134 GARDEN PROFITS 



planned. I think a great deal of the trouble with 

 our gardens lies in the fact that the amateur has 

 not yet grasped the idea of practical gardening; 

 for it is just as easy to run a garden prop- 

 erly as it is to neglect it. The yield of these so- 

 called gardens is a very small percentage of what 

 the ground should produce. 



And yet these months are not solely for plan- 

 ning. After the first season, there will be hotbeds 

 and coldframes to care for, vegetables in pits and 

 trenches to watch and various other cultural op- 

 erations to keep track of. I am going to presume, 

 however, that we are starting a garden for the first 

 time so that there will be no last season's crops to 

 think of, and no experience to make use of. I 

 shall let the year and these directions begin simul- 

 taneously. 



JANUARY 



The Garden Plan. The very first thing to do 

 is to draw a good-sized map of your garden, ac- 

 curately and to scale, showing just how much 

 space you have, and where any obstructions, such 

 as boulders, trees, permanent walks, etc., are located. 

 Of course, we will hope that the ground is not shaded 

 and is sufficiently drained; if it slopes a little, so 

 much the better, especially if towards the south. 



Your next step will depend on your available 

 space, for the small fruits which should be a part 

 of most gardens, would have to be left out in plan- 

 ning for less than a 50 x 50 foot space. In such a 

 case, there need be no special paths laid out, for 



