GARDENING 



2385 



GARDENING 



are also a wise choice, especially for anyone 

 whose gardening time is limited. 



Getting the Soil Ready. If seeds are to be 

 properly nourished when planted they must be 

 dropped into ground that is well supplied with 

 plant food. One of the most important of 

 these foods is nitrogen, usually given to the 

 soil by spreading over it a coating of stable 

 manure three or four inches deep. Again, if 

 the tiny rootlets are to send their fibers down 

 through the ground for food and moisture, and 

 if the young plant is to push its way upward 

 into the sunlight, the soil must be soft and 

 fine. To make it so, the garden plot must be 

 thoroughly spaded and dug to the depth of a 

 foot. It must then be turned over again and 

 again with hoe and rake, until all lumps are 

 broken up. Spading and raking are to small 

 gardens what plowing and harrowing are to 

 large farms. Next, since the soil needs potash 

 and phosphoric acid, as well as nitrogen, to 

 feed to its plants, wood-ash and bonemeal 

 should be sprinkled upon its surface, or one 

 of the good chemical fertilizers sold in the 

 stores should be obtained. By working this 

 in thoroughly the soil will become pulverized 

 and mellow. 



Planting the Seed. All planting must be 

 done on a freshly-prepared surface; that is, 

 the ground must be watered, hoed and raked 

 smooth just before the seeds are put into the 

 ground, no matter how much previous work 

 has been done. 



Only good seed will produce healthy plants; 

 therefore it should be bought at a reliable seed- 

 house and then tested before planting. A sim- 

 ple testing method is explained in the article on 

 SEEDS. The very tiny seeds are usually scat- 

 tered on the soft ground and pressed in firmly 

 with a smooth board ; larger ones are planted at 

 varying depths. During the summer seeds need 

 to be planted deeper than in springtime, be- 

 cause it is necessary to go farther down to 

 find moist soil. The planting table in the 

 article VEGETABLES gives definite instructions 

 for planting vegetable seeds; a similar one for 

 flowers will be found under that article, sub- 

 head Suggestions for a Flower Garden. 



After the planting, the soil must be pressed 

 or stamped down firmly, bringing the earth 

 in contact with the seed, and making it com- 

 pact enough to hold the moisture needed for 

 germination. Each row or bed should then be 

 tagged with a thin wooden marker on which 

 are written the kind of seed and the date of 

 planting. 

 150 



When to Plant. Planting time varies in dif- 

 ferent localities and in different years. Ex- 

 perienced gardeners go according to the fruit- 

 tree calendar. When the peach and pear are 

 in bloom they plant the hardy vegetables, such 

 as onions, lettuce, radishes, spinach, beets, pars- 

 nips, turnips and the like. When the apple 

 blossoms appear they plant the more tender 

 varieties, like beans, corn, melons, pumpkins 

 and cucumbers. Most of the flowers, with 

 the exception of the sturdy little pansy and a 

 few others, also need to be held back until 

 this more conservative time. However, if the 

 gardener wishes to get an early start he plants 

 his seed in a hotbed or cold-fr&me, which is 

 easy and inexpensive to make, or starts it in 

 pots or "flats," kept indoors. Then he waits 

 with his transplanting until the warm weather 

 has come to stay, which is generally when 

 apple-blossom time is past. 



What Cultivation Means. Cultivating the 

 ground means keeping it well fed, well stirred 

 and well watered. Occasionally, particularly 

 if the garden does not seem to be thriving, a 

 fertilizer should be sprinkled upon its surface. 

 Different soils need different treatment, but 

 one of the best all-round fertilizers is bone- 

 meal. When manure is used care must be 

 taken not to let it come in contact with the 

 plant itself. Lime helps to keep the soil sweet. 

 Mulch, a light layer of fine soil kept on the 

 garden surface, assists the ground in retaining 

 its moisture and keeps out weeds; it is se- 

 cured by hoeing the ground and then dragging 

 a rake lightly over it. Frequent sprinkling 

 with a hose is necessary. 



Protecting the Garden. Every garden is a 

 battlefield, with the flowers, vegetables, birds 

 and gardener in league against destructive in- 

 sects and troublesome weeds. The fight against 

 the weeds must begin the minute they send 

 their unwelcome stalks through the earth, for 

 they are using up food that belongs to the 

 rightful possessors of the soil. The younger 

 they are, the easier to uproot, and if the war 

 is well fought in the beginning of the season, 

 the later struggle will be less strenuous. Con- 

 stant stirring and mulching of the soil dis- 

 courages the weeds, and the garden more than 

 repays the time and effort bestowed upon it 

 by looking trim and yielding abundantly. The 

 United States government has given special 

 attention to the weed problem of farmers and 

 gardeners in its bulletin entitled Weeds and 

 How to Kill Them; this pamphlet may be ob- 

 tained through the Department of Agriculture. 



