210 Gardening 



Then make a good mulch on the surface of one, leaving the other 

 as it is. Now weigh each accurately, recording the weights. 

 After about a week weigh each again, and compare the weights 

 with first weighing. Which has lost more in weight ? Why ? 



2. To determine the best time for pulling large weeds. Two boys 

 started a garden together in the spring. They kept it in good 

 condition, but went to the seashore during July. When they 

 returned, they found many large weeds shading and crowding the 

 vegetables. One boy said: "Let's take out the weeds right 

 away. They're shading the vegetables and taking the water 

 from them." "No," said the other, "that will not do at all. 

 The weather's hot and dry, and if we pull the weeds now we'll 

 break the roots of the vegetables all to pieces and they'll wilt 

 for lack of water. We must wait till it rains." They consulted 

 a gardener, who advised them to cut the weeds off and cultivate 

 with a hoe but not to pull them during dry weather. Who do 

 you think was right ? 



Plant three hills of bush beans with four plants close together in 

 each hill. After they are well grown, try thinning to one plant in a 

 hill by each of the above methods, studying the results in each case. 



3. To show the effects of thinning. When you plant your 

 radishes, plant 3 feet of the row very thickly, and do not thin. 

 Plant and thin the rest of the row according to directions. When 

 the radishes are ready to gather, pull up the crowded plants and 

 also a yard of the row that has been thinned. Count the number 

 of edible radishes in each lot and compare. From this experiment, 

 would you say that thick planting gives greater or less yield to 

 a given space ? Observe the gardens in your neighborhood and 

 determine whether too wide spacing or crowding of vegetables is 

 the more common. 



