280 Effective Farming 



153. The farm-garden. The home-garden of the farm is 

 too often badly neglected. This is unfortunate, because the 

 garden can and should be made an important part of the farm. 

 One of the chief reasons for having a good garden is that it 

 provides healthful food for the family. This should be a 

 matter of much careful consideration. A dairyman feeds 

 beets to his stock primarily for the beneficial effect on their 

 digestive system. In the same way one value of wholesome 

 vegetables consists in helping to keep the body in good physi- 

 cal condition. Good health to the farmer is not only a matter 

 of comfort ; it is important from the efficiency standpoint. 



Dwellers in the city can secure fresh vegetables every day, 

 because they are in the markets, but the farmer unless he 

 maintains a good garden cannot have them. One usually 

 thinks of the farm as a place where vegetables are always 

 plentiful, but there is no place that suffers more from dearths 

 and over-supplies of vegetables than the farm. This is be- 

 cause the marketable supply goes to the city and there is 

 none left for the farmer, unless he plans his home-garden wisely. 



Aside from the matter of health, a farm-garden is a source 

 of economy. It will pay good returns for the time and money 

 spent on it. If the products that can be grown on a farm- 

 garden were purchased, they would amount to a considerable 

 sum each year. 



Soils for the farm-garden. As a general rule, if a sandy or 

 a sandy loam soil is available, it should be chosen for the home- 

 garden. An exception might occur in regions of scant rainfall. 

 Such soils under this condition might dry out so quickly that 

 they would not be suitable for the garden, in which case a soil 

 more retentive of moisture should be used. However, even 

 when the rainfall is scant, a sandy or loamy soil might be used 

 advantageously for early spring crops and another garden of 

 heavier soil be used for later plantings. 



Range of crops. In planning the home-garden, a wider 

 range of vegetables than is usually planted should be provided. 



