268 THE HOME VEGETABLE GARDEN 



as the season advances. This makes it possible to easily fit a 

 piece of land for planting or to harrow the unplanted portion at 

 any time desired and thus keep it free from weeds and in a moist, 

 friable condition. Another feature of this plan is that while two 

 or three kinds of vegetables may be planted in the same row, all 

 the crops in a given row require essentially the same kind and 

 amount of tillage and other care. It is also true that the crops 

 occupying the land about the same length of time are planted 

 together. After the early-maturing crops are harvested, it is 

 therefore possible to clear quite a wide strip of land for the planting 

 of turnips and other late crops, if desired. 



While this plan specifies five different times of planting, besides 

 the celery, late beans and turnips, it is possible in some seasons 

 to combine the second and third plantings so that, if celery and 

 sweet potatoes are omitted, there will be only three plantings 

 besides the turnips or other incidental late crops. This simplifies 

 the planting and better adapts the garden to the tastes of the 

 average farmer. 



Labor-saving Methods. — The arrangement of the garden as 

 to length of rows and time of planting is not the only labor-saving 

 feature that should characterize the typical farmer's garden. 

 Field methods should be practiced in preparing the land for plant- 

 ing, and as much preliminary work done in the fall as is possible, 

 for two purposes: (1) securing an early garden, and (2) reducing 

 the amount of labor in spring. After the land is cleared of refuse 

 from preceding crops, it should be heavily manured and plowed 

 in the fall. If this is done and the land worked at the proper 

 time in spring, a seed-bed can be prepared by the use of a disk, 

 harrow, and planker. The use of these tools saves an enormous 

 amount of labor and is a vast improvement over the old method 

 of using a hoe and rake. 



The actual planting of the garden is a simple matter, provided 

 a definite plan has previously been made, so that no time is lost 

 in deciding which vegetable to plant first, where to plant it, or 

 how much to plant. In the home garden, only a small amount 

 of seed of each kind is planted, so that a seed drill cannot be used 

 to advantage, and the planting is therefore almost invariably 

 done by hand. 



Labor-saving methods can be employed in the care of the grow- 

 ing crop as well as the preparation of the seed-bed. Mention has 

 already been made of the desirability of planting the garden in 



