406 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



A — Transplanting Board and 

 Dibble in Use. 



gardener. He has available an ample supply of stable manure. This 

 material is the main reliance for the maintenance of fertility. Manure 

 supplies nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, the only chemical elements 

 which are frequently lacking, and if the quantity applied is sufficient to 

 maintain the humus content of the soil, there will be an abundance of these 

 three elements. Manure that has been in the pile for several months is 

 ordinarily preferred, but fresh material may be plowed under each fall 



with the assurance that it will be 

 fairly well decayed and ready to aid 

 the plants by spring. 



In case the garden soil is of a 

 refractory character, special treat- 

 ment will be necessary. Heavy soils 

 may be improved by hauling sand or 

 gravel, by the addition of ashes, by 

 the use of lime and especially by lib- 

 eral applications of manure. 



The lime content of the soil 

 must in any case be maintained. 

 Applications of air-slaked lime or 

 finely pulverized limestone at the 

 rate of a ton per acre every two to 

 four years, are usually sufficient. If 

 hydrated or quicklime be used the 

 quantities may be reduced by ap- 

 proximately a quarter and a half 

 respectively. 



Tillage. — Every farmer realizes 

 the danger incident to the plowing 

 of the soil when it is wet. If such an 

 error is harmful in ordinary farm 

 practice it is doubly disastrous in 

 the garden. Vegetable plants insist upon favorable growth conditions. 

 In case the soil is shallow, it ought to be gradually deepened from 

 year to year. The plowing should be done in the fall and the soil 

 should be left in furrows to benefit from exposure to the frosts of the 

 winter. In the spring it may be gone over with the disk harrow and 

 worked clown, making use of such other tools as are best adapted to the 

 type of soil involved. 



It is wise to prepare a few raised beds or ridges in the autumn for the 

 earliest plantings. These will be ready to work much earlier in the spring, 

 although they will dry out more rapidly in midsummer. Their direction 

 should be such that they will gain full advantage of the warm southern sun. 

 Garden Seed. — Few problems connected with the garden are more 

 bewildering than the choice of varieties to be planted. Each seedsman 



B — Planting the Seedlings. Grow- 

 ing Early Plants. 



