26 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



August, 1907 



removed. With the ones I had of my own 

 and those my neighbors gave me I had meat 

 at all times. Those hens laid well from the 

 middle of November until spring. I kept 

 account of the eggs gathered each day. 



My total expense for one year — November 

 i, 1905, to November 1, 1906, was $33.64. 

 My income: Eggs, 635 dozen at an average 

 price of eighteen cents a dozen, $113.60. I 

 raised 159 chickens: seventy pullets, and 

 eighty-nine cockerels. The cockerels and 

 twenty of the pullets sold for $45.60, making 

 a total income of $159.20. I also sold twenty- 

 five old hens for $7.75, making $166.95 less 

 $33.64, leaving for profit $133.31 and twenty- 

 five more hens than I had to begin with. 



I have always tried to produce my own 

 feed as far as possible thus doing away with 

 buying grain and feed. In my opinion this 

 of itself has ruined many a farmer and 

 kept him down and in debt. 



Vermont. H. S. H. 



IIELBGIOPS 



Restoring a Worn-out Field 



SEVERAL years ago an example of 

 bringing a field of so-called "worn- 

 out" land into condition to produce profit- 

 able crops impressed me very forcibly. 



The ground improved was about one- 

 quarter of a 10-acre field which had been 

 in meadow several years and for the few 

 preceding years had produced, on the aver- 

 age, only 500 pounds per acre of a very 

 poor quality of hay. The sod was originally 

 timothy and red clover, but these had been 

 crowded out by Canada thistles, whiteweed, 

 etc. Fertilizers of any sort had not been 

 used on the field for years. 



About half of the field had been in pasture 

 and did not furnish enough grazing for one 

 cow, and the other half was cultivated but 

 produced barely enough to keep the cow 

 during the winter. The place had been 

 farmed in this manner for about twenty years 

 and was in an extremely unproductive 

 condition. I came into the possession of 

 this land in late spring after the stable manure 

 had all been used for other land. In the 

 barnyard was a quantity of partly decayed 

 straw and refuse, which had been trodden 

 in by the cattle during the winter. This 

 was hauled to the 2^-acre lot and spread 

 at the rate of twelve 2-horse loads per acre, 

 and plowed under. 



After plowing, the whole field was thor- 

 oughly pulverized and fitted for seeding with 

 a spring-tooth harrow set as deep as possible 

 without tearing up the weeds and refuse 



plowed under. About 250 pounds of a 

 medium grade of commercial fertilizer was 

 applied broadcast and at the same time — late 

 in June — the field was. sown to buckwheat, 

 this being also sown broadcast by hand. 

 This crop made a good stand, growing to a 

 height of about thirty inches. Each plant 

 branched freely and almost every blossom 

 "filled" and produced a kernel of grain. 

 The yield was about 100 bushels or at the 

 rate of forty bushels per acre. This first 

 crop had a monetary value equal to the 

 combined crops for at least the preceding 

 five years, and the soil was left in good 

 condition for succeeding crops as is illus- 

 trated by the results. 



For the second year's crop the field was 

 plowed late in the fall after the buckwheat 

 had been removed. This time the plow 

 was set to turn a furrow about one inch 

 deeper than the first time or about seven 

 inches. During the winter and early spring 

 the field was given a light top-dressing of 

 stable manure spread as evenly as possible. 

 Just as soon in the spring as the frost was 

 out and the surface had dried sufficiently to 

 work into a good tilth, the field was thor- 

 oughly fitted and seeded to timothy and 

 clover, using half and half of each by weight. 

 One and one-half bushels of oats per acre 

 were sown for a cover crop and a yield of 

 about forty-five bushels per acre secured. 

 The seeding "caught" and grew rapidly, 

 especially after the oats had been harvested, 

 making a covering for the new sod and 

 protecting it during the winter. 



The third season's crop of hay was phe- 

 nomenal. It was cut early in July and the 

 windrows, raked as large as could be done 

 with an old-fashioned, wooden, revolving 

 horse rake, were so close together that it 

 was impossible to pitch from both sides of 

 the wagon, driving lengthwise alongside of 

 them. In driving by the side of one the 

 wagon stood on or so close to the windrow 

 on the opposite side that it could not be 

 handled. The quality of the hay was excel- 

 lent and the yield about three tons per acre, 

 or more than six times as much as had been 

 previously secured of the poor quality, and 

 there was a vigorous growth of second crop. 



This field, though not always producing 

 such large yields, has since that time always 

 grown satisfactory crops with an occasional 

 application of stable manure. 



New York. M. Earl Carr. 



Cucumbers in a Garden 



CUCUMBERS are a very popular vegetable 

 on our table, but to raise them in a garden 

 20 x 20 ft. and at the same time find room 

 for tomatoes, beets, string beans, lettuce, 

 radishes, onions, carrots, peppers, and a 

 few other vegetables seemed difficult. My 

 scheme for doing it not only accomplished 

 the desired economy of space but resulted 

 in such a magnificent and surprising crop 

 of cucumbers that I am convinced this plan 

 for planting cucumbers is the most productive 

 and certain of results, and a vast improve- 

 ment over the old methods. 



Beginning in one corner of the garden and 



three feet from the edge, I made a trench six 

 inches deep and similar trenches every four 

 and a half feet. Each trench was ten feet 

 long. In these trenches I planted my cu- 

 cumbers thickly, covering them with three 

 inches of soil. On either side of the trenches 

 and about one foot away I planted lettuce, 

 radishes, spinach, and onion sets, as well as 

 running rows of these vegetables between, 

 where space permitted. On the outer edge 

 of the garden I planted a border of string 

 beans in drills, leaving the other half of the 

 space for tomatoes, etc. 



As the lettuce and other vegetables were 

 started earlier, these crops matured before 

 the cucumbers began to spread, and before 

 the vines had covered the entire space, they 

 had been harvested and used. The cucum- 

 bers not being in raised hills, but sunk deep 

 in the trenches, grew vigorously, and in hoeing 

 the earth was brought up to them until the 

 trench was filled. This gave them a root 

 depth which made them almost proof 

 against dry weather. 



When the vines were ready to run, I pulled 

 out the weak plants in order to leave one vine 

 every three inches and then I bent the first 

 vine to the right and the next to the left and 

 so on. In time the vines covered the entire 

 ground and the crop secured was really 

 surprising. The vines remained green and 

 productive almost twice as long as any I 

 have ever known that were planted in the 

 old-fashioned hills, while they seemed to 

 suffer less from bugs and blight. I believe 

 that cucumbers planted in this way will yield 

 fully twice as much as when grown by any 

 other, and after three years successful opera- 

 tion of this plan, I can recommend cucum- 

 bers as the easiest and most productive 

 vegetable that can be grown in the small 

 garden. 



Long Island. Hal T. Avery. 



The Worst Enemy of the Elm 



DURING August good work can be done 

 in ridding elm trees of the elm-leaf 

 beetle which often attacks the foliage of this 

 superb tree until it looks as though the leaves 

 have been riddled with small shot and instead 

 of a rich canopy of green the tree presents 

 almost bare branches. At this time the 

 full-grown larvae or grubs crawl down the 

 trunk of the tree to a point near the ground 

 where they lodge in the crevices of the rough 

 bark or they may drop from the ends of 

 the branches to the ground. Here they 



