136 ELEMENTS OF FARM PRACTICE 



Questions: 



1. Why is a garden important? 



2. How does a good garden help the mother? 



3. How is it of value to a boy or girl? 



4. How may we find the value of a garden? 

 Arithmetic: 



1. How many dozen carrots in 3 rows 121 ft. long, if the carrots 

 are 2 in. apart in the row? How much are they worth at 5c. per dozen? 



2. What part of an acre is occupied by 3 rows of carrots 121 ft. 

 long, if each row occupies a space 12 in. wide? (There are 43,560 sq. 

 ft. in an acre.) 



3. If a boy spends 2 hours each week for 8 weeks in caring for 3 

 rows of radishes 121 ft. long, how many hours will he spend? How 

 much is his time worth at 10c. per hour? 



PLAN AND PREPARATION 



Location. — As many trips are made to a garden during 

 the summer, it should be so located that access to it from 

 the house is easy and convenient; and, instead of being 

 located in some little corner where most of the work must 

 be done by hand, it should be accessible from the barn or 

 field, so that most of the work may be done with a horse 

 and cultivator. A good place for a garden is on a south 

 slope sheltered by a grove. 



Size. — There is waste land on most farms; and, as long 

 as this is true, there is no excuse for skimping the garden. 

 It should be of sufficient size that room may be given to 

 each variety of vegetable, tO permit cultivation with horse 

 labor. A strip about a rod wide at each end of the garden 

 should be seeded to grass, on which to turn when plowing 

 and cultivating. 



Soil. — The soil for a garden should be very rich and 

 productive. More work is required per acre on garden 

 than on field crops; hence the importance of getting good 

 crops to pay for the labor. If grain is sown on soil that 

 will produce but half a crop, six to ten dollars an acre is 

 lost, while, if but half a crop is raised in a garden, owing to 

 the poor condition of the soil, many times as much is lost, 

 because a good garden may yield from $100 to $500 worth 

 of produce per acre. 



Preparation of Soil. — Land for the garden should be 

 heavily manured. From twenty to fifty loads per acre 

 may be used. Well rotted manure is best, but other manure 



