CHAPTER VII 

 THE HOME VEGETABLE GARDEN 



Many rural surveys have been made touching upon the subject 

 of home gardens in rural districts. It has been found that in many 

 sections of America many farmers as well as many city and village 

 people do not have their own home gardens. The excuse for this 

 often is found in specialization. Farmers grow cotton, wheat, or 

 other single crops and neglect the garden. Even truck farmers 

 sometimes fail to have their own home gardens because they grow 

 a few special crops, such as melons or tomatoes for market, and 

 do not have a variety of crops for their own tables, or to be pre- 

 served for winter use at home. 



Importance of Home Gardening. — When comparisons are made 

 between conditions found in small countries of Europe and in those 

 of America the results are startling. In small areas we find the 

 Europeans making a large part of their livelihood from their own 

 gardens, while in America we find far too many of the people de- 

 pending upon the nearby grocery store for their fresh vegetables 

 in summer and for their canned goods in winter. This accounts 

 very largely for the congestion in transportation by freight and 

 express. Much time and. labor are involved which should be used 

 for better purposes. 



Home gardening is a healthful, rejuvenating occupation for 

 old people; it is good training and occupation for children (Fig. 43) ; 

 it offers diversion for overtaxed minds; it is a good occupation for 

 women of all classes. Gardening, in the early morning hours, is 

 pleasant and attractive to many who know from experience that 

 it is not irksome. 



Economy of Time and Labor. — The home garden should be so 

 planned as to save as much time and labor as possible. This can 

 be done by laying off the garden so that horse labor may be used 

 wherever it is possible. Wheel hoes (Fig. 44) will save an immense 

 amount of hand labor, but to use these the rows must be long and 

 not interrupted by small beds of vegetables. With a horse or a 

 wheel hoe one person may cultivate ten times as rapidly as with 

 other garden tools. The work is done better and production is 

 increased. But little work should be left to be done by hand or by 



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