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MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



How I Grew My Garden. 



LAURA HINTZE, SPRING VALLEY, FILLMORE COUNTY. 



(Prize Winner in Boys' and Girls' Garden and Canning Club Contest.) 

 The vegetables I chose to raise this year were tomatoes. 

 The plat on which they were raised contained one-tenth of an 

 acre, of which the subsoil is sandy and the top is black soil. 



The very first thing I 

 did was to have the 

 plat fenced, then plowed, 

 disked twice and har- 

 rowed twice. 



On May 19th I re- 

 ceived my plants. I plant- 

 ed them the next day. 

 The plants were set four 

 feet apart each way. 

 When planting, they 

 were set a little deeper 

 than in previous bed. 

 Shortly afterward it 

 rained. Out of two hun- 

 dred plants, only nine 

 did not grow. 



They were only hoed 

 twice and cultivated 

 twice. I did not prune 

 the plants at all, as the 

 tomatoes seemed to ripen 

 evenly and not all at once. I staked only a few, as the season 

 was dry. If the season were wet, it would be better to stake 

 them to keep them off the ground; for if left it causes them 

 to rot. 



I picked the first ripe tomatoes July 28th. There was a 

 ready sale for all I had in our own town. I sold them at ten down 

 to one cent per pound. To prepare them for market, I wiped 

 them with a dry cloth and packed them with the bottom end up. 

 When it rained, the ripest tomatoes cracked; these were kept 

 for home use. 



I had fresh vegetables eight weeks. The total number of 

 pounds I raised was 2,679, bringing me a net profit of $58.24. 

 I am satisfied with this year's work, and intend to try it again 

 next year. 



Miss Laura Hintze, State champion Minnesota 

 Garden and Canning Clubs in 1916. 



