March, 191 1 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



63 



Intensive Gardening on a Small 

 Plot 



H. F. Ken»e<ly, Lyoni, Out. 



QIJITK often enquiries are made by 

 amateurs and inexperienced gar- 

 deners as to inovv to manage a 

 small garden. I am writing this article 

 principally for this class of people, giv- 

 ing them the benefit of my own experi- 

 ence during the last six years. Many 

 people with ambition and a love for gar- 

 dening are placed in a condition similar 

 to myself, that is, they have but a limited 

 amount of land to exercise their gifts 

 upon, and to such some information in 

 regard to intensive gardening or inten- 

 sive cultivation would be of great impor- 

 tance, for it is only by such a system 

 that a good supply of all standard vege- 

 tables can be raised on a small garden 

 plot. 



By intensive gardening, I mean such 

 a preparation and cultivation of soil and 

 arrangement of plants and successive 

 plantings as will ensure the maximum 

 • amount of vegetables. Last year on a 

 very small plot of rich clay loam I grew 

 an abundance of nearly every kind of 

 vegetables and flowers, which were of an 

 excellent quality, taking several first 

 prizes at the county fair. I believe that 

 by a better preparation of soil and cultiva- 

 tion it is possible to improve upon last 

 year's results, providing the weather 

 conditions arc favorable. The soil is in 

 better condition because of last year's 

 cultivation. 



TILLAGE 



'"•nrden soil should be plowed deeply 

 or spaded up as deep as possible in the 

 fall, as soon as the vegetables are all 

 gathered in. Good rich stable or poultry 

 manure to the depth of three or four 

 inches, should be worked well into the 

 soil. I find that plowing two furrows to- 

 gether, having the earth In high ridges 

 over winter, is an excellent plan. This 

 allows the water to drain off freely in the 

 spring and gives the frost a better chance 

 to pulverize the soil. 



In the spring, as soon as the land is in 

 a fit condition. I plow it or dig it again 

 quite deeply and work it up as fine as 

 possible. There are many ways this soil 

 may still Ixj improved for vegetable grow- 

 ing. Last fall 1 sent teams to the woods 

 and hauled a quantity of black mould 

 and sand loam. This I intend mixing 

 with the garden soil. There are other 

 materials, such as ashes, lime and soot, 

 which will prove beneficial to the soil. If 

 these are not available, some good fer- 

 tilizer, such as potash, would do, or bet- 

 ter still, bone meal, muriate of potash 

 and nitrate of soda mixed into the soil at 

 different stages of the vegetable growth, 

 the two former before planting, and the 

 latter at intervals while plants are grow- 

 ing. 



The first point I want to emphasize is 



Prize VegeUblu Grown at Dtaphio, Manitoba 



Mr. E. A. Sanderson, a progreesive gardener was successful in obtaining sixty-one first prizes 

 and twenty-one second prizes 



his garden at Dauphin, Man. 



that you can scarcely get your ground 

 in too good a condition for growing vege- 

 tables. The next thing of importance is 

 what to plant and how to obtain your 

 seeds and plants. I find it pays to pat- 

 ronize good reliable seedsmen. The best 

 seeds are none too good. I have a hobby 

 along that line. At present I patronize 

 three seedsmen, one in Ontario, one in 

 England, and one in the United .States. 

 The whole three send out good reliable 

 seed. Our Ontario firm is as good as 

 any. It also pays to raise your own 

 plants. .Any person who has a good sun- 

 ny window in his house can grow a few 

 plants, which, as a rule, give better re- 

 sults than greenhouse plants. .At present 

 I have in my windows three or four boxes 

 containing about six hundred onion 

 seeds, which I expect by the first of May 

 will produce fine stalky plants for setting 

 out in the garden. Later on, about the 

 end of March, I will make a hotbed for 

 sowing tomatoes, cabbage and other 

 vegetables. 



For growing plants in window boxes 

 or hot beds, a good rich soil or compost 

 is necessary. I use a mixture of good 

 rich garden soil, well rotted manure brok- 

 en up finely, and a small quantity of 

 black bush soil and sand loam. A little 

 lime, wood ashes and soot mixed with 

 this completes a compost which I find to 

 give excellent results in forcing along 

 good healthy plants, with plenty of sun- 

 ligWt, moisture and a temperature of 

 about fifty degrees. Have your compost 

 in the cellar where you can easily get it 



with vegetables grown 



when the right time comes in the spring 

 for sowing the seed. 



HEALTHY PLANTS 



The second point to emphasize is that 

 it is very important to have good healthy 

 plants ready to set out as soon as the 

 ground is fit and the weather conditions 

 are favorable. It is not enough simply 

 to have ground in good condition and_ 

 leave it to the sun, showers and Provi- 

 dence to do the rest. 



If you want good large vegetables of 

 an excellent quality and early in the sea- 

 son, you must do more than prepare the 

 ground and sow the seed. The hoe must 

 be constantly in use, to keep the weeds 

 down and the surface soil stirred up. As 

 soon as the seed shows itself above the 

 ground, or as soon as the plants are set 

 out, cultivation should commence and 

 should be continued until plants fill up 

 the row. Occasionally it may be wi.se to 

 water the plants or to add a little mulch 

 or fertilizer around the plants. All this 

 keeps the ground moist and forces the 

 plants along, and makes them strong to 

 withstand the ravages of the blight, beetle 

 or fly. 



(To be continued). 



An occasional stirring of the surface 

 .soil in flower pots will give the plants new 

 life and increase their growth. 



Fourteen packets of flower and garden 

 seeds in return for one new subscription 

 to The Canadian Horticulturist. See our 

 inside back cover. 



