6 BULLETIN 602, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



family, it is found that the families of five persons and less averaged 

 $26 worth of vegetables raised, and those of over five persons aver- 

 aged $39 worth. The large families, however, have gardens one- 

 third larger than the small families. The fact that only a small 

 part of the vegetables raised are sold indicates that the vegetables 

 are raised for home consumption. Thus the larger the family the 

 greater the quantity of vegetables that must be raised. Hence it 

 was found that the larger families either had larger gardens than the 

 smaller families or cultivated their land more intensively, 



VARIETY OF VEGETABLES GROWN. 



Twenty-two kinds of vegetables were grown on these gardens, 

 though no one garden was found which grew them all. An average 

 of 9.5 kinds were grown per garden. The vegetables grown most 

 commonly are those returning the most money, as shown in Plate I. 

 Beans, tomatoes, and sweet corn are grown on nearly all the gar- 

 dens. Peppers, cucumbers, beets, and greens 1 are grown on over 

 three-fourths, and okra, onions, and peas on over half the gardens. 



In one village a man with a garden 544 square yards in area 

 planted 20 kinds of vegetables and raised $115 worth. In the same 

 village another man had a garden of 650 square yards, planted 17 

 kinds, but raised only $21 worth. The former simply raised a much 

 bigger crop per square yard than the other. 



In order to see whether the variety of vegetables raised had any 

 effect on the returns from the gardens, all the records of gardens, the 

 sizes of which were over 500 square yards but less than 700, were clas- 

 sified by the number of kinds of vegetables grown. Those having 10 

 or more kinds were put in one group, and those having fewer in an- 

 other group. The former group had on an average, for 71 gardens, 

 averaging 577 square yards, 12 kinds of vegetables, the value of which 

 was $33. In the other group were 64 gardens, averaging 591 

 square yards, raising 7 kinds to the value of $20. Thus the best 

 gardens in this region grow more than 10 different vegetables. The 

 best success on a limited area, however, involves careful planning, 

 so as to have as much space as possible for each class of vegetables. 

 The proper succession of vegetables must be known. Late vegetables 

 may be planted between the rows of earlier vegetables, allowing the 

 late crop to grow while the earlier ones are maturing. Thus succes- 

 sive crops may be obtained. Often three crops are taken from the 

 same ground. Individual attention and knowledge of gardening 

 are essential. 



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1 Greens include mustard, lettuce, and turnip greens. 



