WAR GARDENING 



garden next spring. Destroy all plants which 

 are diseased. The compost pile should be 

 built up in alternate layers of vegetable 

 refuse a foot thick and earth an inch or more 

 thick. The earth helps to rot the vegetable 

 matter when mixed with it. The top of the 

 pile should be left flat that the rain may enter 

 and help in the process of decay. 



If the pile can be forked over once a month 

 when not frozen and the contents well mixed 

 together, they will decay quite rapidly and 

 be in good usable condition in the spring. 

 The compost may be either spread over the 

 garden and plowed under or it may be scat- 

 tered in the rows before the seed are sown. 

 This is, of course, not as rich as stable manure, 

 but it is a good substitute. 



Compost is also used as a top dressing dur- 

 ing the growing season for hastening growth. 



In the cities and towns tons of leaves are 

 burned every fall. This is a loss which ought 

 to be prevented. These leaves properly 

 composted with other vegetable waste and 

 earth would be worth hundreds of dollars to 

 the gardens next spring. 



In planning a permanent garden, a space 

 should be reserved near the hotbed or seed 

 bed, and in this space should be piled, as 

 soon as pulled, all plants which are free from 

 diseases and insects. This applies to all 

 vegetables and especially to peas and beans, 

 as these belong to a group of plants which 

 take nitrogen from the air, during growth, 

 and store it in their roots. When these plants 

 are decayed they will return to the soil not 

 only much of the plant food taken from it 

 during their growth but additional nitrogen 

 as well. Nitrogen in the soil is necessary 

 for satisfactory leaf growth. The material 

 so composted should be allowed to decay 

 throughout the winter, and when 

 needed should be used according to 

 the instructions given for using 

 compost. The sweepings of pigeon 

 lofts or chicken coops make valu- 

 able fertilizer. When cleaning roosts 

 from day to day add % as 

 much acid phosphate as 

 sweepings. When needed 

 apply 1 pound of this mix- 

 ture to every 5 square 

 feet of ground, mixing it 

 thoroughly into the soil. 



Prepared sheep manure, where procurable 

 at a reasonable price, is possibly the safest 

 concentrated fertilizer. It should be used in 

 small quantities rather than spread broad- 

 cast. Scatter it along the row before seed is 

 sown or apply by mixing it with water in a 

 pail, stirring the mixture to the consistency of 

 thin mush, and pouring it along the rows of 

 the plants. 



Green Manure 



Green manure is useful as a fertilizer. It 

 consists of green plants turned under by 

 plowing or spading. Rye is the most satis- 

 factory for this purpose. If planted in July 

 or August the crop may be turned under in 

 the fall if early spring planting is desired. 

 If planted later, it is usually turned under in 

 the spring. When not turned under until 

 spring, the growth will prevent the leaching of 

 soluble plant food or the washing away of 

 rich soil. 



In sowing rye for this purpose, use at the 

 rate of 1 pound of seed to a strip of ground 

 50 feet long and 10 feet wide. If the ground 

 is rough or hard it should be cultivated just 

 before the seed is sown, and then cultivated 

 again to cover the seed. Sow the seed be- 

 tween the rows of crops not yet gathered. 

 Rye is very hardy and will sprout even 

 though there is frost nearly every night. At 

 a cost of about 5 cents for a pound of seed a 

 garden of 10 by 50 feet can thus be treated 

 to an application of green manure. The 

 green rye plants soon decay when turned 

 under and answer the same purpose as a light 

 dressing of manure. 



Green manure, however, should not be relied 

 upon to do the work of stable manure, as it 

 does not provide phosphorus or potassium. 



Lime 



Land which has long been unused, or 

 land in lawns, is apt to be sour. To 

 remedy this condition apply 

 evenly 1 pound of air-slaked 

 ir lime or 2 pounds of ground lime- 

 stone to every 30 square feet. 

 The lime should be applied and 

 raked in to a depth of 2 inches 

 when the seed bed is being pre- 

 pared in the spring. Instead of 

 lime 2 pounds of unleached 



Fig. 3 Tools most commonly needed in a small garden. From left to right, between the balls of cord, they are: 

 Trowel, weeder, spade, steel toothed rake, hoe, garden fork, watering pot and dibble. 



