It's Never Too Late to Garden 23
A Garden Planted After the Fourth of July ... 23
Discovered! The Real Use for a Back Fence . . 29
One-fifth of a Ton of Tomatoes from 300 Square Feet
of Ground 31
Getting Along Without Manure 31
Making Tomato Plants Perennial 33
Making Your/Oton Sprirtgtime 33
How to Double the' Cabbage Crop in Yield and
Quality 33
CONTENTS
CHAPTER II — Continued
PACK
The Two Greatest Garden Problems — and Their
Solution 34
Double the Usefulness of the Clothes Pole — and
Beautify It 34
A Welcome for Poultry in the Garden 35
The Secret of Successful Gardens 36
Commercial Methods Worth Copying .... 37
Overtime Growth in the Strawberry Bed ... 38
Barrels of Strawberries ! Doing Away with Plowing,
Cultivating and Mulching 39
CHAPTER III
SUCCESSFUL GARDENS You CAN HAVE 43
Twelve Hundred Per Cent. Profit from 20 x 27 feet
of Ground 43
Bean-strings — Cheaper and Simpler than Poles . . 46
Expenses One Dollar, minus; Returns, Fourteen
Dollars, plus! 48
What Science Has Done for the Gardener ... 49
The Redemption of a 28-foot Square Back Yard . 49
What the Square Yielded 53
What One Woman Can Do With Ten Dollars . . 54
Suggestions Worth Money 58
A Practical Working Calendar .... -59
Tales of Three Gardens and Three Hundred Dollars 64
What the Man "Without Any Time" Can Do . . 64
A New Chapter in the "Book of Friendship" . . 65
Transplanting — One Way to Save Space ... 68
A Ten-Minutes-A-Day Garden 68
Five Crops on One Foot of Ground 70
What Your Garden Can Grow 73
Combining Succession and Rotation 79
Exploring the Unknown — A Plea for Unfamiliar
Vegetables 85
Boys — and Girls — and Gardens 85
A Fourteen- Year-Old Boy's Garden That Produced
Seventy Dollars 86
The Thorough Gardener and His Reward ... 90
CONTENTS
Chapter III — Continued
PAGE
The Need of Garden Records ..... . . 91
Can You Devise a Better One? 91
A Vest-pocket Garden Record System 92
Early Plants Without a Hotbed ... V - 96
Big Returns from Eight Dollars .... . 98
Cutting Down Seed Expense ....... 98
More Than Six Hundred Per Cent. Returns . . 99
How to Make the Garden Plan Practical .... 99
Complete Cultural Directions in Tabular Form 100-104
CHAPTER IV
GETTING THE MOST OUT OF FRAMES AND HOTBEDS . 105
The Difference Between "Coldframes" and "Hot-
beds" 106
How to Build a Hotbed ........ 107
A New Method for Hardening Hotbed Plants . . no
Hotbed Mats in
A Home-made Straw Mat in
Building the Coldframe 114
The Entire Management of a Coldfraine . 116
Preparation. Sowing. Ventilating. Watering.
Transplanting. Hardening off . Lettuce. Tbiha-
toes. Peppers. Beets. Carrots. Eggplant.
Onions. Leeks. Beans. Parsley. Spinach.
Celery. Cauliflower. Cabbage. Peas.
CHAPTER V
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 133
The Planning Season: December to February . . 133
January. — The Garden Plan. Some General
Advice. Seeds and Yields for a Definite Area.
Transplanted Vegetables. When, Where and
What to Transplant. Catalogues and Seedsmen.
Good Seed. Kinds and Varieties. Keeping
CONTENTS
CHAPTER V — Continued
PACE
Seeds. Tools and Repairs. Other Odd Jobs
About the Garden. Manure. The First Plant-
ing. For the Fruit Garden. Special Require-
ments.
February. — Hotbeds. The Growing Plants.
New Plantings. Fruitward Thoughts.
The Season of Planting: March to June . . . 150
March. — Planting and Transplanting. Moving
Last Month's Seedlings. Just How to Trans-
plant. "Dibbling." Paper Pots. The First
Potatoes. Making an Asparagus Bed. Advice
for the Future. Rhubarb Beds, too. Getting
the Ground Ready. Clay Soils. The Seed-bed.
Planting the Fruit in the Garden. Tree Fruits.
Grapes. Bush Fruits. Strawberries.
4pril.— The Value of Manure. The Prin-
ciples of Seed Sowing. Drilling. The All Sea-
son Crops. Sowing for Succession. Corn.
The Busy Growing Season: May to October . . '170
May. — The Main Corn Crop. Melons and
Lima Beans. Pumpkins, Squash, etc. New
Zealand Spinach. More Succession Sowing.
A Rule for Succession Crops. Setting Out the
Tender Plants. Fall Crops. The Asparagus
Bed. "To Hill or Not to Hill." Thinning Out.
Fruit Notes. The Growing Season for Fruits.
June.— A Washing Tank for Vegetables.
When to Gather Vegetables. Special Care for
Melons. Supporting the Tomato Vines. Look-
ing Out for Insects. Water and Fertilizer.
Fruits.
July. — Fighting the Heat and Drought.
Late Transplanting. Celery Care. Don't For-
get the Asparagus Bed. Ripening and Picking
Melons. What to Sow in July. Thinning Fruit.
Bag the Grapes. Keep Up the Cultivating.
Pruning.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER V — Continued
PAGE
August.— Blanching Celery With Boards. The
Hilling Method. Keep the Celery Growing.
Seeds for Present Sowing. Do You Know a
Ripe Watermelon? Harvest the Onions. Begin
to Save Manure Now. Putting the Fruits to
Sleep.
September. — Plan Improvements. Fall Sow-
ings. The Handmarks of a Careful Gardener.
October. — Cover Crops and Insects. Getting
the Best of the Early Frosts. Keeping Celery
Outdoors. Storing Roots.
The Quiet Season: November 207
November. — Storing Celery for Winter. The
Celery Trench. In the Very Small Garden. A
Good Time to Fight Cutworms. Mulching
Strawberries. Tender Varieties of Brambles.
Apples, Pears, etc.
CHAPTER VI
THE SIMPLICITY OF SELF-MAINTAINING FERTILITY THAT
EVERYONE CAN HAVE 114
Plant Food That Never Runs Out 215
The Greatest Secret of All 216
What Certain Plants Like Best 217
Fertility that Every Garden Can Have . . . .218
Available Manure for Every Small Garden . . . 219
The Simple Art of Using Manure 220
Saving Manure = Saving Money 221
Concentrated Plant Food for Small Gardens . . . 222
How Much to Use 222
Some Very Cheap Fertilizers 225
Manures That You Don't Have to Buy . . . 226
The Secret of Unending Fertility 227
Killing the Soil Robbers 228
"Simplicity" 228
CONTENTS
CHAPTER VII
WHAT AILS YOUR PLANTS? 230
How to Make Spray Mixtures 231-240
Bordeaux Mixture. Ammoniacal Copper Car-
bonate. Formalin. Arsenate of Lead. Kerosene
Emulsion. Tobacco Water. Soap Solution.
Pyrethrum. Poisoned Bran Mash. Combined
Mixtures.
What Bothers the Small Fruits 241
The Worst Pests of our Orchard Trees . . . 242-243
For the Vegetable Garden 244-245
GLOSSARY OF SPECIAL TERMS
INDEX *»***t •••••<
GARDEN PROFITS
BIG MONEY IN SMALL PLOTS
GARDEN PROFITS
THE SELF-SUPPORTING HOME
THERE'S money in your backyard. Per-
haps you thought there was only a
varied collection of rubbish, weeds
and unsightly mud, and no partic-
ular hope for anything else. Or,
if you are a bit neater and more particular than
the majority, it may have meant a smooth grass
plot, dotted with clothes poles, perhaps relieved
by a flower bed or two.
But have you ever thought that every square
foot of that ground is worth money to you? Dol-
lars and cents ? Vegetables and fruits for your own
use and for sale; fresh, tender, delicious, and in-
stead of your paying the grocer for them, they are
bringing you a profit? Moreover, there is health
waiting to be dug out of the ground; an appetite
and a means of satisfying it! A prescription, and
the medicine with which to fill it — that's the kind
of a doctor to have, especially when his pills don't
have to be sugar-coated.
In lifting from the backyard the familiar but
4 GARDEN PROFITS
wornout ban of uselessness and ugliness, I do not
claim to advance any wonderful new scheme,
to disclose a "marvellous secret of success" (for
which I charge one dollar), or to convey an in-
fallible means of making a fortune in six months.
The reported fabulous returns from such crops as
ginseng are rarely, if ever, actual, and at best,
success in such cases depends upon an uncertain
market thousands of miles away. But vegetables
and fruits are staples; they find markets every-
where, while guaranteed freshness and quality,
contrasted with the doubtful, wilted store prod-
uce, are at a premium even in the height of the
growing season. It is often possible to arrange for
an exchange of goods — especially if you are within
reach of the typical village "general store." Even
the actual financial gain is intensified when we can
deliver peas, beans or corn, which it has given us
only pleasure to raise, and receive in return gro-
ceries, meat and the like, without having even to
mention the inflated price of beef and the increased
cost of living. In fact, for the owner of a small
garden, there need be no such thing as "increased
cost," for the soil grows ever more generous under
care and attention, and with proper precautions
can be made to yield not less, but more and more
with each succeeding year.
Therefore, while I do not wish to mislead any
reader into expecting an independent fortune
from the backyard, yet I do maintain that there
is such a thing as making a few hundred feet of
soil produce money. Not a few of the (literally
THE SELF-SUPPORTING HOME 5
speaking) "wise ones" have already done this,
and if you have the "push," the common sense
and the "wide-awake-ness" that go with a love
for seeing and making things grow, why you, too,
can begin to reap the reward, and become one of
those "lucky fellows."
Don't for a minute think that your yard is too
small, or, because the grass has been trampled out
of sight and swamped with ashes, that the real
live soil isn't there. How about the girl who planted
a few cents' worth of seeds and raised enough plants
to brighten her summer just about 99 per cent.
on a hole in the ground, six feet long and eight
feet wide! Another plant lover had to fight
against a brick paving and won out by making
portable flower beds from boxes and old tin kettles!
Think of the householder who used the winter's
accumulation of ashes to fill up a ravine back of
his house, then, in the quarter- acre of soil on top,
raised $100 worth of vegetables. There are a
good many such cases, bits of which I shall cite
now and then later on, but of which the whole
story has been saved every time, with a record of
the actual cost, the exact returns, and even, at
times, the number of minutes spent each day,
cultivating, watering — and harvesting the crops.
Another objection that you may try to raise is
that you've "never done any gardening." Per-
haps, in your frankness, you will declare that you
don't even know how vegetables look, growing,
nor when you ought to pick them. Well, that was
the way with some of the others, and they sue-
6 GARDEN PROFITS
ceeded. Moreover, in the following pages you
will find a detailed account of the work that should
be done every month in the year, where to do it,
how to do it, and what to do it with. We have
been gathering information and data from complete
accounts, also discovering labor-and-time-saving
methods, with this book in mind. If you keep
these directions before you, you will be able to
see at a glance just what is to be done, and the
quickest and best way to do it. And you can
dig money out of your backyard!
INTENSIVE VS. EXTENSIVE CULTURE
There is, in the records of gardening experiences,
to which I refer, not only optimistic reference to
success under seeming difficulties, but also the
foundation of actual sound agricultural and eco-
nomic principles. Intensive cultivation has been
heralded as the coming salvation of the agriculture
of the crowded East. There is not a little to be
said in its favor.
Intensive cultivation is the practice of working
all the land all the time; making every inch play
its part, and letting no space remain uncropped.
This is accomplished by: (a) succession planting,
(b) companion planting, (c) training, and (d) the
growth of green manure crops when nothing else
can be cultivated. It is the logical means of mak-
ing the land permanently fertile, which in one form
or another is practiced on every successful farm of
whatever size.
THE SELF-SUPPORTING HOME 7
THE DANGER OF UNDERCAPITALIZATION
One of the commonest reasons for failure in
farming is undercapitalization. With insufficient
capital the farmer is compelled to buy on credit —
paying, thereby, perhaps 50 per cent, more than the
market price; he has too few tools, too little stock,
and is forced to merely half-work his land —
which is practically as expensive and only about
one-fourth as profitable as thoroughness. The avail-
able capital may be used up on one crop of potatoes,
corn or fruit, while many other acres of good land
must be left idle — probably without even the
beneficial effects of fallowing provided for by pre-
vious plowing.
Of course the amount of money representing
undercapitalization is entirely relative, depending
on the size and nature of the farm or garden. But
here is the very backbone of the matter — the
smaller the (farm or) garden, the smaller the prob-
ability of undercapitalization, and, as a result, the
greater the relative returns. A half-acre garden,
given intensive, continuous care will prove more
profitable than several acres only partially cropped.
It will be possible to keep every foot at work,
for there will not be the necessity of waiting for
a whole crop, occupying one or more acres, to be
removed, before another can be sown. In the
small garden, where vegetables are grown in rows,
one planting — representing at most three or four
rows — can be harvested, the ground manured
and cultivated, and another crop planted, all in one
day, with not an hour's delay. Or, more in-
8 GARDEN PROFITS
tensive still, as quick as one carrot, head of lettuce
or cabbage is removed, another can be trans-
planted from the hotbed or frame, so that the soil
will actually never be idle. In a small garden,
the work will be personal, individual; every detail
will be within reach, and the facility for observation
and experiment, essentials to success, will be con-
centrated, localized, increased to the maximum.
The labor item is extremely important, for with
intensive cultivation or market gardening in mind,
the necessary number of men and teams per acre
increases entirely out of proportion to the acreage
involved.
Finally, the matter of yields and profits is closely
associated with the amount of land tilled. Theoret-
ically the statement is true, that if half an acre
will yield 250 bushels of potatoes, ten acres will
yield 5,000 bushels. But this result requires that
the soil and moisture conditions, the fertilizing,
spraying and care, increase proportionately. In
most cases this is impossible. It is compara-
tively simple to spade five or more tons of manure
into half an acre, and be able to feel that the soil
is in perfect tilth; it is another thing to apply 100
tons to 10 acres and bring the land to exactly as
good condition. Five hundred and forty square
feet of garden were cared for by a business man in
his free moments, and with a cash outlay of $1.15,
yielded $14.50 worth of vegetables. This is over
1200%, and a fact! It is difficult, if not absurd
to think of a 1200% profit from even a two-acre
farm.
THE SELF-SUPPORTING HOME 9
THE CONSUMER COMING INTO HIS OWN
It is time that the consumer were given advice
that will enable him to reduce his expenses. The
doctrine now being preached to the farmer urges
high-quality crops, advertising, high-class trade and
private markets, whereby the high prices that the
city people are willing to pay, need not be divided
(equally?) with the various middlemen. Our mes-
sage is straight to those city and suburban consumers
themselves, thatthey neednot pay the high price to any-
one, and can at the same time obtain better food and
often pay themselves a cash profit, by getting a large
part of their living directly from the ground.
As far back as 1866 Peter Henderson stated
that "the consumer pays twice the price the raiser
receives." Don't you appreciate the advantage
of being both consumer and producer? This sounds
radical, perhaps; as if we were levelling hopes of
destruction at the practical farmer and market
gardener. However, neither is this our attitude,
nor would it be the result. The stage of over-
production of food-stuffs has not yet been reached,
nor is it likely soon to be, and there is no danger that
there will not remain the necessary consumers — who
are contented to remain as such — to make market-
gardening profitable. To these we do not urge these
methods, this system of home-profit making, but
rather to those who are ambitious for something
more; who want fresh, palatable vegetables and fruits,
and the minimum expense in procuring them; who
love the out-of-doors; who will find pleasure as well
as profit in pursuing the oldest activity in the world.
II
MONEY IN THE BACKYARD
I MIGHT already have said that this is
not to be the ordinary kind of "garden
manual " for the amateur. Such texts
often remind me of the criticism raised
by the housekeeper of moderate means,
upon reading a comprehensive cookbook. "It's
all very well," she said, "for them to direct
you to 'take a tender, two-inch beefsteak/ or
'prepare a fat, young broiler,' or 'beat up the
whites of eight eggs,' but in these days of five-
cent eggs and two-dollar chickens, it would be much
more to the point if they told you where you were to
'take' them from." In the same way, I always feel
a desire to ask the author of a treatise on fruit-
growing, who starts off with "in planning for a
home orchard, choose a slightly rolling, well-drained
area, preferably sloping to the south, with a deep,
loose soil not too heavy, underlaid by a gravelly
clay subsoil, and within easy hauling distance of
the barnyard and railroad" — I always want, I
say, to ask him what we are going to do if such a
piece of land is not on our farm to choose, or whether
we had not better take our neighbor's front lawn,
which seems to answer the requirements. In a very
MONEY IN THE BACKYARD 11
few cases it might be justifiable to advise not setting
the orchard at all. But in general I would say, as
I do to the owner of a somnolent backyard "Go
ahead anyway, start your garden as if every condi-
tion were favorable, and at the same time do every-
thing you can to better conditions and to plan your
work so that you gradually improve the soil, your
health, your financial condition and your self-respect
simultaneously."
That there is some chance of your benefiting from
such advice is pretty definitely proven by the ex-
perience of a real amateur who realized some ideals
in spite of unattractive conditions. Her own words
tell an interesting and encouraging story.
HOW TO MAKE TWENTY-FOUR TOMATO PLANTS
HAND YOU #5O
"In a plot less than 25 feet square, bounded by
careless, scoffing neighbors, where scrawny chickens
scratched by day and tomcats yowled by night,
with an eternal prospect of unkempt and barren
backyards whichever way you looked, I determined
to create a paradise.
"After dragging along, content with the mere
suggestion of a garden, for four years, during which
time I dug and raked in the most intractable heavy
clay which even now is so hard in the dry time that
it scarcely notices the onslaught of pick and shovel,
I determined to make the season of 1909 bring forth
my paradise. In the spring as soon as the frost
was out of the ground I dug to the depth of one and
12 GARDEN PROFITS
a half feet, left it to dry out for two days and then
battered down the hard lumps and secured a fair
seed-bed. I dug in the cinders from two tons of
hard coal, and a large load of well-rotted leaf mold.
Our planting time is three to four weeks later than
it is in the Eastern states. I planted my sweet
peas about the first of May, and the other seeds in
season.
"Around the entire plot I planted a row of large
Russian sunflowers. Next to these and one foot
away I had previously dropped a row of sweet peas.
In the centre of the plot were two clumps of runner
beans and around each clump were several clumps
of sweet peas. Then, without regard to the arrange-
ment, I transplanted here and there tomatoes,
pansies, stocks, petunias, verbenas, etc., allowing
them morning sun and afternoon shade, according
to requirement. Nothing failed. I trained every-
thing upward, using tall stakes and twine for support.
During the first week in September I had 19 Earli-
ana tomato plants 6 feet high; 6 Plum tomato plants
7 feet high (all with luscious bunches of ripe fruit);
sweet peas, 12 feet high; runner beans nearly 20
feet long, running criss-cross overhead with great
clusters of pods; cucumber vines climbing upward
and fully fruited, 8 feet high; and the greatest
profusion of flowers, which seemed to thrive in the
shade of the taller vegetation, all surrounded by
the sunflowers, some of which measured 16 feet to
the flower. From the 19 Earliana tomato plants
up to September 23, when the first hard frost came,
I plucked 250 pounds of fruit of a superb quality.
Training the tomato plants to a single
stem on a single pole saves valuable
space, increases the size, and improves
the quality of the fruit considerably
13
i4 GARDEN PROFITS
I kept no account of anything save the tomatoes.
Of these there was not a single spoiled or mis-
shapen fruit. If I had been disposed to sell them all
I should have had no difficulty in securing 20 cents
a pound for them.
DOES HOEING PAY? WELL, RATHER!
"These results were achieved partly by the
exceptional length of the season. But I think that
the main reason for such splendid growth was the
fact that the entire plot was hoed every day during
the early part of the season and often in the latter
part. I gave frequent irrigation with water that
had passed through a leach of horse manure into
which was thrown every three weeks a handful of
sodium nitrate, about two pounds in all, at a cost of
12 cents, the water being applied plentifully to the
soil between the rows, and not immediately around
the roots. In this way the roots were encouraged
to reach out."
Note the financial possibilities involved. Two
hundred and fifty pounds of tomatoes worth, at
her own estimate, $50.00 (not to put any price on
the culls and unripe fruit), from two dozen vines!
And then there were the flowers, which, to many
a gardener, would have paid for the comparatively
small amount of labor needed to hoe the whole
25-foot bed every day.
WHAT A GARDEN DID FOR AN INVALID
Another garden that developed from an unsightly
backyard, required an attack of ptomaine poison-
MONEY IN THE BACKYARD 15
ing, brought on by store vegetables, to start it — an
impetus that I trust is not needed by many. But
the effort succeeded and so did the garden. It
consisted of about a quarter of an acre and the deso-
late appearance of "a waste of yellow sand with a
ditch to be filled in and a conglomeration of tin cans
and debris to be disposed of" almost discouraged
the prospective tillers of the soil. However, in
the spring, they used the winter's furnace ashes
to fill in the ravine, dug and leveled the garden,
and wheeled in several barrow loads of manure.
They prepared a fine seed-bed nine feet wide the
length of the garden, and in it grew seedlings for
later transplanting; they planted corn lengthwise
through the garden, between rows of other crops,
and kept about them a loose dust mulch. Later
they used the same space still further by sowing
squash among the hills of corn. The result was an
abundance of vegetables, sweet peas and other cut
flowers, as well as both vegetable and flower plants
to sell. Their assets were as follows:
Peas . . .
Beans .
Corn . . .
Tomatoes
Cucumbers .
Other vegetables
Value of flowers
Cabbage plants
Various plants sold
2,000 pansy plants in stock for spring sale
Forget-me-not plants in stock for spring sale
Sweet William plants in stock for spring sale
Winter onions for early spring ....
Total $113.50
16 GARDEN PROFITS
— with only three dollars and a half for seeds, etc.,
as the cash outlay!
Such results as these are worth working for. You,
too, can obtain them if you really set your mind
on it. So I am going to give you all the assistance
I can in the way of hints and instruction whereby
you can get the best and the most from small spaces.
If some of the schemes don't seem exactly to fit
your garden, you can use them as hints, and evolve
something along the same line to fit your own
needs.
A NEW KIND OF ECONOMY IN THE GARDEN
On a small lot — especially a city place, try not
to waste anything. Unless your street is sprinkled
with oil, gather up the sweepings and the leaves
from your neighborhood, and compost them (that
is to say "compose a mixture") with other manure,
if you can get it, the waste from the garden, and
even table waste, which will not prove at all offensive
if kept covered. Furnace and stove ashes, when
sifted clear of clinkers, can be used to lighten the
garden soil — especially if it is of the heavy clay type.
PLANT EARLY AND SMILE AT YOUR NEIGHBORS
In any garden, plant a little earlier and a little
later than is recommended — general directions
have to be merely averages which successive sea-
sons often are not. So take advantage of the
favorable conditions, and in a good many instances
MONEY IN THE BACKYARD 17
you will win out with a lot to spare. One inde-
pendent gardener reports having planted four
2O-foot rows of corn, on July 22, in the face
of discouraging opposition of all her friends. As
"fortune favors the brave" (and the industrious)
the weather was warm and damp, and effectively
supplemented the regular use of the wheel hoe. On
September 22, nine ears were picked. By October
19, ninteen dozen had been gathered, representing
at that late season, at least $4.00. The seed had
cost 10 cents, the labor was limited to a few minutes
each day, and yet the cautious neighbors had not
been able to see the sense of running the risk of los-
ing the seed!
THE VERSATILE HOTBED
Of course, the great means for securing early
vegetables is the hotbed and I hope that if you
haven't one already, you will refuse to let another
spring find you in the same fix. The hotbed is a
This "handy hotbed"
is heated and cared for
through the cellar window
permanent asset. Its cost of maintenance is limited
to the manure used in it once a year, and replacing
whatever glass is broken by carelessness; and it
can be kept busy all the year round. In the spring
1 8 GARDEN PROFITS
it is a seed-bed for early plants; during the later
months for particularly tender sorts, or the fall
ripening varieties; all through the summer for
raising succession crops, or such moisture-loving
plants as lettuce, which can be kept watered and
shaded if necessary; in the fall, for lengthening the
season for the less bulky plants, and for the grow-
ing of cabbage, roots, etc., for winter use; in winter,
your exhausted hotbed becomes a cold frame, where
parsley, violets, kale, etc., etc., can be grown for
a continuous supply till the time comes to once
more start the hot manure.
GROWING PLANTS IN A CHICKEN BROODER
A simple method for building the hotbed is given
in the next chapter (page 107), but a certain re-
sourceful amateur made use of an old, discarded
chicken brooder, and obtained excellent results
with a very little outlay. For the heater, he used
a common kerosene lamp, which he operated
through a cellar window. The brooder was set
against the house, outside this window, on top of
a square frame which raised the heating drum above
the lamp chimney, and which was banked up with
earth, to prevent the loss of heat. Around the
heating drum, which resembled an inverted pan
with holes in the sides, and half an inch from it, was
fixed a strip of tin 4 inches high. The earth filled
the space outside this tin "fence," and the one-
half inch space allowed for the escape of the heated
air. Even the surface space of the drum was not
MONEY IN THE BACKYARD 19
wasted, for cigar-box flats, in which tender seeds
were sowed, were placed directly on the pan. By
throwing old carpets and matting over the sash
(which also was a rescued outcast from an old
window) a temperature of at least 60° was main-
tained at all times — even when down to zero
outside, as it was several times after the first seeds
were started on February 15. The total cost of
construction and maintenance (oil) for that spring
was $4.25, whereas the originator of the scheme
netted over $12 worth of plants. No reason at all
why you could not do just as well — or better.
HOTBED RESULTS — WITHOUT A HOTBED
Another simple means of hurrying crops is to
grow them in flat boxes, in the kitchen, or in any
sunny window of the house, where the temperature
will not go below 60°. I have the record of a corn
lover, who obtained ripe ears on June 20 by plant-
ing seed in boxes indoors on April 20, and trans-
planting to ground that had been well enriched
with manure and wood ashes, when the days be-
came warm.
There are countless little wrinkles for hurry-
ing along individual plants. For instance, beans
planted with the eyes down will make a quicker
growth — other conditions being equal — than others.
HOW TO GROW VEGETABLES BEFORE YOU
PLANT THEM
Potatoes, corn, carrots and probably other seeds
can be sprouted before they are planted at all,
20 GARDEN PROFITS
being given thereby a tremendous start. The
remarkable record of potatoes in seven weeks from
sowing was made in this manner. A bushel of
tubers which had developed half-inch sprouts was
These potatoes are in just the right
condition for careful planting. Be sure
not to knock off the sprouts
brought -up from 'the cellar and spread on -trays
in a light room .where the -temperature' could -be
maintained between 40 and, 65 degrees. The
sprouts did not increase- in length, hut, with the
surface of the tubers, took on* a- greenish-bronze
appearance. On April 18, the seed, was carefully
planted in a light -sandy loam, a pint of mixed hen
manure and ashes being applied to each hill. The
yield was 15 bushels in seven weeks!
When sprouting potatoes, do not let the shoots
grow more than an inch long, and take care not to
break them in planting. But surely, in a small
garden, whatever may be lacking in skill or ex-
perience, of care there should be and can be an
abundant supply always on hand.
You can treat corn the same way, if you handle
the sprouted grains like seedlings, and set them
carefully in an upright position. The sprouting
MONEY IN THE BACKYARD 21
of carrot seed before sowing, on rather a larger
scale, is regularly done by a successful Long Island
farmer.
MODERN SUCCESS — WITH OLD-FASHIONED
METHODS
Probably you are familiar already with the soak-
ing of the sweet pea, nasturtium, and other flower
seeds, by which means our grandmothers used to
get those beautiful, all-season effects. Why don't
you adapt the trick to your vegetable seeds? Peas,
beans of all kinds, squash, melon and cucumber
seeds — all these are adapted to this kind of per-
suasion. I have noticed nearly a week's difference
between the germination of soaked and unsoaked
seeds — and anyone who has practiced this will
doubtless tell you the same story.
Sprout potatoes in trays like this and they can
be carried to the garden Tvithout being knocked
about or having the sprouts broken off
By the way, while I am on this subject of seeds,
let me emphasize again the importance of good
— of the best seed. Look for it; buy it; pay will-
ingly -for it, then give it the treatment it deserves.
22 GARDEN PROFITS
Particularly is this the case with seed you are able
to save from one season's garden for the next. If
you have an especially delicious variety of corn,
and want to be sure of the same thing next year,
pick out a hill, and let the ears mature, that is,
become hard and flinty. But don't choose a measly,
weak little hill from which you "don't want the
ears anyway," and on which they are short, irregular
only partly filled out. Choose the best hill you can
find, and from it the finest pair of ears — large and
full, covered with fat kernels all the way to the tip,
and right up to the butt.
THE "BEST" POTATO, AND HOW TO OBTAIN IT
Similarly with potatoes. Save your ideal of
potatoes for seed — or as near as you can get to it.
It may cut you down a meal or so this year, but you
will get that one back, and a good many extra ones
besides, next season. If you are raising your own
potatoes, go further than just a good tuber —
choose the best, most productive hills for the seed
supply. That is, the hills which give you the
largest number of the best potatoes. I don't mean,
as so many misinterpret it, the hill that gives you
two whopping big fellows — over a pound apiece —
and nothing else; nor the one with fifteen or twenty
little spudlets an inch in diameter — very pretty
to look at, but which have to be boiled (and eaten
usually) with the jackets on. The "best hill"
yields several — perhaps six, possibly ten — smooth,
medium-sized tubers, the kind that boil evenly
MONEY IN THE BACKYARD 23
all through; that the cook can peel in a jiffy; that
buttered and salted are so almighty good that you
refuse to remember what some one told you about
"potatoes being so fattening." That kind repro-
duces itself just as well, and just as easily as the
inferior ones and if you don't prefer it, well — you
haven't got the stuff in you to make a gardener
or anything else.
IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO GARDEN
One more example of the late season gardening
occurs to me. Most people would give up all hopes
of fresh vegetables, if the ground hadn't been broken
by July. But the people I have in mind didn't
look at it that way, and the following is the tale of
what they did. Keep this case in mind if you ever
have to move in the springtime. A little gardening
when you are located in your new home, will prove
a change from "getting settled" indoors, anyway;
also from paying grocer's bills.
A GARDEN PLANTED AFTER THE FOURTH OF JULY
"I have had great success in the vegetable patch
when not a thing was planted before the Fourth of
July. These kinds of vegetables have more than
paid for the risk of late planting: cucumbers, squash,
carrots, corn, lettuce, bush Limas, pole string beans,
parsley, radishes and wax beans. Others that
give fairly good results are, pole Limas, tomatoes,
potatoes, beets and kohlrabi.
24 GARDEN PROFITS
Kinds to plant for crops. "The ever useful Hen-
derson bush Lima bean yielded a very good crop.
The sowing of July 6 gave full-sized beans the third
week in September, and picking continued until
the end of October, at which time the plants were
destroyed by frost. These beans are not as choice
as the pole Limas, but I reserve a space for them in
the garden each year, because they are so much
earlier and hardier and less trouble to care for,
besides being very prolific.
"After the pole Limas are in bearing, the bush
Limas are used for either succotash, or, dried, for
winter use.
"Cucumbers take kindly to midsummer planting,
and make a good growth during the cool weather
of early fall. The sowing of Japanese climbing
cucumber made July 5 began bearing the last week
in August, and gave us a continuous supply until
the second week in October, when the frosty nights
killed them. They would have borne still longer
if frost had held off, as they were in good growing
condition at that date.
"A planting made July 5, of crookneck squash,
bore during late summer and early fall, and more
than justified so tardy a start.
"A safe crop to sow at any time during July is
carrots. The roots do not need time to mature
before cold weather as they are excellent for the
table when young and tender — the younger the
better, indeed — before they reach full growth.
Ours were sowed July 6, and we began to pull them
the latter part of September. The second week in
MONEY IN THE BACKYARD 25
November found them apparently unharmed by
several sharp frosts that had killed the tender
vegetables.
"One of the best vegetables for July planting
is wax beans. The sowing of July 6 was in
bearing by the third week in August, and the
beans were better and larger than those from
earlier sowings from the same lot of seed. Pick-
ings were made at intervals, until the first week
in October. Two weeks later they began with a
second crop of blossoms and beans, but were cut
off by frost.
"Radishes, of course, can be planted in July
and later, even in September. Our July 6 planting
was ready to eat in less than a month.
"We had not more sweet or tender corn from any
of our eight sowings than that from an extra early
sort sowed July 5. A twenty-five foot row gave us
forty-five ears, the bearing season lasting from the
last week in September to the first week in
October.
"Pole string beans, Lazy Wife, planted July 7
had time to become even too large before the end
of the season.
"Good-sized plants of parsley were had in Octo-
ber from seed sown July 6. The plants were in
excellent shape to pot for growing in the house
during the winter.
"A most convenient plant for late sowing is
lettuce, as it will bear twenty degrees of frost, and
not be killed. Last year I was still using full-sized
heads from the open ground, for more than two
26 GARDEN PROFITS
weeks after all the tender vegetables had been killed
by frost.
"At a venture I tried a July planting of potatoes,
an extra early variety being planted the third week
in July. The vine made a growth of three feet,
and late in October the crop was dug, two potatoes
that measured two and one-half inches in length.
This was not a very profitable yield, but it was
interesting as an experiment.
"Near a stout, tall castor bean that served as
a bean pole, some pole Lima beans were plantd on
July 5. The vines attained a length of eight feet,
and bore full-sized beans before frost caught them,
but as a regular crop I should not advise plant-
ing them later than the middle of June, as they are
very sensitive to frost, and do not have a chance
to give a bearing season of any length, if sowed too
late.
"For a family that enjoys pickles, even tomatoes
are worth while sowing after Fourth of July. My
seed was planted July 5, and, of course, the earliest
variety obtainable was used. In spite of the hand-
icap of transplanting, I had green tomatoes in
October that measured over eight inches in cir-
cumference, surely large enough for pickles.
"For winter use, beets are sowed in June, so the
July 7 planting did not yield full-sized roots, still
young and tender beets are the best of all and even
very small ones make a good dish cooked with the
leaves as greens.
"Kohlrabi is supposed to be one of the best
vegetables for late sowing, but mine were not started
MONEY IN THE BACKYARD 27
soon enough. July 20 did not give the bulbs time
to form before the growing season was over. Next
time I shall sow them the first of July.
A Cultural Necessity. "An important element
of success in July sowings is pressing the soil into
close contact with the planted seeds. This is essential,
for it causes the young plants to come up promptly,
regularly, vigorously and straight, instead of feebly,
unevenly and slowly, or else not at all, as often
happens in midsummer when the soil is left loose
and dry above the plantings. The later growth
and even the maturity of the crop also share in
the good effects. The seedlings get a good start
before the weed-seeds, in the unrolled soil between
the rows, have sprouted, so that the germinating
vegetables can be cultivated before the weeds
gain a foothold. In moist or heavy soils, or in early
spring or late fall, when rains are probable, and the
atmosphere is cool, this pressing of the soil is not
so necessary, but in the loose, dry, crumbly soil,
in which most of our summer planting must be done,
it is important to firm every inch of soil above the
seeds. It is not necessary to firm more than a
narrow strip, except in the case of broadcast sowing.
After firming, lightly scratch the surface with a rake
to form a 'mulch' which helps to retain moisture
and to prevent the formation of a crust through
which it would be difficult for the seedlings to push
their way. This principle applies to all kinds of
seeds, and to transplanted plants, which can thus
be protected from the wilting and burning that so
often follow careless transplanting, in hot, dry
28 GARDEN PROFITS
weather, when the soil is not properly firmed. The
soil may be pressed in various ways: with the foot,
throwing the whole weight at every step; by pound-
ing with the flat side of a spade or hoe; with a board
which may be walked upon till the soil is firm;
or with a roller.
"Experiments were made to prove the wisdom
of firming the soil. Patches of celery and cabbage
were sown, and part of each planting rolled. Where
this was done the crops were good, but in the loose
soil not one celery seed in a thousand germinated, and
not one in a thousand of the cabbage seed. Corn and
beets, sowed the first week in July, and rolled,
came up in four days and perfected their crops
before the season ended, while the unrolled ones took
twelve days to germinate and did not mature before
frost checked their growth. In August spinach
and turnips were sown and a portion rolled. The
rolled portion came up at once and yielded a good
crop while that which was not rolled burned up
because the loose soil allowed the dry air to pene-
trate to the 'roots.
"As will be seen by the table, a harvest of nearly
three months will come from vegetables sowed at
Fourth of July, beginning with squash and wax
beans about the middle of August and ending with
carrots that do not mind the first frosts and can be
left in the ground until November, when the season
is suitable. Where I have added the word "frost"
the vegetables had not run their course and would
vhave continued bearing if the frost had been
de.layed.
MONEY IN THE BACKYARD
29
TABLE OF FOURTH OF JULY GARDEN
VEGETABLE
DATE PLANTED
FDZST PICKING
LAST PICKING
Bush Limas
uly 6
Sept.
23
Oct. 30-Frost
Cucumbers
uly 5
Aug.
29
Oct. 9-Frost
Crookneck Squash
uly 5
Aug.
19
Oct. 1 1 -Frost
Carrots
uly 6
Sept.
26
Nov. ii
Wax Beans
uly 6
Aug.
21
Oct. 2i-Frost
Corn
uly 5
Sept.
26
Oct. 7
Potato
uly 21
Oct.
30
Pole Limas
uly 5
Oct.
21
Frost
•"Beside these were six other vegetables for which
I do not have the exact dates."
DISCOVERED! THE REAL US.E FOR A BACK FENCE!
A ' good many of your fellow-gardeners have
already discovered the quickening effect of a wind-
break on the north side of the garden, and so can
you, especially if you live here in the North. If
you are farming a city lot, the chances are that you
are well protected by board fences, but if not, don't
waste any time before putting up some kind of a
barrier. Where there is room to spare, a hedge of
evergreens (arborvitae, hemlock or spruce), privet,
or barberry will be effective as well as useful, but
ordinarily we are not ready, in the backyard farm,
to grow shrubs merely for looks. A board fence
— or better, a brick wall — is a fine support for
trained, dwarf fruit trees, the apples, pears and
plums being especially adapted to this north wall
GARDEN PROFITS
location. This treatment of tree fruits is,
of course, an abnormal and artificial one. It
has not yet become as important in this coun-
try as in Europe, and on a commercial scale
is not likely ever to be-
come popular. But in the
small home garden it should
attain a unique and an
important position. When
trained upon walls, fruit trees
are pruned to a few main
branches, which are fastened
to the support in some sym-
metrical design. The simpler
the design, the easier it is to
care for the tree, since in each
pair of balanced branches,
each limb is attempting to
obtain the greater amount of
sap and outgrow the other.
If you want the support for
grapes, you will have to add
some further trellis or frame
to which the vines can be tied.
Tomatoes, too, are often suc-
cessfully grown on trellises.
In this case the aim is to per-
The clothes pole need mit plenty of sunlight and a
not be ugly. Pole beans free circulation of air about the
will profitably drape one , j r • i i
arranged like this : nastur- plants and fruits, hence the
tiums. doiic&os or mom- trellis should be set away from
ing-glories will make it ,, , MJ. /
even more beautiful any wall or building. Among
MONEY IN THE BACKYARD 31
the many excellent yields resulting from this sort
of treatment, the following case is one of the most
striking:
ONE FIFTH OF A TON OF TOMATOES FROM 300
SQUARE FEET OF GROUND
The seed was planted indoors in boxes on March
15; when two inches high the seedlings were
transplanted to 2-inch pots, the more vigorous
being later shifted to 4-inch or 5-inch pots. On
May 20 the first plants were set out, and for several
nights were kept covered. For supports there
were used four rows of wire netting, 20 feet long,
3-^ feet apart, fastened to 7-foot cedar posts set
2-^ feet. The netting, 3 feet wide, was fastened
level with the tops of the posts and supported be-
tween them by three smaller intermediate posts.
Twenty-five plants were set along each row of
netting; twelve on one side, thirteen on the other,
eighteen inches apart, about four inches back from
the wire, the plants alternating with those across
the row. Chalk's Early Jewel and Ponderosa were
used.
GETTING ALONG WITHOUT MANURE
No manure was available, but cultivation was
thorough, and Canadian wood ashes were liberally
applied. The plants were set deep, with the two lower
branches removed, a pint of wood ashes being mixed
with the soil, and the whole pressed down firmly.
32 GARDEN PROFITS
Tobacco dust was applied until they began to
grow rapidly. When the vines were 18 inches high
the main stem was tied loosely to the netting and
thereafter once a week the vines were pruned and
tied up. No attempt was made to confine the vines
to a single stem; they were allowed to branch
moderately and fill the 1 8-inch space allotted to
each. In height they grew about a foot above
the top of the netting, and then were stopped
by pruning.
The rows ran north and south, and about half
the foliage was removed to admit sunlight. The
leaves were allowed to remain in the rows as a mulch.
After the plants began to grow vigorously cul-
tivation was discontinued for fear of injuring the
root system. After the last cultivation the space
between the rows was covered with grass cuttings
and boards, which prevented the compression of
the soil, by walking. In times of drought a gallon
of water per week was given each plant, care being
taken to wet as little as possible of the ground
surface.
The crop was so large that, besides supplying a
surplus over daily consumption, it resulted in ninety-
five quart jars of canned fruit, and a generous
provision of sweet pickle. There were counted
eight hundred fruits, averaging half a pound
apiece. The largest weighed 18 ounces. The most
convenient size for canning is 12 ounces, for the
table 6 ounces. It may be of interest to state that
in canning, 42 ounces of unpeeled tomatoes are
required to fill a quart jar.
MONEY IN THE BACKYARD 33
MAKING TOMATO PLANTS PERENNIAL
The raisers of that crop would probably have
been glad to know that they could keep their tomato
vines all winter, by cutting them back in the fall,
and storing them in dirt or sand. They should be
kept moist, and away from any chance of frost
action. The result will be a saving of three weeks
or so in the ripening of the fruit the next year.
MAKING YOUR OWN SPRINGTIME
There are a few perennial crops, too, which can
be hurried into bearing in the spring. If you cover
a few asparagus plants, or a lusty rhubarb, with a
barrel and bank fresh stable manure up around it,
you can be gathering those vegetables before their
unprotected brethren are even awake and growing.
HOW TO DOUBLE THE CABBAGE CROP IN YIELD AND
QUALITY
The season of several crops can be lengthened at
the other end by the knowledge of a few interesting
points, which might not occur to one spontaneously.
For instance, don't pull up your cabbages. Cut
them off, leaving all the stalk you can, and in a short
time a cluster of small heads will develop, which will
provide you with some of the tenderest and most
delicate cabbage you ever ate. You can afford
to harvest these soon, while they are tenderest, for
they represent a supplementary crop, a sort of free
premium that you weren't, perhaps, expecting.
34 GARDEN PROFITS
THE TWO GREATEST GARDEN PROBLEMS — THEIR
SOLUTIONS
Probably the two most important problems to
solve in the backyard garden are, first, the utiliza-
tion of space to the best advantage, and second,
the reduction of expenses. I doubt if there is any
one best solution of the first problem, any more than
there is any one "best" garden plan. Every dis-
tinct set of conditions calls for a different treatment,
and every touch of personal experience and inge-
nuity increases the efficiency of any previous plan for
saving space. Similarly, you will doubtless think
of many ways in which to obviate certain expenses.
For instance, if you find it difficult to procure good
bean poles, spend a few cents for sunflower seed,
start them early in the season, and transplant when
a foot or more high, to the bean hills — or rather
where the bean hills are to be : — sowing the beans
around the sunflower. This, in one case at least,
solved the problem admirably, with apparently no
effect on the quality or yield of the beans. All
that was necessary was to strip off the lower leaves
of the sunflower stalk, that light and air might
reach the bean vines.
DOUBLE THE USEFULNESS OF THE CLOTHES POLE
AND BEAUTIFY IT
Another scheme combining economy, and attrac-
tiveness, is the training of bean, cucumber or tomato
vines over the clothes poles. The former plants
almost invariably become sufficiently luxuriant to
MONEY IN THE BACKYARD 35
drape, if not to screen such objects; where tomatoes
make a growth of seven or eight feet they, too,
will prove useful. A little care will prevent injury
An Inspiration resulted
In this clothes pole on
which crimson ramblers
were grown. The trellis is
of strap iron, available at
any blacksmith shop; the
pole is of iron pipe
to the vines when the poles are in use, and if you
set them deeper than usual, there will be no danger
of the poles loosening in the small area of tilled
ground around them.
A WELCOME FOR POULTRY IN THE GARDEN
A few poultry enthusiasts who are also garden
lovers, have discovered substitutes for insecticides,
in the form of ducks and chickens, which are both
36 GARDEN PROFITS
practical and a means for reducing expenses. One
tells us that if the asparagus beetle becomes trouble-
some, a few hens turned into the patch speedily
clean up the pests, with distinct enjoyment and
benefit to themselves as well. Ducks, on the other
hand, are connoisseurs on the subject of potato bugs,
and in not a few cases are regularly let in among
the potato and eggplant hills, to render unnecessary
arsenate of lead and "hand picking." I might
remind you, too, that poultry is of no little value
to the gardener as a manure producing element.
The refuse from the poultry house is an especially
quick, rich fertilizer, in fact, it must be used with a
little caution lest it burn the plants through too
intimate contact.
THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL GARDENS
The key to the situation in the matter of saving
space might be expressed as follows: Throughout
every foot of the garden, plan a second crop before
the first is harvested, and do not let the ground
remain idle between the two. This may be accom-
plished in two general ways; first by succession,
second by companion cropping. An excellent exam-
ple of the latter is the practice of sowing radishes
and beets, carrots or parsnips in the same row.
The radishes germinate first, break any possible
surface crust, and ripening rapidly, may be har-
vested before the permanent crop needs the space.
Radishes can be used in this way with a number
of other crops. One individual says:
MONEY IN THE BACKYARD 37
"Sow radish seeds in cucumber and squash beds,
and you will not be troubled with the vines being
eaten by the striped bugs. As the radishes grow,
they may be pulled for the table, for by that time
Plant radishes around melon, cucumber
and sauash hills. Cutworms will attack
them rather than the more valuable mel-
ons — and if there are no striped beetles
about, you will be the gainer by that
many radishes
the danger to the cucumbers and squashes from the
bugs will be past. The radish seems to possess a
pungency which is effectual in driving away the
bugs."
COMMERCIAL METHODS WORTH COPYING
Many commercial market gardeners have reduced
this combination planting to a science. In raising
early cabbage a common scheme is to set the plants
every 15 inches, in rows 30 inches apart. Between
each cabbage in every row is set a lettuce plant,
and a continuous row of lettuce is sown midway
between the cabbage rows. Then in the centre of
the 15-inch spaces thus made and between every
cabbage and lettuce plant, radishes are grown.
38 GARDEN PROFITS
Spinach is another crop which matures rapidly
and is well suited to filling out either end of a season.
It can be removed in time for the setting out of
egg-and-pepper plants, or will easily reach the
cutting stage on the same ground from which early
potatoes, beans, etc., have been harvested.
Onion sets prove useful in keeping the soil busy.
If, whenever an onion is pulled, a set is thrust into
the resulting space, there will be practically an
unbroken succession of this popular vegetable.
Onions from seed can be raised between the asparagus
plants, being sowed when the cutting season is over.
The cultivation, which I presume you will undoubt-
edly give the bed, will benefit the onions as well.
Another gardener of small spaces used the follow-
ing rotation: He planted an early variety of corn
between alternate rows of potatoes after the last
cultivation. On August 6, when the potatoes
were dug, he sowed winter turnips in their space,
which, of course, did not interfere with the well-
developed corn.
OVERTIME GROWTH IN THE STRAWBERRY BED
Another plan is to utilize the strawberry bed
for something besides strawberries every year;
if you can feed all the plants well, this plan is a good
one. Let the berries bear for two years, that is,
occupy the ground for three. During the first
season grow cabbage and cauliflower between the
rows. This will insure cultivation. The second
season, after berry picking is over, plant some late
MONEY IN THE BACKYARD 39
crop, such as spinach, beets, lettuce or beans. The
third year, when the plants have produced their
second crop, plow up the bed, manure it and set
late celery. You may choose to keep the rows clear
the second year in order to pot runners and secure
new plants. But this would require but a part of
the bed at most.
BARRELS OF STRAWBERRIES! DOING AWAY WITH
PLOWING, CULTIVATING AND MULCHING
Speaking of strawberries, perhaps the most in-
tensive method of raising them is in barrels. In
the desire to be strictly agricultural and to grow
crops in convenient, straight rows, gardeners have
lost sight of the advantages of increasing their
garden space vertically, a method which was tried
with notable success a few years ago. The origi-
nator gives the following prospectus: Barrels can
be placed four feet apart (centre to centre) allowing
2,500 barrels per acre. At the rate of J/£ bushel
per barrel (which was his yield) this would amount
to 1,250 bushels per acre, or (at a conservative
estimate of 10 cents per quart), gross returns of
#4,000 per acre!
Now I know skeptics — and perhaps you, your-
self— will say, "Oh, that is too much, that sort of
dream never works out," and forthwith begin to
discredit my advice — which is just the point.
/ do not advise figuring on any such returns per acre.
That is just what I was driving at in the previous
chapter; that profits which are perfectly normal
40 GARDEN PROFITS
on small areas do not always increase proportionately
for larger areas. Therefore, while $4,000 an acre
from strawberries sounds too good to be true
(though, mind you, I don't say it is .impossible),
yet half a bushel per barrel, and five bushels from
ten barrels out in the backyard, is entirely possible,
Two crops that can be grown 'In barrels. On the right, strawberry, ( see
text). On the left, celery. Use a perforated stovepipe in the centre:
and add soil gradually as the plants grow and reauire blanching. But, as
always, keep dirt out of the heart. And don't forget to have holes and
coarse drainage material in the bottom of both barrels.
and indeed a splendid means of bountifully supply-
ing your family with this universally popular fruit.
The details of this method are as follows:
Take any iron-bound barrel, except one which
has been used for pickles, sauerkraut, or vinegar,
remove all hoops but four, and bore four holes in
MONEY IN THE BACKYARD 41
the bottom. Then space holes around the barrel
so that twelve plants will go around it; five rows
high will make sixty plants to the barrel. (The
fifth row can be placed five inches from top of barrel.)
To make the holes of proper depth, bore two holes,
one above the other, using a one and one-half inch
bit, and cut out the wood between the two holes;
you will then have a hole one and one-half by three
inches. Put about two inches of firm gravel or
coarse sand in the bottom of the barrel. When
planting, put the plants as near the top of the holes
as possible, to allow for settling of the soil. Use
clay, well mixed with rotted manure; put in till
about three inches above the first row of holes,
being careful not to have it too wet.
The first row of holes must be eight inches from
the bottom of the barrel. Get in and tramp the
soil solid, then loosen with a trowel where the plants
go and plant that row. Spread out the roots well,
then put soil about one-half way up to the next row
of holes. Now put a common drain tile, twelve
inches long by three or four inches in diameter, in
the centre of the barrel, and fill it with coarse sand;
then fill up the barrel with soil to a little above the
next row of holes and tramp again. Be careful not
to move the tile and when adding soil to the barrel,
cover up the tile, so as not to get any dirt in it.
After planting the second row, lift the tile; see that
the sand settles, then fill the tile with sand again.
Put in soil above the next row of holes, tramp
again, and plant that row; and repeat operation
until five rows are planted. But don't fail to tramp.
42 GARDEN PROFITS
After planting, the tile remains in the barrel;
leave it empty so as to take water, which is poured
into the tile for the lower rows; on top of the barrel
for the two upper rows. It would be impossible
to water the lower plants without the tile and the
core of sand. You can water the plants too much.
Fill the tile once a day, and put about two quarts
of water around it. After cold weather sets in
quit watering. The plants want no winter pro-
tection. Set the barrel on bricks to keep it off the
ground. If any should die in the summer, you can
replant by taking a runner and putting the young
plant in the hole, making it fast with two little
sticks.
Ill
SUCCESSFUL GARDENS YOU CAN HAVE
YOU want to know what you can expect,
if you begin this intensive backyard
farming at home. Some of the recent
achievements of suburban gardeners
are not only useful from a practical
standpoint in supplying various ideas, but also in-
spiring in the fact that they are actual results,
such as you can and ought to effect.
I shouldn't be surprised if I repeat these exhor-
tations in behalf of a garden a number of times before
I get through. For I want you to become so imbued
with the spirit of the thing, and so interested, excited,
curious, incredulous — whatever you like — that
you will really try a garden this year. Get some
catalogues, make your plans — just get started
once, and I'll not have to mention the matter again.
You won't be able to let go of it; you will only regret
that you didn't realize before what a great thing a
garden — a little garden — really is.
1 2OO PER CENT. PROFIT FROM 2O X 2J FT. OF GROUND
"Our available space measured up to a total of
540 square feet, and a few trenches for sweet peas.
43
44 GARDEN PROFITS
"We had wax beans from June 26 to July 31,
nine and one-half pecks, valued at $2.27; pole beans
from July i to September 26, eighteen and one-half
pecks, worth $3.94; sweet corn from July 3 to Sep-
tember 2, 204 ears, worth $3.98. The tomatoes
yielded from July 18 to October 4 eight and one-half
bushels, worth $4.70. Of the early lettuce,
radishes, onions and beets we kept no accurate
account, but we would have had to pay at least
$1.50 at the grocer's.
"The time devoted to working in my garden was
that remaining out of office hours, 8 A. M. to 5 p. M.
The three obstacles of little time, little space and
little knowledge were overcome, and the table for
a family of four was kept supplied with crisp, fresh
vegetables.
"As soon as the ground was in condition to work,
it was spaded up, and the soil — a tough, yellow
clay — worked as thoroughly as possible with hoe
and rake. A quantity equal to two wagon loads
of old, black, stable manure, hauled by the wheel-
barrow load, was carefully worked into the ground.
We had decided to begin with only the staple summer
vegetables — tomatoes, beans, corn, beets, with
lettuce, radish and onion for early spring greens.
The garden was laid off, as shown in the accompany-
ing diagram.
"The strip on the south side of the division fence,
four feet six inches wide by eighteen feet long, was
devoted to tomatoes, seven plants. Bordering the
walk, strips eighteen inches wide by ten feet long
were devoted to early bush wax beans. A strip
SUCCESSFUL GARDENS
45
eighteen inches wide by seven feet long, at the back
of the enclosed porch, was given to the old-fashioned
pole beans, as was a strip eighteen inches by nine
feet at the front of the coal shed and another
eighteen inches wide by ten feet long at the end
of the shed.
TOMATOES - Se VE N PLANTS
BUSH • WAX > BEANS
WALK
BUSH < WAX > BEANS
GAASS PLOT
SWEET PEAS
4-
LAZY Wire BEAU!
eecrs
ONIONS
GOLDEN BAHTAM
SWEET COM
Sroimtis EVERGREEN
SWEET CORN
SrvivfuS EVERGREEN
SWEET CORN
tSfCONO PLANTJNOt
ASH
BINS
This business man's garden which cost a dollar and produced four-
teen. Business methods pay in gardening, too
"Outside the driveway was a plot nine feet in
width, running the full depth of the yard. This was
divided into three 1 5-foot spaces, in which sweet
corn was planted. In the 'V' of the rear walk, a
bed for head lettuce was made, French radishes
being sowed between the rows of lettuce. At the
end of the shed, between the space given up to
beans and the driveway, was a plot ten feet long
46 GARDEN PROFITS
by four feet wide; this was utilized for spring onions
and early beets.
"The purely decorative gardening was confined
to a strip a foot wide and ten feet long, beside the
driveway, wherein was made a trench for sweet
peas. A double trench for the same flowers gave
two 2O-foot rows toward the front of the yard and
outside the driveway; climbing nasturtiums were
planted beside the back steps and at the south end
of the enclosed porch, and a small bed of old-
fashioned flowering plants was made beside the
walk leading around the house. One plot of corn
was planted with Golden Bantam for first crop,
while in the other plots, two plantings of Stowell's
Evergreen were made a month apart.
BEAN STRINGS, CHEAPER AND SIMPLER THAN
POLES
" For the climbing beans, small stakes were driven
deeply into the ground at the ends of the trenches,
and strong wire was run across from one stake to
the other. Then stout twine, such as is used in
tying heavy parcels, was strung from the wires
to the walls — the walls being, in one case, the
lattice of the enclosed porch, and in the other the
front and end of the shed. The strings were placed
three or four inches apart and were run up about
seven feet.
"For the support of the tomato vines a trellis,
English fashion, was planned, the intention being
to hold the plants well up from the earth so that the
air might circulate freely under and through them.
SUCCESSFUL GARDENS
47
and the fruits thus be kept off the ground. The
estimate of the probable growth was entirely too
low; the tomatoes finally attained a height of fully
seven feet from the ground. The beans attained
a similar height and the pods were always clean and
easy to gather.
A simple trellis for beans, peas, or even tomatoes, that can be
knocked together when bean poles and brush are not available
"The bush wax beans came to maturity at least
three weeks before the climbing kinds, and from
the twenty feet of row, we gathered five pecks.
While the bush beans were still in bearing, the
climbers matured their earliest pods, and in repeated
pickings, the last of which was made about the
middle of September, the vines produced two and
one-half bushels of as fine 'snap' beans as anyone
could desire. Two varieties were planted — one
48 GARDEN PROFITS
called Kentucky Wonder, and the other, a week to
ten days later, called Lazy Wife. The Kentucky
Wonder is certainly true to its name, many of the
pods picked being more than eight inches in length,
and a number of the fully matured ones measuring
eleven to thirteen inches.
"Seventy-eight fully developed ears were pulled
from the early corn, over a period of three weeks,
the two later plantings furnishing 126 roasting ears,
through a season of about seven weeks.
"The tomatoes planted were of the variety
Beefsteak, large and solid. The first ripe fruits
were picked on July 18. At one time the seven
vines were set with over two hundred fruits, and
from their first bearing until the end of the season,
with the frost in October, they furnished an ample
supply for the table, as well as an abundance for
making catsup, Chili sauce, etc.
EXPENSES, $1 PLUS; RETURNS, $14 PLUS
"As for the cost of the garden, less than one
dollar covered the entire cash outlay for seeds, etc.
A single packet of nitro-culture sufficed for treating
all the seed beans, and this cost twenty-five cents.
The manure cost nothing; spade, mattock, hoe
and rake were already on hand; therefore, the total
cash outlay involved in making this experiment
in "intensive farming" was only $1.15. Close ac-
count was kept of all vegetables used, the market
price of the produce at the time being set down, and
by the end of the season the city backyard, that had
been considered too small for anything larger than
SUCCESSFUL GARDENS 49
a flower bed, had produced, according to the actual
market prices, $14.52 worth of the finest of home-
grown vegetables.
WHAT SCIENCE HAS DONE FOR THE GARDEN
"I made a comparison of treated and untreated
beans, and am entirely satisfied that nitro-culture
increased the yield. The soil was prepared in
precisely the same manner in all cases, and the
beans were all weeded, hoed and watered exactly
the same. From the 7-foot row of Kentucky
Wonder beside the porch (given the treatment),
we gathered five times the quantity of beans plucked
from the untreated 9-foot row. The vines, too,
made a growth of from two to five feet greater
length. I also treated our sweet peas, and in the
entire neighborhood ours were the only ones which
were a success, flowering until September and being
nearly seven feet in height. The soil is a tough,
hard, almost unworkable yellow clay, that must
be cut up with sand and fertilized until there is
little of the original soil left."
That is not a bad season's work for a man who
could be at home only before eight and after five.
And I've never a doubt that he was also far better,
physically, with the work to do, than he would have
been without it.
THE REDEMPTION OF A 28-FOOT-SQUARE BACKYARD
Actual examples are more effective than mere
precepts. Therefore I want you to read carefully
what was done to make a city backyard pay for
50 GARDEN PROFITS
itself. Notice that there was no fertile, well-tilled
soil in evidence when these gardeners started in;
that they practically pulled success out of the chaos
that the housebuilders left.
"My small city backyard garden (28x28 ft.)
was a decided success last year. The produce grown
on this very limited area was nearly all that was
needed for a family of three, and part of the time
six, from May to November; while squash and celery
were to be had in December. Besides, there were
twenty quarts of strawberries, and from the two-
year-old currant bushes four quarts of fruit were
picked. At prices charged for the various things
by our groceryman, the entire produce would have
cost me more than thirty dollars.
"Upon the north and east sides there is a high
board fence, while upon the south there is a low
picket fence, which give full exposure to the sun,
and at the same time protection from north winds.
"Lettuce and radishes were sown in different
parts of the garden early, where later, partly grown
plants were to be set so that the first crop did not
interfere in the least with the second. Successive
sowings were made wherever a little space could be
found. The result was that all the ground pro-
duced two crops and most of it three during the
season.
"Cucumbers planted between the strawberries
and the onions did not demand room until after
both crops had been gathered. Four hills of these
were trained up on brush, and two were allowed to
run over the strawberry bed.
? 1
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ElArly Corn- IsUlk ev*<-^ 6>n
Medium Early Corn
Stouiclls Evergreen ,
•String Beans (.Late; q.
C.l.ry «Gold.H St\f BUnch.n^ "A"^
;.u
Plan of the 28 x 28 ft. garden that produced
enough vegetables to supply a family of three
from May until November, besides an abun-
dance of flowers all summer
52 GARDEN PROFITS
" In addition to the one row of onions, sets were
put in wherever room could be found, and these
were pulled as soon as large enough for use.
"The early pea vines were pulled up about July
I, and this space was set to Golden Self-blanching
celery in a double row, which yielded about sixty
good bunches for late fall and winter use.
"Meanwhile a row of late tomatoes had been
growing on the east side of the early peas, and
another of early ones by the side of the dwarf peas.
These were trimmed to one stalk, and fastened to
stakes six feet high. All foliage was removed for
about two feet above the ground.
"A row of string beans took the place of the
dwarf peas, and yielded a fair crop in spite of being
less than a foot from the tomato plants.
"In the corn rows a few pole beans of the wax
variety were planted, which made good use of the
old stalks for poles. Also two or three hills of
winter squash were planted which in the late summer
completely covered the space where the corn had
been.
"There had been applied plenty of fertilizer
from a neighboring barnyard in the early spring,
while during the growing season nitrate of soda had
been used as frequently as the plants could assim-
ilate it. The entire growth was luxuriant, though
the crowded condition prevented the best develop-
ment of everything, yet there was not a single
failure.
"The results are for the second summer. The
beginning was made on the sand and gravel left
SUCCESSFUL GARDENS 53
WHAT THE SQUARE YIELDED
Name
Variety
Quantity
Value
Bean
Stringless Wax. . .
25 quarts
$1.25
Stringless Green Pod
25 quarts
1.25
Pole Wax
Dwarf Lima *
7 pints
1.05
Beet
Early Blood-turnip
Midsummer
30 bunches
•75
Celery
Golden Self-blanching
125 stalks
5.00
Corn
Ideal
Champion
10 dozen
2.00
Stowell's Evergreen
Cucumber
Extra Early . . .
60 large
1.50
Fordhook
I- 57
Improved White Spine
3 quarts
.30
Currants
4 quarts
.40
Lettuce
Grand Rapids Forcing
Giant Crystal Head
200 heads
5.00
Onion
White sets . . .
30 bunches
1-50
Parsley
Champion Moss Curled
10 bunches
•30
(Large quantities un-
used)
Pea
Extra Early Prolific
American Wonder
40 quarts
2.00
Champion of England
Radish
Twenty-Day Forcing
20 bunches
.50
Red and White Delicious
Salsify
Long White . . .
15 bunches
.90
Squash
Early Crookneck . .
40
I .00
Large Winter (name
unknown) . .
6
.90
Sweet Potato Squash
50
1.25
Strawberries
20 quarts
2.50
Tomatoes
Early Freedom .
4 bushels
2.60
Ponderosa ....
Total
$33.52
54 GARDEN PROFITS
by the builders. The yard has been completely
changed from the usual unattractive city ' clothes
yard' to a place of beauty and genuine utility."
WHAT ONE WOMAN CAN DO WITH $IO
I would be disappointed if you could not find
faults in some of these records, which you would
plan to better in your own garden. You may not
agree with the theory mentioned in the next account,
that forty-foot rows are too long for comfort, es-
pecially if you use a wheel hoe. But that is just
the sort of thing that can be settled best by each
individual. On the whole, though, I think a woman
is well on the road to success when she can attain
results such as those below. Moreover, she limited
herself to a definite expenditure, and did not exceed it.
"Last year I decided to attempt a vegetable
garden, and for fear of failure, determined to limit
my outlay to ten dollars. Throughout the season
an account was kept of the produce from it, at
market prices, and I found that it yielded nearly
double the amount of my outlay.
"The vacant land at the rear allowed a garden
plot forty-six by thirty feet. Early in March a plan
was made, using the notes taken in my neighbors'
gardens and following the more specific directions
on varieties and spacing found in reliable seed
catalogues. As I could think of nothing more
discouraging than to weed rows over forty feet long,
I decided to cut them across the centre with a path
two feet wide, distinguishing this walk by an edg-
ing of flowers. This made two sections, with rows
SUCCESSFUL GARDENS
55
twenty-two feet long, running north and south-
Beds there were none, as with flowers I had learned
that rows were much more easily cared for.
"In the sunniest end of the garden early peas,
lettuce, radishes, cucumbers, and string beans were
planted. A few hills of muskmelons, one dozen
tomato plants, three rows of early corn, and one
row of summer squash were also to go in the southern
half of the garden.
"On the other side of the path (toward the north)
rows of Black Mexican corn, pumpkins and Hubbard
squash, parsnips and salsify and pole beans were
Stnef
Plan of Ten Dollar Garden
and sketch showing location
How to plan so as to raise all the vegetables for the family on a
50 x 100 ft. city lot
planted. Being anxious to have plenty of tomatoes
for preserving, twelve more plants were put here,
56 GARDEN PROFITS
also five additional hills of melons, and one row of
bush peas to be my second crop. Turnips and
winter beets shared one row, carrots and beet greens
another. Next came a variety of late peas which
I had been advised to plant early and train on
strings. Just here, at the eastern edge of the gar-
den, where the soil was exceptionally deep and
loamy, space was devoted to a row of spinach and
onions. After a few seeds of parsley and cress were
sprinkled along the path its borders were to be
filled up with zinnias, marigolds and candytuft.
"The plan did not reach this finished state until
I had spent many hours thinking it over and re-
adjusting it. Once completed, however, the seeds
were ordered immediately, that I might have no
opportunity for changing my mind.
"In April, as soon as the frost was out of the
ground, the land was plowed. As the earth was new,
there was much work then to be done in the way
of pulling up sods, throwing out stones, and spad-
ing, where specially well-worked soil was needed.
At first I undertook to do all this myself, but was
finally obliged to hire a man for the heavier part of
the labor. By working with him the work was
finished in less than a day. Lastly the garden was
raked three times.
"No change in the plan was found necessary
when planting the seeds, but, figuratively speaking,
it was necessary to have the catalogue tied to my
apron-strings, for constant reference as regards
time of planting, distances, and depth. As the
soil had not been worked for some years I was ad-
SUCCESSFUL GARDENS 57
vised to use a little commercial fertilizer to start
things, in addition to the stable manure which would
carry them through the season.
"It had been predicted that the two kinds of
corn would mix, as both were planted in such a
small area, but by delaying planting one variety
for three weeks I had no such trouble. After the
earliest peas were gone, lettuce was planted in that
row, while more peas (a wrinkled variety) went
into the original lettuce row. When the carrots
were ready to be thinned out the surplus plants
were transplanted into the other half of their row,
which had previously been filled with beet greens.
The string and butter beans were successful, but
the pole beans did not mature so well, although their
flavor is good. I learned, however, that more
fertilizer is required for that kind than for other
varieties.
"Tiring of radishes in July, endive was planted,
which was taken into the cellar in the late fall and
lasted some time for use in salads. There were
really more cucumbers than I could use, but some
were disposed of by pickling. The turnips were a
failure, as the damp soil was too heavily fertilized.
The parsnips were left in the ground till winter.
"At first the different bugs and worms seemed
a great problem, so far did their numbers exceed
those of the insect pests common to flower beds;
but I found that t»y fighting them systematically
I could check their depredations. Later on, the
toads proved to be such willing partners that I
introduced a plentiful supply into my garden.
58 GARDEN PROFITS
SUGGESTIONS WORTH MONEY
"In August, some one suggested cutting off the
tops and branches of the tomatoes, leaving only
three stalks to a plant. I tried this with a dozen,
which were tied to stakes; the others were left to
grow as they would, supporting some in frames made
of barrel hoops and staves, and tying the others to
lattices which were at hand. The first method is
the best, as it economizes space, and results in larger
and more abundant fruit. The cost of fertilizers is re-
duced by the use of wood ashes, of which I collect
about a bushel in a winter. Another economy is a
compost heap, where are thrown old vines, the
kitchen waste, and autumn leaves raked off the
front yard. These last retain moisture and will be
decomposed by spring. When recommended to me,
I thought such a collection would make an unsightly
object, but this difficulty was rectified by sprinkling
seeds of wild cucumber and scarlet runner over the
heap, and planting around the edge a screen of
Russian sunflowers.
LIST OF EXPENDITURES
Plowing $1.00
Commercial fertilizer I . oo
Manure 3.00
Seeds 2.50
Tomato plants .50
Bean poles .50
Insecticides .25
Labor hired i . 25
Total . . . , , $10.00
SUCCESSFUL GARDENS 59
"The hardest work of all in my garden was thin-
ning and transplanting, but it was at the same time
really the most interesting. Weeding was done
daily, never letting the weeds get ahead.
"My western wind-break of wild barberry (Ber-
beris vulgaris), is the outcome of several years'
labor and is effective, both as regards use and
beauty. The scent of its yellow blossoms fills the
spring air, and its cardinal fruit adds to the bright-
ness of autumn, while some remain even through
the winter snows.
"The thorns prove an additional safeguard
against small boys, who never make a second at-
tempt to crawl through."
A PRACTICAL WORKING CALENDAR
I am going to have a few things to say about
garden records further on, but in anticipation of
them, the calendar of a backyard garden is full
of interest. A space 40 x 45 ft. is not large enough
to require voluminous diaries, but it will give you
something to think over, and a good deal on which
to base future plans and additions. You could
not do better than to follow the example set by this
garden maker, in beginning work in February —
unless, indeed, you began in January.
"One sunny afternoon in February the first
garden work was done. The whole afternoon was
spent with catalogues and the record book of the
year before. By night two short seed lists were
done, and a list of plants started.
"In a garden as small as this it does not pay to
6o
GARDEN PROFITS
raise corn, peas (except the earliest), cucumbers,
squashes, potatoes and a few other things that take
up too much ground.
The 40 x 45 ft. garden. Every foot was kept busy and parts of it
grew three crops. Can you do as well?
"I always plant flowers that bloom for the longest
period, e. g.; zinnias (always Dwarf Fireball),
because they make a gorgeous show of red from
June till frost and stand our dry summer weather.
"March 6 the first planting was done. Pon-
derosa and Freedom tomato seeds were sown in a
box filled with earth saved in the cellar. A week
later, rhubarb, hollyhocks, and tulips showed signs
of life outdoors.
SUCCESSFUL GARDENS 61
"March 19. I planted sweet peas.
"March 25. The tomatoes were up.
"April 3. I started a box of zinnia seeds.
"April 5. The first outdoor planting of radishes,
beets, lettuce, mustard and onion sets was made.
Two dozen tomato plants were transplanted to
another box, to allow them more room.
"April 9. We used the first rhubarb from the gar-
den. The year before the first rhubarb was pulled
on March 31.
"April 13. Nott's Excelsior garden peas were
planted. Early Alaska is the best in this section
for early planting. More onions were at this
time set out.
" I firmly resolved that next fall the whole garden
should be spaded over. Last fall, being busy, I
did not get it all dug. The part not dug was now a
week behind!
"The second week of April, asters were planted
in boxes and hollyhocks were transplanted to a row
along the south side of the woodshed to hide the
building as much as possible. The hollyhocks sow
themselves. A few in odd corners are allowed to
grow the first blossomless summer. Next spring
I transplant them to permanent quarters.
"The third week in April things began to grow
encouragingly. Beans were planted — the String-
less Green Pod variety.
"The last week in April the weather was nearly
warm. Nasturtiums were planted against the wire
fence next the street. A dozen cauliflower plants
were bought for ten cents and set out.
62 GARDEN PROFITS
"Asparagus, eagerly watched for, now got above
ground. New plants (Palmetto, three years old)
were put out two years ago.
"April 23 tulips began to bloom. April 26 the
first asparagus was used. More peas planted.
Gladiolus bulbs put out. April 30 the tulips were
at their best.
"The first week in May more beans were planted.
Some of the zinnias in the seed box were set out.
Asters were transplanted to two inches apart in
another box.
" May 9. The third crop of mustard was put out.
Used as greens instead of spinach we find mustard
more palatable because of its pungent taste.
"May 12. The plants came. This is always
nearly as big a day in making the garden as the day
peas are planted.
"The next week the tomato plants were set out.
"May 23 was another big day. The first sweet
peas bloomed, the first in town. A small square
of golden yellow popcorn was planted for the boy's
amusement. Before the 3ist tomatoes and roses
were in bloom.
" In June flowers began to bloom on every hand.
All the plants started in the house were put out.
Tulips were not dry enough to dig until the middle
of the month. They were succeeded by asters in
four varieties. June 8 a hundred celery plants,
bought of a gardener for forty cents, were put out
between rows of cauliflower, mustard and peas.
They were four inches high. In less than a month
mustard and cauliflower were out, leaving the
SUCCESSFUL GARDENS 63
ground to the celery. In June we got all the cauli-
flower, beans, radishes, young onions, lettuce,
mustard, rhubarb and asparagus we could use.
We quit cutting asparagus June 15, to let the plants
make roots for next year. Parsnips were now putout.
"July was easy. Not much to do but hoe.
Beets swelled fast. Onions got big and round and
lay basking in the sun. The dwarf scarlet zinnias
absorbed so much sunshine in daytime that they
themselves shone late into the dusk. Sweet peas
bore prodigiously. Besides hoeing after every
shower, there were, in July, stakes to set and plants
to tie up. Dahlias, gladioli, tomatoes, chrysan-
themums, even hollyhocks, had to be staked and
tied. As fast as one crop got off the ground another
was put in. Asters began to make a great showing.
July 1 8 tomatoes were ripe — two weeks late.
On the 23d the last of the onions, about a bushel
and a half, was dug. Tomatoes now began to
bear well.
"August, too, was easy. Asters still made a show.
We had the best dahlias in town. We got $4 worth
of Caroline Testout roses. The last of August
beans and lettuce were planted for the last time.
"September was August over again. The garden
still made a great show but the work had been done.
Celery was watered. September 23 the first of it
was banked up. In October the last of it was
banked and boarded up to blanch.
"The first two weeks in October we had a good
show of dahlias and pompom chrysanthemums.
In vegetables we had green beans, bet is, mustard,
64 GARDEN PROFITS
tomatoes, parsnips, lettuce, parsley, and were be-
ginning to use the celery. The last was one of
the great successes of the year."
TALES OF THREE GARDENS AND $3OO
A $100 vegetable bill for the season, seems rather
steep when you have to pay it. yet you are liable to
lose sight of its importance when you save that
much by raising your own vegetables. The amount
carries added weight as the area from which it was
derived and the corresponding debit sheet dimin-
ishes. I recall three vacant lots 70 x 125 feet, 80 x
100 feet, and about 70 x 200 feet respectively, on
each of which $100 worth of vegetables was raised.
The total outlay for the largest was $10, itemized
as plowing $2.25, clearing $3, bean trellis $i, seeds,
etc., $3.75. An original method of supporting
pea vines was practised, three light wires being
strung on stakes, and "dry horse-weeds" being
woven in to form the support. The best results
were from early potatoes, of which 40 bushels
were raised from i^ bushels of seed. From pro-
ducts sold there was obtained a net profit of $10,
aside from the family's supply which brought the
value of the garden up to $100.
Notwithstanding the scarcity of time by which the
average business man is handicapped, one indi-
vidual managed to get three crops from part of his
80 x 100 foot garden. This section was, early
in the spring, planted with early, medium and
SUCCESSFUL GARDENS 65
late varieties of potato, which brought in $30.
When cultivation was discontinued corn was planted
between alternate rows, the vines of the inter-
vening rows being laid together. The potatoes
were removed by August 6, when half the plot
was sown to turnips, the rest to rye, which was to
be used as winter chicken food. Just a suggestion
of gardening possibilities is furnished by the pump-
kin crop. Three seeds were planted, and the yield
consisted of twenty-one excellent "fruit." It al-
most makes me tremble to work out the percentage
of profit in this case, but it is legitimate gain, never-
theless. The total credit sheet for this garden is
given as follows:
Grapes $ 25.00
Sweet potatoes 5 . oo
Green beans 5.00
Cucumbers 2.50
Pumpkins 2.60
Lettuce 1.50
Chicken greens 2.40
Potatoes 30.00
Green corn 10.00
Tomatoes 10.00
Turnips 3.00
Radishes i.oo
Onions 2.00
Total $100.00
A touch of what might be called the romance of
gardening is conveyed in the history of a cooperative
vegetable growing scheme. Also it disproves the
thought that more than two heads always make
66 GARDEN PROFITS
" too many cooks." The work was not attended by
any excess of encouragement, either, for when the
plan of a cooperative garden worked by three
neighbors was broached to an advising authority,
he pessimistically prophesied a breach in the
friendly relations between the three before the season
was over. How far this was from the actual re-
sults, can be inferred from the following:
"In the spring of 1907 we secured, rent free, two
lots, measuring altogether 70 x 125 feet, located close
to our respective homes. After clearing the ground
of an accumulation of ashes, tin cans and other
rubbish, the ground was plowed, harrowed and
fenced on three sides. The fence was made of
2 x 43 and 4-foot chicken wire. On the fourth side
was a neighbor's fence.
"My two associates knew absolutely nothing
about gardening, so that the directing and planning
fell upon my shoulders. By the aid of The Garden
Magazine a complete plan of the whole garden was
drawn to scale and the times of the various plantings
marked. The lot faced the east, so the rows were
run north and south, the tall growing vegetables
being kept at the back, the shorter ones next, then
a narrow flower bed and a grass plot seeded in front
the same depth as the neighbors' lawns. The wire
fence came only as far as the grass, and was on a
line with the front of the houses on the street., A
clump of Golden Glow roots was planted by each
post all around the garden.
"The grass plot in front, the narrow strip of
annuals, the clumps of Golden Glow around the
SUCCESSFUL GARDENS 67
whole garden, the successive rows of variously col-
ored vegetables, each a little taller than the ones in
front, with giant Stowell's Evergreen corn for a back-
ground, made a beautiful picture from the street.
Although the garden was purely a vegetable one,
the general appearance and the narrow border
of flowers won for it favorable mention in a flower
garden contest covering the whole city.
"Up to the time when the seeding was finished it
was one garden, each man helping to the best of his
time and ability under proper direction. At this time
the garden was divided into three equal parts by
two rows of stakes from front to back and each gar-
dener was responsible for his own plot, and had to do
his own cultivating, watering, and gathering.
"The cost the first year was:
Plowing and harrowing $4.00
Fence posts and wire 8.00
Fertilizer 5.00
Seeds 8.00
Total $25.00
" From this vegetable plot of 70 x 100 feet, ex-
clusive of the portion planted to flowers and grass, we
estimated that at current prices for wilted store vege-
tables, we took about one hundred dollars' worth of
the most delicious vegetables one could desire.
"In 1908, not having a fence to pay for, a com-
bination wheel hoe and seeder was purchased, which
lightened our labor and made a heavier and more
uniform yield. The struggle with weeds was not
so great as the first year, for many years previous
68 GARDEN PROFITS
to our breaking sod a magnificent crop of shoulder-
high weeds had flourished.
"In the third season, 1909, the personnel of the
partnership was changed, two members having
moved from the city, but two other friends took
their places, with just as gratifying results.
Contrary to the prophecy, our friendship has
been cemented, rather than broken, by our cooper-
ative digging, hoeing, watering, and harvesting."
TRANSPLANTING; ONE WAY TO SAVE SPACE
I have already mentioned the value of a hotbed
for summer use in raising plants later to be set in
empty rows. For want of a hotbed, any small
plot in the garden may be used as a seedbed when
the days become warm, providing the soil is kept in
excellent, fine condition. Tomatoes, lettuce, egg-
plant, and the cabbage family are especially adapted
to this filling-in system, but I note in the records of
one 15 x 30 foot garden that cucumbers, squash, bush
beans and kohlrabi were also treated in this way.
A plot as small as that is within almost any one's
reach, as is also the ten minutes a day that was
needed to care for it. Whether similar results are as
available must be determined by your energy and your
individual application of up-to-date methods. This
is another garden in which the moving spirit was a
woman. Her account of the season's work is as follows:
A TEN-MINUTE-A-DAY GARDEN
"Many possessors of small pieces of ground never
think of raising their own vegetables because they
SUCCESSFUL GARDENS 69
imagine that in order to make vegetable-growing
worth while, a half-acre plot and a man to work it
are necessary. But I know differently. For on
a garden spot, measuring fifteen by thirty feet, and
with only ten minutes' work a day, we grew twelve
dollars' worth of vegetables. There were twenty
kinds and each planting yielded enough at a picking
to supply a family of five grown persons. The seed
cost less than a dollar; except in cases where we knew
the actual value, we have reckoned it as one cent,
because the quantity necessary was only a small
portion of a five or ten cent package. One week's
picking alone would more than equal the entire cost of
seed, as the following table shows:
LARGEST PICKING FOR ONE WEEK, JUNE 14 TO 2O
Parsley $ .20
Peas 25
Carrots .25
Chard .10
Lettuce .45
Beets .05
Total $1.30
LARGEST PICKING FOR ONE DAY, SEPTEMBER 14
2 quarts Limas £.10
1 quart pole beans 05
2 quarts parsley 10
3 ears corn 05
9 carrots 05
8 cucumbers 20
9 tomatoes 05
Total $.60
70 GARDEN PROFITS
"Our first thought was to plant the rows north
and south in order to get the full benefit of the
sunshine. Next we arranged rows of three different
lengths — thirty feet for those vegetables of which
we wanted the largest possible quantity, twenty
feet for others and ten feet for the sorts that would
yield a sufficient amount from a small space. In
every case where it was possible, a succession or
doubling-up was done. Sometimes two or even
three crops grew on the same line. In the case of
the potatoes and corn, alternate hills of the former
were promptly dug and the space replanted with a
July sowing of corn.
"The 3O-foot row of early peas was followed by
three crops that made use of the same trellis, each
occupying one-third of the row.
"As both onions and parsley are the better for
transplanting, the young plants of each simply
exchanged locations; the parsley went into the place
vacated by the onions and seed of the later crop of
onions was sown in the parsley row. In instances
where the ground was not to be vacated early enough
for the later planting, the sowings of the successive
crops were made in odd corners or in flower pots,
and the plantlets transplanted as soon as there
was a vacancy; tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, bush
Limas, kohlrabi and lettuce were treated in this
way.
FIVE CROPS ON ONE FOOT OF GROUND
"The trellises and adjacent ground were used for
two, three, four or even five crops. One foot from
SUCCESSFUL GARDENS
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72 GARDEN PROFITS
the eastern boundary line of the garden was an
arched trellis, on the opposite sides of which peas
and Lima beans grew. At the foot of the trellis
were radishes, and as soon as they were harvested,
lettuce plants (that had been started in another
part of the garden) were moved in. A tomato
plant occupied one of the uprights of this trellis,
so that the one-foot strip of ground actually ac-
commodated five crops.
"The 12-foot trellis at the back of the garden
has a similar history. It was sowed the entire
length with pole beans. At each of the five
uprights there was a tomato plant. A lemon
cucumber climbed on this trellis, and - some
asparagus beans, making four crops at the same
time.
"Sometimes a second crop was sown before the
first one was off the ground. This was accomplished
by planting the row a few inches away from the
old one, and as soon as the latter was removed the
young crop had all the room it required and yet
had the advantage of several days' start. Double
rows are another help to economy of space. Slow
maturing crops can be either sowed or transplanted
on each side of a row of small vegetables, such as
onions, which will be cleared in time for the later
crops to fill the space.
"The garden provided for use outside of its own
boundaries about three hundred carrot plants,
nearly three dozen corn plants, about two dozen
Lima beans, and several chard seedlings, all of
which were successfully transplanted. It also pro-
SUCCESSFUL GARDENS 73
vided parsley roots to supply three families for
winter.
WHAT YOUR GARDEN CAN GROW
Here follows an exact record of each crop — you
can simply repeat all this:
"Potatoes. — Cost of seed, ten cents; length of
row, twenty feet. This crop was produced from
one pound of seed potatoes that made enough
pieces to plant a dozen hills, half on March 3 1 and
the rest two weeks later. We preferred earliness
to size, and the variety was chosen accordingly,
with the result that we were digging potatoes on
June 24, by which time they had attained the size
of eggs. A week later we dug some that weighed
half a pound. Each hill supplied a meal or more,
and the last was dug on August 23, so that during
the two months we bought no potatoes at the store.
We do not use many potatoes, of course, when we
get fresh summer vegetables.
"Onions. — Cost of seed, one cent; length of row,
ten feet. Sown on March 31 and transplanted
May 26. This gave a sufficient supply for season-
ing, which was all that could be expected from a
ten-foot row. The last of the crop was pulled the
end of August and kept in the cellar until used
some time in October.
"Parsley. — Cost of seed, one cent; length of
row, ten feet. By a little management the parsley
season was extended throughout the entire year.
In March some roots were transplanted from the
window garden, and some thriving young plants
74 GARDEN PROFITS
that had wintered outdoors were moved into place;
between them seed was sown to give a succession
crop when the year-old plants had run their course.
Outdoor pickings were made from March 3 1 to No-
vember 1 8, and by potting some of the young plants
in November we had a house supply for all winter.
" Peas. — Cost of seed, twenty- two cents; length
of row, thirty feet for early; twenty-eight feet for
late. In order to get the longest season of peas
from the least outlay of ground, we sowed the ear-
liest kind on March 31 and a late sort on April 28.
The former bore from June 8 to 24, and the latter
from July 3 to 28.
"Carrots. — Cost of seed, one cent; length of
row, twenty feet. They had a very long season.
Seed was sown on April i. By June 9 the roots
were three inches or more long; the last was pulled
on October 30. As with the onions, these were
planted for seasoning, but the thinnings gave us
several dishes of tender, young carrots. The usual
order of things was reversed. Thinning was delayed
until the largest were of usable size, when they were
pulled and successive thinnings continued as the
remainder grew, until the plants stood six inches
apart. These were left to mature. In this way we
managed to get nearly a hundred carrots to use
young, that would otherwise have been destroyed,
and all without trespassing on the permanent row.
If you have never enjoyed the pleasure of eating
very young carrots, do not fail to make the trial
this year.
"Chard. — Cost of seed, two cents; length of row,
SUCCESSFUL GARDENS 75
ten feet. A sowing on April I gave us greens by
the middle of June and stalks a week later. At the
end of August, after the crop was past, the roots
were pulled out, as their room was more valuable
than their company.
" Lettuce. — Cost of seed, two cents; length of row,
ten feet. This gave us more than a hundred plants.
As soon as they reached transplantable size, we set
out sixty plants along the Lima bean row, leaving
forty in the original row. This was rather crowded
for a lo-foot row, but as the first heads were gathered
while still quite small there was space for the others
to spread. Well-developed heads were ready by
June 1 6 from the April 12 sowing. They were so
tender that they fell apart in the handling, and the
flavor and quality were excellent.
"Beets. — Cost of seeds, two cents; length of
row, twenty feet. Sowed April 12, and less than two
months later we were pulling young roots the size
of plums. These thinnings were good eating and
they left space for the others to spread, as they at-
tained full size, during the month following.
"Corn. — Cost of seed, fifteen cents; length of row,
thirty feet, early; seven hills, late. The first plant-
ing, May 8, came up so thickly that we transplanted
all that could be accommodated on another part
of the grounds, and still had a quantity of thinnings
to feed to the horse. The original row yielded
seventy ears and the transplanted hills about fifty
more. The bearing season lasted a month, from the
end of July to the end of August. The late corn was
sowed July i, where the potatoes had been taken
76 GARDEN PROFITS
out, and gave us two dozen ears about the middle
of September.
"Wax Beans. — Cost of seed, five cents; length of
rows, forty feet. The early planting was made
May 20, and was in bearing from July 8 till past
the middle of August, and after that, scattering till
frost. The late planting was made August 19 and,
as bad luck would have it, had just reached the
pickable stage when frost destroyed it.
"Bush Lima Beans. — Cost of seed, one cent;
length of rows twenty feet. The cost of this seed
is not worth computing, as the plants were thinnings
from another part of the garden and would have
been destroyed had we not transplanted them.
"Pole String Beans. — Cost of seed, three cents;
length of row, twelve feet. These did themselves
credit. Sowed June 3, they had reached the top
of a 6-foot trellis by the middle of July and began
to bear a week later. They did not yield any large
pickings until the middle of August, but after that
covered themselves with glory, and on September
6 a picking of three hundred pods — about four
quarts — was made. After that time they bore in
small quantities until frost.
"Pole Lima Beans. — Cost of seed, eight cents;
length of row thirty feet. These were sowed on
the east side of a trellis, the west side of which was
covered with pea vines. The latter had a month's
start and by the time they were out of the way the
beans were ready to occupy the whole trellis. We
sowed an early kind on May 25, and they came up
so thickly that we transplanted about two dozen
SUCCESSFUL GARDENS 77
young plants. Although it was done after they had
several inches growth of vine, they flourished and
more than paid for the risk. The Lima crop ripened
August I and continued to yield till frost.
"Cucumbers. — Cost of seed, one cent; four hills.
These replaced the early peas. They were started
in another spot and transplanted when the ground
was ready for them. Naturally they were somewhat
late, but otherwise were all that could be desired.
Two kinds were grown, the Japanese climbing and
the lemon.
"Squash. — Cost of seed, one cent; two hills. The
history of the squash is the same as that of the
cucumbers, as they were started and transplanted
to cover another portion of the vacated pea trellis.
" Tomatoes. — Cost of seed, one cent; ten plants.
The tomatoes were kept in flower pots until the pea
ground was cleared when they were set out to fill
the remaining third of the trellis. Five plants had
already been transplanted to the pole bean trellis
on June 2, and these later ones, moved on June
20, made the total eleven plants. There were four
varieties; Freedom, Ponderosa, Golden Sunrise,
and a solitary plant of Yellow Cherry on the trellis.
All proved satisfactory and gave good yields. From
the eleven plants we gathered more than two
hundred large tomatoes and nearly two hundred of
the Yellow Cherry. Green ones, used for pickles,
are included in the number. The five tomatoes
on the pea trellis bore almost forty pounds of fruit.
We extended the season by keeping some plants
under cover when frost threatened.
78 GARDEN PROFITS
"The exact return from our 15x30 ft. garden
will be better appreciated if stated in tabular
form. We had the greatest value from the garden in
August, naturally, and the returns before May and
after October were nominal.
TOTAL YIELD, RECKONED BY MONTHS
May. — Radishes $ .20
June. — Lettuce over a dollar, peas and carrots also
plenty 2-95
July. — Peas, wax beans and lettuce, the chief crops . 2.10
August. — Corn, Limas and chard bring up the total . 3.30
September. — Cucumbers, corn and squash make over
half this amount 2 . 70
October. — Mostly tomatoes .80
Before May and after October. — Parsley .... .50
Total $12.55
TOTAL YIELD RECKONED BY VEGETABLES
Potatoes $ .50
Onions .20
Radishes .10
Parsley .80
Peas i.jo
Carrots .75
Chard .60
Lettuce 2.00
Beets .50
Corn 2. co
Wax beans .50
Bush Limas .30
Pole string beans .60
Pole Limas .65
Cucumbers .80
Squash .30
Tomatoes .85
SUCCESSFUL GARDENS 79
The * shows the months in which the vegetables were in use.
VEGETABLE
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Potato
*
*
•
*
Onion
*
#
*
*
Radish
*
Parsley
Peas (2 kinds)
*
*
Carrots
Chard
*
*
*
Lettuce
*
*
Beets
*
*
Corn (2 kinds)
*
*
Wax beans
*
*
Bush Limas
*
*
Pole string
beans
t
*
$
Pole Limas
*
*
Cucumbers
(lemon and
Japanese)
Spinach
Tomatoes
*
*
*
*
(4 varieties)
*
*
*
*
"Parsley and carrots were housed for winter use,
so we have given them credit for bearing during
the winter months."
COMBINING SUCCESSION AND ROTATION
Just one more word about succession planting —
do your best to combine rotation with it. That is,
if a first crop of roots is bothered by the maggot
or club root, let the succeeding crop be one of beans,
peas, corn or some vegetable that is not subject to
attacks by the same enemy. This will not be difficult
80 GARDEN PROFITS
if you get a clear idea of the different groups or
types of vegetables. These consist of (i) the le-
gumes, or beans and peas; (2) the brassicas or
radish, turnip, cabbage, cauliflower and kales; (3)
the cucurbits or gourds, including squash, melon
and cucumber; (4) the leaf crops, lettuce, spinach,
endive, etc.; (5) the heat lovers such as tomatoes,
eggplant, peppers; (6) a few unrelated sorts includ-
ing celery, corn, beets, etc. Each of these groups
is likely to have a disease or an insect enemy of its
own, but these can usually be starved out by fur-
nishing only uncongenial food in the shape of
vegetables of another class. Moreover in new land,
such as you are likely to till in the backyard, insect
pests are uncommon and probably will not trouble
you. An excellent arrangement of this sort, as
well as a simple system for keeping track of it is
included in the management of another successful
garden, of which the chief features are worth citing.
The garden will work overtime if you keep up a
quick succession of crops. The early maturing
kinds must be kept apart from those requiring the
whole season in which to mature, and the ground
replanted as the quick-growing crops come off.
If parsnips or salsify are planted with lettuce or
beets the plot is badly broken up when the latter
are harvested, so that it never has a neat appearance
through the year.
Lettuce can be planted successionally in the same
ground, and the last crop will be just as good as the
first so long as the ground is kept fertile. It would
be foolish to plant turnips where radishes had been
SUCCESSFUL GARDENS 81
harvested. The same maggot affects both, and,
although the first crop was but slightly touched,
the second one might be rendered practically use-
less, as the insects increase very rapidly. Potatoes
and beets are attacked by the same scab, so the one
should not follow the other. None of the brassica
(cabbage) family should be used to succeed one
another, as the same insect attacks them all.
A SUCCESSION PLANTING SCHEME
The succession arrangements for a garden are
told in the following planting scheme by plots in
the actual record of a recent season.
Plot No. i. — Planted with parsnips and salsify
April 15. No succession crop, as these take the
whole season to mature.
Plot No. 2 — Lettuce and radish. The former
set out from the greenhouse on April 15, radish sown
on April 6. Both harvested May 28. Eggplant
and peppers planted June I occupy the ground
the rest of the season.
Plot No. 3. — Spinach harvested June 10. String
beans planted June 12 will be harvested August
14. Sow Yellow Stone turnips August 16 for winter
use.
Plot No. 4. — String beans planted April 18
are harvested June 28. Sow to winter carrots
July i.
Plot No. 5. — Early corn planted April 17 is
harvested July 23. Planted to winter celery July 25.
Plot No. 6. — Early peas sown April 6, harvested
June 1 8. Sow late corn June 20.
*2 GARDEN PROFITS
Plot No. 7. — Early beets sown April 8; har-
vested June 16. Lettuce transplanted June 18;
harvested August i. Sow string beans August 3.
Plot No. 8. — Lettuce sown April 8; harvested
Salsify or vegetable oyster. It Is surprising
how many households do not know this delicious,
easy-to-grow. vegetable. Treat it just as you
would parsnips
June 10. Beets sown June 13; harvested August
10. Last sowing of corn July 13.
Plot No. 9. — Early carrots sown April 8, har-
vested June 25. Planted in cabbage June 27.
SUCCESSFUL GARDENS 83
Plot No. 10. — Early cabbage planted April 14;
harvested June 15. Purple-top turnips planted
June 17; harvested August 18. Sown in winter
beets August 20.
Plot No. ii. — Early turnips sown April 6; har-
Kohlrabi— easier to grow than turnips:
It matures quicker, is more tender and
delicate, and is practically free from in-
sects and diseases
vested June 15. Lettuce sown June 18; harvested
August 20. Sown spinach August 22.
Plot No. 12. — Peas sown April 20; harvested
June 23. Endive sown July 2.
Plot No. 13. — Corn sown May 10; harvested
August 15. Sown lettuce August 17.
84 GARDEN PROFITS
This kind of succession kept the ground busy,
there being allowed only enough time between
planting properly to till the ground. It was dug
over, trenched and fertilized for each new crop.
Swiss chard — a near relative to the beet —
though no one would guess it. According to
how you cook it. it exhibits the good points of
spinach, cabbage, beet-greens and kale
There were about three crops of each throughout the
season. The usual thing for the amateur is to have
only one crop, and if he succeeds in getting a second
he feels quite proud.
SUCCESSFUL GARDENS 85
In Plot No. i, mentioned above, the wisest plan
would have been to leave the roots in the ground
until hit by a good stiff freeze. The flavor of pars-
nips and oyster plant is greatly improved by frost,
as is also that of kale.
EXPLORING THE UNKNOWN: A PLEA FOR
UNFAMILIAR VEGETABLES
And speaking of oyster plant and kale, don't fail
to grow these vegetables even if they are strangers.
Or at any rate give them a trial, and find out whether
you like them. I have been surprised to find how
little known the delicious salsify or oyster plant is
in some places. Kohlrabi is another "novelty,"
which ought to be given a regular place in the gar-
den. It is more delicate than the turnip, matures
more rapidly, and, having its fleshy body above the
ground is practically free from insect injury. Swiss
chard is a welcome change from spinach and cab-
bage, and is just as easy to grow. Of course, I
do not suggest letting these newer plants crowd out
the old standbys, without which the garden would be
as a song without music; at the same time I do urge
you to find some place for them — to make a little
experimental or testing-out bed in the garden, where
you can develop new treats for an educated taste.
BOYS — AND GIRLS AND GARDENS
The garden is the place to keep busy the boys and
girls, too, where they can make some pocket money
without having to sell papers or dig dandelions out of
the neighbors' lawns. Witness the children's gardens
86 GARDEN PROFITS
that are being instituted in many cities, and get some
one who is directly interested in one of them to
tell you whether they are welcomed or not. Nature
Study is one of the biggest advances in modern
educational methods. You can provide material
for this work for your own children, and gain at the
same time all the financial benefits that I have
spoken of on other pages. Wouldn't you like to
talk to the 1 4-year old boy who cleared nearly
$50 from half an acre? At any rate you can hear
his story and I'd not be surprised if you were to
profit by it.
PRODUCED $70
"My garden is half an acre, sloping slightly to
the south, and I do all the work myself except
plowing and hauling the manure. The soil is a
rich, sandy loam. After sending my order to the
seedsman I had manure hauled and spread all over
the garden to be plowed under. On April 5 the
garden was plowed, harrowed, and the potato rows
marked out. I then planted my peas, beets, early
potatoes, spinach, onion sets and onion seed. I
worked in the garden every day after school and
soon had it looking tip-top. About the first of
May I planted all the other vegetables that could
not be planted early, such as corn, beans, late
potatoes, summer squash, early tomato plants,
cabbage plants, carrots and pumpkins. I had the
asparagus and rhubarb to supply early vegetables.
I picked my first spinach on May 12 and my first
SUCCESSFUL GARDENS 87
peas on May 28. On June 27 I picked corn, which
was 'Peep o' Day," and certainly was sweet.
From May 15 until October my garden supplied
a family of nine with vegetables. I dug my first
potatoes on June 29, and they were beauties — no
scabby ones and very few little ones. I got fifteen
bushels. The following table shows my gain,
actual sales:
Tomatoes, 20 bushels at 35 cents per bushel . . $ 7.00
Potatoes, 15 bushels at 60 cents per bushel . . 9.00
Onions, 4 bushels at 80 cents per bushel . . . 3 . 20
Peas, 6 bushels at 80 cents per bushel . . . . 4.80
Beets, 30 bunches at 3 cents per bunch .... .90
Asparagus, 15 bunches at 12 cents per bunch . . 1. 80
Rhubarb, 30 bunches at 4 cents per bunch . . . 1.20
Lettuce, 50 heads at 3 cents per head . . . . 1.50
Celery, 200 bunches at 4 cents per bunch . . . 8.00
Beans, 24 bushels at 40 cents per bushel . . . 9.60
Spinach .70
Squash, 20 at 3 cents each .60
Pumpkins, 14 at 5 cents each .70
Eggplant, 6 at 5 cents each .30
Peppers, 2 packages at 20 cents each .... .40
Carrots, 2^ bushels at 60 cents per bushel . . i . 50
Radishes, 6 bunches at 2 cents per bunch ... .12
Turnips, 3 bushels at 20 cents per bushel ... .60
Corn, 90 dozen at 18 cents per dozen . . . . 16.20
Lima beans, 2 bushels at 80 cents per bushel . . i . 60
Cabbage, 60 head at 3 cents per head . . . . 1.80
Total $71 .53,
Cost of seeds £10.28
Cost of plowing 2.50
Cost of manure 5.00
Cost of celery plants 4.00
Total $21.78
88
GARDEN PROFITS
STRAWBERRY BED CUC
UMBER PATCH ASPARAGUS BCD
2 ROW
S GRAPEVINES
CARROTS
PEAS 2 ROWS, IS!
;ROP CABBAGE 2*2 CROP
BEETS
14 ftovvt:
"v° O/V/OV ~£ 7
2 ROWv
5 ONION SEED.
EARL
V CABBACit
EARLN
' TOMATOES
IST CROP 2 ROWS
BEANS 222 CROP BEETS .
g™ CROP G Raw* CELEftv
V/S V^ORN
..T^^^^lifc
SUMMED SQUASH
The half-acre plot on which the f ourteen-year-olfl
gardener raised over $70.00 worth of crops
SUCCESSFUL GARDENS 89
Total sales 4 . $71 . 52
Total expenses . . . . 21.78
Net gam #49-74
"The prices represent what I sold the vegetables
for to my mother and neighbors. I raised all my
own tomato, cabbage and pepper plants in a 6x8
coldframe that I made. The following table shows
when I planted the vegetables :
March 10, (in coldframe). — Tomato seed (Earli-
est of All); cabbage (Flat Dutch).
April 5. — Two rows peas (Earliest of All); one
row spinach; one row Market Gardener's beets.
April 6. — Four rows onion sets (Prizetaker) ; two
rows onion seed; twelve rows Early Rose potatoes.
April 29. — One row cabbage plants; one row
tomato plants.
May i. — Two rows beans; one row corn (Peep
o' Day) ; six rows carrots.
May 2. — Summer Squash; twenty-eight hills
White Spine cucumber.
May 4. — One row pepper plants; one row beans.
May 5. — Two rows of corn.
May 7. — Four rows tomatoes (two rows Stone,
two rows Earliest of All).
May 14. — Four rows corn (Country Gentle-
man).
June 8. — Two rows late cabbage; one row lettuce.
July 2. — Two rows beets.
July 18. — Six rows celery (White Plume).
July 19. — Six rows turnips (Purple Top).
90 GARDEN PROFITS
August 4. — Corn patch sown in crimson clover
to be plowed under for next year's potatoes."
From another garden of some 700 square feet,
from which was obtained a profit of over $24, I have
learned a simple method of outwitting the cutworm
family. If they begin to bother your garden, get
strips of tin or stiff, strong paper about six inches
wide and some 50 inches long. Bend these into
circles and place them over your melon, squash and
Protecting hills of melons or
squash from cutworms with pieces
of tin. cardboard or stiff paper
cucumber hills, forcing them into the soil for about
two inches. Flying insects could be rendered harm-
less by throwing a piece of old wire or cloth netting
over the tops of these fences. These screens can
be removed when the vines grow over the fences;
the latter do no harm if left all season and often
spoil the attempts of late appearing worms^
THE THOROUGH GARDENER AND HIS REWARD
Another bug-evading policy practised by some is
to plant a few beans or unimportant seeds near the
valuable crops, and by leaving these unsp rayed,
give the insects something to feed on, so that they
will leave the others untouched. Personally, I don't
SUCCESSFUL GARDENS 91
care for this bargaining method — I had rather wipe
out the insect enemies with arsenate of lead and the
oil-emulsions, particularly since the latter are so
easily used and so effective. But it is a significant
fact that in nearly every well-tilled, well-cared-
for garden, the enemies, both insects and diseases
are discovered at all only with considerable effort.
Do you draw any conclusions from this, or make
any resolutions?
THE NEED OF GARDEN RECORDS
No farmer that you ever heard of, or anyone else,
and who was a real farmer, successful, progressive,
businesslike, ever tried to do without detailed re-
cords of each crop. Now since you are going to
turn farmer on a small area, where every condition
is favorable for far more intensive methods than
he can hope for, what excuse is there for your not
keeping a record? And, in proportion, a more in-
tensive record than the general farmer can expect
to keep? Not one memory in five hundred is able
to keep track of the dates of plowing, cultivating,
sowing, spraying, transplanting, pruning and harvest-
ing every crop in the garden. Without such a
history, your efficiency next year, your chance to
increase your results and improve the plan of your
garden will be reduced tremendously.
CAN YOU DEVISE A BETTER ONE?
To look at it from the other direction, if you do
keep a garden diary, every year will bring you more
92 GARDEN PROFITS
bountiful crops, better, more perfect vegetables,
and reduced labor programs and expense accounts.
One of the best proofs of this, and also one of the
simplest, most practical, and comprehensive systems
of keeping records, that I have ever seen, has now
become an institution in the practices of its ori-
ginator. I say it is the best I've seen, but I'm open
to conviction if you can make use of it, and invent
some improvements. Notice the returns that one
season produced where this method is used. Six
hundred per cent, from one-tenth of an acre!
A VEST-POCKET GARDEN RECORD SYSTEM
"The reasons why ordinary systems fail are two.
(i) You can't get a big yield without fertilizing and
there is no way to learn how to fertilize except by
experimenting. (2) You can't economize space un-
less your crops follow one another without the loss
of a day and there is no way to get the necessary
dates except by experimenting.
"My garden contains about one-tenth of an acre
and it grows all the vegetables (excepting late
potatoes) needed for a family of five adult persons.
Last year was the fourth of its existence, and each
year has shown an increased yield which was made
possible only by keeping a record of each year's
work and making use of this in planning the suc-
ceeding year's garden.
"The garden's daily progress is recorded in a
small book (2^ x 4^ in.) that can be carried in
the vest pocket, and is always handy. The pages
SUCCESSFUL GARDENS
93
are arranged in the form of a table, usually with
only one kind of a vegetable on a page, yet so ar-
ranged that the same book can be used three
years. The entries are made in pencil and at the
end of the year they are copied in ink into a much
Variety
\
PEAS
Variety
Two sample pages from the record book by means of which closer
cropping was made possible
larger book — one that will last for a number of
years, so that the records for a series of years may
be seen at a glance. Both books are indexed.
"Sample pages are reproduced in part here-
with. The first is the record of an early tomato.
The page number appears in the upper left hand
corner. In the first column the variety of the vege-
94 GARDEN PROFITS
table is placed. Abbreviations are used to mark
the columns as follows:
Sow — Meaning the date seed was sown.
Sp. — The date seed sprouted.
3. Pot — The date plants were taken from flat and put into
3-inch pots.
4. Pot — Date of shifting into 4-inch pots
Pit. — The date of planting outdoors.
Bios. The date of first blossoms.
T. — The time elapsed from seed-sowing to blossom.
Ripen. — The date of ripening.
T. Bios. — The time from blossom to ripening.
T. Seed — The time from seed to ripening.
Done — The date of last picking.
No. Pits. — The number of plants of the variety.
A space on the extreme right is left for remarks.
"Immediately below the line on which these
records are kept is one for yield. The mark, four
upright strokes crossed by another, represents
five tomatoes picked: the fraction 7/25 is the date
placed in the row, July 25, and is inserted to show
how the crop came on. After September 10 tomatoes
were measured. In the record of the peas the last
column is marked L and gives the length of the row
in feet. In recording vegetables by measure the
X is used to represent one peck, each leg being
one-quarter of a peck. Each vegetable has a
table arranged on this general basis to suit its needs.
"By keeping a record I am able to estimate, al-
most to a day, when anything planted will be ready
for use, and also — and this is very important —
when it can be cleared away to make room for a
succession crop. Although some things planted
may be almost failures, yet the total value of the
SUCCESSFUL GARDENS 95
yield from a small garden may still be large by
careful planning, planting another crop as soon
as one is cleared away. In other words, do not let
the ground remain idle. By this means, too, the
garden is always presentably neat and in order,
never an eyesore with old plants, vines, etc., dis-
figuring it.
"An almost perfect succession is the total result
of my three years' records. The plan on page
97 shows that the larger part of the garden yielded
two crops. A 4-foot space along each fence line
contains a row of berry bushes planted last year
and set eighteen inches from the fence; also a shallow
gutter fifteen inches wide used as a path, which
also gives room in which to turn, but may be short-
ened if necessary.
"At the rear there is a row of rhubarb plants set
eighteen inches from the fence. Two and a half
feet in front of this is a row of asparagus, the roots
set eighteen inches apart; another row of asparagus
is to be planted two and a half feet from the present
one. The remaining sixty-two feet is divided into
two unequal portions. All vegetables of the same
family are grown in the same portion, the position
of these portions being changed each year, so as
to get a rotation.
" In deciding on the distance between both rows
and plants the effort has been to give the plants
room properly to develop, yet to have them so
that when grown the foliage will completely shade
the ground, and thus lesson the labor necessary
for their care. Paths one foot wide are left between
96 GARDEN PROFITS
the beds of small vegetables, so that the beds can
be seen to, the crops gathered without unnecessary
trampling of the ground.
EARLY PLANTS WITHOUT A HOTBED
"All such plants as lettuce, early cabbage, parsley,
eggplant, pepper and tomato are grown from seed;
the tender ones in the windows of the house, the
hardy ones in the laundry, which has sash on two
sides, but no means of heating. After March 7,
the hardy plants do very well here; on cold nights
they are covered. These home-grown plants are
better than the wilted bought ones; also I know they
are of the desired variety, and for a very small out-
lay in cash I get a great number. The early plants
grown in the house last year were six eggplants,
sixty-eight tomatoes and fifteen peppers; in the
laundry, thirty plants of cabbage, twenty-four of
parsley, and over two hundred lettuce.
"The tomatoes are grown on an upright trellis.
The plants are set eighteen inches apart in the row,
and trimmed to two stems, all side shoots being cut
off as soon as they start. The first ripe tomatoes
were picked July 2. Three varieties of early
tomatoes were grown, six plants of each. Chalk's
Jewel gave me the greatest results out of the five
varieties that I have tried during the last three years.
The scarlet fruits are smooth, solid, medium sized,
and of excellent quality. For late tomatoes, Stone
and Matchless were grown. Both are excellent;
it is difficult to choose between them.
r
SUCCESSFUL GARDENS 97
*"•* — -T^- 1
r~-ffrtm.,.M^mf.MITf!r^~~.^.. . '
i " frrrifr'^nr"ra ~"*m- =«
I
!i
iyn.^/V^?i
-fZrZrjTtyff-
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T^tt^j-* *f,~, I. jirtrum)
Xfi.nari, April /? for™ ..T^, »-> /J"
jir^^._ja ^
'it
i E
.ttq^:;:^y;£:v;:::v//;//.::::::v:;:::viv;:::;:vj^?-?L'°F*:?.???*''?'.
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' ^----»lll*JlMa*.4Ktf-^.^ui»u:iiMXVA1v^
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I
.U*
•Scmle-in-fitt.
On this ingenious chart, solid lines are rows; dotted lines mark suc-
cessive crops when spacing was changed: marks on lines show dis-
tances between plants. The names and dates of first plantings are in
the left-hand column; those of successive plantings in the right-hand
column
"Previous to the first killing frost all green toma-
toes were picked from the vines, the small ones used
98 GARDEN PROFITS
for pickles, and the large ones stored in a dark place
where they kept ripening until December 18.
"The first early cabbage was ready for use July
IO. I had twenty-five good heads from thirty plants
set out. Kale follows early cabbage, and is trans-
planted into the rows as fast as a cabbage is removed,
and set so as to come between the cabbage plants.
Two sowings of kale are made, one about June 6
and another July 6, so as to always have young
plants ready. Kale needs frost to make it good.
It was used until February and the young growth,
made in the spring before the ground was plowed,
was also used. The early potatoes were dug
July 20.
BIG RETURNS FROM EIGHT DOLLARS
"All my crops are planted in straight rows, for
easy cultivation with a wheel hoe. In fact I could
not take care of this sized garden without that tool,
as all the work is done by myself either in the
morning before going to work or in the evening
after returning home.
CUTTING DOWN SEED EXPENSE
"The annual cost of seeds used is really very
small, for taking advantage of the fact that their
vitality extends over a period varying from one to
ten years, they are bought in larger quantities than
needed for one year — indeed in many cases this
is unavoidable, and instead of throwing out the
SUCCESSFUL GARDENS 99
remains of a single packet of seed, the surplus is
kept on hand. Thus, for example, my Chalk's
Jewel tomato has been grown from the same packet
of seed for three years and germination was as strong
last year as it was at first. The yearly average seed
expense is kept below three dollars and my total
outlay in money is less than eight dollars, made
up thus:
COST PER YEAR
Value of seed used $2.82
3 loads of manure at $0.75 2.25
Plowing and harrowing 1 . 50
50 Ibs. bone meal I -IS
Total $7.72
MORE THAN 6<X> PER CENT. RETURN
"The produce of the garden was estimated (by
careful records kept all the season), to be $51.59.
This does not include such items as the herbs,
parsley, etc., a number of vegetables of which
no estimate can be made, such as kale, New Zea-
land spinach, green tomatoes picked before frost,
five rows of spinach, and a large quantity of rhubarb
which was freely used and of which I have fifteen
quarts canned for winter use."
HOW TO MAKE THE GARDEN-PLAN PRACTICAL
The accompanying plan on page 97 illustrates
one method of arranging for several crops on one
ioo GARDEN PROFITS
space. Another way to accomplish this, is to make
two maps or plans, exactly alike, indicating the rows,
distances, etc. On the first you can enter the first
and all-season crops; on the second, the succeeding
or companion crops. You can thereby show exactly
the same areas, occupied by two crops without con-
fusing or crowding the writing.
COMPLETE CULTURAL DIRECTIONS IN TABULAR
FORM
I have included in Chapter V, the details in
regard to all the crops for each month of the year.
From this and from whatever sources you may elect
to use, such as catalogues, your own experiences,
etc., you will probably construct a planting table
of your own.
But for the novice who has yet no experience,
and who has no objection to getting complete
information from one book, I add a detailed plant-
ing table for vegetables. Follow it closely as long
as you can evolve no better, quicker, more efficient
method. But when you find that you can plant
a little earlier than is prescribed, or a little closer;
when you discover a more convenient way to train
tomatoes, or to blanch celery, then make the most
of your improvements, and help others to do the
same. Leave the ranks of those that follow
and are helped, to become one of the leaders, the
teachers, the helpers. The step is not so long.
You can make it. Try.
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5'
A Planting Table For a
REQUIRED
PLANT
VEGETABLES
|
1-
Is
Amount
•3
•si
II
What
Where
When
I
i!
1
Beans, Bush
30
18
ipt.
Seed
Row 6
Apr. 20-
May 15
Beans, Pole
30
IO
18
i pt.
Seed
4 in. from
May 20-
Row 7
June 10
Beets (i)
Beets (2)
12
12
12
12
i oz.
Seed
Seed
Row la
Row ib
Apr. 1-12
May 15
Cabbage
30
15
18
Pinch
Seed
Seed Bed
May 15
Carrots
24
12
i oz.
Seed
Row 2
Apr. i
Corn (i)
Com (2)
Com (3)
30
IS
IS
'f
8
18
18
12-
Ipt.
ipt.
Seed
Seed
Thin-
Row 9
Row 8
May 15
July 10
July 10
18
nings
from 2
Cucumbers
IS
3
36-
ioz.
Seed
Seed Bed
May i-io
40
Eggplant
IS
8
18
fa oz.
Seed
Seed Bed
May 30
Kohlrabi
12
12
i oz.
Seed
Row3a
March 31
Melons, Musk
IS
3
36
i oz.
Seed
Seed Bed
May 15
Onions (i)
Onions (2)
IS
IS
12
12
i Pt.
i oz.
Sets
Seed
Row 4a
Row 4b
May 15-31
April 15-
May i
Parsnips
is
12
ioz.
Seed
Row sa
April 1-15
Peas (i)
30
24
ipt.
Seed
Row 7 by
March 15- 31
Trellis
Peas (a)
15
18
i pt.
Seed
Row 8
April 15
Peas 3)
IS
18
ipt.
Seed
Row 9
May i
Salsify
Spinach
15
12
12
12
ioz.
I oz.
Seed
Seed
Row sb
Row ib
April is-May
September i
Spinach, N. Z.
IS
18
ioz.
Seed
Bet. Rows
June 15
6 and 72.
Squash, Late
Tomato
Turnip
Lettuce (i)
Lettuce (a)
15
IS
13
1
16
12
13
12
AOZ.
*S
*«.
Seed
Seed
Seed
Seed
Seed
Seed Bed
Seed Bed
Row 3
Row 3b
Seed Bed
May i
May i-5-June
July i
March 13-31
April-June
Radish
?
6
?
Seed
Vacant
Anytime
Spaces
Vegetable Garden 15 x 30 Ft.
TRANSPLANT OR THIN
HARVEST
Plants
How
Seeds
Apart
To
When
Space
(Inches]
First
Remove by
(Inches)
Drills
I*
June 10-
August 15
Hills
36
30
July 20
Aug. 10
Drills
3
June i-io
Aug. 30
Drills
3
July 15
Drills
Row 6
July 15-30
24
Sept.
Drills
Hills
24
2
July 15
July 20-Aug. i
August 30
Hills
24
Sept. 15
Hills
24
Row 3a
Aug. 15
24
Sept. 20
Drills
Row yb
June 10-15
July 15
Drills
Row 8b
Aug. i
«4
Aug. 30
Drills
Drills
I
Row 9a
June 15
d
June i
Aug. 30
Aug. 15
Drills
l|
June 1-15
Drills
3
Aug.
Drills
2
Aug.
Drills
May 15-30
Tune 1-10
Drills
Drills
Drills
Drills
Drills
I
2
Si
July 15
Nov.? Apr.
July
July 10
Aug. i
May 10
Drills
2
Row 9b
June 30
60
Sept.
Drills
2
Row ;a
June 15
24
Aug. 15
Drills
3
Sept. 10
Drills
Drills
3
Vacant
When i
9
9
May 30
July i
Spaces
in. high
With
t
3**— 3 week)
Carrots
Pars*
nips, .etc
103
104 GARDEN PROFITS
KITCHEN GARDEN PLANTING TABLE
A Guide to the Proper Times for Sowing of Various Seeds in Order to Obtain
Continuous Succession of Crops.
VEGETABLES
IOTCHEN GARDEN
II
1
£
|
|
&
s
|
,
|
I
1"
1
1
z
December
ExptaMtton of SltBJ UMd
In the TaMe.
Artichoke, Fr Globe
Asparagus - . .
5
5
1
1
l
1
/•'
. .
',
rS-SSHS
out to proper distances apart.
L Sow on seed bed la gar-
den and transplant into per-
manent place.
•••££— '*2T«£
>. Mmke thTM sowing. In
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litter daring winter
j. Plant In frame, when
with uih matt and °huu»4.
admit fresh air whenever
weather with permit.
ML Plant In cellar., bam«
or ondergnenhouee benches
that are free from draughts,
with equable lemparsttu*,
11. Few mar be started In
pots for earljr and twa.
planted as aooa as ground Is
12. --ow ererr week In
st«t supply
Bush . . .
" Pole Lima .
6
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Brussels Sprouts .
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Carrot. . . .. .
Cauliflower . .
Celeriac . . .
Celery. . . .
Chicory. Whitloef
Corn, Kield . .
" Sweet .• .
- Pop . .
4
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7
9'.
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12
12
12
10
Cress . ... ,. .
Egg Plant .' ! !
Endive
12
6
12
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6
6
4
12
4
4
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Leek . . . „
6
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7
9
10
Lettuce ....
Melon, « * . .
Mushroom .„• , .
Nasturtium ? * .
Okra .....
Oaions ,. ., . .
Parsnips .
6
6
10
10
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11
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3
4
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10
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Parsley ....
J»eas .......
Pepper ....
Potatoes ....
6
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Rutabaga . . .
Rhubarb. . . .
Salsify .. - , . .
S«»kal« ....
Spinach. Ordinary .
" New Zealan 1
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Tomato . . .
Turnips j . . \
12
6
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IV
GETTING THE MOST OUT OF FRAMES
AND HOTBEDS
EVERY family ought to have a coldframe
because it can gain from four to
six weeks on the season of early
vegetables, merely by sowing seeds
in a coldframe on the first of March.
This is indicated in the accompanying table, which
shows for each vegetable how much can be gained
over the regular outdoor cultivation by the aid
of coldframes.
TABLE SHOWING GAIN MADE BY COLDFRAME
'SOWN MARCH I
(In Coldframe)
TRANS-
PLANTED
READY TO EAT
Coldframe
Outdoors
Bean
May 8
June 15
Beet
Mar. 25
May 20
June 25
Cabbage
Carrot
April I
June 8
May 15
July i
June 15
Cauliflower
Kohlrabi
April i
April I
June 8
May 15
July i
June 15
Lettuce
Mar. 20
May I
June i
Parsley
May 15
June 15
Pea '
May 8
June 8
Radish
April 15
May 15
Spinach
May 8
June 15
105
io6 GARDEN PROFITS
There are three other reasons why you should
have a coldframe:
(1) You can have lettuce, radishes and spinach
a good part of the winter.
(2) You can have the choicest foxglove, lark-
spur and cosmos only by aid of a coldframe.
(3) The highest qualities of pansies, violets,
English daisies, polyanthus, and auricula are flow-
ered only in a coldframe, where you may have them
between February and April.
Difference between "Hotbed" and "Coldframe."
There is often confusion caused by the use of
the terms "hotbed" and "coldframe" and direc-
tions for their use. The former refers strictly
to a pit or box-like structure, covered with glass
sashes, and given warmth by fermenting manure
under the soil. It is used for starting seeds for
early plants; in other words it is primarily a seed-
bed and not a place in which to mature vegetables.
The coldframe is similar in construction but is
not heated by manure and contains a deeper soil,
richer, and in which plants and flowers can be
matured, or kept in a growing condition. The
change from the former to the latter could be
accomplished by merely mixing the soil and manure
thoroughly and, perhaps, removing some of the
manure, which for the coldframe must not be
fresh or "green". A change in the opposite di-
rection would result if after using a coldframe
for fall and winter purposes, you were to run steam-
pipes or some other means for heating it into the
bed in early spring, as described below, or remove
FRAMES AND HOTBEDS 107
the soil, trample in manure and again prepare a
seedbed.
How to Build a Hotbed. Like other things, a
hotbed can be built well or just knocked together
for the occasion. I favor the former, but for
temporary use you can build a cheap one from
boards. Dig a hole about three feet deep, six feet
wide and of whatever length you think you can
afford sash for. Board up the sides, giving the
hotbed a height of six inches above ground in front
(which, by the way, should be the south side, so
as to get the maximum amount of light). The
back of the frame should be about six or eight
inches higher than the front. Partly fill the hole
with fresh horse manure well mixed with some
leaves or bedding, and tramp it down well, being
sure it is well moistened. Cover with about eight
inches of good soil, the top of which should be level
with the outside ground. Put the sash in place
and wait for the soil to get warm before you sow
the seeds.
But if you think you really want a good hotbed,
do not build it of wood, as the wood soon decays.
A concrete or brick hotbed will last a lifetime. A
very good idea in building one on these lines is to
have your back or north wall (which should be
about four inches thick) rise about two feet above
the level of the frame. Carry the ends down on
an angle to meet the front line, and you have a
very pretty and practical frame. This high back
is a wonderful protection for the frames.
If you sow cabbage in February, you cannot
I08 GARDEN PROFITS
plant it out-of-doors in March, and neither can
you leave it in the frame just as you sowed it. The
plants will require more room, so therefore do not
put all your hotbed down at one time. One or
two sash will suffice in which to sow the seeds for
a hotbed of twelve sash; so you can see that it would
In & permanent hotbed frame the manure pit should be about two
feet, and the soil six to eight inches, deep. Brick walls may be sub-
stituted for the rock foundation shown above. Always face the high
side of the bed to the north
be much more practical to divide the bed in some
way.
Here is one way: For a twelve-sash hotbed I
would start two sash for the seedlings. I would
have five sash ready to take the young plants
about three or four weeks later; and about two
weeks later I would have the others ready to take
the balance, which would consist of slow germinat-
FRAMES AND HOTBEDS
109
ing seeds. Some folks sow seeds in a hotbed in
rows. Other prefer sowing broadcast, and think
that their method is the better, for this reason
— by taking full advantage of all the room the
plants receive the maximum amount of light.
A good location for a temporary hotbed or coldf rame is the south side
of a building, wall or fence. Pile the manure around the outside of
the bed as well as inside it
Mark a space off with sticks, laying them right
in the soil; and always wait for the soil to get
warm before you sow any seed. This will usually
take a few days after the hotbed is made up.
If you haven't any cover for your hotbed you
should provide one of some kind. If not a burlap
IIO GARDEN PROFITS
or straw mat, some straw or leaves will do; but
it must be removed on fine days to give the plants
air and light. Ventilate the frame a little during
the middle of the day on bright days, especially
after the seeds have germinated, and never water
the young plants in the afternoon, but always in
the morning and on a rising temperature. Use
a sprinkling can with a fine rose; the tempera-
ture of the water should never be lower than 50
degrees. Above all, do not get methodical in your
watering and give the plants a bath every day,
whether they need it or not. Use a little judg-
ment and do not overwater. For the benefit of
the amateur I would say that when plants are small
and growing under artificial conditions, there are
a great many more killed from over-watering than
from not having enough moisture.
A NEW METHOD FOR HARDENING HOTBED PLANTS
The amateur is not unlikely to waste valuable
time in fear of freezing his hotbed plants by airing
them too much, or too early, or by transplanting
them too soon. After the coldest days and nights
are passed an excellent means of hardening off the
seedlings is the use of cloth sashes. These are
made of unbleached cotton or heavy muslin, just
as for screens in poultry houses. Some of their
chief advantages are (i) the ease with which they
are handled, (2) the fact that they do not need
to be lifted in order to ventilate the beds, (3) they
furnish sufficient shade from even the brightest
FRAMES AND HOTBEDS in
sunlight, (4) they lessen the force of rain, yet admit
it as a gentle spray, to the plants, (5) they cause
stronger, stockier growth, and more vigorous plants
than do glass sash, and (6) the seedlings may be
earlier transplanted out-of-doors without injury.
HOTBED MATS
Where hotbeds are used all winter some kind
of mat or added protection is essential. Ordinarily,
you will be able to find about the house, old carpet,
matting, burlap, or bagging which do well enough
for one or two sash. When you are growing vio-
lets, parsley and other hardy plants, or when you
are merely holding over cabbage, etc., four or
five inches of loose hay or straw will serve. But
this is neither neat, permanent, nor easy to keep
on the frames in the face of winter winds, and if
you have any spare winter hours, you may enjoy
making some real hotbed mats, which will last
for several years, are an excellent protection, easy
to handle and simple to make. Where long, straight
straw is available it is the first choice; but want-
ing this, you could make a very serviceable mat
of hay, or salt marsh grass, overlapping the ends
of the bundles and if necessary using more strands
of twine. However, if you can get straw, you might
just as well follow these instructions to the letter.
A HOME-MADE STRAW MAT
I took two pieces of 2 x 4-inch rough spruce
timber, about ten feet long, laid them on the floor,
ii2 GARDEN PROFITS
parallel and about eight inches apart, joining the
ends with pieces of J^-inch stock, four inches
wide.
Starting about eighteen inches from one of the
ends of this frame and about an inch from the edge,
I drove in six-penny wire nails at intervals of seven
inches. Back of these rows and a little to one side,
I drove two other rows of wire nails, making rows
of cleats on both.
Making straw hotbed-mats on a frame like this Is not only a
simple, but also an Interesting and profitable occupation for winter
days
Among the odds and ends of lumber about the
place I found a pole such as rugs are wrapped
around, which I placed between the outer pieces
of the frame.
My first outlay of cash was for tarred marlin,
known to the trade as No. 4^. A ball usually
contains about 300 feet.
Having decided on the size for the mat, mark
off the necessary number of cleats for the width
of the mat, allowing for three or four inches of the
FRAMES AND HOTBEDS 113
straw to extend beyond the outside strings of mar-
lin. For example, for a mat to cover a 6 x 6-foot
sash, eleven cleats will be used, giving ten seven-
inch spaces. The straw when trimmed, should
extend beyond the outside strings of marlin three
inches on each side.
To begin operations, cut the tarred marlin into
lengths 3^/£ times the length of the mat. Fold
the marlin, to get the centre of the length, and with
the centre over the pole fasten it to two opposite
cleats. Repeat until you have a sufficient number
of strands fastened on the frame. This is the warp
in the weaving process. For convenience shorten
up the lengths of marlin by making loops on the
ends.
With staples, tack the marlin to the pole. Sup-
port the frame at a convenient distance from the
floor or suspend from a beam overhead. Take a
handful of rye straw — the larger the handful, the
thicker the mat — and lay it across the strings of
marlin, heads toward the middle of the frame;
add enough straw to cross over all the strings,
and extend beyond the ends about a foot. Dis-
tribute the straw so that the strand is of uniform
thickness (a i^-inch diameter gives a good, heavy
mat). Unfasten a length of the marlin — the centre
one is the best to start with — cross over the ends,
pull taut and fasten again. Repeat, working
toward the ends, smoothing out the straw and
don't forget that putting the heads and loose
ends inside the strand makes a neater piece of work.
The weight of the mat as it hangs in the frame
1 14 GARDEN PROFITS
will cause it to stretch, therefore allow three or
four extra strands of straw.
When you have woven in sufficient strands
finish off, by tying with a square knot the pieces
of marlin as you weave the last time.
With a pair of shears cut the projecting strands
of straw, to give the sides of the mat a straight
edge, leaving a margin of at least three inches be-
yond the outside strings of marlin. Trim off loose
ends and heads all over the mat, and the work is
done.
You can determine the best and most convenient
size for your own needs, and can make the mat
thick or thin as your climatic conditions warrant.
BUILDING THE COLDFRAME
There are, of course, several ways of building
coldframes, but the cheapest and best is a brick or
concrete frame. Do not build a 2 x 4 ft. frame
and expect to raise a wagon-load of seedlings in it.
If you crowd the plants you ruin them. Esti-
mate on one sash for every 1,250 square feet of
garden space. A garden 50 x 50 feet would need
two sash, a garden 100 x 100 feet would need
eight sash, and so on, though, of course, it is possi-
ble to get along on much less than this. Besides
using the frame for raising early spring vegeta-
bles, it can be utilized during summer for the long
English greenhouse cucumbers or some large thick-
fleshed melons; and in fall for radishes, lettuce, etc.
You could raise your own eggplants, peppers,
'' FRAMES AND HOTBEDS 115
tomatoes, etc., you could have early celery, early
cabbage and cauliflower.
While brick and cement are the best materials
to use I favor cement because it is cheaper. Any
workman can build the forms. There are only
two important points in concrete work of this kind
to remember: Have the form thoroughly braced
so that it cannot move in any way, and have the
mixture wet and well mixed. Pound it after put-
ting it into the form until the water rises to the
surface.
Always lay out the frame so that it faces south
and have it so that the plate that the sash rest on
is 6 inches higher in back than in front. Don't
butt your sash; use proper sashbars. They come
up flush with the sash and are about one inch wide
on top. Have the frame one inch longer for each
sash it contains. The sashbars can be purchased
cheaply and they give a neat finish to a frame.
Place buttons on the sashbar which will prevent
the sash from blowing off and being smashed or
damaged by a windstorm.
Place the frames near enough to the house so
that a pipe can be run out from the boiler. This
will turn it into a miniature greenhouse for growing
lettuce, spinach, etc., during the winter, besides
an occasional bunch of flowers. It requires very
little heat to keep such a small space up to the
growing temperature — about fifty degrees. For
the vegetables mentioned a couple of 2-inch pipes
would do it nicely. Wherever this is possible I
would strongly urge it, as it does away with the
ii6 GARDEN PROFITS
necessity of preparing a hotbed in spring. Another
point is the cheaper construction of a frame of this
kind. If you heat your frame the walls only need
go about six inches below grade level; but if you
intend using it as a hotbed in spring, the wall
should go down as deep as the hotbed, which would
be about two and one-half feet below grade level.
The sum and substance of the relation between
hotbed and coldframe is this: if you build a hotbed
and do not renew the source of heat (ordinarily
manure) it must eventually become a coldframe.
Now, just as truly as I have said that you cannot
get the maximum returns from your garden without
a hotbed, I will say that you cannot get the maxi-
mum growing season and the maximum growing
space without a coldframe. By a manipulation
of these two, closely related instruments, you prac-
tically double the space and efficiency of your
garden, while you do not increase the time, effort and
expense necessary for its care. We can now con-
sider the details of this management, in its relation
to the coldframe and the vegetables most adapted
to it.
THE ENTIRE MANAGEMENT OF A COLDFRAME
Coldframes can be used to good advantage for a
number of early vegetables. A spot that is shel-
tered from north and west winds and faces south
is preferable, in order to obtain all the sunlight.
A coldframe is merely a glass-covered box, higher
at the north end than at the south.
FRAMES AND HOTBEDS 117
Preparations. If coldframes have been idle all
winter or new ones made in February, take off
about two inches of the old surface soil and spade
the balance up well with a spading fork. Give
it a good sprinkling of air slaked lime to sweeten
it. If the days are mild, remove the sash, putting
it on again at night; let it remain in this condition
until ready for planting. Just before planting,
spread a dressing three inches thick of well-decayed
manure and a sprinkling of commercial fertilizer
over the surface of the soil, and thoroughly work
them in. With an iron-toothed rake smooth the
surface until the soil is rather fine. Warm up the
soil for a day or so by keeping the sash on tight
and this will greatly assist the germination of the
seeds. All this should be done early in March.
Sowing. A most important point for success
is in properly sowing the seeds; put them in drills
which are one-half an inch deep, cover, and firm
the soil. After this is completed, the sash may
remain on and a close atmosphere be maintained
until the young seedlings appear, which will be in
about ten days. Have the sides and ends of the
frames banked with good stable litter or leaves to
keep out the cold, and cover the sash with salt
hay, mats or shutters at night, and at other times
when the mercury goes below the freezing point,
which is often the case; sometimes the mercury will
go as low as 10° at this season. Remove the cov-
ering on all bright and mild days. A good indica-
tion of the proper time to cover the frames is when
the glass begins to frost over.
ii8 GARDEN PROFITS
Ventilating. Airing or ventilating should be
watched, for the weather in March is very uncer-
tain. Some days, the temperature outside will
be as high as 55° in the shade, while other days will
be dull and cold, with the temperature below the
freezing point. As soon as the seedlings are up,
A simple device for ventilating hotbeds and coldframes. The
notched support may be hinged in a slit in the wall of the bed, or may
be so made as to fit down over it, so that it may be removed when the
sash is closed
air the frame on all days when it can be done with-
out submitting the plants to danger of frost and
cold draughts, and close them about fifteen min-
utes before the sun is off them. While the seed-
lings are small, keep the temperature of the frames
from 55° to 65°.
Watering. Water the plants in the frame be-
tween ten and two o'clock, so that they may have
FRAMES AND HOTBEDS 119
a chance to dry off before the frames are closed
for the night. Young seedlings need watering as
soon as the surface of the soil looks dry; use a
fine-rosed watering can and give a thorough soak-
ing, taking care not to wash the seedlings out of
the soil. Examine the condition of the soil by
taking it in the hands and squeezing it; if it holds
together the beds will not need water, but if, on
the other hand, the soil falls apart, like ashes, then
it needs a thorough watering, not merely a surface
wetting. Always watch the top end of the frames,
as that part always dries out more rapidly, be-
cause it has more sun and a better circulation
of air.
Transplanting. When the seeds have made their
first true leaves, transplant them into other frames,
for if they are not separated, they will crowd one
another. Set the plants about four inches apart
each way, shade for a day or so or until they take
hold of the new soil, then gradually inure them to
the sunlight. Sprinkle the plants frequently to
keep them from wilting. Stir the surface of the
soil at least once a week, and remove all weeds
as they appear.
Hardening off. Before transplanting the seed-
lings to the open ground, they must be "hardened
off." This process needs one to two weeks. In do-
ing this, air is admitted in larger and larger quanti-
ties until the sashes are removed entirely during
the day. During the night ventilation is given
by leaving the sash open, at first only a small
crack, which is increased gradually until it is four
120 GARDEN PROFITS
or five inches wide. The handiest thing with which
to prop the sash open is a block of wood.
Lettuce, cauliflower, cabbage, onions and leeks
can be subjected to airier conditions than peppers,
eggplants and tomatoes. Lettuce, cauliflower and
cabbage may be planted out about April 20.
Onions and leeks are better not disturbed until
they attain the size of a lead pencil. Peppers and
eggplants require a frame having a slightly warmer
temperature; they may be planted out about
May 20. Syringe eggplants occasionally for red
spiders. Tomatoes will make a stronger, sturdier
growth if kept a little on the dry side.
LETTUCE — Sow March /, and for succession sow
every two weeks. Varieties: Private Stock and Tri-
anon Cos.
Lettuces are divided into two classes, the cabbage,
with the round head, and the Cos, with long, hard
and narrow leaves. The cabbage variety is the
most tender, and the Cos the best flavored. Sow
the seed in finely raked soil and give them a very
thin covering. After the young plants have made
their true leaves, transplant to other frames, placing
the plants nine inches apart each way. These
may be grown on in the frames for the earliest
crop, which will be ready for use about April 20.
The plants raised from the second sowing may
be transplanted to 4x4 inches. Transplant to
the open ground about April 15, placing the plants
nine inches apart, in rows which are twelve to
fifteen inches apart. When transplanting lettuce
always select the strongest plants, discard all the
FRAMES AND HOTBEDS 121
weaklings, and secure all the roots possible as well
as all the soil that will adhere to them. When
planting, keep the leaves well up from the soil,
firm well the earth about the roots, water and
shade for a day or so, or until they take hold of
the new soil.
As long as the plants are in the frames, give
them plenty of air. Stir the soil at least once a
week to keep it mellow and to keep down the
weeds. As soon as the ground can be worked out-
doors, make the successional sowings there, rather
than in the frames. If the weather should be dry,
keep the ground constantly hoed and watered. In
the extreme hot weather, grow lettuce in a partly
shady place, as it runs to seed very quickly.
Good lettuce can be had in the late fall and early
winter, if occasional sowings of seed are made in
coldframes from August 15 to September 15. If the
frames are protected from the extreme cold, good
heads may be had up to Christmas. In order to
insure good heads of lettuce, keep water from the
heart; heading will be materially assisted by
an application of nitrate of soda, which may be
applied by strewing it over the surface of the
soil, or it may be given in liquid form by dissolv-
ing a 3-inch potful in twenty gallons of water.
When thoroughly dissolved this will supply about
162 square feet of soil. Two applications, at
intervals of ten to fourteen days, will be sufficient.
TOMATOES — Sow March /, and for main crop
April 75. Varieties: early, Dwarf Champion and
Earliana; late, Stone and Table Queen.
122 GARDEN PROFITS
These two sowings will keep up a supply from
June 20 until November.
Sow the seeds in drills six inches apart, cover
lightly and water to settle the soil. When the
plants are about three inches high, transplant to
other frames, placing them from four to six inches
apart each way. Set the plants so that the seed
leaves will be just above the surface of the soil,
and shade for a few days. Keep the soil a little
on the dry side to encourage a short stocky growth.
Until ready to harden the plants, keep a tempera-
ture of from 50° to 55°. Transplant to the open
ground about May 15, in soil which is not rich, or
they will make too much growth and few fruits.
Set the plants four feet apart each way (Dwarf
Champion needs only two and one-half feet),
support the plants with a trellis or stakes and train
about five stems, selecting the strongest shoots
and removing all weak ones and laterals, or side
shoots, tying them as they grow to protect them
from wind, etc. In the fall, should there be danger
of frost, tomatoes may be picked in the green, or
half-ripe state and put on straw or boards, and be
ripened in coldframes.
PEPPERS — Sow March 75. Varieties: Bull Nose
and Red Cayenne.
A few plants of peppers will supply a good-sized
family. They require a temperature of from 60°
to 70°. Sow in drills which are three inches apart
and water very sparingly until the young plants
attain a height of three inches. Transplant to
other frames, putting the plants three inches apart
FRAMES AND HOTBEDS 123
each way, and transplant to the open ground
about May 20. Peppers prefer a deep rich soil
and are ready for use about July 15. They may
be planted fifteen inches apart in rows which are
two feet apart.
BEETS — Sow March /, and for succession every
two weeks until August 75. Varieties: Bassano,
Eclipse.
Sow in drills which are one inch deep and ten
inches apart. Maintain a temperature of from
50° to 55°, and when the plants are three inches
high, thin them out to two or three inches apart.
The surplus plants may be transplanted outdoors,
setting them three inches apart, in rows which are
twelve inches apart. The first beets in the cold-
frame will be ready to eat about May. Beets
delight in light, rich soil and require an abundance
of water. The leaves may be used for greens.
CARROTS — Sow March I, and for succession every
three weeks until July 15. Varieties: Parisian, Scarlet
Horn, Half Long Danvers.
Sow in coldframes in drills four inches apart.
When three inches high, thin the plants to about
one inch apart. Early Parisian is the best for cold-
frames, as it is a small carrot and one which matures
quickly. It is ready for use in about six weeks.
Later sowings outdoors, of Early Scarlet Horn and
Half Long Danvers, may be made as soon as the
ground can be worked, in drills which are one inch
deep and fifteen inches apart. Thin out as di-
rected above, and keep the surface of the soil
frequently stirred to keep it open.
124 GARDEN PROFITS
EGGPLANT — Sow March 75. Varieties: New York
Improved, Black Beauty.
Eggplant needs a hotbed. Have a rich, light
seed soil and keep it rather dry, as the seed will not
germinate if it is kept too wet. Maintain a tem-
perature of about 80°. When about three inches
high, transplant to another hotbed, setting the
plants six inches apart each way. Syringe the
plants frequently, especially the under sides of
the leaves, to keep down the red spider, and avoid
cold draughts. About June I, transplant to open
ground in very rich soil, setting the plants two
feet apart in rows which are three feet apart. Water
freely during dry weather, and dust lightly with an
insecticide to destroy the potato bugs. The fruit
will be ready for use about the middle of July.
ONIONS — Sow March 10. Varieties: White Globe
and Prizetaker.
Onions require a very rich soil, liberal and fre-
quent dressings of manure; fertilizers are also
essential to insure maximum success. Sow in
drills which are four inches apart, cover and firm
the soil with a board in order that it shall retain
the moisture. As soon as the young onions appear
above the soil ventilate the frames, giving an abund-
ance of air on all fair days. Frequently stir the
surface of the soil and remove all weeds as they
appear. As the onions increase in size, give them
air at night, and if the weather is mild, the sash
may be left off entirely. When about the size
of a lead pencil (which will be about May l)
transplant to open ground. Put them in rows,
FRAMES AND HOTBEDS 125
setting the plants three inches deep, five inches
apart and sixteen inches from row to row. Onions
may also be sown outdoors and thinned to three
inches apart. The young onions can be used as
they are, or the thinnings transplanted to other rows
as has been described. Onions may also be grown
from sets planted one inch deep, three inches apart
and one foot from row to row. Sow the seed, or
plant the sets, in March, as soon as the ground
can be worked.
LEEKS — Sow* March 10. Varieties: American
Flag and Large Carentan.
Leeks are greatly prized for soups and when
cut into small pieces and cooked as onions they
make a delicious vegetable. Sow in coldframes
and give the same care as recommended for onions.
They will be ready for use in September. Trans-
plant when the size of an ordinary lead pencil to
trenches which have been dug eight inches deep
and one foot wide, into which has been put a 3-
inch layer of manure, and one, and one-half inches
of soil to plant in. Set them about two inches
deep, so that the neck is covered, and draw a little
soil up to them from time to time, as they grow,
to blanch them. They may be grown in a double
row, the individual rows being nine inches apart,
and the plants six inches apart in the row.
BEANS — Sow March 20, and for succession
every two weeks. Varieties: Triumph of the Frames,
and Early Mohawk.
Beans require a light, not over-rich soil. For
early use, sow Triumph of the Frames in cold-
126 GARDEN PROFITS
frames, in drills two inches deep and one foot apart.
Maintain a close atmosphere until the young plants
show through the soil, then air and water carefully
and on no account let cold draughts strike them.
Beans require a night temperature of 60°, with a
rise of ten degrees on bright days. They should
be ready for use in six weeks from the date of sowing.
Pick when young and tender. From about April
10 on, make the successional sowings in open
ground, planting seeds of Early Mohawk in rows
eighteen inches apart and two inches deep until
August 15.
PARSLEY — Sow March I. Varieties: Moss-
curled, Fern-leaved.
Sow the seeds rather thickly in drills one-half
inch deep, which are three inches apart. Parsley
germinates very slowly. When two inches high,
transplant to the open ground. For succession,
sow April i, and again on July 15, in drills
one-half inch deep and one foot apart. The
latter sowing can be kept over winter by cover-
ing with salt hay, or leaves, when cold weather
sets in.
SPINACH — Sow March /, and for succession
every two weeks until May 75. Varieties: Prickly,
and Savoy Leaved or Bloomsdale. i
The early sowings of spinach in the frames should
be in drills which are one-half inch deep and six
inches apart. Keep the soil on the dry side until
the seeds germinate, as they are liable to rot if
kept too wet. A temperature of from 45° to 50°
is sufficiently high. As soon as the seeds are up
FRAMES AND HOTBEDS 127
nicely, give plenty of air; and a light dressing of
nitrate of soda strewn over the surface will hasten
growth. It should be ready for use in six weeks
from planting. For succession, sow every two
weeks until May 15. As soon as the ground
can be worked, make the successional sowings
outdoors in drills which are one inch deep and one
foot apart. For summer use, sow New Zealand
spinach June I, in hills at least four feet apart,
and one inch deep. For fall use, sow Bloomsdale
again on August I and 15, and for late fall use,
make a sowing in the coldframes on September 8.
This last sowing will make good spinach for Christ-
mas. Another sowing may be made about Sep-
tember 21; this can be wintered over and will be
ready to gather the following March.
CELERY — Sow April i. Varieties: early, White
Plume; second early, Fin de Siecle; mid-season,
Giant Pascal; late, New Rose.
Sow the seed in finely raked soil in drills which
are four inches apart. Firm the soil well with a
board by walking on it. Give an abundance of
water, and as soon as the plants are two inches high,
transplant in other frames, in soil that has been
enriched with a layer of manure, three inches deep,
which has been thoroughly dug into the soil.
Set the plants four inches apart, alternate them
in the rows and do not plant too deep; firm the
earth well about the roots, water thoroughly to
settle the soil, and shade for a day or two, until
the plants have taken root in the new soil. They
will now grow very fast and will need an abundance
I28 GARDEN PROFITS
of water at least once a day. The first sowings
will be ready for the trenches, or cultivation on
the level, about July I.
Dig trenches fifteen inches wide and eight inches
deep and four feet apart. Put about four inches
of good cow manure in the bottom, treading it
down firmly with the feet. Add about two inches
of soil to plant in, so that the roots do not come
in contact with the manure. When ready for
planting, secure a good ball of earth with each
plant and set them in double rows (which are
about ten inches apart) and six inches apart in the
row. Set firmly, taking care not to bury the
heart. The best time to plant celery, unless the
day be dull or there is a sign of rain, is in the after-
noon from three o'clock, as the sun is then not so
strong. From this on, the celery should be con-
stantly watched, kept free from weeds and watered
thoroughly and frequently if the weather is dry.
For celery which is wanted for early use, earthing
up is necessary about the middle of August. Pull
the soil up to the plants with a hoe, breaking all
lumps, gather the leaf-stalks tightly together with
the left hand and press the soil closely around them
with the right hand, using care to prevent the soil
from falling into the heart of the plant, and thereby
rotting it. Two earthings will suffice for White
Plume and Fin de Siecle, then hemlock boards may
be placed on edge on each side of the row and sup-
ported with stakes. This will help to blanch and
whiten the celery. In this manner, White Plume
will be ready for use September 15, Fin de Siecle
FRAMES AND HOTBEDS 129
following in about four weeks. Giant Pascal is
a large celery and one of the very best flavoured
varieties grown. It will be ready for use about
December I. The late variety, New Rose, can
be kept in trenches until May. Have the rows of
Giant Pascal and New Rose from six to eight feet
apart, so that there may be sufficient earth to pro-
tect them during the winter.
As fast as these two late varieties grow, bank
them up, always doing it when the earth and the
celery are dry, otherwise it is liable to cause the
heart to rot. When the mercury indicates a tem-
perature of 22°, it is time to put on the winter
covering. This is done by placing boards as de-
scribed for White Plume. The boards should
reach to within three inches of the tops of the celery;
then take two boards nailed together like a trough,
with cleats projecting two inches over the sides,
and place them on top of the celery. This forms
a sort of box with a lid. Bank the earth up to
the top of the boards, with a layer of leaves about
a foot thick and a sufficient quantity of stable
manure to keep the leaves from blowing away.
Celery protected in this way keeps to perfection,
and will have that rich nutty flavour so often de-
sired and seldom had, and it may be dug any day
during the winter.
Level cultivation is practised by a number of
growers, but I have always found celery to do better
when planted in trenches, as I believe the roots
remain in a cooler condition.
CAULIFLOWER — Sow March I, and for sue-
1 30 GARDEN PROFITS
cession, every three weeks until April 15. Varieties:
Early Snowball, Gilt Edge.
Sow in drills one-half inch deep and four inches
apart. As soon as the plants have made their
first set of true leaves, transplant to another bed,
setting the plants about four inches apart. Water
and shade and give all the air possible. About
April 15, transplant to open ground in good rich
soil. Set the plants about two feet apart each
way, water freely at all times and stir the soil fre-
quently. A little nitrate of soda or commercial
fertilizer strewn around the plants will hasten their
growth, and when they show signs of heading,
break over the centre a few of the leaves to keep
the flower white and to protect it from the sun.
Cauliflower cannot be raised in the hottest weather.
For fall use, sow the seeds of Snowball and large
Algiers in the open ground on June 20 and July II,
transplanting as already described. The latter
variety is the largest and best variety grown but
is good only for late crop. Cauliflower takes from
twelve to fifteen weeks to mature.
CABBAGE — Sow March I, and for succession
June I. Varieties: early, Wake field; second early,
Succession; late, Flat Dutch, Savoy, Autumn King.
What has been said of the culture of cauliflower
is equally true of cabbage. Both need the same
treatment. Give good cultivation and for cabbage
worm, dust the plants with an insecticide or with
lime.
Cabbage can be kept through winter by digging
a trench about six inches deep, setting the heads
FRAMES AND HOTBEDS 131
in it roots up, and covering with soil and litter
sufficient to keep out the frost.
PEAS — Sow March I, and for succession, every
two weeks until June I, beginning as soon as the
ground can be worked. Varieties: extra early ', Nott's
Excelsior, Daniel O'Rourke, and Gradus; second
early, Duke of York; medium and late, Champion
of England and Telephone.
. Fresh, home-grown peas in the middle of May
are a luxury, yet they may be had by sowing Nott's
Excelsior in coldframes early in March. Sow in
drills, which are one foot apart and two inches deep.
They require a cool, moist situation. After the
plants have attained a height of six inches, give
a light dressing of commercial fertilizer strewn
over the surface of the soil, so that it may be washed
in when watering. It will materially help the plants.
They will be ready for use in about ten weeks.
Peas sown after June I, may not do well; if the
weather is too hot they are liable to mildew. To
grow the best peas, give them a deep, rich loam.
For outdoor culture, Nott's Excelsior and Daniel
O'Rourke can be sown in drills which are three
inches deep and two feet apart; the later varieties,
Champion of England, Duke of York and Tele-
phone must not be less than four feet apart. When
the plants have attained a height of about six
inches, pull about their stems about two inches
of earth ; the plants must be supported by chicken-
wire or brush.
A few drills of radishes may be sown between
the peas in the frames. They will be ready for
I3 2 GARDEN PROFITS
use in about four weeks; gather when crisp and
tender. Early French Forcing and Ne Plus Ultra
are good varieties for outdoor culture. Sow every
two weeks until September i. White Summer
and Chartier are ^ood varieties for summer
sowing.
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN
BEING A DETAILED CALENDAR GUIDE TO THE
WORK OF EACH MONTH BY WHICH You CAN
HAVE A REALLY EFFICIENT GARDEN AL-
THOUGH WITHOUT PREVIOUS
EXPERIENCE
NOTE: — These directions are arranged consecutively, both as to season and
garden operations. The monthly divisions are indicated to simplify the plan, but
it must be remembered that these are largely arbitrary. Certain work may be done
in any one of several months, therefore, the reader must use his judgment and adapt
his actions to his special conditions. But, in every possible case, let him take up
each piece of work as soon as it is mentioned, and complete it without delay. There
cannot be for the gardener too many reminders never to " put off till to-morrow,
what can be done to-day."
THE PLANNING SEASON: DECEMBER TO FEB-
RUARY.
WO is thinking of gardening in
January? What can be done
vhen everything is frozen up
;ight? I have been gardening
:or a number of years, and
have never let the month of January get by with-
out having all my seeds procured and my garden
133
I34 GARDEN PROFITS
planned. I think a great deal of the trouble with
our gardens lies in the fact that the amateur has
not yet grasped the idea of practical gardening;
for it is just as easy to run a garden prop-
erly as it is to neglect it. The yield of these so-
called gardens is a very small percentage of what
the ground should produce.
And yet these months are not solely for plan-
ning. After the first season, there will be hotbeds
and coldframes to care for, vegetables in pits and
trenches to watch and various other cultural op-
erations to keep track of. I am going to presume,
however, that we are starting a garden for the first
time so that there will be no last season's crops to
think of, and no experience to make use of. I
shall let the year and these directions begin simul-
taneously.
JANUARY
The Garden Plan. The very first thing to do
is to draw a good-sized map of your garden, ac-
curately and to scale, showing just how much
space you have, and where any obstructions, such
as boulders, trees, permanent walks, etc., are located.
Of course, we will hope that the ground is not shaded
and is sufficiently drained; if it slopes a little, so
much the better, especially if towards the south.
Your next step will depend on your available
space, for the small fruits which should be a part
of most gardens, would have to be left out in plan-
ning for less than a 50 x 50 foot space. In such a
case, there need be no special paths laid out, for
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 135
it is far better to grow everything in rows running
the length of the garden (north and south if possi-
ble). Long rows make necessary fewer turns
when cultivating.
Some General Advice. If there is room for berry
bushes, put them (i) all at one end of the garden or
(2) all around it, in a three or four foot strip. Even
apples, pears, etc., can be grown in this space, by
using the dwarf trees, and training them on the
walls, or fences bounding the garden.
Keep the rows of perennial vegetables (asparagus,
horseradish and rhubarb) together, at the end of the
garden, so that the rest can be plowed in one piece.
Plan to have the rows of root crops together, as
they are all subject to the same diseases, and by
moving all the rows from place to place each year,
you can lessen the chances of such diseases becoming
established.
Such quick growing plants as lettuce, radish and
spinach, need not be given special rows as they can
be put in between larger, slower growing kinds.
Make two plans, or else a compound one, the first
part giving the first crops, and those that will remain
all season, and the second, giving the succession crops
i. e., those that fill in after a crop is removed, or are
planted between permanent rows already sowed.
To find out just how many rows of each vegetable
you will need, and how much seed you must use
to plant the space, I have compiled the following
table from standard authorities, and actual results
in an average, well-cared-for garden. To use it,
merely decide how many pecks, plants or heads
136
GARDEN PROFITS
you will want, then compute the number of fifty -
foot rows you will need.
SEEDS AND YIELDS FOR A DEFINITE AREA
FINAL
DIS-
AVERAGE
DIS-
TANCE
LENGTH
SEED TO SOW
YIELD FROM
TANCE
VEGETABLE
SO FT.
5O FT.
OF
TWEEN
YIELDING
PLANTS
ROWS
SEASON
IN ROWS
Beans, bush
Hi*.
3H Pks.
4-6"
24"
4 weeks
Beans, Lima
L£ pt
7 pks.
36"
42"
12 weeks
Beans, pole
Beets
Jpt. '(IS hills)
I oz.
10 pks.
10 bunches
36"
3-6"
42"
15"
14 weeks
July i,-all
and i bu.
winter
Cabbage
I oz.=3coo plants
25 heads
24"
24"
12 weeks
(25 plants)
early or
all winter
Carrot
I OZ.
10 bunches
2-4"
12"
July8,-all
and ?4 bu
winter
Corn
Cucumbers
\ pt. (16 hills)
1 oz. (10 hills)
7 doz.
5 doz.
20-36"
48-60"
30-36"
48-60"
12 weeks
4 weeks
Eggplant
i oz.= iooo plants
80 "eggs"
24-30"
30"
12 weeks
(20 plants)
Lettuce \i oz.
75 heads
6-12"
12"
10 weeks
Okra
I OZ.
500 pods
24"
30"
13 weeks
Peas
I pt.
2 pks.
i"
24-30"
4 weeks
Peppers
ioz.= iooo plants
40 doz.
15-18"
30"
I 6 weeks
(32 plants)
Potatoes
25 tubers
i£ bu.
10-12"
24"
Till used
(50 hills)
Radish
V£ oz.
3-4"
12"
Spinach
M oz.
2^ Pks.
3-6"
12"
4 week*
Squash
i oz. (16 hills)
175 squash 48-96"
48-96"
Sept.,-all
•
winter
Tomatoes
I oz.= 1500 plant
7bu. ; 18"
36-48"
20 weeks
Turnips
/^ oz
1% bu.
4-6"
12"
Oct.io,-all
winter
Transplanted Vegetables. Some vegetables will
have to be grown for a time indoors or in a hotbed
and later transplanted to the rows you have alloted
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 137
them. These rows can sometimes be used for
radish, lettuce and spinach in the meantime. The
VEGETABLE
sow (WITH HEAT)
TRANSPLANT
WHEN
HOW
TO POTS
TO COLD-
FRAME
TO OPEN
GROUND
SPACE
OUT-
DOORS
Cabbage
Feb. I-
Drills,
Mar. 15-
Apr. 15
2x3'
Mar.i
4"
Mar. 30
4x4"
Cauliflower
Feb. i-
Drills,
Mar. 15-
Apr. 15
2X2'
Mar. i
4"
Mar. 30
4 x4"
Celery
Feb. i-
Drills
When i'
July i-
6 x 10"
Mar. i
high
30
Rows 4'
apart
Eggplant
Mar. 15
Drills
When 3"
May 15
June i—
2x3'
high
Keep in
TO
pots
Lettuce (i)
Feb. I
Broad-
When
cast
with true
leaves
9x9"
Lettuce (2)
Mar. i
Broad-
When
cast
with true
leaves
9x9"
Lettuce (3)
Mar. 15
Broad-
When
cast
with true
' leaves
4x4"
April 15
9x 12"
Pepper
Mar. 15
Drills
When 3"
May is
June i—
2 x 2' or
high
(Keep in
10
2x3'
pots)
Tomato (i)
Mar. i
Drills
When 3"
May 15
2x4'
high
5 xs"
Tomato (2)
Apr. 15
Drills
When 3"
June 15
4x4"
high
-30
S x 5"
i38 GARDEN PROFITS
vegetables that will be handled in this way, together
with the approximate dates for sowing and trans-
planting, are given on page 137. Lettuce and radish
can be grown even to maturity under glass, giving
fresh vegetables practically all winter. If you
have room to spare, you can well afford to start
some extra cabbage plants, to be sold later for
twenty-five cents a dozen. Of some of these crops
there will be later, outdoor sowings, but the culture
will then be simpler, as directed under seasonal
planting hints.
After you have planned the garden, do it again,
even two or three times, that you may feel sure
you have planned to use the ground all the time with
the least waste. Don't be afraid to change the
plan the second year, either, for the season's ex-
perience will give you a number of new and im-
proved ideas.
Catalogues and Seedsmen. By this time, you
probably have sent for seed catalogues and re-
ceived them. Of course, there is plenty of fun to
be obtained from studying half-a-dozen of these,
comparing prices, claims, pictures and so on, but
that is not the most economical way. You will
do better, and save time, if you choose one reliable
one, and make out your complete seed list from
that. You will already know how much you need
and perhaps will have heard of some particular
variety that you want to try. However, if you are
limited as to space and capital, better stick to one
or two standard varieties, and experiment, if at
all, very gently for the first year or so.
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 139
Good Seed. Do not make out your seed list and
then go around looking for the man that can supply
you the cheapest. Do not buy cheap seeds. We
Americans buy seeds too cheaply; if seeds in England
were offered at the same price that they are in
America, they would not be considered worth
planting in a garden worthy of the name. In
England, their novelties in peas, for instance, sell
for seventy-five to eighty cents per pint, while
here they are retailed at twenty cents. I honestly
believe you will get full value for your money,
whichever you buy, by which I mean that their
seeds are better than ours., Do not infer from this
that American seeds are not good. They are just
as good as the English seeds in germination, but
we have not attained the perfection of qualities in
the varieties that they have over there. It is good
economy to buy the highest grade of seeds offered.
Kinds and Varieties. While we all have our
favorite varieties of various species, one must al-
ways remember that others may think differently.
If it were not so, the seedsmen would handle but
one variety of each kind. I am not infallible, but
speaking generally, the varieties here mentioned
will, I think, be found satisfactory. Where there
are early and late vegetables of one species, I give
the best variety of both:
Asparagus Palmetto, Early Argenteuil
Bean, bush Black Valentine
Bean, bush, Lima Burpee's
Bean, bush, wax Currie's Rustproof
Bean, pole, Lima Ford's Mammoth
140
GARDEN PROFITS
Beet
Broccoli
Bruscels sprouts
Borecole
Cabbage
Cabbage, red
Cabbage, Savoy
Carrot
Cauliflower
Celery
Corn
Cucumber
Eggplant
Endive
Leek
Kohlrabi
Lettuce
Lettuce, Cos
Muskmelon
Okra
Onion, yellow
Onion, red
Onion, white
Parsley
Parsnip
Pepper
Peas
Peas, best quality
Peas, biggest cropper
Pumpkin
Potato, early
Potato, late
Rutabaga
Salsify
Spinach
Spinach, summer
Squash
Tomato, early
Tomato, main crop
Turnip
Watermelon
Eclipse
Walcheren
Long Island Improved
Dwarf Green Scotch
Wakefield Early
Drumhead
Drumhead Savoy
Guerande
Extra Early Erfurt
Chicago
Golden Bantam, Stowell's
Evergreen
The Davis
New York Improved Purple
Broad-leaved Batavian
American Flag
White Vienna
Big Boston
Paris White
Emerald Gem
White Velvet
Danvers
Wethersfield
Southport
Extra Moss-curled
American Hollow Crown
Cardinal
Alaska, Earliest of All
Gradus
Telephone
Large Cheese
Noroton Beauty
Carman No. 3
Long Island Improved
Mammoth Sandwich Island
Long Standing
New Zealand
Vegetable Marrow
Earliana
Freedom
Strap-leaved
Cole's Early
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 141
Just because the weather is cold, don't put off
sending your order. Mail it at once and avoid all
chances of having
your seed delayed.
Keeping Seeds.
It is not easy to
destroy the vital-
A hand weeder and scarifier ity of seeds, but a
little care will avoid trouble in the busy season.
When you receive your seeds store them in a cool,
frostproof place where they will be perfectly dry.
If you are troubled with mice and do not think you
can afford a proper mouse-proof seed chest, use an
old bread tin.
Tools and Repairs. The chances are, that if
you haven't gardened before, you will not be sup-
plied with tools. Do not try to run your garden
with a spade and a hoe; but on the other hand,
you do not need a 2-horse
cultivator for a small garden.
The following tools I have
found very useful: spade, dig-
ging fork, manure fork, aspar-
agus knife, draw hoe, scuffle
hoe, hose and sprinkler, 12-
inch labels, garden line and
reel, raffia for tying, shovel,
trowel, watering pot and
wheelbarrow. A roller is also
very useful; if you do not
wish to go to the expense of
devised buying one, make it yourself.
Trowels for special pur-
poses. The broad, general
purpose form is found in
every garden. The rounded
"Slim Jim" is useful in
setting bulbs and deep
rooted plants. The V-shap-
ed type is one of the hand-
I42 GARDEN PROFITS
Make a cylinder of sheet iron, riveting it securely.
Run an axle shaft through the centre and fill the
cylinder with cement. After the cement hardens
put on a handle and it is ready for use. A roller
for seeds should weigh about 1 50 pounds per running
foot. The size can be easily figured out, as cement
weighs a trifle over 100 pounds per cubic foot.
The roller is especially use-
ful in dry seasons, when the
soil needs more than ever to be
brought into close contact with
the seeds. At this stage how-
ever, the usefulness of the hoe
becomes apparent. The sur-
face of the ground should be
kept loose and the scuffle-hoe or
scarifier (illustrated on page
172) is the tool with which to
keep it so. Some like the rake,
but I revel in the action of the
scuffle as it rips under the
young weeds, cuts away their
•niree useful forms of TOOt*> and leaves them exposed
hoes for garden work to the sunlight. While under
its influence the surface soil crumbles to a powdery
mass. Other styles of hoe are equally useful for other
kinds of work. The heart-shaped blade, shown at
the left, can run a drill of any desired depth and
width: the narrow-bladed form reaches in among
the bushes and plants even where the scuffle will not:
while for heavier weeding and hilling what can take
the place of the old-fashioned, broad-headed article?
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 143
A measuring rod is also a useful garden tool.
Get a lo-foot stick about one inch square, and paint
one side white. Then measure accurately and at
every twelve inches cut a notch quite deep and
The garden-line and the ten-foot measuring stick are often very
useful and occasionally indispensable
all around the stick. Then mark the feet, plainly
from one to ten, using black paint or indelible
pencil. Cut a small notch in between each large
notch for the one-half foot measure.
For large gardens, the wheel cultivator and seed
drill are very useful, but small gardens can exist
without them. A spray pump, however, is indis-
pensable to a successful garden. If you haven't
any, you can easily rig one up.
For anyone who wants to purchase some or ail
144 GARDEN PROFITS
of the tools, or who wants to know what he can
save by improvising in some cases, the following
table may be useful. It will be wise, however, to
appreciate at once the fact that the hand tools,
especially, must be of the best, to give the best and
most economical results.
Roller $ 8.00
Wheel hoe 8.50
Sprayer 3-75
Spade and 2 forks 3.00
2 Hoes 2.00
Rake .75
Weeder 35
Trowel .50
Total $26.85
All old tools should be looked over carefully at
this time and repaired where necessary. Do not
throw away a spade or fork because the handle is
broken; buy a new handle and put it on. All tools
should be in first-class shape and ready for the busy
season. Clean out the tool house or place where
the tools are kept, put up pegs to hang the tools on,
dip all the metal parts in kerosene and rub with a
rag and a little vaseline to prevent them from
rusting. Keep the tool house in a neat, tidy con-
dition — have it so that you can go in at night and
be able to pick out what you want without a light.
Other Odd Jobs About the Garden. Now is a good
time to cut pea brush and cart it home. That is,
if you live where you can do so. If not, you will
have to use wire, which is good, but not as satis-
factory as the sticks. While some people call the
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 145
dwarf peas, which do not require brush, the "lazy
man's pea," I am not sure that, in the very small
garden, they would not be the best, for they need
less space and less attention.
Perhaps you will have some warm days at this
time, when you can clean up stones and rubbish
and prepare for the real garden-making later on.
Manure. See if you cannot buy manure now,
and haul it, unless you are saving it from animals
of your own. In either case, arrange to keep it
sheltered from rain and snow, and fork it over
now and then. The more rotten and the finer it
becomes the better, and thorough mixing will help
break up whatever rubbish you can add to the
compost pile. Dry leaves, lawn cuttings, vegetable
waste from the kitchen, all such material will add to
the value of the manure.
If you are buying it, be as liberal as you possibly
can. Get rid of the idea that you can put too much
good manure on your garden. You can make away
with five tons on a plot 50 x 50 ft. and if there is
any surplus, save it to make liquid manure during
the growing season.
The First Planting. The very earliest vegetables,
to which I have referred above, can be planted
under glass, the end of this month, but they must
be given warmth and protection. The ideal place
is a green house, but a satisfactory substitute is a
bay window, in which is placed a stand or table
with its top at the level of the sill. Use "flats"
or wooden boxes about 24 x 12 x 4 in. with a fairly
loose bottom. First, spread about one inch of
i46 GARDEN PROFITS
coarse gravel or cinders for drainage; upon this a
little coarse soil or broken sod, then fine screened
soil to within half an inch of the top. Level and
firm this surface, sowing the seeds rather thickly
and covering but slightly with fine sand. Firm
again and sprinkle. Change the boxes about on
the stand frequently, and try to keep the temper-
ature from going lower than 50 degrees F. at night;
do not water too freely, but only when the soil
seems nearly dry.
The "flat" Is the indoor, early-spring, seed-bed. Any box about
24 x 12 In. and from three to six inches deep will do. Make several
holes (d) in the bottom. Put a layer of stones or gravel (c) : then
some roots, moss or coarse sand (b) : and on top an inch or so of
finely sifted, light, sandy soil (a)
For the Fruit Garden. It is not too early to order
the fruits that you are going to plant in the spring.
You will stand a far better chance of getting good
stock and your nurseryman will probably arrange
to deliver it whenever you wish, say the middle of
March.
Fruit in the Garden Plan. Decide just where you
are going to put your fruit and locate each bush,
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 147
tree and plant on the plan. If you are going to have
a series of rows, plan for the following distances
at least:
Dwarf apples, pears, etc. . 10 x 10 ft.
Grapes 6 x 8 ft.
Currants, gooseberries . 4 x 6 ft.
Raspberries, blackberries . 3x6 and 4 x 7 ft.
Strawberries .... ix 4 (rows) or 1 3^ x ^2 ft. (beds)
Varieties. As to varieties and the number of
plants needed, you must satisfy (i) your locality,
(2) your personal taste, (3) available space. Cer-
tain varieties are suggested in these pages. Be-
sides this, your State Experiment Station will tell
you what kinds are hardy for your section and per-
haps you will have a neighbor who grows fruit,
or a friendly nurseryman, who will tell you the
facts concerning the eating qualities of different
varieties.
Special Requirements. If you want to try the
dwarf trees, to save space, arrange to grow apples,
pears, plums or cherries on the south side of walls
or fences. Peaches and apricots will be more pro-
tected from an early start and subsequent frost
injury, on the north side. These trees can be
grown on wire trellisses if you desire.
Grapes will grow almost anywhere in the garden,
and can be made doubly useful in covering unsightly
objects, doorways, etc.
Currants, gooseberries and all the brambles,
like a cool location; a northern slope is excellent,
and shade is desirable, if not too dense and con-
tinuous.
I48 GARDEN PROFITS
The strawberries want a warmer, sunny location,
but in small-scale gardening, can be grown between
the rows of bush fruits or dwarfs. This inter-
planting will, however, need increased manuring,
since we are doubling the call on the supply of plant
food from a single area.
FEBRUARY
Hotbeds. February is the month of hotbeds —
the time to build them and to find them most useful.
I need not enlarge on the reasons for having a hot-
bed; they are clearly illustrated in the early ma-
turity, size and perfection of vegetables started
under glass. Under our new scheme of intensifying
results, the hotbed assumes an even greater impor-
tance than formerly, so you must certainly plan
for one or more. Complete hotbed directions are
included in Chapter IV.
The Growing Plants. During this month, keep
the seedling cabbages, cauliflowers and lettuce
(if you planted any in January) moist and pro-
tected from cold. As soon as they become at all
crowded, you will have a chance to use your hot-
bed. If it is not ready, you will have to make more
flats, for the seedlings, when about an inch high,
must be transplanted. Set them two or three
inches apart each way, making a hole in the fine,
levelled soil with a small stick or pencil and pinch-
ing the earth firmly about the plant. This trans-
planting will probably take care of the plants till
they can be set in the ground. If the season is
late, it may be necessary to shift the cabbage once
more into the beds as is described above in the
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 149
scheme for managing hotbeds. Some lettuce may
be matured there if you can spare room for the
heads, to be thinned to nine inches apart each way.
New Plantings. Other vegetables that you should
sow this month, in the same general way as I have
directed for the cabbage, are onions (and leeks),
celery, about the middle of the month, and more
cabbage, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts, if you
like them, about the end of February. This will
be your main "early crop," the January planting
being merely a small, extra-early attempt to gain
time and, often, to take advantage of the call for
early cabbage plants.
The brambles make a lot of unnecessary growth in a season. Prune
them during the resting or dormant .winter period; anytime fron?
November to March, but no later
If conditions are really favorable for keeping
them warm, sow tomatoes, eggplant and peppers,
just about the end of the month. For all of these
1 5o GARDEN PROFITS
you will need but a little seed, as you can see by
the January table. However, always sow at least
twice as much seed as you wish plants, to allow
for the failure of some of the seeds to germinate,
and to give you a chance to select the best seedlings
for transplanting.
The bramble bush after being
pruned. Leave only a few strong
canes, and head these back to a
length of two or three feet
Fruitward Thoughts. If you have any bright
days when you can dig in the garden, begin to fit
the ground for your fruits. Dig it thoroughly;
three feet deep is not too much; take out the soil
and put back a mixture of soil, manure and, if
the land is heavy, sand or coal ashes. The bush
fruits and strawberries, especially, like a fairly
light, well drained soil, while for peaches, it is es-
sential.
THE SEASON OF PLANTING: MARCH TO JUNE
Correct and careful planting is a vital necessity
in a successful garden. If you have kept ahead of
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN "151
the preliminary work up to now, you will be better
off than many a gardener, but you must, if anything,
increase your care and promptness from this time on.
Don't let over-cautious conservatives worry you
by suggesting that it is "too early to plant this or
that." If you follow these directions you may, it
is true, lose some plants, perhaps a small crop, by
frost. But then, a few cents' worth of seed is not
so much to lose at this time, whereas there is a good
chance that the plants will stand, and you will be
the gainer by days, or even weeks. Most certainly
take some such risks. The game is very worth the
candle.
MARCH
Planting and Transplanting. March is a very
busy month for the progressive gardener. Seed
sown now sprouts, but, because of cool nights, the
top growth is slow. The roots, however, are
foraging and as soon as climatic conditions are right,
you have a big-rooted plant ready to push right
ahead.
I am supposing that you have already started
some of the hardier plants in the hotbed, and
perhaps a few tomatoes, eggplant and peppers,
indoors. If you haven't done this start the cab-
bages, etc., at once. The tender seedlings must be
kept indoors until the middle of the month, but at
that time you can start some more in the hotbed.
If the temperature goes too low for these soft,
sappy plants they soon turn yellow and it takes a
long time to get them back to normal condition.
IS2 GARDEN PROFITS
But in a properly prepared hotbed, it is safe to sow
them any time after March 15. A good plan is
to partition off the section used so that it can be
kept slightly warmer than the balance of the frame;
and if you have space to spare in the cool part of
che frame, sow some beets, carrots and parsley.
These should be sown broadcast and rather thinly,
as they need not be dibbled off, but can be trans-
planted directly to the garden when the proper time
arrives.
Moving Last Month's Seedlings. Seed planted last
month should by this time have developed young
plants quite well advanced, and they will soon be
ruined for want of light and air. We must now
prepare some sash for receiving the young plants.
Put the hot manure in the frame the same as you
did for the seeds; put the soil on top, but this time
it should be rich. When it has become well warmed,
the frame is ready to receive the plants. Take a
4-inch board the length of your frame, place it
against the end of the prepared ground and mark
along the inside with a sharpened stick. Turn
the board over and mark again, and so on until
finished. You will not need to mark the opposite
way if you use a little care in setting the plants.
If you get the first row right — the plants four inches
apart — the others will follow right along; but
always "break" the rows — that is, plant opposite
the spaces, aligning the plants of alternate rows.
Just How to Transplant. In setting out the plants
or dibbling off, a little care must be used. To begin
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 153
with, the plants must not get frosted; so select a
nice sunny day, take a seed pan or board and lift
a clump of the young seedlings, covering them well
if the weather is cold and with a newspaper if the
sun is shining. Do not take out any more than
When transplanting seedlings cut back
any that have developed more than two
leaves. The cross lines indicate the relative
amount of leaf surface to be removed
fifty at one time. When these are planted, return
to the seed bed for more. Use a little judg-
ment in regard to the condition of the soil both in
the seed bed and frame. The soil should be moder-
ately moist, and in the newly prepared bed, it should
be about the same as in the seed bed. The ad-
vantage in this is that the roots will bind more
quickly.
I54 GARDEN PROFITS
"Dibbling." Take a sharpened stick about three
or four times the thickness of a lead pencil, stick
it in the ground and turn it around, bearing on the
outside of the hole. With the left hand, hold the
young plant by the top of the few leaves, drop the
roots of the seedling into the newly made hole and
firm. This is done by pressing down with the end
of the stick, holding it almost horizontal instead of
perpendicular. The depression made in the ground
is left, as that forms an excellent medium for water-
ing the young seedlings. Be careful to plant the
seedlings at the proper depth — a mere trifle deeper
if they have had plenty of air and light in the seed
bed. If they have been allowed to stay in the seed
bed too long, or if the seed was sown too thickly,
the seedlings are very apt to "draw up" or get
spindly, and they will have to be set deeper accord-
ingly. This applies more particularly to the cab-
bage family.
The dibble — a great time saver
in transplanting. Anybody can
make one
When to "Dibble" The proper time to start
dibbling the young plants is when the third leaf
is almost developed; but if it is neglected until
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 155
after the plants have passed this stage, a good
plan is to pinch them back slightly after planting.
By removing about one-half of each leaf from
cabbage, cauliflower, celery, etc., the plants, hav-
ing less to sustain, are not so liable to flag and will
quickly start root action. Sprinkle the plants well
after planting, but do not flood them. If the young
plants are moistened every fine day in the morn-
ing, from a sprinkling can with a very fine rose,
they will pick up quickly.
Paper Pots. Another good scheme for small
gardens (but impracticable for large places be-
cause of the time consumed) is to plant the seed-
Old berry boxes are useful In at least two ways, i.e.. In place of
pots for raising seedlings, and for protecting newly set plants fro u.
sun. wind, and frost
lings in paper flower pots. I do not mean the
heavy paper kind, but the cheap ones made of
pasteboard. They can be set very close together
156 GARDEN PROFITS
and when planting-out time comes, it saves the
plants from a second check. You need not wait
for a dark rainy day, either, to do your planting, as
the roots, being confined, form a ball and none are
lost even though the pots have been torn or de-
stroyed. I do not recommend pots for celery
plants, but for cabbage and cauliflower they are
excellent. I always advise the use of pots for egg-
plants and peppers. Save your old berry boxes
for this, too. They can be used, after the plants
are set, for covering them on cold nights, and bright,
hot days.
The First Potatoes. We are not confined to the
hotbed for the month of March. There are num-
erous things outside that can now be done. Plant
some early potatoes about the end of the month.
This is not a joke; the sooner you realize that all
potatoes are better when planted early, the better
it will be for you. I always try to have them all
in by the middle of April, for by planting early the
plants get well established before the dry weather of
summer comes on.
In any event, do not permit March to pass with-
out getting in a few rows for use about the latter
part of June, (in the neighborhood of New York).
In planting early potatoes always use manure in
preference to other fertilizers, as it keeps the ground
slightly warm until the eyes throw out shoots. In
case of a late frost after the shoots show above
ground, go along the row with a hoe and draw a
little soil over them. In cutting seed potatoes
always cut to one eye and remove entirely the butt
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 157
end with all the eyes on it. After cutting the
potatoes dip them in sifted ashes and spread them
out on the cellar floor for a day or two to dry well
before planting.
Making an Asparagus 'Bed. This is also a good
time to think about setting out an asparagus bed.
Do not get the largest roots as they are very slow
in starting. The two-year old roots will be found
preferable to the larger sizes. To grow really good
asparagus you simply must make a perfect bed:
trench the ground three feet deep — four is even
better — and add an abundance of well-rotted
manure. Put four layers of manure in each trench.
A year ago I put into a bed 180 feet long and 100
feet wide about 100 loads of manure.
Dig a trench about six inches deep and about
twelve inches wide, go along the trench and
place the young plants, crown up, about eighteen
inches apart, taking care to spread the roots nicely.
Run the rows north and south, if convenient.
Throw a couple of inches of soil over the roots and
firm nicely with the feet, but don't tramp on the
crown. About the middle of summer pull another
couple of inches of soil into the trench and in the
fall, level off the surface.
Advice for the Future. When your bed is about
two months old, it should be given a liberal dressing
of salt, which not only kills weeds but serves as a
valuable fertilizer and conserver of moisture. In
future Marches, the old bed should be spaded
over and manure turned in. Each year the crowns
work nearer the surface, so that after several years,
i58
GARDEN PROFITS
it will be necessary to hoe the soil up over them
when digging manure into the bed. Do not be afraid
of breaking a few roots in the process, as new ones
will quickly shoot out.
Rhubarb Beds, too. This, being an extra early
vegetable, must be attended to now. Rhubarb is
started from cuttings of the crown, and if you can
find an old bed, chop a few of the roots into quarters
and set them in your own garden, using plenty of
manure well dug in. Rhubarb plants should be
placed about two feet apart. Each year the oldest,
seediest plants in the bed can be divided in this
way and given new strength.
In the left hand sketch the soil was not prepared deep enough,
and the manure, left near the surface caused crooked and branched
root growth. Deep soil and thorough mixing of soil and manure
are essentials in growing parsnips, carrots, etc.
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 159
Getting the Ground Ready. You can spread manure
this month, if the snow has disappeared and per-
haps the ground will be thawed enough for break-
ing up. On a quarter of an acre or more, it will
pay to hire someone to plow and harrow for you.
But in most backyard gardens, hand work will be
the most economical, and a little digging every
day will prove a fine "spring medicine" and ap-
petizer. Spread the manure thickly and dig the
soil deeply with a spade. This means at least a
foot or better still, two, and the soil must be broken
up thoroughly and the manure completely mixed
with it.
Clay Soils. If your soil is clayey, and seems sticky
you will have to let it dry out more, as this kind
of soil can be spoiled for the whole season by being
worked when wet. When you can dig it up, add
some fine coal ashes, or sand, as well as plenty of
manure, and you will be saved a lot of trouble
next year. If the ground is low generally, an
application of air-slaked lime will be very beneficial,
and it is not too late to do it now. Use it plenti-
fully and you will avoid many battles with cut-
worms and maggots.
The Seed Bed. After plowing or digging, as the
case may be, comes repeated harrowing (also to
be hired done), or several rakings. These leave the
surface level, the soil compact and finely broken up,
and the bed free from stones, sticks and unrotted
bits of manure. The latter can be thrown on
next year's compost-manure pile to advantage.
When your soil is in a fine, loose condition, a light
160 GARDEN PROFITS
rolling makes it still better for seeding, but after-
wards you must go over it with a rake very lightly,
to produce a "dust mulch," and prevent evapor-
ation.
You can, perhaps, sow some seeds of lettuce,
peas, onions, radish and spinach outside by now,
but use your judgment as to the weather and con-
ditions of the soil. However, as April is the real
planting month, look there for exact directions for
sowing seeds.
Planting the Fruit Garden. Now you can plant all
your fruit, and get it over. That is, as soon as the
soil stops freezing every night, so you can keep
it stirred. If your trees and bushes arrive before
you want to put them in the ground, don't unpack
anything; leave the bundles or boxes in a cool,
moist place. They will keep for several days this
way, and you avoid the breaking of roots and twigs
attendant on much handling.
Tree Fruits. Dig the holes bigger than the roots
The planting-board is simplicity itself to make, and permits
you to set trees in perfect alignment
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 161
seem to need so they can be spread out com-
fortably. Cut off clean, any broken or ragged roots.
The pruning of the head is more difficult and de-
pends on the kind of tree you want. If simply a
dwarf of standard shape, cut back the branches
to three or four and shorten these to several inches.
For trained trees to grow on walls or a trellis, cut
back all but the number of branches you want, and
trim these to a whip or single stem. These are to
be tied to the support in the form you decide on —
fan-shaped, U-shaped or single, diagonal cordon, etc.
Sift the soil about the fine roots and firm it down,
emphasizing this firming process till the hole is
filled, when a layer of loose soil may be left on top
to prevent evaporation.
Grapes. Prune the roots, as directed above, and
cut back the top close to the ground-level if this has
not been done in the nursery.
Bush Fruits. Take similar care of the roots but
leave two or three strong stems two feet long or so.
These will be the bearers the second year.
Strawberries. There is no pruning save the
trimming of the roots necessary in planting straw-
berries. More care should be taken to keep them
moist, however, and to avoid planting them so
deeply as to cover the crowns.
In planting all the other fruits it is well to set
them a trifle, perhaps an inch, lower than they were
in the nursery row.
As I have said, do not follow these directions
literally, in the face of common sense. If it is ob-
viously too wintry, even at the end of March,
162 GARDEN PROFITS
wait a little longer before you plant, especially the
strawberries.
APRIL
The Value of Manure. It must be remembered
that the garden cannot be planted in a few minutes;
gardening requires patience, a strict adherence to
small details, and also considerable foresight.
Try to have your garden a little better than your
neighbor's. Feed your ground; there is no use
trying to grow crops on poor, impoverished soil
on which chickweed could hardly exist. Some
soils respond readily to fertilizers, but in most cases
well rotted farmyard manure proves the best tonic.
Don't feed in spoonful doses, but give liberal appli-
cations.
One of the chief values in manure lies in its ca-
pacity to catch and store moisture; lack of manure,
and therefore lack of moisture, causes more poor
vegetables than anything else. Vegetables are quick
growers, of a succulent nature, and are curiously
affected by a lack of moisture. With carrots,
for instance, the core gets very hard and dry and
the outer part peels off. In beets it will be shown
by white, hard lines; in peas by small size; in beans
by the pod being curved and very stringy. In
celery the stringiness is, in nine cases out of ten,
the result of insufficient manure, which will also
cause peppers to become very strong and cabbages
to form stubby roots.
Repeated Advice. If you have new ground to
break for a garden, have it well plowed, using a
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 163
subsoil plow to break the bottom. Digging is
better if you can afford it, in which case trench it
about three feet deep, throwing the top soil to the
bottom and adding plenty of manure.
After the ground is dug the section which is to
be used for early vegetables (that is, the highest or
best drained ground) can be raked over with a
wooden rake to smooth it off. Then run a roller
over it before sowing the seeds.
The Principles of Seed Sowing. The idea to be
remembered in sowing seeds is that they should not
be planted too deep nor too shallow; too thin, nor
too thick. The depth of the drill varies according
to the vegetable to be planted. Allow about one-
quarter of an inch for lettuce and seeds of that size;
about one-half inch for parsnips and such seeds;
about one inch for beans; and about two inches for
peas, except the first sowing, which should be about
four inches deep. Sow enough seed to have a good
full row and reduce the thinning out to a minimum;
but do not throw the seeds in by the handful.
Drilling. In making drills,
measure with a line and have
it straight and taut. For peas
use a spade, which will give
a drill one foot wide. For
beans in double rows use a
hoe, making the drill the full
width of the hoe. For seeds
that require single drills not
less than one-half inch deep, The simplest, cheapest
, , , . / ' and probably commonest
Use the hoe edgewise; for form of garden label
i64
GARDEN PROFITS
small seeds, where a really shallow drill is
required, use a sharpened stick or a plant label.
Always use labels of some description to tell
where each vegetable is planted. Twelve-inch garden
labels cost but a cent apiece, but if you feel you
cannot afford to buy them, use strips of shingles.
Always mark the variety and date of sowing on
the label. If you mark the same thing on your
garden plan it will certainly help you next year
when planning your garden.
As soon as you have decided on the plans of
your garden, spend another evening or two writing
the labels. Include the number of the row accord-
ing to the plan, and the approximate date of sow-
ing, as well as the kind and variety of vegetable.
If you do this you will bless yourself about April,
when otherwise you would be scurrying around
looking for bits of stick to mark the rows, or
the pencil that had fall-
en out of your pocket,
or trying to make the
packet that the seeds
came in stay in its place
in spite of the wind that
continually blew it
away. Label the berry
bushes, the grape vines
and the fruit trees indi-
vidually, especially if you
The sliding cover protects the have several varieties,
writing and makes the simple form ike All-Season Crops.
of label suitable for the perennial (;+-..<-;„„ f™™ ™~
vegetable beds, and the berry rows ^tarting *™™- one
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 165
of the garden, mark off one row for parsnips, one for
salisfy, then Swiss chard, parsley, celeriac, scorzonera
and chickory, and dandelion if you wish. Sow more
In this permanent form
of label, the plate of glass
covers and protects the
writing and is held in
place by the folded edges
of the metal case a. b. c.
The nail d, permits the
glass and card toberemoved
instantly
than one row if you think you will need it. Then
sow onions and leeks. All these vegetables should
be put together, for only one sowing is made and they
remain in the ground the entire season. If you
grow late potatoes it would be wise to plant them
next to the vegetables just mentioned, as they are
all in the same class.
If you have room for the first sowing of early
i66 GARDEN PROFITS
vegetables alongside the all-season crops they may
be planted there; but if not, prepare another strip.
Sow early peas, spinach, radish, lettuce, etc.
Covering the Seeds. In filling the seed drills a
wooden rake is most generally used. If you are
in the habit of using a rake to cover seeds, be careful
not to dig into the ground, but gently pull the soil
back into the drill. A better plan is to do this work
with the feet. Place the feet on the drill, heels
together, and each foot at an angle of 45°. Walk
along, first pushing one foot forward and then
the other, being careful not to raise the feet from
the ground. This shoves the soil back into the
trench and firms it at the same time.
Root crops are sometimes attacked by maggots;
onions are invariably, and radishes are also easy
victims. The best preventive is soot, which can
be procured from any seedsman. Sow this right
on top of the drill where the seed is planted, using
a five-inch potful for every fifty feet of drill. If
you used lime when you dug up the soil you are
less likely to be troubled by these pests.
Sowing for Succession. After you have sown
parsnips, onions, etc., you are through sowing this
class of vegetables for the season, but peas, radishes,
lettuce, carrots, etc., require occasional sowings
to keep up a fresh supply. They should be sown
from time to time as follows :
Bush Beans. Every two weeks from April 30 to
August 15.
Beets. Every three weeks from April I to
August 15.
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 167
Carrots. Every three weeks from April I to
August 15.
Chervil. If used for flavoring or garnishing salads,
etc., should be sown every three weeks from April
i to August 15.
Corn. Every two weeks from May I to July 30.
Cucumbers. Every three weeks from May I to
July 30.
Lettuce. Every two weeks from April I to May
15; then every week until September i; then
every two weeks until October i. The idea of
this is to sow in small batches during the hot
weather, as it soon runs to seed at that season.
Onions. If you are fond of green onions, you
can have them by sowing every three weeks from
April i to September 16.
Peas. Every week from April i to June I ; then
again, on July 15, being sown every two weeks
until September i.
Radish. Every week from April I to October I.
Spinach. Every week from April i to May 30.
Then stop until August; then sow every week until
September i.
Turnip. Every three weeks from April I to May
15. Then again from July 30 to September i.
The following varieties of vegetables have been
recommended for April sowing:
Asparagus, Palmetto, D'Argenteuil; Beans, Green Podded,
Black Valentine; Beet, Early Eclipse; Brussels sprouts, Brechin
Castle; Cabbage, Early Jersey Wakefield; Carrot, Guerande;
Cauliflower, Earliest Dwarf Erfurt; Celery, Chicago; Celeriac
Erfurt; Cher cil, Curled; Kohlrabi, White Vienna; Leek, Ameri-
can Flag; Lettuce, May King; Onion: for large onions, Prize-
168 GARDEN PROFITS
taker and Alsa Craig; for best keepers, Red Wethersfield,
Yellow Globe Danvers and Southport White Globe; Parsley,
Moss Curled; Parsnip, American Hollow Crown; Peas, Alaska,
earliest of all peas, but very poor quality; New York Market
is a good early pea, but sow Gradus at the same time. Make
three sowings in the month, using one or two rows of New York,
Marshall or Nott's Excelsior, and the balance all Gradus, a
pea you will never tire of. Potatoes, For early use, Bovee,
very free bearer, or Noroton Beauty; for main crop use Carman.
No. 3, Green Mountain, or Uncle Sam. Radish, Ne Plus
Ultra or French Breakfast. Salsify, Mammoth Sandwich
Island. Spinach, Viroflay and Victoria, and, towards the end
of the month, sow a row of New Zealand for summer use.
If you have absolutely no room for coldframes
or hotbeds and have no early-sown cabbage plants,
you can make a sowing of this vegetable about
April i, and at the same time one of cauliflower and
Brussels sprout seeds.
Celery can now be sown outdoors for the late or
main crop and will follow up the early lot which
was started in February.
Get your potatoes in now. You do not gain any-
thing by putting off such jobs. As suggested last
month, cut your seed to one eye and plant about
twelve to fourteen inches apart in the row.
Corn. If I were you, I'd try a few hills of some
early corn, say Golden Bantam. Maybe there will
be no more frost, and you can be having sweet corn
while your neighbor is dreaming about it. Now
is the time to prepare melon hills. Use a liberal
amount of manure, and if you can procure some
fresh sod, it is a good plan to mix it with the manure,
using two-thirds sod and one-third manure. Dig
holes two feet deep and three feet across and fill
them with the compost, raising the hills a few inches
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 169
higher than the ground level. Then place the
frames to give the ground a good chance to get
thoroughly warmed. If you haven't any frames,
do not try to grow melons in Long Island, or places
of similar latitude, because melons, without the help
of sash frames, do not ripen until the middle of
September. As the nights then get very cool the
melons lose their flavor, crack considerably and are
at the mercy of the melon blight. Build a few
frames; they will not cost very much. All you
require is a one-foot-square box nine inches high in
front and twelve inches in back, and a four-glass sash
to cover it. Old fruit baskets with the bottoms
carefully removed and a plate of glass substituted
will do at a pinch. Get the hills prepared early in
the month and the frames placed, and sow the seed
any time after the twenty-fifth.
You can also prepare Lima bean hills now, but I
would not advise sowing until after May I. Dig
good deep hills for the Limas and add plenty of
manure to the soil. Mark off the row and place
poles by making good deep holes with a crowbar,
then dig around the pole and fill in with the soil
that has been removed, to which about one-third
manure has been added. I use a wheelbarrowful
to every three hills.
Before setting plants of cabbage, cauliflower,
Brussels sprouts, leek, lettuce, etc., out in the open
ground, harden them off slightly. Start by having
a little air on the frame at night and keep gradually
increasing the amount until by the end of the month
the sash can be left off altogether.
170 GARDEN PROFITS
Eggplant, peppers and tomatoes are best left
in the frames until the end of May and should
not be subjected to the hardening-off process. So
partition off your warm plants in some way.
When sowing seeds by hand, the row-
marker is a great help in making the
garden convenient, orderly and attrac-
tive. Get the first row straight with a
garden line
Make drills about three or four inches deep for
cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and leeks
with the edge of a hoe. The drill protects the newly
set plants from the wind and sun, and catches water;
the soil can easily be levelled off after the plants
have attained any size. It is not practical to do
this with lettuce or onions. When planting out
vegetables always place your line and make a drill
as a guide to getting straight rows, but for lettuce
and onions and such vegetables, make it very shal-
low, one inch being deep enough.
THE BUSY GROWING SEASON: MAY TO OCTOBER
MAY
You will be planting, throughout this month and
the next, but the care of the growing crops will
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 171
commence, also, and I want to emphasize its im-
portance right away.
Don't wait for weeds to appear before you begin
to cultivate. See if you cannot prevent the appear-
ance of even one. I assure you the task will become
easier and easier as the weeks go on. Whenever
you thin out a row clean out the weeds — if there
are any. But better than this scratch the soil
very lightly every few days — whether there is any-
thing sowed, or growing, or not. The majority of
weeds in a garden are from home-grown seeds, so
if you exterminate the first crop before it ripens, you
will have seriously inconvenienced any future weed
growth. And don't forget that frequent cultivation
is the next best thing to rainfall for keeping plants
supplied with moisture; the latter cannot evapo-
rate from the firm soil beneath ; the plant-roots get it.
Before you begin to cultivate sit down and learn
one rule by heart.
Don't cultivate, hoe, or
pick beans when they are
wet. Anthracnose, the
cancerof beandiseases,
will certainly become Good for hand-weeding and loosen-
.j . .f , ing the soil, among perennials .
an epidemic if you do.
It may seem as though I had lost sight of the
fact that this is the garden of a business man who
cannot give all day to his vegetables. But I have
not. It is remarkable how much you can do in an
hour, in a garden built on the modern, long-row plan,
and with the up-to-date implements. Suppose you
can walk fifty feet in, say, ten seconds. Then surely
172 GARDEN PROFITS
you can push a wheel hoe that far in a minute
and with five seconds for turning at the ends, you
could cultivate nearly sixty rows in an hour! By
doing a little each day you can cover the whole
The scuffle-hoe or scarifier Is excellent
for working close to rows and under bushy
plants. It supplements the wheel-hoe
garden twice a week and still leave time for trans-
planting, watering (which you can leave to the
sprinkler) and the other tasks. Just keep busy
while you are at it, and you will be surprised at the
results.
The Main Corn Crop. Keep right on sowing seeds
this month. One of the main crops for May sowing
is sweet corn. No vegetable is more affected by
poor ground. You have noticed poor, scrawny-
looking ears not filled to the ends, and again others
that were all right in appearance, but lacking in
quality. The cause in each case is lack of proper
nourishment for the plant, and by that I mean
manure. Most folks use fertilizers instead, which
is all wrong for sweet corn. With field corn you
use the dried ear and you don't care whether it is
milky or not, but the case is reversed with sweet
corn. It must grow quickly and manure is necessary
especially during dry summers. Give the ground a
coating about 4 to 6 inches thick and plough or
dig it under, not necessarily deep, as corn is a rather
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 173
shallow rooter. I prefer to plant corn in rows
because all kinds do not grow the same size, and so do
not require the same spacing. This is easily regulat-
ed by thinning when the corn is planted in rows.
Plant Golden Bantam for a first crop; it is not only
a very early corn, but one of the best flavored. And
don't forget Stowell's Evergreen and Country
Gentleman, which are the best of the late corns.
Melons and Lima Beans. If melons have not
been sown as suggested last month, see to it at once
and always put plenty of seed in each hill, as it is
very poor economy to be saving of seed. Put at
least 12 seeds in each hill, as the plants are easily
thinned out at the proper time, when only 3 plants
should be left in hills if 8 feet apart; but if they are
10 or 12 feet apart, 4 plants may be left.
Sow Lima beans if the weather seems settled and
there is a little warmth in the ground; you don't
gain anything by planting Limas before. A few
cool nights after the plants are above ground will
cause them to turn yellow and the result is a season
of very slow, stunted growth* May 10 is quite
early enough for New York and similar localities.
If rain occurs within 48 hours of the time of sow-
ing, the seed will rot and the work must be done
over. In heavy soils, 96 hours is not too long a
limit to place. Examine your seeds after a rain-
fall and see if they are rotting or not. Making a
circle around the pole about two inches deep,
filling this with sand, and sowing the seeds in the
sand may save you from sowing the seeds a second
time, as the sand dries very quickly after a rain.
I74 GARDEN PROFITS
Bush Limas are best sown in rows, but as the seed
is smaller and considerably harder than that of
the pole kinds it is not often necessary to plant
them in sand. If you were troubled with poor
germination, however, try it.
Pumpkins, Squash, etc. About May I you can
prepare hills for cucumbers, squash, pumpkins and
watermelons. Make them moderately rich. Dig
holes about 3 feet wide and about 2 feet deep and
add about one-half wheelbarrow load of manure to
each hill, and in measuring the manure don't take
the wheelbarrow that your boy plays with around the
garden. I mean a regular sized garden barrow.
All these vegetables are heat-lovers and will
surely feel the effects of a late nor'wester, so about
the tenth of the month will be time enough for
sowing. Watermelons can be sown earlier if you
have frames for them. Allow 10 feet between the
hills if you can. If you are short of space, sow
pumpkins, squash and watermelons in the early
corn patch, and when the corn crop is finished
the stalks can be cut- down to give the other vege-
tables a chance.
New Zealand Spinach is a continuous grower from
the sprouting of the seed until cut down by frost,
and is a welcome summer green. Some folks dis-
like this vegetable simply because they never give
it a fair opportunity. It is of succulent nature and
demands plenty of manure. It must thrive to be
sweet and tender; remember to cut it often, even if
you cannot use it all yourself.
Sow okra any time after the roth of the month in
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 175
single rows; thinning the plants to about 12 inches
apart.
Succession Sowing. Sowing for succession must
never be lost sight of, because if a sowing is
neglected, the chain is broken and the continuity
of crops is lost. This becomes more important as
the season advances, as the time of maturity of the
crops is also lessening. To illustrate: peas sown
April i and 15 will have an interval between
maturity twice as long as the time elapsing between
two sowings made on the ist and I5th of May. At
the end of the year the process works in the opposite
way.
Make four sowings of peas in May about one week
apart. The three best varieties for May sowing
are Gradus, perhaps the best of all peas when you
consider quality; Telephone, also a good pea, and
an excellent cropper; Champion of England. I
plant these two last alternately with Gradus; they
give heavier crops.
Sow spinach and radish every week during May,
for at this season spinach runs quickly to seed and
radishes get very strong. Both these vegetables
can be used as "fillers" in any other rows. Rad-
ishes can be sown in melon hills or with carrot and
parsnip seed. They will mature and be removed
just about when you thin the main crops.
Spinach does well between the squash and melon
hills before the vines spread. If the former is
well watered, it will not run to seed so quickly.
Make two sowings of carrots and beets during the
month, and also sow turnips twice.
176 GARDEN PROFITS
Lettuce must be sown often during May, as the
crop will mature during the warm weather and no
matter how much care we use a certain percentage
is sure to run to seed; this can only be reduced to
a minimum by frequent sowings, say about one
week apart.
I sow string beans about every three weeks for
succession. I usually sow in single rows, but I
don't see any great objection to the double row —
neither can I see any advantage.
Plant corn about every two weeks. A good
plan is to sow your early variety first, say about
May 7, then on the I4th sow one row of early,
and one row of a late variety; about the 28th sow
two rows of late. This method will certainly in-
sure one crop following the other very closely.
A Rule for Succession Crops. A very simple yet
convenient method for keeping succession crops
moving in the proper rotation is to make a sowing
when the previous one is just above ground.
Setting Out the Tender Plants. If you have not
already done as advised last month in planting out
from the coldframe some of the more hardy of the
vegetable plants, such as cabbage, cauliflower and
Brussels sprouts, do it as soon as possible. If any
grow too large in the frame or get root-bound they
will be greatly damaged. After the 2Oth, it will be
safe to set out tomatoes. You can save more or
less breakage by staking the plants right away.
Peppers and eggplant will not stand cold nights,
but can come out pretty soon now.
Fall Crops. The latter part of May is the time to
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 177
Individual cabbage, tomato, and egg-
plants may be protected from cut-
worms, by means of paper collars, put
on when they are transplanted
sow late cabbage, cauliflower, kale and winter
celery. You can save time and space by sowing in
beds now and transplanting as soon as you clear
a row of beets, turnips, peas, or some early planted
vegetable. Of course, if you have the space, you
can save the extra work of transplanting by starting
the plants in their permanent positions. However,
you can set a good many plants in a June evening
and next fall you will be glad of all the cabbages
and cauliflowers you can get.
i78 GARDEN PROFITS
The Asparagus Bed. Give two applications of
salt during May (I use 500 Ibs. on a plot 60 x 180
ft.); this will keep down the growth of weeds and
the asparagus is benefited. Apply this just before,
or during a rain, run the cultivator over the bed two
or three times during the month, and exercise a little
caution in cutting, and your bed will keep a-going.
In cutting, don't jab a knife through the crown, as
that splits it into small pieces and causes the shoots
to become smaller.
One of the best forms of asparagus knife
has a V-shaped edge. Insert it close to the
stalk you want, and don't stab the crowu
Rhubarb. If rhubarb is thin or stringy it needs
attention. Seed pods persistently appearing is
also an equal assurance that next fall the plants
should be divided and reset. Cut off the seed pods
as soon as they appear; but don't cut the shoots,
or rather leaves — pull them off with a downward
jerk.
To Hill or Not to Hill? There are several reasons
for hilling vegetables. In some cases it keeps
plants from blowing over; it also tends to get the
roots deeper, where they are not so liable to be af-
fected by dry weather; with other vegetables it is
done to blanch the stalks, the better to fit them for
table use. But don't hill too deeply. Judgment
is necessary, as no hard rule can be fixed, the depth
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 179
varying with the season, and the kind of vegetable.
Beans, peas, and corn are usually hilled about the
same height, four inches; this should be done early
as it prevents them from blowing over. Leek and
celery should be hilled as they grow. I usually
hill okra, as it is brittle and breaks very easily.
Potatoes should not be hilled too early; the proper
time is when the flowers appear. I advise hilling
cauliflower and cabbage up to the bottom leaves,
if they were not planted in drills as suggested last
month. This is not because there is any danger of
their blowing over, but to keep the roots farther
from the heat and drought.
Thinning Out. The thinning out of crops such
as beets, carrots, etc., must be done when the
plants are very small. Go over a row, and pull
out the plants between the two points which are
to be covered. If you happen to leave two or three
in a clump it will not matter very much as they can
be thinned again later on in the season.
Approved distances for thinning the plants are
as follows:
Beans, 6 inches apart Lettuce, 9 inches apart
Beets, 3 inches apart Okra, 8 inches apart
Corn, 3 inches apart, by hill Parsnips, 5 inches apart
8 inches in row Onions 3 inches apart
Carrot, 3 inches apart Salsify, 3 inches apart
Kohlrabi, 4 inches apart Turnip, 6 inches apart
Leek, 6 inches apart
Some of the early sown peas must now be brushed,
but never do this until after they have been hilled;
and in placing the brush be sure always to slant it.
i8o
GARDEN PROFITS
This gives the vines a better chance to get a good
hold as they can climb on several sticks in place of
one.
Fruit Notes. None of your fruit bushes should
be allowed to bear the first year even if they seem
willing. Pinch off the blossoms before the fruit sets
and you will send the energy into the roots and
body of the plant. As they are expected to last
for a number of years, this is only giving the bushes
a fair start, but they will certainly show their
gratitude later.
Supposing that you are limited for space, I would
advise cutting off the strawberry runners to keep
the plants within bounds. In a
few years when the plants get
older, you can pot these runners
and get strong, new plants, for
nothing. This is done by sinking
a two or three-inch pot in the
ground near a thrifty plant, and
burying one of the nodes or joints
of a runner in the soil contained
in the pot. This joint will soon
throw out roots and new leaves
and become an individual plant.
It may then be cut away from the
parent plant, and be transplanted
to larger pots as its growth calls
for it. After a winter in the cold-
frame or greenhouse, it may beset
in the berry patch to bear the following spring.
The first season pinch off blossoms. This is the way
runner-cutter
duces a matted row
of berries to a series
of uniform, conven-
ient sized plants.
Keep the bottom
edge sharp
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 181
to increase your plants, too, if you find that you
have more space than you expected. I work my
strawberries thus:
I set out a bed every year, and leave it for two
years — the first year as individual plants from
which I get quality, the second in solid rows, where
I get quantity. In this way I always have two
bearing beds. I would not advise anyone to prop-
agate his own plants continuously, however, unless
he has thoroughly up-to-date varieties, and even
then it is advisable to change the stock occasionally,
as strawberry plants can be bought too cheaply
to take any chances with poor varieties or worn-
out stock. Do not forget to mix the pistillate
and staminate flowering types.
THE GROWING SEASON FOR FRUITS
Don't Forget to Cultivate. The fruits need culti-
vation all the time until, perhaps, August. You
must remember that the first year is a hard time
for them, for they are trying to establish them-
selves under new conditions and every bit of help
you can give, counts.
You will not have to prune during the summer
except, (i) to rub off undesirable shoots on the
dwarf trees, (2) to cut off excessive strawberry
runners and (3) remove the blossoms this year.
You may decide to spray the brambles and cur-
rants as a preventive against the various rusts
and leaf diseases. Bordeaux mixture should be
used according to the formulae given in Chapter VII.
For caterpillars that eat the leaves use hellebore
1 82 GARDEN PROFITS
rather than arsenate of lead — at any rate after
the fruit has set. And for the little green aphids,
Build a simple support like this for your
brambles, keep the shoots inside the wires,
and you will save time, space and many
scratches when pruning and cultivating
use kerosene emulsion or the simpler whale-oil
soap solution. These directions hold all the
season, except that when the fruits are ripening,
use ammoniacal copper carbonate instead of Bor-
deaux mixture, if the leaf spot diseases seem to
persist.
JUNE
By this time you will be enjoying some of the
fruits of your labors, and realizing what fresh
vegetables, real ones, are. If the extraordinary
condition exists, that no one in the house but
yourself is interested in the garden, you can gather
enough for the day's meals before breakfast, wash
it and leave it, crisp and cool, on ice, or wrapped in
damp cloths or paper in the shade. Otherwise,
the vegetables should be picked only when they
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 183
are needed, for the garden itself is the best of all
ice-chests and storehouses for "green-goods."
A Washing Tank for Vegetables. If you have
no place where the vegetables can be washed be-
fore taking them into the house and if you do not
feel inclined to build a proper washing tank, use
a barrel sawed in two, or an old butter tub. But
a tank would not cost very much; it could be made
as follows:
Dig a hole about eighteen inches deep, three feet
long and two feet wide. Build inside of this a
tank of bricks, putting a partition in one end, the
partition wall being about two inches lower than
the side walls. Place a pipe in the bottom of each
basin leading to a barrel or other drainage out-
let, then plaster the bottom and side walls with
cement. Place a cork in the pipe, in the large
washing compartment, which is only used to draw
off the water in winter. All the sand is held in
the first compartment by the partition. Gather
the vegetables right into the tank; if you have
a half barrel alongside to hold refuse it will help.
When to Gather Vegetables. Most people let
their vegetables get too old! There is a proper
time to gather vegetables and there is also an im-
proper time; there is a proper way to gather them
and there is also an improper way. If we gather
vegetables too soon we injure the crop in most
cases; if we leave them too long, they deteriorate
in quality. Sometimes a single day, one way or
the other, makes all the difference.
i84 GARDEN PROFITS
Picking Peas. Do not gather peas until the
pod is nicely filled, but not hard; and under no
circumstances delay picking until it develops a
yellowish tinge, the sign of age. Never pull your
peas, but pluck them. Take the pod in the hand
and break the pod from the vine with the thumb
and first finger. Some pull them with an upward
jerk, but this is likely to tear the vine loose from
the support and often breaks or loosens it at the
root, spoiling the remainder of the crop on that
particular stem.
Spinach should be cut close to the ground. If
you pull it up by the roots you gather also a lot
of dirt, which, when thoroughly shaken in among
the leaves, is hard to wash out. Cutting also in-
duces a second growth.
Radishes are best when about the size of marbles;
permitted to grow large, they become hollow and
often have a very strong flavor.
Cabbage can be used as soon as it is well headed.
Always select the hardest heads for cutting; this
will save you from losing a quantity later on by
their splitting.
Watch cauliflower carefully when it starts to
head; if left too long it gets rough. To get pure
white, tender heads, gather the leaves up and tie
around them with string or raffia, as soon as a
bud begins to thicken in the centre. Be sure
the heads are dry at this time, or they will cer-
tainly rot. No particular size can be specified as
the proper one for cutting, as it will vary ac-
cording to season, soil and cultivation; , but I
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 185
never allow the heads to get any larger than six
inches across.
Pick beans when about two inches long. Don't
wait for the pods to develop strings or large seeds
inside. All the preparation necessary for cook-
ing is to pinch off the ends, and the beans should
be in such a condition that this can be easily done
with the thumb and first finger.
Beets develop white lines or rings and lose their
flavor when cooked, if they are allowed to get
tough and woody. They should be used when
about one inch in diameter. Be careful not to
break the small root when gathering, as that will
cause bleeding.
Carrots should also be used when small; they
are usually ready for use when about one-half inch
in diameter at the top. If larger than that, they
will have developed a core and have lost the deep
yellow color.
Swiss chard should be cut. Take the head in
one hand and cut it off clean, but be careful not
to cut low enough to injure the crown.
Start gathering onions now from the sets. Select
the largest, so as to keep them from running to
seed.
Kohlrabi and turnip should now be ready for
use. They get strong in flavor with age.
When selecting lettuce for cutting, look over
the bed carefully and select the hardest and largest
heads, as they are the best eating and will also
be the first to run to seed.
Toward the end of the month look over the
1 86 GARDEN PROFITS
early potatoes, for some may be ready for digging.
Don't dig them when very small; they should be
the size of hens' eggs at least.
Be careful when cutting the asparagus. You
cannot do this the first year unless you have very
strong, old roots. In any case it is far better to
begin gradually, the second year. Commence to
ease up on the bed a little by letting an occasional
shoot grow instead of cutting it off. Discontinue
cutting entirely after the middle of June. I usually
stop when peas come into bearing. By cutting
later than this, you surely shorten the life of the
bed.
Special Care for Melons. Pay strict attention to
ventilating the melons, and just as soon as the vines
fill the box they are in, they must be gradually
hardened off, so that the boxes can be removed.
Begin by leaving about one-half inch of air space
on the frame all night, and keep increasing this
amount for about a week, when the sash can be
entirely removed, also the boxes. Spread the plants
out evenly, being careful not to crack any of the
stems; pin each vine in place with a twig bent
V shape, but don't jam these down hard on the
vines. Simply stick them into the ground far
enough to hold the vines in position. Dig over
the space between the hills, adding some lime
if the ground is sour. Look over the vines every
week and keep them placed so that they will cover
the bed evenly and not grow in one big bunch.
The vines can be trained among the hills of late
potatoes and corn, if you are prepared to gather the
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 187
latter carefully, and in time to give the ripening
melons plenty of sunlight.
Sowing and Planting. If you haven't sown
Lima beans, do so at once, for it is not yet too late
to get a good crop. In fact, they can be sown as
late as the middle of June, but, of course, it is
better to do it earlier.
If you have sown seeds of late cabbage, cauli-
flower, etc., in beds, they must now be trans-
planted either to the row in the garden where
they are to remain or to a prepared bed from which
they can later be transplanted into the garden.
The only advantage in this latter method is that
you are sometimes short of space, and planting
in a bed and then transplanting gives an oppor-
tunity to get rid of an early crop.
Eggplants and peppers can now safely be set
out. If any cold nights follow, place an inverted
flower pot over each plant till morning.
Make two sowings of beans this month, also of
beets, carrots, corn and cucumber. Sow lettuce
and radishes every week. Discontinue sowing peas
and spinach, as they will not grow during mid-
summer.
Supporting the Tomato Fines. A portable tomato
trellis will last for years, and is a great asset to
the garden. Build it of shingle lath four feet wide
at the bottom and three and a half feet high. Train
the plants to either side. If you planted the to-
matoes three feet apart, make the trellis three feet
at the bottom and four feet high.
Looking Out for Insects. No good garden can be
1 88 GARDEN PROFITS
run without the use of a good spray pump. Watch
for blight, insects and pests of all kinds and spray
all the vegetables that are subject to blight with
Bordeaux mixture twice during June. If the
weather is either very dry or excessively wet, spray
every week. Do not wait for the blight to show
itself, as in most cases it is then too late. For
eating insects of all kinds, poison must be used.
I always mix the poison with the Bordeaux, which
helps it to stick to the plant. Be careful when
In this convenient type of portable spraying outfit, the tank, which
hangs over the hip, holds about twelve quarts. Occasional strokes of
the pump-plunger maintain a steady, fine spray for several minutes
at a time
using this; do not spray it on well-advanced vege-
tables, such as cabbage which has headed. If
cabbage worms are troublesome after the heads
have attained any size, I usually pick them off by
hand. For aphis, use any of the tobacco prepara-
tions as a spray; but above all, keep the Bordeaux
going, as it is the greatest of all garden savers.
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 189
If you applied soot to the asparagus bed in March
or April, you will probably not be troubled with
the asparagus beetle; but if you did not do it and
the beetle is present, put a few chickens into the
asparagus bed and leave them there for a few days.
For cabbage worms on young plants use white
hellebore powder.
If any leaf eater gets after the melons, cucumbers
or squash, use Paris green or arsenate of lead.
Use one of these poisons for the potato bug, always
mixing it with the Bordeaux in place of water.
Watch the beans, celery, cucumbers, melons, pota-
toes and tomatoes, and do not let them be attacked
by blight. Bordeaux is the preventive. For aphis
on peas, use tobacco or kerosene emulsion.
Watering and Fertilizing. Water the garden con-
stantly if the weather is dry, and don't merely
sprinkle. Wet the ground thoroughly, then culti-
vate as soon as possible to retain the moisture. I use
sprinklers in my garden, letting them run night
and day, changing their positions every few hours
and selecting an especially dry spot to let them
run on all night. If you haven't running water in
your garden, don't use pump water direct from
the pump, as it is too cold at this time of the year.
Pump a couple of barrels full and let the water
stand for an hour or two before using it.
Give an application of nitrate of soda to all
crops that are to stand throughout the season, such
as Lima beans, parsnips, etc. This fertilizer comes
in the form of white crystals. Crush it to a powdery
form and scatter it along the rows, close to the
190 GARDEN PROFITS
plants. As it is expensive, buy about ten pounds
at a time, making it go as far as you can, without
skimping. This encourages root action and re-
news growth. Keep the cultivator working. It
is not only the best protection against dry weather,
but also keeps the weeds in check.
Fruits. Currants may need some spraying this
month. Use arsenate of lead, or Paris green, if
you feel more at home with it.
Strawberries. After your strawberry bed has
borne two crops (that is when it is three years old)
you might as well plow it up and use the ground
for something else. This presupposes that you
have another section of the bed coming into bear-
ing next year. It is a very nice plan to spread
straw or hay around your plants for the berries
to rest on. It keeps them clean and helps them to
ripen evenly.
JULY
Fighting the Heat and Drought. The usual July
condition in the vegetable garden is merely a sur-
vival of the fittest — the weather is both hot and
dry. If possible, artificial watering must be done.
Of course, there is nothing to equal a good, natural
rainfall, but rather than let the crops die, give them
plenty of water at any or all times of the day, even
though it be cold spring water. When you do
give water, give freely. Plants are like animals;
when they are dry and thirsty they want a real
drink and not a mere spoonful; therefore, if the
weather warrants it, keep the sprinklers going all
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 191
the time. The heat-loving vegetables, such as
eggplant, corn, etc., can get along with very little
water; but celery, lettuce, cabbage, etc., must
be watered abundantly, and not being heat-loving
plants, will not be shocked in any way by cold
water. Keeping the cultivator working incessantly
will lessen the labor of watering by conserving the
moisture already in the ground.
Late Transplanting. If any of those last-named
vegetables were planted in the seedbed and later
dibbled in a bed made for that purpose, they must
now be transplanted to their permanent places in
the garden. In shifting, always use plenty of water
and thereby avoid "stub" or branched root. If the
plants are seemingly a little large for transplanting,
and there is any danger of their suffering from the
shock, cut off the outer leaves, but do not cut the
heart.
Celery Care. The one crop to be given most
attention now, however, is celery, especially with
the idea of succession for later use. Keep the early
celery well watered, and cultivate frequently.
An application of nitrate of soda (one ounce to
three gallons of water) will keep it growing fast.
Keep hilling as it grows, but be careful not to
get the soil above the heart. Do not wait for blight
to appear before you spray with Bordeaux mixture.
Keep right on setting out late celery as fast as you
can find room for it in the places left vacant by
early vegetables.
Onions are not deep rooters and stand an abun-
dance of water and feeding. Give them, twice a
i92 GARDEN PROFITS
week, used alternately, manure water and nitrate
of soda, or sulphate of ammonia in solution. If
you use the chemically pure, a 6-inch potful is
sufficient for a barrel of water. In order to have
big stringless parsnips never let the plants suffer
for water. Give them a good shaking up occa-
sionally with some soda.
Don't Forget the Asparagus Bed. Asparagus plants
will now be building crowns for next season's
growth, and the bed needs attention, because the
better the crowns the better the cut next year.
Give one application of salt during the month at
the rate of one pound of salt to every twenty square
feet, or 500 pounds to a 60 x 180 ft. bed. If
the bed looks poor and hasn't a healthy, dark green
color give one application of nitrate of soda, using
one pound to 100 square feet. Apply it during
a rainfall so that it will dissolve at once. Look
out for asparagus beetle; if it appears, dust the
plants with hellebore powder, early in the morning
when they are still wet with dew, or spray them
with Paris green or arsenate of lead.
Ripening and Picking Melons. Now is the critical
stage in the growth of a melon vine, for the fruit
is swelling fast. Use Bordeaux as a preventive
against any possible blight and if dry weather is
bothering the vines water the roots thoroughly.
Do this in the morning after the sun gets strong.
Toward the end of the month some of the melons
should be ripening. Look over them carefully
but never pull a muskmelon from the vine — it
will part easily from the stem when ripe. If you
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 193
have a good place in which to ripen them, such as
a hotbed or an empty greenhouse, pull the melons
from the stem when they are just starting to crack
where the stem joins the melon. Placing them in
a dry heat of about 120 to 130 degrees, for a few
hours puts flavour into them and ripens them to
the outer skin. In looking over your melons,
always pick off any leaves that are diseased and,
when the melons are about the size of baseballs,
lift them and place them on boards so as to have
them ripen evenly. Use a shingle cut in two.
One good application of nitrate of soda when the
fruit is swelling will help the plants considerably.
Watermelons require very little attention, as
they are robust growers and very free from attacks
of insects and diseases. If the vines show any
signs of flagging give an application of manure
water and follow with nitrate of soda, but do not
do this until the fruit is set. If you do, it will
start growth anew and you will lose a couple of
weeks.
iveep the tomato vines trimmed. Cut off the
laterals, except two on each stem if it is necessary
to cover a trellis; leave only one stem if you have
planted them close together. Never let the plants
get dry nor excessively wet at the roots, for either
extreme will cause the tomatoes to decay in the
centre and drop.
Keep the potatoes growing by good cultivation,
and spray with Bordeaux. Use Paris green in case
there are any bugs on the plants. Give the final
hilling when they are in flower. I prefer flat
I94 GARDEN PROFITS
cultivation until then. Look over the squash
and pumpkins for leaf eaters and spray with poison.
What to Sow in July. Early corn will now be
ready for use. Look at Golden Bantam first and
use care in selecting the ears. I can tell by feeling
an ear whether it is ready for the table or not, while
some determine it by the silk; this is not so sure a sign
as the firmness of the ears, as some varieties ripen the
silk earlier than others. Get acquainted with the
other method. It is safe to sow corn as late as July
15. Use two varieties, the early and second early; if
one does not mature the other will. Sow the rows of
the early variety about two feet, and the second early
varieties two and a half feet apart. It will then be
an easy matter to protect some from early frosts.
The spring crop of peas is almost gone, but
toward the end of the month you can start sowing
again, using early varieties. Remember that the
secret of success with late peas is never to let them
suffer for water.
Make the last sowing of cucumbers about July
15. If you take care of these by spraying with
Bordeaux mixture they will last until frost. Pick
off any diseased or blighted leaves when you are
going over the vines. Eggplants and peppers should
now be ready for use. If the plants get tall and
the garden is exposed to winds, stake them to pre-
vent breakage.
Sow endive twice during the month. The best
variety is the broad-leaved Batavian, which the
French call Escarol. When the young seedlings
are large enough, set them in rows the same as lettuce.
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 195
Keep the leeks hilled up as they grow and feed
constantly with liquid manure and nitrates.
Make two sowings of bush beans during the
month. Keep the early sowings well hilled and
if the ground bakes to any extent, mulch. Keep
the leading shoots of the Lima beans tied to the
poles until they start climbing of their own accord.
Look over the bush Limas for an early picking
toward the end of the month, and do not let the
beans get hard and dry. Lima beans should be
green and not white when cooked.
Sow lettuce three times during July and keep
the young seedlings well watered. In fact, all
lettuce should be kept very moist to prevent it
from running to seed too quickly. If you haven't
planted them in a shaded place, build a cheesecloth
frame over the plants that are beginning to head
up and make a habit of spraying them night and
morning during the warm weather. This is the
secret of good, crisp lettuce.
Make two sowings of beets and carrots during
July. Keep all the sowings well thinned and see
that this is done when the seedlings are small.
Keep these two vegetables well watered, especially
the beets.
Sow rutabagas for winter use during July. The
early part of the month is the best, but if you are
short of space it can safely go for a week or two.
A FEW FRUIT DUTIES
Thinning Fruit. As long as you are raising fruit
you will want the best. So in future years, when
196 GARDEN PROFITS
your trees are bearing heavily, thin your peaches,
plums, pears and apples. Take out perhaps one-
third of the young fruits, if there are a plenty, as
there should be, and watch the others try to fill the
space. The chances are they will nearly succeed.
Bag the Grapes. To improve the quality in grapes
bagging is an excellent plan if you can afford a
little extra time. Use common brown paper bags;
gather the neck around the stem and pin it there.
The bunch will be protected from insects, disease,
sunburn and birds.
Keep up the Cultivating. After this month you had
better stop, so do a good job while you are about it.
Pruning. The raspberries and blackberries
should be cut back to 2-j/£ and 3 feet respectively
to cause side branching and good stocky growth.
The idea in growing these bramble crops is not to
have as big a bush as possible, but to maintain only
the strongest canes and to keep these producing
to their maximum capacity.
AUGUST
The careful, persistent gardener is now reaping
his harvest of corn, Limas, celery, tomatoes, egg-
plant, peppers, etc. Something different may be
had for every day in the week. But because of
these results, do not rest. The weeds must be
kept down.
Blanching Celery with Boards. Early celery
should be ready for blanching. Some gardeners
earth up the plants, but I have found it causes
decay at this season, particularly if a heavy rain
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 197
follows the hilling-up process. Boards are easy
to put in place and are cheaper than hilling with
dirt because they can be used continuously and
shifted from one part of the row to another. Take
two 12-inch boards, place them against the celery
and as close together as possible without cracking
the stalks, and drive a few stakes down into the
ground on the outside to keep the boards in position.
This will give a well-blanched heart. If you wish
to blanch the entire plant, have the side boards
come up high enough to support another board
across the top to exclude the light. When I do
this, however, I find that the outer stalks are invari-
ably tough and stringy, caused by the plants grow-
ing during warm weather.
The Hilling Method. With late celery it is quite
different; the entire plant can be blanched and all
be of good quality. Hilling-up must be attended
to with regularity; moreover, it must be done
often and well, for more celery is ruined by poor,
indifferent hilling than by any other cause. The
idea in hilling celery is that the soil should be
kept drawn up to the plant as it grows, but none
must fall into the heart or between the stalks of
the celery. The first step is to take a digging
fork and loosen up the soil on each side of the row.
Then remove any suckers or shoots that appear
between the stalks, grasp the plant with one hand
and hold it tightly to keep the stalks close together.
This will prevent soil from getting in the heart
or between the stalks. Draw some soil up to the
plant and press it firmly against the stalks, using
198 GARDEN PROFITS
your fist or a brick. Be careful that you do not
scratch the stalk in any way; scratches make dark,
rusty spots on the stems and can be easily avoided
with a little care. Also keep any stones from coming
in contact with the stalks, as they also will scratch.
Never hill your celery when it is wet, or in the morn-
ing when the dew is still on the plants, as the mois-
ture will soon start decay.
Keep the Celery Growing. Keep celery well
watered at all times. Lack of water makes strings;
good, quick growth makes celery that cracks in one's
hand "like a pipe-stem." An occasional watering
with liquid manure will keep the plants growing fast.
Use a half-bushel of manure (cow manure is pref-
erable) to a barrel of water, letting it stand for
forty-eight hours before using. Then thin it down
to about one half strength. A dose of nitrate of
soda is also beneficial. Use a 6-inch flower pot of
soda to a barrel of water, and apply as soon as
dissolved.
Seeds for Present Sowing. Sow bush beans twice
during the month — once on the first, and again
on the 1 5th. Put in several rows at each sowing,
and place the rows about fifteen inches apart, so
that it will be easy to protect them from the
frost later on, for which purpose start collecting
old burlap and covering material now.
Make the final sowings of beets and carrots about
August i to 10, for a winter supply. Be sure
you put in enough seed. I have found that by
sowing at this time the vegetables are of good size
and excellent quality when harvested. I use
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN
199
Guerande carrot and Eclipse beet, but any of the
good standard varieties will be satisfactory.
At this time recall the
method of thinning carrots
and beets that was advo-
cated by one of the success-
ful gardeners in an earlier
chapter. Remove first the
spindling, weak seedlings that
are obviously of no use; then
wait for the plants to become
slightly crowded and pull out
the largest of these. Such
carrots and beets are usu-
ally fully large enough to be
used; thus they have not been
wasted in the thinning, and
plenty of room has been pro-
vided for the latter growth of the remaining roots.
Sow endive and lettuce twice during the month.
Keep setting out the young plants from the seed
beds, and do not let them suffer for water. Put
them in between the celery rows. Make two sow-
ings of turnip and kohlrabi, if you care for these
vegetables. The former is excellent for soup making,
and the latter is a good spring and fall vegetable.
Sow peas twice during the month, using the early
varieties, such as Nott's Excelsior or New York
Market. Keep them well watered and watch out
for the aphis. If it appears, spray with a good
standard tobacco preparation. Directions for use
always accompany such preparations.
This pruning pole made
of a pair of broken scissors,
some staples, wire and a
rubber band, is cheap and
efficient for light summer
work, though not strong
enough for severe, hard-
wood pruning
200 GARDEN PROFITS
Start sowing spinach now for a fall crop. I
always sow spinach when I sow peas, putting the
rows of peas three feet apart and planting the spin-
ach in between the rows. Both these are spring and
fall crops, and grow well together.
Do You Know a Ripe Watermelon? In order to
determine this (for watermelons do not leave the
vines when ripe, as do muskmelons), select one of
the largest melons, place both hands on the top and
press downward. Do not place the weight of your
body on it, but give a quick, downward pressure.
If the melon crunches it is ripe and ready for eating.
Harvest the Onions. If the tops of the onions
have turned yellow, pull them up and lay them on
their sides in rows, so that the sun can dry them out
a trifle. Leave them so for several days. Before
storing, twist the tops off by holding the top in one
hand close to the bulb and twisting the bulb with
the other hand. Store in a cool, dry place and
look over them occasionally to prevent growth
from starting and to discover and remove any that
may have decayed.
The Crops that Must Keep Growing. Keep the win-
ter root crops, such as parsnips, salsify, rutabagas,
carrots, beets, etc., well watered. Growth should be
kept up for at least this month; after that, parsnips
and salsify will have practically stopped growing;
rutabagas, carrots, etc., will grow in September
whether the weather is dry or not.
Blight in the garden should still be watched for,
and spraying should be continued regularly during
August. After this month blight will not be very
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 201
troublesome. Use Bordeaux mixture and spray
every ten days to two weeks.
Watch eggplants for potato bugs. I always
pick them off, for I am rather timid about using
poison on anything but root crops when the vege-
tables are about ripe and ready for use.
Begin to Save Manure Now. In fact do this as
soon as you gather any crops from which you get
waste parts. Pea vines, turnip and carrot tops,
waste lettuce leaves and all such refuse (unless
you can feed it to hogs) will increase the value
of your manure when well mixed and rotted. It
will be worth while to make some sort of permanent
manure pit, which will serve also as a rubbish pile.
Such a pit can be built in one corner of the garden,
and will pay well for the room it takes. If possible
lay a cement floor or make a pit a couple of feet
deep lined with concrete. If this is impossible,
much valuable material is likely to leach away.
Enclose or roof it in some way, so that the rain
and snow cannot beat in upon the compost. Add
manure to the pile whenever you can get it, also
sods, la.wn cuttings and now and then a little loam.
If you have access to liquid manure from the horse
or cow stables, add it plentifully to the vegetable
matter. You can prevent any odor from this pit,
by covering any fresh additions of manure or re-
fuse that will quickly decay, with a litttle sawdust,
loam, or straw bedding — whatever comes easiest
to hand and is dry and fresh. It, too, will break
down later in the mass of manure.
Very possibly an excellent source of manure
202 GARDEN PROFITS
is being overlooked by the vast majority of subur-
ban gardeners. Make some arrangement for getting
the street sweepings from your block or at least
in front of your house. In a few months you will
have much valuable manure, while the dust that
will be included will not be at all undesirable.
Putting the Fruits to Sleep. We cease cultivating
around the bush fruits and trees about this time
so that they will mature their wood and not remain
in a growing and comparatively tender state into
late autumn. In large orchards the practice is to
sow a cover crop of rye, or clover and plow it under
the next spring. If you can dig such a crop well
under, it will be a good thing for the dwarfs. I
should expect, however, that you would do better
to mulch lightly with manure, to keep down the
weeds. A heavier mulch added in October will
protect the trees over winter.
SEPTEMBER
I would have no one get the idea that a garden,
no matter how small, is a lazy man's place. To
be exact, is there any place where a lazy man
gets the best of things? But as September grows
older, the gardener, who has put his heart and energy
into his work all the season, can really begin to
take things more easily. Enough cultivating after
rains, to keep the soil loose, will become merely a
pastime, but the fight with weeds and bugs will
have been about won (or lost?) by now, and very
little sowing will need your attention.
Plan Improvements. Go around and visit neigh-
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 203
boring gardens this month, making notes of their
size and also of the manner in which they are laid
out. Ask the successful gardeners what varieties
they use in certain crops that are particularly fine,
and make a note of it.
Fall Sowings. Radishes can still be sown out-
of-doors on the 1st and the I5th. Spinach should
also be sown twice, and if it does not mature before
cold weather cover it later with hay and it will
be a very early spring crop.
If you have a coldframe keep right on sowing
lettuce and, as it reaches planting size, transplant
to the frame where it can be protected on cool
nights. The crop will last until the holidays. If
you do not have a frame, however, make only one
sowing as near the first of the month as possible.
Some folks sow cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli
now, and then transplant to the frames later on,
carrying the plants over all winter and planting out
in the gardens in spring. There is nothing to be
gained by doing this, for you can get as good plants
by starting a hotbed in the latter part of February.
Spinach and radishes can also be sown in the frame,
and will be ready for use before severe weather
checks their growth.
Keep right on hilling celery. It is growing fast
now and must not be neglected under any circum-
stances. If the ground is at all dry don't hesi-
tate to water the plants. Good celery cannot be
grown in a hot, dry location.
The Handmarks of a Careful Gardener. Keep the
cultivator working this month. After September
204 GARDEN PROFITS
you can probably dispense with it until another
season. Also see that all vegetable plants that are
through bearing are cleaned up and placed on the
rubbish heap, because otherwise they breed and
harbor insects. All places cleared should be sown
down with winter rye, a process very beneficial
to the ground, but which very few people seem
to appreciate. Sow rye in fall for a good heavy
stand, and plow it under in early spring.
OCTOBER.
Cover Crops and Insects. October is clearing-up
month in the garden. Don't think this is a job
that you can skip, and expect to come out lucky
in spring. Clean the ground thoroughly, clearing
away all refuse. Burn what will burn, and don't
leave any lying around to decay and breed insects
and pests of all kinds. It is not too late to sow
rye in all ground that is cleared; but if you were
troubled to any great extent with worms of various
kinds last season, I would advise trenching the
ground in preference. Trench deep, but wait
until you are likely to have a sharp freezing spell
shortly after doing so. The trenches should be
about two feet deep and the same distance apart.
Getting the Best of the Early Frosts. Usually about
the first or second week in October, we have a
killing frost. This lays low all tender vegetables,
such as beans, corn, etc. Then a few weeks of good
weather is likely to follow. It seems a great mis-
take to let this first frost rob us of our gardens.
When you are confronted by steady freezing weather
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 205
you must throw up your hands, but there are ways
and means of preventing this first frost from en-
tirely ruining the garden. Beans, lettuce, corn,
bush Limas, and all tender vegetables can be saved
from destruction by a covering of burlap; a pep-
per or eggplant by a barrel or an old box; and
thus made to last a long time. In some gardens
a smudge fire is used. The fire is always placed
to the windward of the garden.
Keeping Celery Outdoors. Don't house your cel-
ery now; it is apt to get tough and stringy. If
you place it in trenches before very cool weather
is here, it is likely to rot. If you leave it out-of-
doors it gets nipped with the frost, and while
celery can stand considerable frost (in fact, frost
improves the flavor), it cannot stand heavy
freezing, especially if the sun hits it right after it
has been frozen. I have a scheme which I have
tried for two seasons, and it works to perfection. I
never store my celery before the middle of Novem-
ber, but during the early frosts of late .October
and early November I cover it with salt hay. I
don't leave the hay on the plants. I always remove
it the next morning; in fact, there are few nights
when it is necessary to put it on, but those few
nights are just enough to ruin a nice batch of celery.
By this method I don't need to store my celery
before the ground gets cool. The crop is well hard-
ened up, and the cool nights have put flavor into
the stalks that can't be done any other way.
Celery thus hardened and handled will never de-
teriorate one particle; I take celery from the trenches
2o6 GARDEN PROFITS
in March that is just as solid and as fine as when
placed there.
Storing Roots. Some of the root crops can be
stored during October. Beets, carrots, salsify, etc.,
can all be lifted now, the tops cut off, and the
roots placed in trenches for the winter. Don't
do this during wet weather, as root crops should
go into the trenches dry — that is, there should
be no outside moisture on the roots, or they would
decay. I always store my root vegetables in out-
door trenches. Some growers put them in the
cellar; they keep well there, but are apt to dry
out considerably and thus lose a certain amount
of their flavor. By storing in trenches, although
perhaps a little more troublesome, the vegetables
are kept moist, and therefore retain their good
qualities. In fact, after cooking, I defy any one to
tell me the difference between a fresh grown beet
and one taken from an outside trench.
To prepare a trench, dig a space the size required
about three feet deep and place the vegetables in
fixed places, so you will know later on where they
are. Save room for parsnips and turnips and
salsify, as these vegetables to get their best flavor
should be left out doors until they have been frosted.
Then cover with about one foot of hay and sprinkle
a little dirt over this to keep it down. As cold
weather advances keep adding some hay and a
little dirt — leaves will do just as well — and al-
ways sprinkle some dirt in among the vegetables
before covering them up, as this helps to keep
them moist.
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 207
NOVEMBER
Storing Celery for Winter. The most important
work to be done in November is storing the celery
crop for the winter. There are several important
points to be remembered. First of all it must be
kept from freezing, and free from excessive moisture;
both will cause it to rot. On the other hand it
By this method of storing celery but one final lifting Is made neces-
sary, and the plants, while protected, retain every bit of the flavor and
quality of the freshly dug. still-growing vegetable. Increase the
amount of litter as your climatic conditions warrant. (See page 209)
must not be kept too dry or too warm, or it will
get tough and stringy and lose that rich nutty
flavor. It should go in the trenches with the roots
in a fairly moist condition, and the stalks dry.
I have tried storing celery in almost every con-
ceivable way — I have stored in cellars; I have built
low shed roofs where protection could be afforded
208 GARDEN PROFITS
from the weather, yet a low temperature main-
tained by means of ventilation; I have left it in
the trenches where it was growing and have covered
it with dirt, leaves and litter. But where a lot of
celery is grown for winter use I prefer putting it
in outside trenches. I make one trench large
enough to accommodate the entire crop — and
cover the celery with dirt, and later with leaves
and litter.
The Celery Trench. A trench is staked out about
ten feet wide, as long as desired, and about eighteen
inches deep, the soil being thrown to one side until
needed again. I then lift the plants with a ball
of earth. Some growers shake the celery so as to
remove the dirt; this may be all right when the
crop is grown on a large scale for market, and
quantity not quality is the maxim. If you want
the best celery, leave the soil on the roots, and if
it is moist it will supply the celery with what little
moisture is required in the trench. Pack the
plants in the trench one row at a time, and just
far enough apart so that they don't touch each
other. Then if one head rots, it won't spoil the
adjoining ones. Cover the row with enough soil
to prevent the next row from coming in contact
with it. The soil used for covering should be
moderately dry.
After throwing the soil on the row, firm it slightly
with the foot, place another row in position, and
so on until it has all been stored. Sprinkle the soil
over the plants on top, and give it an opportunity
to work its way down among the stalks. Don't
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 209
throw it on, but fill the shovel and hold it over
the celery, rocking it from side to side so that no
stalks will be broken. Don't forget that the plants
should be perfectly dry. Do not do this work in
the morning, but let it go until noon so that any
moisture that has gathered in the hearts over
night, may dry out. If the plants were to be
stored in a cellar, a little moisture wouldn't be
harmful, but even then, if there is any present in
the heart, it is liable to start decay.
After the trenches are covered with soil, about
a foot of leaves or rough litter is added, which in
turn is covered with about four inches of soil. The
leaves or litter form an air space through which
it is hard for frost to penetrate. The celery will
keep just as well if enough dirt is piled on top to
prevent freezing, but it would necessitate con-
siderable digging when the celery was wanted for
use. By using a layer or two of leaves or salt
hay or anything of that nature that will not pack
solid, frost will be kept out just as well. The
trench should be mounded up in the centre so that
all moisture will drain off.
In the Very Small Garden. For a very small
garden, where but a few plants are grown which
are usually disposed of by the middle of January
or thereabouts, I would advise covering the celery
in the trenches where it is grown. This saves the
trouble of lifting and storing the plants, and the
celery keeps better than if kept by any other method;
but, as I said before, it is more trouble to get it
out of these trenches when you need it. In small
210 GARDEN PROFITS
gardens, where but a few heads are required at a
time, this is not much of a consideration. Cover
the plants to the top with earth and cover liberally
with litter or leaves, throwing a little soil on top
to keep the leaves from blowing away. This
will be found sufficient for any ordinary weather,
but if real winter sets in and you still have celery
in the ground, don't hesitate to use more litter.
The frost must be kept away. But with all possible
care a few heads will get frozen. Don't throw
them away, but plunge them in cold water out-of-
doors and if they are not frozen too badly, this will
thaw them out and make them fit for use. Don't
put frozen celery in the sun; in ten minutes it will
look and taste like a wet rag.
A Good Time to Fight Cutworms. Any bare ground
can be trenched now for the winter; this will do
more to rid the soil of cutworms and other pests
than all the various things recommended for doing
it in spring. By waiting until now, you catch the
worms before they have an opportunity of going
deeper, as they are asleep for the winter. Make
the trenches about two feet apart and two feet
deep. Or else plow the ground well, using a sub-
soil plow so as to loosen the ground as deep as pos-
sible. Trenching, however, is preferable.
Mulching Strawberries. Now is the time to cover
your strawberry bed for the winter. After the
ground freezes mulch with a few inches of well-
rotted manure. The plants will get the benefit
of it, for the winter rains will wash the fertiliz-
ing qualities into the ground, and the roots will
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 211
devour them in early spring. In placing your mulch
always keep it away from the crown of the plant
as it causes decay if it gets in there. After the
mulch has been applied, cover the bed lightly with
an inch or two of salt hay or straw. If this is put
on too heavily it will pound down the plants and
Showing the difference In the methods of handling heavy and light soil.
Ridge up the former in the fall with & fork— the frost action all win-
ter will (help to pulverize it. Dig light, sandy soil In the spring with
a spade. It is inherently loose and tillable
make them suffer for lack of air. Lay a few light
twigs on top to keep the straw from blowing around.
Bean poles are too heavy; use pea-brush.
Mulch the bush fruits at the same time, using
good manure and putting on about four inches
of it.
Both these mulches can be removed in March,
and the beds dug up thoroughly. Work manure
212
GARDEN PROFITS
into the ground, as deeply and as close to the plants
as possible, but avoid cutting many roots. Better
to get the manure in deep, a little away from the
bushes, than to cut roots or leave the manure near
the surface, where the roots would follow and
probably get sunburnt, or, at all events, would
dry out quickly.
Tender Varieties of the Brambles are to be bent
over, and their tips sufficiently covered with earth
V
The srap« vine in late autumn before being pruned
to hold them there. If you are in a very cold lo-
cality, spread a little litter, straw or marsh hay
over these, as an added precaution. All dead
wood and old stiff canes should be cut out previous
to this covering.
Apples, Pears, etc. Now is the time to really
dwarf the trees. Cut back side shoots and branches
(in the case of tree forms), or trim back all extra
lateral growths on the branches of the espaliers
A YEAR'S CYCLE IN THE GARDEN 213
and cordons. If you don't mulch these, hoe up
the earth about them.
This is one of the two planting seasons (until
Prune grapes while the wood is dormant— between November and
March. Leave a few shoots to carry the fruit higher on the trellis.
In severe locations these may be laid down and covered
the ground freezes), so if you get hold of some new
trees or bushes, don't hesitate to plant them,
taking the same precautions as for March plant-
ing.
VI
THE SIMPLICITY OF SELF-MAINTAINING
FERTILITY THAT EVERYONE CAN HAVE
THERE are two principles and practices
which have been mentioned repeat-
edly. One is the vital importance
of cultivation, of keeping the soil
loose and friable at all times. The
other is the imperative necessity of an intelligent
use of fertilizers. With these two essentials pro-
perly attended to the ideal garden is nearer reali-
zation than all other sets of conditions put together
can bring it.
And yet I wish nothing less than to make these
subjects bugbears to the backyard gardeners, any
more than to the farmer of broader acres; to make
him feel that he must give hours of study, experi-
ment and thought to the questions before he can
make his garden successful. On the contrary
I want to emphasize, and I want you to realize,
the simplicity of it; to realize how many scien-
tists and painstaking investigators have done
these very things with the result that the knowl-
edge is available to you in brief, compact, defi-
nite form, such that you need only acquaint
yourself with a few facts and practical instruc-
214
SELF-MAINTAINING FERTILITY 215
tions, then use, apply them, and reap bounteous
rewards.
PLANT FOOD THAT NEVER RUNS OUT
In a general way we can say that fertilizers
furnish nutriment for plants, just as does food
for people. There is a certain, or rather, varying
amount of plant food at all times in nearly all
soils, just as each house contains more or less pro-
visions; or to make the simile more accurate, just
as a gardener has some potential food in his growing
vegetables. They, however, take time to ripen
and become edible; so, too, the plant food in the
soil needs time in which to become available for
the plants. Hence while the housekeeper saves
time by furnishing the family with purchased steak,
condensed milk, soups etc., the gardener supplies
plants with rapidly soluble fertilizers, liquid manure,
etc. For, you must know that plants obtain all
their food in the form of solutions, the dissolving
agent being the moisture in the soil.
We can go a step farther in the comparison.
The unavailable material in the soil must be changed
and prepared for assimilation by the plants; the
raw, unprepared food in the kitchen must be cooked,
mixed and prepared for the table. In the kitchen
are cooks who do this work; in the soil are bacteria
or "microbes" which do the same thing with the
plants' "uncooked" provisions.
Of these "soil cooks" there are several general
groups. The first accomplishes what is called nitri-
fication, the breaking down of complex combina-
216 GARDEN PROFITS
tions of carbon and nitrogen, of which manures,
humus and other animal and vegetable wastes
are composed. This oxidizing change results in
new combinations, of nitrogen and a maximum
proportion of oxygen, which are directly assimilable
by plants.
The second group, of "nitrogen fixers," possesses
the power to act on gaseous, atmospheric nitrogen,
and with it to build up the compounds which mark
the beginning of the nitrification process outlined
above. These latter organisms are themselves of
two kinds: first, those which have entered into
partnership with certain plants — the legumes,
such as beans, peas, etc., in which they store up
the plant food, the accumulations forming nodules
or tubercles on the roots of those plants; and
second, those which accomplish the same results,
but without the assistance or cooperation of growing
plants. You will probably by this time have real-
ized why the growth of leguminous "cover crops"
is of such benefit to the soil.
THE GREATEST SECRET OF ALL
Now the grandest part of all this is, that this
work and all these changes are going on in the soil
all the time. Plant food is being prepared at all
hours of the day and night, and there is enough
raw material on hand to last for many a year. The
only way you can possibly stop the great work of the
bacteria is by shutting off their air supply, by drown-
ing them or by poisoning them with acids just as
SELF-MAINTAINING FERTILITY 217
they are rendered powerless in swamps and cold,
wet, sour soils. You can give them increased life,
increased vigor, increased efficiency, by adding to
their air supply, by — keeping the soil loose! And
there you have the whole, simple key to the entire
secret of plant-food production. Cultivate the soil,
help the bacteria to grow and work, give them,
occasionally, manure to work on and they will feed
your plants. And then, if you wish to augment
their effects and to still further stimulate vegeta-
ble growth, you can use liquid manures, prepared
fertilizers, and the like, just as you use beef tea,
canned goods, etc., to supplement the efforts of the
cook and the gardener.
WHAT CERTAIN PLANTS LIKE BEST
It would be perfectly true to say that any kind of
fertilizer will help plants grow. But it would not
be a sensible nor an economical statement to make,
any more than you would say that any kind of food
is best for every person. As there are preferences
among persons, so too there are special needs
among plants. In the garden are a few distinct
types of vegetables, each of which appreciates a
little different treatment. You might just as well
know these, and thereby be enabled to act intel-
ligently and to get the best possible results when
you do fertilize.
Group i. Tubers and roots, including potatoes
parsnips, carrots and beets. These need less manure
(meaning coarse mixtures of bedding and horse,
2i8 GARDEN PROFITS
pig or cow droppings) unless it be in very fine condi-
tion or applied to the previous crop. Apply com-
mercial fertilizers at time of planting or soon after.
Group 2. Quick growers, of fleshy tissue, near
the surface, such as celery, onions, turnips and
radish. These use plenty of rich manure, well
worked into the soil. Onions thrive on applications
of wood ashes.
Group 3. Coarse feeders and growers, including
cabbage, spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, etc.
These are the great manure users. Supply it
bountifully in the hills when planting. Spinach
and lettuce will make good use of nitrogen ferti-
lizers and the last three need plenty of potash after
they start growing.
Group 4. Beans, peas, etc., which develop a
large leaf and stem surface, and of which the seeds
are used. These plants obtain their own nitrogen
as explained above. However, they like a light
soil which manure produces, and require a generous
amount of potash and phosphoric acid.
Knowing these special requirements you can
feed for the greatest possible results, easily, eco-
nomically and with understanding.
FERTILITY THAT EVERY GARDEN CAN HAVE
Manure fills a number of wants in the soil. It
supplies nitrogen or rather nitrogenous compounds
to the nitrifying bacteria. It supplies a certain,
although a smaller, percentage of the other es-
sential plant-foods, potash and phosphoric acid.
And<finally, it adds to the supply of humus, or
SELF-MAINTAINING FERTILITY 219
decaying vegetable matter, which is one of the
essential elements of a productive soil. The func-
tions of this vital humus are (i) to lighten and
loosen the soil, and (2) to absorb and hold moisture,
thereby rendering more constant the water supply
therein. If you have a heavy clay soil that tends
to puddle and bake, plow or dig under a crop of
rye every fall, and plenty of manure during the
summer, then watch the transformation. On the
other hand this wonderful humus will do just as
much good to an extremely light, sandy soil, through
which the moisture drains too rapidly, and which
is almost devoid of raw plant food.
AVAILABLE MANURE FOR EVERY SMALL GARDEN
Street sweepings are almost always available,
and if mixed with lawn cuttings, leaves, etc., make
excellent manure. It has been found, by the way,
that horse manure is about one-third more valuable
than that of cows or hogs. Of course, if you keep
a horse or cow, you will have plenty of these mate-
rials; if not, you can generally buy them from livery
stables, but try to get manure that you have reason
to think is free from weed seeds and is fresh. You
will probably be able to keep it with less loss than
they would in the stable yard, so don't make a
fuss about getting "well-decayed manure only."
If hogs can work over the manure, they will both
enrich it and improve its condition. As I have
already said, compost all the vegetable waste from
the place, with whatever manure, table scraps,
etc., you save.
220
GARDEN PROFITS
THE SIMPLE ART OF USING MANURE
This question is easy. Use it (i), well decayed,
(2), abundantly and (3), worked well into the
To make liauld manure, hang a basket of
coarse burlap or wire netting In the top of a
barrel. In this put horse or cow manure,
then pour water through it and let all the
value seep through without clogging up the
spigot. Keep the barrel nearly full all the
time and the solution will maintain Its
strength and effectiveness
soil. Abundantly doesn't mean a few wheelbarrow
loads, but about all you can get. And from fifty
to one hundred tons per acre is not too much, though
that represents about a ton and a half on a patch
25 feet square. That, I say, is good, but, if you
SELF-MAINTAINING FERTILITY 221
cannot get that much, use all you can and make
up the difference in future care.
Fresh manure is hot — that is why we use it
in hotbeds in place of steam pipes. It is also the
reason why we want only well rotted manure for
use (as a food only), with growing crops.
Mix it thoroughly with the soil, so that the
plant roots will have to spread out to reach it. In
this way, a better root system and a greater feed-
ing surface are developed. This prevents also,
any possible burning of tender root-hairs through
contact with a mass of rich dressing.
Spread manure on the garden any time, in fall,
winter, or early spring. Then plow it under,
either in the fall, or as early as possible in the spring,
and cultivate thoroughly. Even if the first crop
you raise doesn't get all the benefit it might, the
food remains there in the soil for the use of future
crops.
SAVING MANURE = SAVING MONEY
Just be careful, first, that the good of the manure
is not washed out of it, down the drain; and secondly,
that it does not burn and become white. This
burning or oxidizing, is just what occurs in the
soil except that there it goes on far more slowly,
and the products remain in the soil, whereas,
in the exposed manure heap, the heating is rapid
and the resulting ammonia is lost into the air.
To prevent these occurrences, cover the manure
pit; and turn the pile with a fork, now and then,
or let hogs work it over, or moisten it occasion-
222 GARDEN PROFITS
ally, preferably with liquid manure, though water
will do.
CONCENTRATED PLANT-FOODS FOR SMALL
GARDENS
The three main elements of plant food are ni-
trogen, phosphorus and potash. All of these can
be supplied as commercial fertilizers, in rapidly
available forms.
Since they require so little time for preparation,
they should be applied only to crops that are grow-
ing, or, at all events, not previous to the sowing of
the seed. I remember an exasperating waste of
some hundred pounds of good fertilizer, which was
put on the garden before it was plowed, the stable
manure being saved till later by the "gardener"!!
You can apply commercial fertilizer either by
drilling it along the rows, or by dissolving the ma-
terials in water and watering the ground close
about the plants; the latter method is particularly
suited to the use of nitrogenous fertilizers.
HOW MUCH TO USE
In the garden you can use commercial fertilizers
at the rate of 500 to icoo pounds per acre, with
the best results, depending on the special needs
of the crops as listed above. Of course, there is
no need of stopping at 1000 pounds. Many potato
growers apply a ton to the acre, and don't regret it.
However, planning applications by the acre
doesn't help you to fertilize 100 square feet of cabbage
SELF-MAINTAINING FERTILITY 223
or beets correctly. Moreover on a small area, the
mistake of a teaspoonful too much or too little is
equivalent to an error of a fraction of a ton on
an acre.
By the use of the accompanying table any given
quantity from one hundred pounds to one ton per
Amount
for I
acre
Approxi-
mate equi-
valent for
i sq. yard
Approxi-
mate equi-
valent for
IO sq. ft.
Exact
equivalent
for i sq.
foot
LBS.
oz.
oz.
02.
IOO
i
i
•037—
200
!
1
.073 +
300
i
i&
. IIO+
400
ii
il
.147—
500
if
if
.183 +
600
2
»l
. 22O +
700
»J
2^
•257 +
800
M
3
.294—
900
3
3t
•33°+
IOOO
3*
3t
.367+
IIOO
3!
4
.404+
1200
4
4i
.441—
1300
4*
4*
.478—
I4OO
4!
SI
-SI4+
1500
5
Si
•SSI—
1600
1700
I800
Si
i*
If
6|
.588—
.625—
.661 +
1900
6*
7
.698-
2OOO
6f
7*
•735—
2100
7
7iV
•771 +
22OO
74
8
.8o8-|-
23OO
71
81
.845-1-
2400
8
H
.882—
224 GARDEN PROFITS
acre may be at once reduced to the corresponding
amount per square foot or yard. It is then but
the work of a moment to determine the correct
amount for any sized bed or garden. Also have
handy a saucepan or dipper marked to indicate a
quarter-pound, half-pound, etc., in order that the
desired quantity may be at once measured out,
instead of having to weigh it.
In case the table should not be at hand it may
be convenient to know the following rule: Multiply
the length in yards of the plot to be fertilized by
the width in yards. Multiply this by the number of
pounds to be used per acre, point off four places
and multiply by 2. The result will be the number
of pounds of fertilizer required for the plot in ques-
tion.
Example: Garden bed 2 yards by 5 yards to be
fertilized at the rate of 1,500 pounds per acre. The
result of 2 multiplied by 5 is 10, which, multiplied
by the number of pounds to be used per acre, gives
15,000. Point off four places — 1.5 — and multiply
by 2, giving as a final result 3, or the number of
pounds required.
This is not quite as accurate as the table, but it
is a great deal more so than guessing.
But don't figure on the gross area of your gar-
den. Measure the rows you are to fertilize, mul-
tiply them by say a foot more than the width of
the crop, and calculate for that area, which is the
real crop area.
The more common commercial fertilizers and
those which you can most easily get, are as follows,
SELF-MAINTAINING FERTILITY 225
(including their valuable constituents, and an aver-
age application for small areas) :
Plant Food
Fertilizer
or Source
Use per
Sq. Rod
Notes
Nitrogen
Nitrate of Soda
Sulphate of Am-
monia
I^fts.
2 Ibs.
2 Ibs.
For a solution
I Ib to 12 gals.
water
Potash
Kainit
Sulphateof Potash
Muriate of Potash
Wood Ashes
if Ibs.
i* Ibs.
i\ Ibs.
Plow in
all you
can
Better for
Vegetables
Better for
Fruit
Phosphoric acid
Ground rock
(acid phosphate)
Dissolved bone
Basic slag
rl*:
4 Ibs.
SOME VERY CHEAP FERTILIZERS
Lime is valuable for lightening heavy soils and
sweetening sour ones. That is, it makes conditions
more favorable for the bacteria cooks. If you have
any old plaster lying around use that; it is slower
to act but useful just the same.
Salt is a good weed killer, and yet an excellent
fertilizer for asparagus.
Wood ashes are excellent providers of potash,
226 GARDEN PROFITS
and help to lighten the soil as well. Anthracite
coal ashes are useful for the latter purpose in the
absence of anything else, but they have no food
value. If you can choose, use them in building
drives and paths.
MANURES THAT YOU DON'T HAVE TO BUT?
The effects of green manures or growing crops
plowed under, are in general the same as those
of barnyard manure — i. e., the addition of humus
and raw plant food. But since they have not even
begun to decay, the second effect is much more
slowly developed. However, the great value of
green manuring for lightening clay sails and giving
a "body" to sandy areas should not be lost sight
of. If your garden doesn't plow and cultivate as
easily as you would like to have it, sow rye, or
barley, after you have harvested your main summer
crops, and plow all the growth under next spring.
The clovers, like the beans, are legumes, and there-
fore especially useful in accumulating nitrogen in the
soil. Where these are not used, rye, barley, millet
or buckwheat is a satisfactory green manure crop.
There have recently been developed strains of
cowpeas and soy beans, which require a sufficiently
short season to allow their cultivation in the North.
These legumes have already been found of much
value, but only in the Southern states where the
longer season permits them to mature. Keep
your eyes open for "cowpeas for northern sowing."
You'll find them mighty useful.
SELF-MAINTAINING FERTILITY 227
THE IMPORTANCE OF BACTERIA — THE SECRET OF
UNENDING FERTILITY
I hope you have realized how great this is, from
the outline I gave you of the action of these
organisms. It is only a short time since the very
These young wheat plants, grown under the same climatic condi-
tions show the effect of soil sterilization. The soil in pot 1 was
untreated; that in pot 2 was subjected to toluene vapor for twenty
minutes: that in pot 3 was heated to 212° F. The death of bacteria-
destroying organisms results in increased bacterial activity and
increased plant growth
existence of soil bacteria was discovered. Yet now
they are recognized as the foundation of the won-
derful changes and actions, both constructive and
destructive, that are going on in the soil.
One of the recent, important developments along
this line of research has disclosed a remarkable
228 GARDEN PROFITS
condition of affairs. It is now believed that while
there are many millions of the beneficial bacteria
in the soil, yet their numbers are kept in check by
another group of animal microorganisms, which feed
upon them. By sterilizing the soil (by heating or
fumigating), it has been possible to kill these con-
suming organisms, and to permit a great increase
in the numbers of the bacteria, this in turn resulting
in a greatly increased plant growth. The simple
act of keeping soil at the temperature of boiling
water for twenty minutes, resulted in a growth of
plants exactly twice as great as that in untreated soil!
KILLING THE SOIL-ROBBERS
Our grandmothers did just this when they baked
the soil for their geraniums. They didn't know
about the bacteria perhaps, but the result was the
same. Whether we can make use of this knowl-
edge in a wholesale way has yet to be learned.
But you can bake your hotbed soil easily, and if
you do, I can promise you better, stronger, healthier
seedlings than you ever raised before. Try it —
and do a little scientific investigating for yourself.
And finally, do you now realize how simple this
is for you, while yet so wonderful? Nature, with
her bacteria, her wonderful chemical and physical
transformations is at work all the time. Leave her
alone and she will grow plants, weeds, trees, render
SELF-MAINTAINING FERTILITY 229
the soil richer and more fertile, clothe the earth
more beautifully. Give her your help, your interest,
your attention, and she will direct all her energies
toward the growth of useful plants. She will
make your garden blossom and bear fruit as never
before, with just a little care, and cooperation on
your part. Putting aside every selfish thought
of all the wealth, health and happiness that you can
get from a little garden in the backyard, don't you
really think you owe it to Nature and her work
to do your part and grow something?
VII
WHAT AILS YOUR PLANTS?
THE INSECTS AND DISEASES THAT MAY ATTACK
YOUR VEGETABLES AND FRUITS, AND How
TO VANQUISH THEM — How TO MAKE
SPRAY MIXTURES
Many books and free bulletins from various
sources tell how to make Bordeaux mixture, ar-
senate of lead solution, etc., but all on the basis
of 50 gallons. This is, of course, much too large
a scale for most backyard gardens, and it is
more or less inconvenient mathematically to reduce
all the amounts proportionately. The regular,
standard formulas are here given in the quan-
tities that you and I are apt to need in our
home garden. The amounts are expressed through-
out in terms of every household — the teaspoon,
the tablespoon and the Mason jar. You will
need nothing unusual to measure with or to mix
with.
If possible, in measuring and mixing your spray
materials use old utensils and keep them apart for
this use. Put them in a safe place. You may use
good silver and glassware, and afterward wash it
clean, but wash it very thoroughly, in hot water.
WHAT AILS YOUR PLANTS 231
Arsenate of lead, especially, sticks tightly. It is
this fact that makes it particularly valuable as an
insecticide: rain does not wash it off readily.
Bear this fact in mind when you measure out this
arsenate.
BORDEAUX MIXTURE
This is undoubtedly the best known and most
widely used combination for the control of fungous
diseases. Among the fungicides it occupies a posi-
tion like that formerly held by Paris green among
the insecticides, before the introduction of lead
arsenate.
In your garden you'll need it for anthracnose of
the bean and cucumber, for leaf spot of the beet
and currant, for early and late blight of the potato,
and a dozen other ills. Don't forget that any
fungicide is a preventive rather than a cure. It
must be applied early, before the disease has made
a good start.
Standard Formula. The regular formula now
in general use calls for four pounds of copper sul-
phate, four to six pounds of quicklime, and water
to make fifty gallons.
To Make One Gallon. Take one heaping table-
spoonful of copper sulphate; one and a half round-
ing tablespoonfuls of quicklime.
This is the equivalent of one ounce of the copper
sulphate and one and a quarter ounces of the
quicklime. If your copper sulphate is in large
crystals, break them up with a hammer until
there are no pieces larger than one-fourth to one-
232 GARDEN PROFITS
half inch. The lime must be fresh, not air-slaked.
It should be pounded up fine with a hammer, unless
you buy it already ground up.
Dissolve the copper sulphate in one quart of
warm water. Place the lime in a separate vessel,
and slake it slowly with a little water. After it
stops bubbling add enough water to make one quart
in this vessel.
Now pour your quart of copper sulphate solu-
tion and your quart of lime solution together
into a bucket — but do it this way: pour
a little from each into the bucket and then
stir, then a little more from each and again
stir, and so on. When you've done this, you'll
have two quarts of bluish-white mixture in the
bucket.
Add to this two quarts of water, making four
quarts in all of your mixture. This is now ready
to spray. It should be shaken or stirred frequently
while being sprayed; and it should be made up
fresh each time you spray.
AMMONIACAL COPPER CARBONATE
This may be used on ripening fruit, instead of
Bordeaux, without leaving visible sign or spoiling
the eating qualities, whereas Bordeaux will persist
in more or less conspicuous spots.
Standard Formula. In making up a full barrel
of this fungicide, take six ounces of copper carbon-
ate, three pints of ammonia, and water to make
fifty gallons.
WHAT AILS YOUR PLANTS 233
To Make Two Gallons. Take two barely level
teaspoonfuls of copper carbonate; and two fluid
ounces of ammonia.
This amount of copper carbonate is the equiva-
lent of one-fourth ounce. It may be secured at
any drug store, and should be about as coarse as
granulated sugar. You can measure out two fluid
ounces of ammonia by taking one-fourth of a
half-pint bottle. Or you will probably find some-
where around the house a two-ounce or a four-ounce
bottle. If you are in doubt, determine the matter
by filling a pint Mason jar with the bottle you are
to use. There are sixteen fluid ounces to the pint.
Place your copper carbonate in an empty quart
jar, and pour your ammonia over it. Use just
enough ammonia to dissolve it. This may take a
little more or a little less, because ammonia varies
in strength. Fill up the jar with water and allow
any sediment to settle. Pour the clear, blue liquid
into your spray-bucket, and add seven quarts of
water, making eight quarts of the spray mixture
in all.
Like Bordeaux, this fungicide deteriorates on
standing, and should be made up fresh each time
you want to spray.
FORMALIN
Where potatoes are scabby, or where onions are
infested with smut, experience has shown that the
trouble may largely be averted by seed treatment
with a solution of formalin. Other materials are
234 GARDEN PROFITS
sometimes used, such as quicklime or potassium
sulfid. But the formalin treatment is effective
and handy.
For Small Lots. Take two fluid ounces of formalin
(this is the same as one-eighth of a pint) to four
gallons of water. Immerse the uncut potatoes
in this and let them remain for two hours. Then
remove them, dry them a little and plant in scab-
free soil.
For onion smut use two fluid ounces of formalin
to four gallons of water. Sow your seed, but leave it
uncovered in the drill. Then sprinkle the seed
lying in the drill with the formalin solution, thus
moistening slightly the ground just adjacent to
the seed.
For grain smut use two fluid ounces of formalin
to six gallons of water. Pour out your seed in a
pile on the floor. Sprinkle it with the formalin
solution enough to moisten all the grains. Let
stand for three or four hours. Then spread out
and dry before planting.
PARIS GREEN
The old standby for leaf-eating insects is Paris
green. Time was when London purple was much
used, but its composition was variable, and consid-
erable amounts of free arsenic were often present,
causing burning of the foliage. To-day arsenate
of lead, which is considered in the next section, is
replacing Paris green.
Standard Formula. Paris green may be used
WHAT AILS YOUR PLANTS 235
simply stirred up in water; or it may be added to
Bordeaux mixture. The proportions used are one
pound of Paris green to one hundred and fifty or
two hundred gallons of water or Bordeaux. When
used in water, two or three pounds of lime are added.
In Small Quantities. Take a heaping teaspoon-
ful of Paris green to three gallons of water or three
gallons of Bordeaux mixture. This is the equiva-
lent of one-fourth of an ounce.
If you use it in Bordeaux, no lime need be added.
If you use it in water, add three heaping teaspoon-
fuls of lime.
ARSENATE OF LEAD
About the only difficulty with old-fashioned
Paris green is the fact that it washes off readily.
In the case of some vegetables, such as cabbages,
this may be no disadvantage. We prefer to have
the poison come off before the heads are marketed.
As a rule, however, it is a distinct advantage to
have a poison that will adhere through showers.
Arsenate of lead will do this.
Standard Formula. Arsenate of lead is used at
strengths varying all the way from three pounds
to the hundred gallons up to twenty pounds to the
hundred gallons. It depends on the power of re-
sistance of the species of insect for which the spray
is applied. There is no danger of burning the foliage.
In Small Quantities. This chemical comes in
the form of a thick, sticky paste. For ordinary
use take one tablespoonful, just slightly rounded, to
one gallon of water or Bordeaux mixture.
236 GARDEN PROFITS
This is the equivalent of one ounce of the paste.
You may use double this amount if desired in the
case of resistant insects, such as the potato beetle.
KEROSENE EMULSION
For most sucking insects, especially the soft-
bodied ones, such as plant-lice or aphids, a satis-
factory spray is to be found in kerosene emulsion.
It is not a poison, and is of no avail against such
insects as the potato beetle; nor is a poison spray
like arsenate of lead of any use against the sucking
insects for which kerosene emulsion is adapted.
The distinction should be clearly understood. Kero-
sene emulsion is a contact remedy. Paris green and
lead arsenate are stomach poisons.
Standard Formula. In making up this spray
mixture on a large scale the proportions call for
one-half pound of hard soap, one gallon of water,
and two gallons of kerosene. The soap is dissolved
in the hot water, the kerosene is added, and the
spray-pump is used to churn the mixture violently.
In Making Small Amounts. Cut from a cake of
common, hard soap a cube about one inch square.
Take one-half pint of soft water; one pint of common
kerosene, or coal-oil.
Pour the half-pint of water into any convenient
vessel holding a quart or more, in which you can
boil it. Shave the soap up fine and drop it into
the water. Place the vessel on the fire, and bring
the water to a boil, stirring to see that the soap is
all dissolved.
Remove the vessel from the fire and, while the
WHAT AILS YOUR PLANTS 237
soapy water is still hot, add the pint of kerosene.
At once churn the mixture violently. For this
purpose you may use a common egg-beater. It
won't hurt the egg-beater in the least: you can easily
wash it clean afterward with soap and hot water.
Keep on churning the mixture for several minutes
until you have a creamy mass of even consistency
throughout.
This is your stock solution. For ordinary summer
use you will take one part of this and add to it
fifteen or twenty parts of water.
TOBACCO WATER
Concentrated extracts of tobacco are now on
the market and are handy and effective against
soft-bodied insects, such as the common plant-lice.
They are prepared for use by simple dilution with
water.
If waste tobacco stems are available, as they are
apt to be in any town or city where the manufacture
of cigars or stogies is carried on, you can make your
own tobacco extract as follows:
Take any convenient vessel and pack the stems
down in it moderately firm. Pour over them boil-
ing hot water, just enough to cover them. Let this
stand several hours. Then pour off the brown
liquor, and dilute this as follows: one part of the
brown extract to four parts of water.
SOAP SOLUTION
Most plants kept indoors develop sooner or later
a crop of aphids, or some of the softer scales.
23 8 GARDEN PROFITS
A satisfactory and handy spray or wash for these
may be made by dissolving a block of ordinary
toilet soap in water, and applying the solution with
a small sprayer or simply by washing the plants
with a rag or sponge.
To make the soap solution take a cube of white
soap about an inch square or a trifle larger, shave
it up fine, and dissolve in one gallon of warm, soft
water.
PYRETHRUM IN WATER
Ordinary pyrethrum or "insect powder," if
fresh, is of considerable value as a spray or wash for
plants indoors. If stale, it is of practically no value
whatever.
The strength generally used is at the rate of one
ounce of the powder to two or three gallons of
water.
For Small Quantities. Take one heaping tea-
spoonful of the pyrethrum and add it to two quarts of
warm water. Allow it to stand for a while before use.
POISONED BRAN MASH
There is no garden pest more exasperating than
the cutworm. SomeTiow, we can stand it to have
the edge of a leaf chewed, but when the offender
cuts the whole plant off even with the ground,
leaving it there for our observation next morning,
we draw the line.
Cutworms may be poisoned readily, if we give
them a prepared bran mash to feed on just before
we set out our plants.
WHAT AILS YOUR PLANTS 239
Standard Formula. In large quantities the mash
is made by taking fifty pounds of bran or middlings,
two quarts of molasses and one pound of Paris
green.
To Make One Quart. Take one quart of wheat
bran or middlings. Mix with this one teaspoonful
of Paris green, seeing to it that the poison is thor-
oughly distributed through the dry meal. Now,
take half a cupful of water, and add to it one table-
spoonful of molasses, or the equivalent in any other
sweet. With this water moisten the bran slowly,,
Use more water if necessary until the bran is rather
damp, but not wet.
This should be distributed in teaspoonful doses
every two or three feet over the ground to be pro-
tected.
COMBINED MIXTURES
Combining two different poisons so as to make
a double-headed application at one time is often
a labor-saving device for the amateur. Thus,
Bordeaux mixture can be used in place of water
in the preparation of Paris green, and in this way
we can get one spray that will kill fungous diseases
and chewing insects at the same time. Similarly,
lime-sulphur can be used in combination with
arsenate of lead. (But a mixture of Paris green and
lime-sulphur is injurious to the foliage.)
Probably you have some kind of a sprayer for
this work. However, if you cannot justify the
expense of one and cannot make some mechanical
contrivance, still you need not despair. Follow
240 GARDEN PROFITS
the example of your resourceful predecessors and
use an old whisk broom. Insects and disease are
rarely rampant in small gardens where care and
neatness abide, but spraying, like weeding, is most
effective when practised as a preventive. The use
of spray mixtures gives you good practical ex-
perience too — which may come in handy some-
day.
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INDEX
Note: The asterisk (*"\ indicates an illustration.
Ammoniac* ! copper carbonate, 182,
232
Amount of sash needed in garden, 1 14
of seed for 50 ft. row, 136
Annual cost of garden, 99
Anthracnose, bean, 171
April work, 162
Arsenate of lead, 235
Artificial watering, 190
Ashes, as a fertilizer, 225
to improve soil texture, 159
Asparagus, forcing, 33
how to cut,
knife, 178*
when to stop cutting, 186
bed, care of the, 157
how to make an, 157
in July, the, 192
salt on the, 157, 178, 192
soot for the, 189
August sowing, seeds for, 198
work, 196
Back fence, the real use for a, 29
Backyard garden, calendar of a, 59
Backyard, the redemption of a, 49
Bacteria, beneficial, how to increase
the, 228
importance of, the, 227
in the soil, 215
Bagging grapes, 196
Barberry for a windbreak, 29, 59
Barrels, celery grown in, 40*
strawberries grown in, 39,40*
Bean anthracnose, 171
Bean poles,"clothes poles as, 34
sunflowers for, 34
Bean strings, 46
Beans in coldframe, 125
when not to cultivate, 171
Beets in coldframe, 123
Berry boxes, old, how to use, 155*, 156
Berry bushes in the plan, 135
Blackberries, summer pruning, 196
Blanching celery with boards, 196
with earth, 197
Board, planting, 160
Boards, blanching celery with, 196
Bordeaux mixture, 23 1
Boys, and girls, and gardens, 85
Boys' garden, a, 86
plan of, 88*
yield of, 87
Brambles, pruning the, 149*, 150*, 196
spraying, 181
support for, 182*
tender, how to care for, 212
Bran mash, poisoned, 238
Brassicas, 80
Bush fruits, how to mulch, 211
how to plant, 161
Business man's garden, plan of, 45*
Cabbage, harvesting, 33
in coldframe, 130
Calendar, of a backyard garden, 59
of season's work: January, 134;
Febuary, 148; March, 151;
April, 162; May, 170; June, 182;
July, 190; August, 196; Sep-
tember, 202 ; October, 204; No-
vember, 207
INDEX
Canadian wood-ashes, 31
Carbonate, ammoniacal copper, 182,
232
Carrots, in coldframe, 123
sprouting, 21
when to harvest, 185
Catalogues, 138
Cauliflower, in coldframe, 129
when to harvest, 184
Celery, blanching with boards, 196
blanching with earth, 197
grown in barrels, 40*
how to care for, 191
in the coldframe, 127
in the small garden storing, 209
liquid manure for, 198
outdoors, keeping, 205
storing for winter, 207*
trench, how to make a, 208
Chickens in the garden, 35
Children's gardens, 85
Clay soil, handling, 159
Clothes pole, as a bean pole, 34
vegetables and vines on, 30*,
34, 35*
Cloth sash for hotbeds, advantages
of, no
Clover as a fertilizer, 226
Coldframe as a greenhouse, a, 115
beans in the, 125
beets in the, 123
building the, 109*, 1 14
cabbage in the, 130
carrots in the, 123
cauliflower in the, 129
celery in the, 127
and hotbed, difference between,
106
eggplant in the, 124
gain made with a, 105
hardening-off seedlings in the, 1 19
how to prepare the, 117
leeks in the, 125
lettuce in the, 120
onion in the, 124
parsley in the, 126
peas in the, 131
peppers in the, 122
Coldframe, reasons for having a, 106
how to transplant in the, 119
spinach in the, 126
the management of a, 116
tomatoes in the, 121
ventilating the, 118*
watering, the, 118
Collars, paper, for, seedlings, 177*
Combination planting, commercial
methods of, 37
planting, crops for, 38
Combined spray mixtures, 239
Combining succession with rotation,
79
Commercial fertilizer, amount to use,
223, 225
fertilizer, rule for using, 224
fertilizers, how to use, 222
fertilizers, kinds of, 225
methods of combination planting,
37
Companion cropping, 36
Compost pile, how to make a, 201
Consumer coming into his own, 9
Cooperative vegetable growing, 65
Copper-carbonate, ammoniacal, 182,
232
Corn, how to prevent varieties mix-
ing, 57
by June 2Oth, 19
sprouting, 20
the main crop, 172
Cost of garden, annual, 99
of tools, 144
Cover crop, in the garden, 204
rye as a, 202, 204
Cow manure, value of, 219
Cowpeas and soy beans, 226
Cropping, companion, 36
Crops for combination planting, 38
hurryirg, 19
succession, a rule for, 176
Crop, corn the main, 172
Cultivate, how to, 171
when not to, beans, 171]
Cucumber on clothes poles, 34
Cucurbits, 80
Cultivating potatoes, 193
INDEX
Currants, spraying, 181
Cutter, the strawberry runner, 180*
Cutworm, outwitting the, 90*, 177*,
210
trenching the soil for the, 210
Diary, garden, 59, 92*
Dibbling, 154*, 155
Difference between coldframe and
hotbed, 106
Distances for planting fruits, 147
for planting vegetables, IO2, 104,
136
for thinning vegetables, IO2, 179
Drilling, 163
Ducks in the garden, 35
Dwarf fruit trees, how to, 212
supports for, 29
Earliest vegetables, the, 145
Early frosts, getting the best of, 204
planting, 16, 17, 145
Earth, blanching celery with, 197
Economical thinning, 199
Economy in the garden, 16
Effect of soil sterilization, the, 227*
Eggplant in the coldframe, 124
Elements of plant food in fertilizers,
222, 225
England, seeds in, 139
Evergreens for a windbreak, 29
Expenses of ten-dollar garden, 58
Fall planting season, the, 213
February plantings, 149
work, 148
Fertilizer, ashes as a, 225
how much to use, 222, 225
lime as a, 225
salt as a, 225
to use per square rod, 225
Fertilizers, clovers as, 226
commercial, how to use, 225
Fertilizers, kinds of, 225
rule for using, 224
elements of plant food in, 222,
2ZJ
Fifty dollars from twenty-four tomato
plants, II
Five crops on one foot of ground, 70
Flat, 145, 146*
Forcing asparagus, 33
rhubarb, 33
Formalin, 233
Fourth of July garden, a, 23
Fresh manure, the value of, 221
Frosts, early, getting the best of,
204
Fruit bushes, care of the first year,
1 80
in the plan, 135
garden, how to plant the, 160
how to thin, 195
distances for planting, 147
varieties of, 147
supports for dwarf, 29
trees, how to dwarf, 212
Fruits, small, what bothers the, 241
special requirements of, 147, 148
spraying the, 190
summer pruning of, 181
Gain made with coldframes, 105
Garden, a fourteen-year-old boy's,
86
amount of sash needed in, 114
annual cost of, 99
backyard, calendar of a, 59
diary, 59, 92
ducks and chickens in the, 35, 36
how to water the, 189
invalid's, returns from an, 15
line, 143*
plan, the, 134
planted after the 4th of July, a,
23
record, a vest-pocket system of,
92
records, the need of, 91
small, storing celery in the, 209
INDEX
Garden, ten-dollar, a. 54
ten-dollar, plan of a, 55*
ten-minutes-a-day, a, 68, 71*
vegetable, pests of the, 244, 245
what your, can grow, 73
yield for one week, 69
28 x 28 ft., yield of, 51*, 53
40 x 45 ft., plan of, 60*
80 x 100 ft., yield of, 65
Gardens, boys, and girls, and, 85
Gardener's, reward, the thorough, 91
Gardener, what science has done for
the, 49
Gather vegetables, when to, 183
Getting the best of the early frosts,
204
Girls, and boys, and gardens, 85
Good seed, 21, 139
Grapes, bagging the, 196
planting, 161
support for, 30
Grape vine, how to prune the, 212*,
213*
Greenhouse, a coldframe as a, 115
Green manures, 204, 226
Growing season, the busy, 170
Grow, what your garden can, 73
Hand weeders, 141*, 171*
Hardening off, seedlings, no, 119
Harvesting cabbage, 33
Harvest, onions, how to, 200
Heat-lovers, 80
Heavy soil, how to dig, 211*
Henderson, Peter, quoted, 9
Hill, best, of potatoes, 22
how and when to, 178
Hoeing, value of, 14
Hoes, 142*, 172*
Hog manure, value of, 219
Home-made, hotbed mat, a, in
pruning pole, 199*
Hone manure, value of, 219
Horse-weeds for pea brush, 64
Hotbed and coldframe, difference be-
tween, 106
Hotbed, cloth sash for, no
cost of maintenance of, 17
how to build a, 107
mats. III, 112*
sowing seeds in a, 109
transplanting seedlings in a, 148
usefulness of, 17
ventilating the, 118*
How and when to hill, 178
How much fertilizer to use, 222, 225
seed for so-foot row, 136
seed to plant, 136
How to brush peas, 179
build a manure pit, 201
coldframe, 109*. 114
hotbed, 107, 108*
care for celery, 191
growing melons, 186
tender bramble*, 212
cultivate, 171
cut asparagus, 178
dig heavy soil, 21 1*
light soil, 211*
dwarf fruit trees, 212
handle clay soils, 159
harvest onions, 200
rhubarb, 178*
increase the beneficial bacteria,
228
make a celery trench, 208
a compost pile, 201
ammoniacal copper carbonate,
232
an asparagus bed, 157
a rhubarb bed, 158
a root pit, 206
Bordeaux mixture, 231
hotbed mats, in, 112*
kerosene emulsion, 236
liquid manure, 220*
poisoned bran mash, 238
soap solution, 237
tobacco water, 237
mulch the bush fruits, 211
pick melons, 192
plant bush fruits, 161
strawberries, 161
the fruit garden, 160
INDEX
How to prepare the coldframe, 117
prune brambles, 149*, 150*
the grape vine, 212*, 213*
•ow seeds in the hotbed, 109, 1 17
store manure without loss, 201,
221
roots, 206
tell a ripe watermelon, 200
thin fruit, 195
transplant, 152, 153*
in the coldframe, 119
trim tomato vines, 193
use arsenate of lead, 235
commercial fertilizers, 222
formalin in thc'garden, 234
old berry boxes, 155*. 156
Paris green, 234
manure, 220
water the garden, 189
Humus, 219
Importance of bacteria, the, 227
of soil compactness in July plant-
ing, 27
Insects, trenching the ground to de-
stroy, 204,210
Intensive cultivation, 6
Invalid's garden, returns from an, 15
Invalid, what a garden did for an, 14
January work, 134
June work, 182
July planting, importance of soil com-
pactness in, 27
planting, kinds of vegetables for,
24
what to sow in, 194
work, 190
Keeping celery outdoors, 205
seeds, 141
Kerosene emulsion, 236
Kinds and varieties, 139
of plant food, 225
Knife, asparagus, 178*
Kohlrabi, 83*, 85
Labels, 163*. 164*, 165*
Leaf-crops, 80
Legumes, 80
Leeks in coldframe, 125
Lettuce in coldframe, 120
Light soil, how to dig, 21 1*
Lime as a fertilizer, 225
Liquid manure, for celery, 198
how to make, 220*
Living, cost of, 4
Management of the strawberry bed,
181
the, of a coldframe, 116
Manure, 145
cow, value of, 219
fresh, value of, 221
green, 226
hog, value of, 219
horse, value of, 219
how to store without loss, 2OI, 221
to use, 220
liquid, for celery, 198
how to make, 220*
value of, 162, 219
what it does in the soil, 218
when to spread, 221
pit, how to build, 201
March, planting and transplanting in,
IS I. I5»
March work, 151
May work, 170
Measuring rod, 143*
Melons, how to care for growing, 186
how to pick, 192
Mixtures, spray, combined, 239
Mulch, 27
bush fruits, how to, 211
for strawberries, 210
when to remove the, 21 1
winter, in the orchard, a, 202
INDEX
Nasturtium, soaking of, seed, 21
New Zealand spinach, 174
Nitrate of soda, for vegetables, 189,
191, 192
Nitrification, 215
Nitrogen, 222, 225
"Nitrogen-fixers," 216
Nodules, 216
November work, 207
October work, 204
One foot of ground, five crops on, 70
Onions, how to harvest, 200
in the coldframe, 124
Orchard, pests, 242, 243
winter mulch in the, 2O2
Outdoors, celery, keeping, 205
Paper, collars for seedlings, 177*
pots, iss
Paris green, 234
Parsley in coldframe, 126
Pea brush, gathering, 144
horse-weeds for, 64
Peas, how to brush, 179
in the coldframe, 131
Peppers in the coldframe, 122
Perennial vegetables, in the plan, 135
labels for, 164*, 165*
Pests of the orchard, 242, 243
of the vegetable garden, 244, 245
Phosphoric acid, 225
Plan, berry bushes, in the, 135
Plan for a small vegetable garden, 101
berries and fruits in the, 135
of a boy's garden, 88
business man's garden, 45
ten-dollar garden, 55
40 x 45 ft. garden, 60
perennial vegetables in the, 135
root crops in the, 135
the garden, 134
Planning season, the, 133
Plant food, elements of, 222, 225
sources of, 225
Plant early, 16, 145, 151
Planting and transplanting in March,
151, 152
Planting, board, 160*
early, 16, 145, 151
fruits, distances for, 147
grapes, 161
scheme, succession, 81
February, 149
season, the, 150
season, the fall, 213
tables for vegetable gardens, 102,
104
vegetables, distances for, 102,
136
Plants, growing in a chicken brooder,
18
tender, setting out, 176
Poisoned bran mash, how to make,
238
Portable trellis for tomatoes, 187
Potash, 222, 225
Potatoes, best hill of, 22
cultivating and spraying the, 193
for seed, 22
in seven weeks, 20
sprouting, 20*
sprouting tray for, 21*
when to plant early, 156
Pots, paper, 155
Preparing the soil, the importance of,
158*
Principles of seed sowing, 163
Privet for windbreak, 29
Profits and yields, 8
Profit, 600 per cent, from one-tenth
of an acre, 92
1,200 per cent, from 20 x 27 ft. of
ground, 43
Prune the grape vine, how to, 212,*
213*
Pruning pole, home-made, 199*
Pruning, summer, of fruits, 181
tomatoes, 58, 193
Pyrethrum, 238
Quart, amount of unpeeled tomatoes
to a, 32
INDEX
Raspberries, summer pruning, 196
Record book, pages of, 93*
Records, garden, the need of, 91
result of three years, 95
Redemption of a backyard, the, 49
Repairs and tools, 141
Requirements, special, of fruit, 147
Result of three years' records, 95
Returns from an invalid's garden, 15
Reward, the thorough gardener's, 91
Rhubarb, bed, how to make a, 158
forcing, 33
how to harvest, 178
Rolling the soil, 28
Root crops in the plan, 135
Root pit, how to make, 206
Roots, how to store, 206
Rotation, combining, with succession,
79
Row-marker, a, 170*
Rule for using commercial fertilizers,
a, 224
Runner cutter, strawberry, 1 80*
Runners, strawberry, when to re-
move, 1 80
Rye as a cover crop, 202, 204
Salsify, 82, 85*
Salt as a fertilizer, 225
on the asparagus bed, 157, 178,
192
Sash, amount needed in garden, 114
cloth, advantages of, no
Scarifier, 141*, 172*
Science, what, has done for the gar-
dener, 49
Scuffle hoe, 172*
Season, of planting, the, 150
the busy growing, 170
the fall planting, 213
the quiet, 207
the planning, 133
Seed-bed, the, 159
Seed, how much, to plant, 136
potatoes, for, 22
sowing, in the hotbed, 109, 117
vitality of, 98
Seedlings, hardening off, no, 119
paper collars for, 177*
transplanting in hotbed, 148
Seeds, and yields for 50 ft., 136
for August sowing, 198
in England, 139
keeping, 141
Seedsmen, 138
Seed sowing, the principles of, 163
September sowings, 203
work, 202
Setting out tender plants, 176
Seven weeks, potatoes in, 20
Six hundred per cent, from one-tenth
of an acre, 92
Small fruits, what bothers the, 241
Soaking of vegetable seeds, 21
Soap solution, 237
Soda, nitrate of, for vegetables, 189,
191, 192
Soil, bacteria in the, 215
heavy, how to dig, 211*
light, how to dig, 211*
preparation, the importance of,
158*
rolling the, 28
sterilization, effect of, 227*
trenching the, for cutworms, 204,
210
what manure does in the, 218
Soot, for the asparagus bed, 189
Sources of plant food, the, 225
Sowing, August, seeds for, 198
for succession, 166, 175
seed in a hotbed, 109, 117
September, 203
Soy beans and cowpeas, 226
Spading, value of, 61
Spinach, in coldframe, 126
New Zealand, 174
Spraying brambles and currants, 181
potatoes, 193
the fruits, 190
Spray, mixtures combined, 239
pump, 188*, 239
Sprouting, vegetables, 20, 21
tray for potatoes, 21*
Square rod, fertilizer to use per, 225
INDEX
Sterilization, soil, effect of, 227*
Store, roots, how to, 206
Storing celery, for winter, 207*
in the small garden, 209
Storing manure without loss, 201, 221
Strawberries grown in barrels, 39, 40*
how to plant, 161
mulching, 210
yield per acre, 39
Strawberry bed, management of the,
181
utilizing the, 38
runner-cutter, 180*
runners, when to remove, 180
Street sweepings, 16, 219
Succession, combining with rotation,
79
crops, a rule for, 176
planting scheme, a, 81
sowing for, 166, 175
Summer pruning of blackberries and
raspberries, 196
of tree fruits, 181
Sunflowers for bean poles, 34
Support for, brambles, 182*
dwarf fruit trees, 29
grapes, 30
Sweet pea seed, soaking of, 21
Swiss chard, 84*, 85
Tank, washing, for vegetables, a, 183
Tender plants, setting out, 176
Ten-dollar garden, a, 54
expenses of, 58
plan of, 55*
Ten dollars, what one woman can do
with, 54
Ten-minutes-a-day garden, a, 68, 71*
yield of, 78, 79
Thinning, economical, 199*
vegetables, 179
Tobacco water, 237
Transplant in a coldframe, how to,
119
Transplanting, and planting in March,
Transplanting, in July, 191
seedlings in hotbed, 148
vegetables for, 136, 137
Tray, sprouting, for potatoes, 21*
Trellis, a simple, 47*
for tomatoes, 30, 46
portable, for tomatoes, 187
Trench, celery, how to make, 208
Trenching the ground to destroy in-
sects, 204, 210
Trowels, 141*
Tomatoes, amount of unpeeled to a
quart, 32
in the coldframe, 121
on clothes pole, 34
one-fifth of a ton of, 3 1
pruning, 58, 193
trellis for, 30, 46
Tomato plants on single pole, 13*
trellis, a portable, 187
vines, how to trim, 193
keeping over winter, 33
Ton, one-fifth of a, of tomatoes, 31
Tools, and repairs, 141*, 142*. 143*
154*, 170*, 171*, 172*
cost of, 144
Twelve hundred per cent, profit from
20 x 27 ft. of ground, 43
Under-capitalization, 7
Usefulness of hotbed, 17
Value of, cow manure, 219
fresh manure, 221
hog manure, 219
horse manure, 219
manure, the, 162
spading, 61
Varieties, and kinds of vegetables/139
of corn, how to prevent, mixing,
57
of fruit, 147
Vegetable garden, pests of the, 244,
*45
plan for a small, 101*
INDEX
Vegetable gardens, planting tables
for, 102, 104
Vegetable growing, cooperative, 65
Vegetables, distances for planting, 102,
I36
for transplanting, 136, 137
nitrate of soda for, 189, 191, 192
the earliest, 145
distances for thinning, 179
varieties and kinds of, 139
washing tank for, a, 183
when to gather, 183
you can grow, 73
Ventilating the coldframe, 118*
Vest-pocket record garden system, a,
92
Vitality of seeds, 98
When, and how to hill, 178
to gather vegetables, 183
plant early potatoes, 156
remove the mulch, 211
spread manure, 221
Windbreak, 29, 59
Winter, keeping tomato vines over,
33
mulch in the orchard, a, 202
storing celery for, 207*
Woman, what one, can do with $10, 54
Wood-ashes, Canadian, 31
Work, April, 162; August, 106;
February, 148; January, 134; July,
190; June, 182, March, 151; May,
170; November, 207; October 204;
September, 202
Washing tank for vegetables, a, 183
Watering, artificial, 190
the coldframe, 118
Watermelon, how to tell a ripe, 200
Week, yield of garden for one, 69
What bothers the small fruits, 241
certain plants like best, 217
manure does in the soil, 218
to sow in July, 194
yomr garden can grow, 73
Yield of boy's garden, 87
garden for one week, 69
strawberries per acre, 39
ten-minutes-a-day garden, 78, 75
28 i 28 ft. garden, 53
80 x 100 ft. garden, 65
Yields, and amount of seed for 50 feel
136
and profits, 8
THE END
THE COUNTRY LIFE PRE38
GARDEN CITY, N. Y.
DEC 09 1988
DATE DUE
3 1970 00705 2027
A 001228355 2