The author': 



garden as it looked last 



The tests and notes for the succeeding articles were made here. You, reader, can have just as good a garden this year 



Taking the Gamble Out of Gardening b 7 Adoiph Kmhm, ?s 



A SURE GUIDE FOR ANYBODY'S BACKYARD GARDEN IN RAISING VEGETABLES FOR 

 THE FAMILY TABLE— HOW TO BEGIN AND WHAT CAN BE GROWN PROFITABLY 



NEW YEAR'S Resolutions are 

 now in order and I hereby record 

 my determination to devote the 

 year of 191 6 to making gardening 

 success a reasonable certainty for readers 

 of The Garden Magazine. This is to be 

 a message of good cheer for all gardeners, 

 future- and past-masters of the noble 

 pastime, but especially for those who delight 

 in turning weedy back yards into gardens. 

 There are many pleasant surprises in store 

 for those willing workers who endeavor to 

 make waste spaces produce something. 

 And among them, none will prove greater 

 than the assertion that gardening may be 

 lifted out of the "gambling" stage, if you 

 just work out in diligent fashion suggestions 

 that will be offered. 



Failures in gardening (whence many 

 people consider it a gamble) are due 

 primarily to three causes: (1) lack of 

 definite ideas as to what is wanted; (2) 

 failure to provide the right kind of seeds; 

 (3) wrong methods in planting whatever 

 seeds are ultimately secured. 



Our present purpose is to do away with 

 those three causes, paving the way for the 

 right kind of a start when spring opens up 



— a start that will "keep you everlastingly 

 at it" — trying to reap the harvest that is in 

 store for the planter who intelligently 

 employs the three important S's — Sense, 

 Seeds, and Soil! No matter which way 

 you put it, in the final analysis it is "sense" 

 or human intelligence that counts most in 

 gardening endeavors. 



First, decide firmly what you want. If 

 you have the ground, you want a garden 

 and if you think, "it's too much trouble," 

 remember that no problem is so big but 

 that it can be solved. Next, you want a 

 garden that will reward you for your efforts, 

 that will grow and produce the kind of crops 

 you will enjoy. It is part of my resolutions 

 to make you enjoy the garden from first 

 to last, for few things beget a purer joy 

 than a garden well tended, full of luscious 

 vegetables and beautiful flowers. 



Now then, what do you want? Sup- 

 posing a small garden only be desired — 

 one in which you can do all the work your- 

 self, for the sake of exercise and recreation; 

 one that won't tire you out but make you 

 feel glad you put the seeds in the ground; 

 one that may be called a "little affair" 

 and yet yield lots of radishes and lettuce 



189 



and onions and beans — let us suppose you 

 want a "Beginner's Garden." 



A beginner's garden should be small — 

 mine was 10 x 15 ft. In it I grew what is 

 mentioned above together with a border 

 of parsley and some Sweet Alyssum. And 

 I still remember that I almost gave up 

 hope of eA r er seeing the parsley, because the 

 seeds laid in the ground four weeks before 

 they sprouted. 



The wife wanted parsley — that's the 

 reason why the seeds were sown. But 

 that really is no reason for having parsley 

 in the beginner's garden because it is 

 cheaper to buy what little is needed in the 

 average household. Nor is there room for 

 cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, and squashes 

 ("space eaters," I caU them now), nor for 

 peppers, eggplant, and cauliflower. But 

 the easiest way to help new disciples is to 

 draw a little plan, and so here is what I 

 would plant if I had to do my first garden 

 over again and knew what I know to-day: 



FOR A I3X3O FT. GARDEN" 



Onion sets followed by Tomato plants. 

 Onion sets followed by Tomato plants. 

 Radishes followed by Summer Lettuce. 



