VICTORY' GARDENS 11 



PROPER HARVESTING AND USE OF PRODUCTS 



Too many growers, in attempts to get larger growth and yield, 

 delay harvest beyond the stage of best quality. No vegetable should 

 be allowed to become tough, coarse, overgrown, and unpalatal)le 

 before being harvested. Quantity is important, but so is quality. 

 Lai-ge size in a product is, of itself, of little value. Indeed, excessive 

 size is generally associated with mediocre, if not low, quality. 



The sooner vegetables can be used after harvest, the better. If 

 they must be kept a while, they should generally be kept in a cool, 

 moist place. 



Most people cook vegetables loo long; this destroys much of the 

 vitamin content. They also cook them in too much water, which 

 removes and wastes part of the valuable minerals. Soda should never 

 be added to green vegetables to set the color, as it destroys vitamin C. 



ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 



In the brief space of a publication of this character, only the bare 

 outlines of simple vegetable gardens can be presented. This publica- 

 tion is intended to give only general information that will introduce 

 the inexperienced prospective gardener to the subject and enable him 

 to make a beginning. Those who wish to go farther with the subject 

 should study the publications on gardening and storage prepared by 

 their own State agricultural experiment stations and extension 

 services. The United States Department of Agriculture also publishes 

 several more comprehensive bulletins on the subject. The following 

 can be obtained free from the Office of Information, United States 

 Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C: 



Leaflet 203, Disease-Resistant Varieties of Vegetables for the Home Garden. 



Farmers' Bulletin 1044, The City Home Garden. 



Farmers' Bulletin 1371, Diseases and Insects of Garden Vegetables. 



Farmers' Bulletin 1673, The Farm Garden. 



Farmers' Bulletin 1743, Hotbeds and Coldframes. 



The following can be purchased for 5 cents from the Superintendent 

 of Documents, Government Printing OflSce, Washington, D. C: 



Department Bulletin 1427, Dry-Land Gardening at the Northern Great 

 Plains Field Station, Mandan, N. Dak. 



