Gardening by Proxy— By Gertrude l. whitlock 



Long 



THE ONLY WAY TO GET THE MOST OUT OF A HIRED MAN — FRESH VEGETABLES FOR A FAMILY OF 

 TEN, $58 IN THE BANK, A WELL-STORED CELLAR AND PLENTY OF CANNED THINGS FOR THE WINTER 



Photographs by the author 



EVERY year we plant a garden — that is 

 to say we buy the seed, turn it and the 

 responsibility over to a hireling, and then 

 marvel at the outlay necessary to produce a 

 peck of peas. By such a system it costs as 



315. When winter comes the still green tomatoes 

 are stored on the cellar shelves and last till Christmas. 

 Unripe peppers are strung up to ripen in the sun. 

 The carrots must be buried in pits in the ground 



much to raise potatoes as to mine for nuggets 

 of gold, and we are always surfeited with 

 a superabundance of the crops for which we 

 have no particular liking and tantalized by 

 entree portions of those we especially desired. 

 Last year we did differently, for I guided 

 the plow and wielded the hoe — by proxy, 

 it must be confessed, for I am but a small 



woman, but I contributed the head and heart. 

 I took the responsibility and was well 

 satisfied with the results. 



The change was unwittingly brought about 

 by the green-grocer who asked if we had a 

 garden and if we "happened" to have any 

 extra cabbages. We did have a number 

 of good plump cabbages and I gladly parted 

 with a dozen in exchange for a crisp dollar 

 bill. 



I bought a box of seed for $2.50. By 

 taking a box I saved 40 per cent. Aside from 

 this I spent $1.15 for extra seed — cauliflower, 

 corn, melons and peas — a total of $3.65; less 

 than our usual outlay, which always exceeds 

 S5 .00. Long before the first robin peeped 

 I was primed to begin and had the garden 

 all planted — on paper — in long straight rows 

 running due north and south. The little 

 tomato, pepper and eggplants were growing 

 briskly in sunny windows and the garden 

 tools had received a thorough overhauling. 



The first day of April found us planting 

 and by the middle of the month we had more 

 seed sprouting than ever before. "Proxy" 

 being possessed by a planting demon, we 

 put in all the seed contained in the box, all 

 the extra supply and some half-dozen packets 

 sent by interested friends, his main in- 

 quiry in the early spring mornings being 

 "What shall I plant to-day?" It required 



316. Brussels sprouts never have their full flavor until touched by frost. An excellent vegetable for late 

 fall use. More delicate flavor than late cabbage, and can be planted closer. Should be transplanted in 

 June. Hang the plants head down in the cellar in November and you can have fresh Brussels sprouts 

 for Christmas 



230 



skilful manoeuvring to prevent him from 

 putting all the seed under ground at one and 

 the same time. 



There were 100 rows in the garden, each 

 seventy feet long, twenty-two of which were 



v 



317. I did my canning outdoors, a few quarts a day. 

 It is the pleasantest way 



occupied by the potato patch, thirteen by 

 corn, fourteen by peas, four by beans, seven 

 by onions and the rest by the other things! 

 There were 225 tomato plants (all securely 

 tied to stakes) and a row of seed from Japan 

 that must have gone back where it came 

 from for it never appeared, in leaf or flower, 

 on this side of the globe. 



We planted no more than we usually plant, 

 but planted it carefully, took the best care 

 of the young plants as they appeared, 

 watered when necessary, and when I made 

 my first entry, "15 heads of Lettuce — .60" 

 in the little book marked "Garden Receipts 

 for the Season of 1904" I felt proud and 

 haughty as I jingled the coins noisily. 



After the onions had grown four or five 

 inches high we thinned them, as usual, only 

 this time we removed them with care and 

 instead of throwing the little spindling wisps 

 away we transplanted them, and behold! at 

 the end of the season three bushels of ex- 

 tra good bulbs much larger than those left 

 in the original rows. 



Our second crop of string beans was self- 

 planting, a most surprising way to grow 

 them! After the first crop had become too 

 old for use they were left, for want of time 

 to remove them, until those remaining on 

 the vines were thoroughly dried, so that when 

 we did finally pull them out the dry beans 

 were scattered over the ground and some 

 were raked under when the ground was 

 prepared for the next crop, which never 

 was planted as the ground was covered 

 with little new bean plants when we were 

 ready to put it in. The latter part of October 

 we were enjoying crisp string beans from 

 these same little plants. 



On August 5th we put in a row of an early 

 variety of corn in direct opposition to the 

 advice of a seasoned old farmer, and were 

 reaping the harvest well on into November. 



The family consists of seven, and a con- 

 stant succession of guests brings the average 



