22 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



February, 1907 



hills. Stringless greenpod pole bean has 

 given me such a large crop that it will be 

 planted instead of the wax pole beans, and 

 no late bush beans. This one variety will 

 tear from the middle of July until frost. 

 Early bush beans will still be planted, as 

 the first picking was made from them on 

 June 1 8th. These rows of beans will be 

 placed between the limas and the corn. The 

 record shows that late peas were through 

 bearing by July 8th, the early peas by July 

 20th; corn can therefore follow the peas, 

 giving ten rows instead of eight. Even if the 

 peas are not out in time it will not matter 

 as they can be sowed six inches away from 

 the line of the future corn row, being cleared 

 away later. 



All such plants as lettuce, early cabbage, 

 parsley, egg plant, pepper and tomato are 

 grown from seed; the tender ones in the win- 

 dows of the house, the hardy ones in the 

 laundry, which has sash on two sides, but 

 no means of heating. After March 7th the 

 hardy plants do very well here; on cold nights 



they are covered. These home-grown plants 

 are better than the wilted bought ones; also 

 I know they are of the desired variety, and for 

 a very small outlay in cash I get a great 

 number. The early plants grown in the 

 house last year were six egg plants, sixty- 

 eight tomatoes and fifteen peppers; in the 

 laundry, thirty plants of cabbage, twenty- 

 four of parsley, and over two hundred let- 

 tuce. 



The tomatoes are grown on an upright 

 trellis. The plants are set eighteen inches 

 apart in the row, and trimmed to two stems, 

 all side shoots being cut off as soon as they 

 start. The first ripe tomatoes were picked 

 July 2nd. Three varieties of early tomatoes 

 were grown, six plants of each. Chalk's 

 Jewel gave me the greatest results out of the 

 five varieties that I have tried during the 

 last three years. The scarlet fruits are 

 smooth, solid, medium sized, and of excellent 

 quality. For late tomatoes, Stone and Match- 

 less were grown. Both are excellent and 

 hard to distinguish. 



fafe ' 1 1 f 1 1 i_i Xj i_i 1 f 1 1 1 ii j" 

 <Sca le-in -fe. e t. 



An ingenious garden charl. Solid lines are rows; doited lines marK successive crops when spacing 

 •was changed: marKs on lines show distance between the plants. The names and dates of first planting 

 ■are in the left-hand column: those of successive planting in the right-hand column. 



Previous to the first killing frost all green 

 tomatoes were picked from the vines, the 

 small ones used for pickles, and the large ones 

 stored in a dark place where they kept ripen- 

 ing until December 18th. 



The first early cabbage was ready for use 

 July 10th. I had twenty-five good heads 

 from thirty plants set out. Kale follows 

 early cabbage, and is transplanted into the 

 rows as fast as a cabbage is removed, and 

 set so as to come between the cabbage plants. 

 Two sowings of kale are made, one about 

 June 6th and another about July 6th, so as 

 to always have young plants ready. Kale 

 needs frost to make it good. Last winter it 

 was used until February and the young 

 growth, made in the spring before the ground 

 was plowed, was also used. The early 

 potatoes were dug July 20th. Late cabbage 

 followed the potatoes, fifty-two plants were set 

 but only twenty-four heads matured, because 

 of the club root. Growing cabbage in my 

 garden has been a continuous fight with 

 club root and maggot. The latter is over- 

 come by the use of lime; when the plants are 

 set out they are watered with limewater so 

 strong that it might be called whitewash. 

 About one week later they get another dose. 



BIG RETURNS FROM EIGHT DOLLARS 



All my crops are planted in straight rows, 

 for easy cultivation with a wheel hoe. In 

 fact I could not take care of this sized garden 

 without that tool, as all the work is done by 

 myself either in the morning before going to 

 work or in the evening after returning home. 

 The annual cost of the seeds used is really 

 very small, for taking advantage of the fact 

 that their vitality extends over a period vary- 

 ing from one to ten years, they are bought 

 in larger quantities than needed for one year — 

 indeed in many cases this is unavoidable, 

 and instead of throwing out the remains of 

 a single packet of seed, the surplus is kept 

 on hand. Thus for example, my Chalk's 

 Jewel tomato has been grown from the same 

 packet of seed for three years and germin- 

 ation was as strong last year as it was at first. 

 The yearly average seed expense is kept 

 below three dollars and my total outlay in 

 money is less than eight dollars, made up 

 thus: 



COST PER YEAR 



Value of seed used $2.82 



3 loads of manure at $0.75 2.25 



Plowing and harrowing 1.50 



50 lbs. bone meal 1.15 



Total $7.72 



The bone meal is used in the rows for 

 second crops and mixed with the soil when 

 setting out plants from frames or pots. 



MORE THAN 600 PER CENT. RETURN 



The produce of the garden was estimated 

 (by careful records kept all the season) , to be 

 $51.59. This does not include such items 

 as the herbs, parsley, etc. — a number of vege- 

 tables of which no estimate can be made, 

 such as kale, New Zealand spinach, green 

 tomatoes pickled before frost, five rows of 

 spinach, and a large quantity of rhubarb 

 which was freely used and of which I have 

 fifteen quarts canned for winter use. 





