Efficiency in Backyard Gardening, I 



By A. Kruhm, ou.. 



HOW TO DIG, RAKE AND PREPARE THE SEED BED- 

 SOME ESSENTIALS OF PRACTICE TO THINK OVER 

 NOW, BEFORE THE SPRING WORK ACTUALLY BEGINS 



Editor's Note — This is the first of a new series of articles by Mr. Kruhm, whose illuminating 

 writings on varieties of vegetables will be still fresh in our readers' minds. This present series will be 

 devoted to the elements of practical work; as he himself styles it "the gospel of backyard gardening." 

 First of all, it will explain the ditties before every man who attempts to cultivate the soil. In the second 

 place it will lay down ''the rules of the game" that must be followed if the garden is to be a success. Finally 

 it will state what every manor woman has a right to expect, if those duties are filled and rules followed. 



NINETY-NINE per cent, of all the 

 failures in the home garden are due 

 to two principal causes. First lack 

 of persistency; second, indifference. 

 Perhaps it would be permissible to substi- 

 tute the word ignorance for indifference be- 

 cause indifference toward the real reason for 

 things is what keeps people in ignorance. 

 Most people regard their garden as a play- 

 thing, of which they get tired before the gar- 

 den has reached its highest efficiency. Then 

 indifference begins to rule: persistent culti- 

 vation, subsequent plantings, etc., etc., are 

 passed by lightly — the duties of July and 



August are forgotten, and by September the 

 garden presents a sorry sight indeed 



One particular phase of indifference de- 

 serves emphasis before dwelling upon the 

 gardener's duties. This is the great mis- 

 take made by a vast army of well-meaning 

 men and women, who full of enthusiasm 

 (but with little foresight), wait until 

 the last minute in the spring to order seeds. 

 Chances are they will then walk to a local 

 grocery or seed store and demand "a 

 packet of beans, a packet of lettuce, i oz. of 

 radish" etc., etc: "Did you mean 'bunch 

 beans,' madam?" will ask the polite (but 

 ignorant) clerk. " Certainly, green ones" 

 is the answer; and the chances are the 

 purchaser walks away with anything 

 from a stringy bush bean that's hardly 

 fit to be cooked, to a late pole bean 

 that will produce "bunches" just 

 about the time when the frost gets 

 ready to nip them. 



No gardener — man or woman — will 

 ever know what he has a right to expect until 

 he learns what the seed trade has to offer. To 

 put the destiny of one's garden, the result of a 

 year's work, up to a clerk who, in ninety cases out 

 of one hundred does not know himself, is in- 

 difference, to say the least. Thousands of dollars 

 are expended every year by all responsible seeds 

 men through their catalogues to present to the 



Trenching to get the soil into proper condition. Turn the soil with the manure in the trench until 

 another trench is made. Then fill with manure again. (Lime is dusted on manure in photograph to 

 make the picture more illustrative) 



219 



An essential preliminary. Fill the trench with 

 well rotted manure and tramp down tightly 



gardening public the truth about the latest 

 and best in vegetables and flowers. Yet, 

 year after year, this public will demand 

 "string beans," "red beets," "late cab- 

 bage," instead of specifying Bountiful 

 beans, Crosby's beets and Premium Flat 

 Dutch cabbage, etc., as the case may be. 



No wonder the "science of gardening" is 

 a thing of the future ! Unless we learn how 

 to do a thing, when to do it, and what to 

 look for after it is done, we will be forever 

 groping around in the dark hoping for more 

 light. Getting more light is largely a matter 

 of keeping records which will prevent us 

 from making the same mistake twice. 



SOIL PREPARATION 



Several years of close observation have 

 taught me that most writers on gardening 

 topics take too many things for granted. 

 "Dig the ground thoroughly" means very 

 little to a vast majority of city dwellers, 

 while the proper handling of a rake and hoe 

 present difficulties to inexperienced gar- 

 deners that are beyond the understanding of 

 the man who is "an old hand at it." Not 

 all people are born with a gardening in- 

 stinct to cultivate, which has proven a 

 blessing for many a worn-out city man. 

 I purpose now to begin at the very bot- 

 tom of things. 



