CARE OF THE GARDEN 51 



food we may harvest only a few rough, ill sorted, 

 misshapen potatoes, soggy and ill-flavored at best. 

 After discontinuing the nitrate, for corn, this mix- 

 ture is just right. The stalks will grow bigger 

 and stronger ; the roots will reach deeper ; and the 

 potash will aid in making a host of juicy golden 

 ears. This combination is good for pole limas and 

 for okra, after nitrate has well started the growth. 

 Keep it up, a spoonful to a hill, every few days, 

 until blossoming time. Then finish the season with 

 wood-ashes. Use it, in the same way, with toma- 

 toes and eggplant, and with all the vines except 

 the salad cucumbers. With all vegetables except 

 those grown for greens and salads, the procedure 

 is generally, as follows: nitrate to start growth; 

 4-8-10 supplemented as needed to keep things 

 going; and wood-ashes or some other form of 

 potash to bring the harvest. This is, of course, 

 heavy fertilizing and not all soils may need such 

 liberal applications; the gardener must experi- 

 ment with her own soil and carefully watch the 

 results. 



This cooperative plan of feeding will surely 

 make the crops grow and it will accomplish even 

 more. While this mixed fertilizer is furnishing 

 all the food necessary to grow the biggest best 

 crops, it may be at work in the soil. Ground lime- 

 stone, ashes, and hydrated lime help decompose 

 organic matter. They aid to break up the animal 

 and vegetable matter, thus releasing plant-food, 



