CI-IAPTEE XVI 

 THE GROWING OF VEGETABLES 



Farmers' Gardens. — Home vegetable gardens on farms 

 are not given much attention. Usually a farmer thinks he 

 cannot spare the time to take care of the garden, so he plows 

 up a little " patch " near the house and lets the already over- 

 worked housewife 'care for it. The garden should be large 

 enough to provide an abundance of vegetables for the family. 

 If it is laid out with rows wide enough apart, most of the hard 

 work may be done with a horse. The planting and raking 

 are not so irksome. Young people are glad of an opportunity 

 to plan, plant and care for the home garden. 



Have the garden near the house, so it will not be much 

 bother to get the products when needed. It may be best to 

 fence it with chicken netting that is tight enough to keep all 

 fowls out. Then, don't plan to do all the work after supper, 

 when already tired. Take some time from the regular field 

 work, and cultivate the garden as it should be cultivated. 

 It will pay, not only in satisfaction, but also financially. 



The average of city gardens, grown on cramped plots, 

 would grade higher than those found on the average farm. 

 City men frequently have to do all the digging and cultivating 

 by hand, but at that they do a better job than the farmers. 

 The poorest gardens are often in the country, where one would 

 expect to find the best. Farmers have a right to the best 

 things of life, and fresh vegetables come under this 

 classification. 



The suggestions and directions regarding culture and 

 management of the garden crops are arranged in alphabetic 

 order for convenience in reference. Probably the whole list 

 would not be grown in many of the gardens. 'Selections can 

 be made to suit conditions. For very small school plots the 

 list from which we should select would probably be limited to : 

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