April, 1910 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



177 



Sowing the Seeds 



IT MUST be remembered that the»garden cannot 

 be planted in a few minutes; gardening 

 requires patience, a strict adherence to small details, 

 and also considerable foresight. Try to have your 

 garden a little better than your neighbor's. Feed 

 your ground; there is no use trying to grow crops 

 on poor, impoverished soil on which duckweed 

 could hardly exist. Some soils respond readily 

 to fertilizers, but in most cases well rotted farmyard 

 manure proves the best tonic. Don't feed in spoon- 

 ful doses, but give liberal applications. 



One of the chief values in manure lies in its 

 capacity to catch and store moisture; lack of 

 manure, and therefore lack of moisture, causes 

 more poor vegetables than anything else. Vege- 

 tables are quick growers of a succulent nature, 

 and are curiously affected by a lack of moisture. 

 With carrots, for instance, the core gets very hard 

 and dry and the outer part peels off. In beets it 

 will be noticed by white, hard lines; in peas by 

 small size; in beans by the pod being curved and very 

 stringy. In celery the stringiness is, in nine cases 

 out of ten, the result of insufficient manure, which 

 will also cause peppers to become very strong and 

 cabbages to form club roots. 



If you have new ground to break for a garden, 

 have it well plowed, using a subsoil plow to break 

 the bottom. Digging is better if you can afford 

 it, in which case trench it about three feet deep, 

 throwing the top soil to the bottom and adding 

 plenty of manure. 



After the ground is dug the section which is to 

 be used for early vegetables (that is the highest or 

 best drained ground) can be raked over with a 

 wooden rake to smooth it off. Then run a roller 

 over it before sowing the seeds. 



The idea to be remembered in sowing seeds is 

 that they should not be planted too deep nor too 

 shallow; too thin, nor too thick. The depth of the 

 drill varies according to the vegetable to be planted. 

 Allow about one-quarter of an inch for lettuce and 

 seeds of that size; about one-half inch for parsnips 

 and such seeds; about one inch for beans; and 

 about two inches for peas, except the first sowing, 

 which should be about four inches deep. Sow 

 enough seed to have a good full row and reduce 

 the thinning out to a minimum, but do not throw 

 the seeds in by the handful. 



In making drills, measure with a line and have 

 it straight and taut. For peas use a spade, which 

 will give a drill one foot wide. For beans in double 

 rows use a hoe, making the drill the full width of 

 the hoe. For seeds that require single .drills not 

 less than one-half inch deep, use the hoe edgewise; 

 for small seeds, where a really shallow drill is required , 

 use a sharpened stick or a plant label. Always 



use labels of some description to tell where each 

 vegetable is planted. Twelve-inch garden labels 

 cost but a cent apiece, but if you feel you cannot 

 afford to buy them, use strips of shingles. Always 

 mark the variety and date of sowing on the label. 

 If you mark the same thing on your garden plan 

 it will certainly help you next year when planning 

 your garden. 



Starting from one side of the garden, mark off 

 one row for parsnips, one for salsify, then Swiss 

 chard, parsley, celeriac, scorzonera, and chickory 

 and dandelion if you wish. Sow more than one 

 row if you think you will need it. Then sow 

 onions and leeks. All these vegetables should be 

 put together, for only one sowing is made and they 

 remain in the ground the entire season. If you 

 grow potatoes it would be wise to plant them next 

 to the vegetables just mentioned, as they are all 

 in the same class. 



If you have room for the first sowing of early 

 vegetables alongside the all-season crops they may 

 be planted there; but if not, prepare another strip. 

 Sow early peas, spinach, radish, lettuce, etc. 



In filling the seed drills a wooden rake is most 

 generally used. If you are in the habit of using 

 a rake to cover seeds, be careful not to dig into the 

 ground, but gently pull the soil back into the drill. 

 A better plan is to do this work with the feet. Place 

 the feet on the drill, heels together, and each foot 

 at an angle of 45 degrees. Walk along, first push- 

 ing one foot forward and then the other, being 

 careful not to raise the feet from the ground. This 

 shoves the soil back into the trench and firms it 

 at the same time. 



Root crops are sometimes attacked by maggots; 

 onions are invariably, and radishes are also easy 

 victims. The best preventive is soot, which can 

 be procured from any seedsman. Sow this right 

 on top of the drill where the seed is planted, using 

 a five-inch potful for every fifty feet of drill. 



SOWING FOR SUCCESSION 



After you have sown parsnips, onions, etc., you 

 are through sowing this class of vegetables for the 

 season, but peas, radishes, lettuce, carrots, etc. 

 require occasional sowings to keep^up a fresh supply. 

 They should be sown from time to time as follows: 



Bush beans: every two weeks from April 30th 

 to August 15th. 



Beets: every three weeks from April 1st to August 

 15th. 



Carrots: every three weeks from April 1st to 

 August 15th. 



Chervil: if used for flavoring or garnishing 

 salads, etc., should be sown every three weeks from 

 April 1 st to August 15th. 



Corn: every two weeks from May 1st to July 

 30th. 



Cucumbers: every three weeks from May 1st to 

 July 30th. 



Lettuce: every two weeks from April 1st to May 

 15th; then every week until September 1st; then 

 every two weeks until October 1st. The idea 

 of this is to sow in small batches during the hot 

 weather, as it soon runs to seed. 



Onions: If you are fond of green onions, you 

 can have them by sowing every three weeks from 

 April 1st to September 15th. 



Peas: every week from April 1st to June 1st; 

 then again, on July 15th, begin sowing every two 

 weeks until September 1st. 



Radish: every week from April 1st to October 1st. 



Spinach: every week from April 1st to May 30th. 

 Then stop until August 1st; then sow every week 

 until September 1st. 





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Making a 12-inch drill with a spade and a 6-inch 

 drill with the broad side of a hoe. Stand on the 

 line to keep the drill straight 



Turnip: every three weeks from April 1st to May 

 15th. Then again from July 30th to September 1st. 



The following varieties of vegetables are the best 

 in my opinion, for April sowing: 



Asparagus, Palmetto, D'Argenteuil: Beans, Green Podded, 

 Black Valentine; Beet, Early Eclipse; Brussels sprouts, 

 Brechin Castle; Cabbage, Early Jersey Wakefield; Carrol, 

 Guerande; Cauliflower, Earliest Dwarf Erfurt; Celery, 

 Chicago; Celeriac, Erfurt; Chervil, Curled; Kohlrabi, White 

 Vienna; Leek, American Flag; Lettuce, May King; Onion: 

 for large onions, Prizetaker and Alsa Craig; for best keepers. 

 Red Wethcrsfield, Yellow Globe Danvers and Southport White 

 Globe; Parsley, Moss Curled; Parsnip, American Hollow Crown, 

 Peas: Alaska, earliest of all peas, but very poor quality; 

 New York Market is a good early pea, but sow Gradus at the 

 same time. Make three sowings in the month, using one or 

 two rows of New York Marshall or Nott's Excelsior, and the 

 balance all Gradus, a pea you will never tire of. Potatoes: For 

 early use, Bovee, very free bearer, or Noroton Beauty; for 

 main crop use Carman No. 3, Green Mountain, or Uncle- 

 Sam. Radish: Ne Plus Ultra or French Breakfast. Salsify: 

 Mammoth Sandwich Island. Spinach: Viroflay and Victoria, 

 and, towards the end of the month, sow a row of New Zealand 

 for summer use. 



If you have no coldframes or hotbeds and have 

 no early-sown cabbage plants, you can make a 

 sowing of this vegetable about April 1st at the same 

 time as cauliflower and Brussels sprouts seeds. 



Celery can now be sown outdoors for the late or 

 main crop and will follow up the early lot which 

 was started in February. 



Get your potatoes in now. You do not gain any- 

 thing by putting off such jobs. As suggested last 

 month, cut your seed to one eye and plant about 

 twelve to fourteen inches apart in the row. 



Now is the time to prepare melon hills. Use 

 a liberal amount of manure, and if you can procure 

 some fresh sod, it is a good plan to mix it with the 

 manure, using two-thirds sod and one-third manure. 

 Dig holes two feet deep and three feet across and fill 

 them with the compost, raising the hills a few 

 inches higher than the ground level. Then place 

 the frames to give the ground a good chance to get 

 thoroughly warmed. If you haven't any frames, 

 do not try to grow melons in Long Island, because 

 melons, without the help of sash frames, do not 

 ripen until the middle of September. As the 

 nights then get very cool the melons lose their 

 flavor, crack considerably and are at the mercy of 

 the melon blight. Build a few frames; they will 

 not cost very much. All you require is a i-foot 

 square box nine inches high in front and twelve 

 inches in back, and a 4-glass sash to cover it. 

 Get the hills prepared early in the month and the 

 frames placed, and sow the seed any time after 

 the twenty-fifth. 







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Make a very shallow drill with a 

 wood label 



Sow the smaller seeds direct 

 from the packet 



Keep the edge of the 

 hoe against the line 



Sow beans in a double row two 

 inches deep 



How to sow peas in a 12-inch 

 drill two inches deep 



