CHAPTER XII 

 THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 



What are the things to be done in order to 

 have a successful vegetable garden ? 



Reasons for gardening. There are at least three reasons 

 for having a garden profit, pleasure, and health. From 

 the practical side, a garden may make a great saving in the 

 cost of living by furnishing food that must otherwise be 

 bought. A good-sized garden can furnish vegetables not only 

 for the summer but for the winter as well, because the excess 

 may be stored or canned. A vegetable garden also furnishes 

 a means of earning some money during the summer, as fresh 

 vegetables can usually be sold to the stores or to people who 

 have no garden. There is also the possibility of canning 

 vegetables for sale. 



Profitable gardening. The following instances taken from 

 various publications show to what extent it is- possible to 

 make even a small garden furnish vegetables for a family. 

 One man in Illinois reports that the produce grown on a 

 small, city, back-yard garden (28 by 25 feet) was nearly all 

 that was needed from May 15 to November for a family of 

 three, and part of the time for six. Another from New 

 Jersey reports that a suburban garden (22 by 34 feet) was 

 made to supply all the vegetables necessary for a family of 

 three. Another man from Minnesota reports that for four 

 years a small garden of ^ acre that is, a plot about the 

 size of an average city lot (25 by 100 feet) kept a family 



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