THE HOME ACRE 71 



bery with rye straw last winter, and I now have a 

 rank crop of rye to contend with. Com fodder or 

 prairie hay would be better. 



I have learned that wire netting for a garden 

 fence is a delusion and a snare. 



I am convinced that a person, if the department 

 of agriculture persists in flooding him with free seeds, 

 would better burn than to plant them. 



Planted in Long Rozcs. — A large and productive 

 home garden was described by Miss Edith Holton, 

 \>rmont. One acre of a newly set orchard was 

 dressed with five cords manure and six dollars worth 

 of fertilizer. The soil was excellent for a dry season, 

 being strong, heavy and inclined to wetness in spots. 

 The garden and trees were hoed five times and culti- 

 vated three or four times. Value of produce was one 

 hundred and twenty-six dollars and fifty-three cents, 

 of which the largest items were thirty-three dollars 

 for fifty-five bushels early potatoes and forty dollars 

 for one hundred bushels turnips. The account 

 received a five-dollar award. Writes Miss Holton : 



I would especially recommend the system of 

 planting everything in long rows so that garden and 

 field products can be cultivated at one time. Plants 

 of various kinds can be set between the garden rows 

 at the last cultivation, so that no space is lost. I like 

 also the plan of planting squashes among early pota- 

 toes, although they are somewhat in the way when 

 digging potatoes. Striped bugs and squash bugs do 

 not trouble so much and they get along out of the 

 way of early frost. 



A Small Farm Garden entered by Dora Dietrick, 

 Pennsylvania, received one of the regular five-dollar 

 prizes. Receipts were ninety-five dollars and seventy- 

 two cents. Cost, twenty-two dollars and twenty-five 

 cents. The seed bed was somewhat unusual for a 



