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THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



January, 1910 



Planning the Year's Work 



WHO is thinking of gardening in January! 

 What can be done when everything is 

 frozen up tight ? I have been gardening for a number 

 of years, and have never let the month of January 

 get by without having all my seeds procured and 

 my garden planned. I think a great deal of the 

 trouble with our gardens lies in the fact that the 

 amateur has not yet grasped the idea of practical 

 gardening, because it is just as easy to run a garden 

 properly as it is to neglect it. The yield of these 

 so-called gardens is a very small percentage of 

 what the ground should produce. 



In order to help the beginner to grasp the idea 

 more readily, I would urge every amateur gardener 

 to make two rough plans of his garden now — No. I 

 and No. 2. On No. 1 mark all first sowings, such 

 as peas, onions, parsnips, etc.; on No. 2 mark the 

 crops that are to succeed others on the same ground, 

 such a peas, lettuce, etc. Try several ways to see 

 how you can save the most ground. If you are 

 thinking seriously of putting in an asparagus bed 

 this season, place it at one end of the garden by 

 itself. Do the same with a rhubarb bed. 



There are numerous ways of planning a garden, 

 but the most common and most practical is a square, 

 divided into four parts by walks. Better make the 

 walks wide enough so that you can drive a wagon 

 in, as it is very convenient to cart manure in and 

 to carry refuse away from the garden. 



Of course a small garden, say about 100 feet 

 square, will not need any cross walks, as it would 

 rob the garden of useful ground; but all gardens 

 larger than this should have at least a small foot- 

 path running through the centre. If you utilize a 

 few feet on both sides of the walk for a flower 

 border, it will make your garden more attractive. 

 For larger gardens small or trained fruit trees are 

 often used as a border, and I have also seen this 

 space devoted to roses. 



Another good idea, if your garden is large enough 

 to warrant it, is to reserve a strip about four feet 

 wide around the outside of the garden for all the 

 small fruits. In this way they are kept by them- 

 selves and are almost certain to get the proper care 

 and attention. 



Always select ground that is not shaded. If the 

 ground has a gentle slope to the southward, all the 

 better. The low ground can be used for vegetables 

 that like moisture, such as asparagus and cabbage; 

 the high, dry ground can be used for corn, etc. If 

 the ground is low generally, an application of air- 

 slaked lime will be very beneficial, and it is not too 

 late to do it now. Use it plentifully if you were 

 troubled with cut worms or maggots last 

 season. 



In planning your garden on paper, mark plainly 

 how many rows of peas you intend sowing, how 

 much early lettuce, how many rows of carrots or 

 beets, and the distance apart they will be. Place 

 at one end all the vegetables that are to remain the 

 whole season, such as parsnips, salsify, Swiss chard, 

 etc. There is no need to allow any room in the 

 garden specially for lettuce, radishes, or spinach. 

 They can be seeded between the peas or other 

 vegetables that are planted several feet apart. 



By planning your garden this way you also get 

 a good idea of how much seed you will require 

 for the year, and the entire supply may be ordered 

 now. Use plenty of seed and you will avoid having 

 poor, scraggly-looking rows usually to be seen 

 where the cost of seed is considered. Some of the 

 following vegetables will require thinnjng out after 

 the seed has germinated. This has been taken 



into consideration in figuring the following amounts 

 for rows 50 feet in length: 



Asparagus, 1 ounce; bush limas, £ pint; bush 

 beans, \ pint; beets, 1 ounce; borecole, \ ounce; 

 carrot, 1 ounce; endive, \ ounce; kohlrabi, \ ounce; 

 leek, \ ounce; lettuce, \ ounce; okra, 1 ounce; onion, 

 \ ounce; parsley, \ ounce; parsnip, \ ounce; peas, 

 1 pint; radish, \ ounce; turnips, \ ounce; Swiss 

 chard, \ ounce; salsify, 1 ounce. 



One pint of pole limas will sow 50 hills, 1 pint 

 of corn 100 hills, 1 ounce cucumbers 50 hills, 1 

 ounce muskmelons 50 hills, 1 ounce watermelons 

 35 hills, 1 ounce pumpkin or squash 50 hills. 



The following vegetables are better if seeded in 

 a bed and removed singly to the garden later. I 

 give the number of seeds per ounce, but do not 

 expect that more than 50 per cent, of the seeds will 

 germinate; that is, sow at least twice as many seeds 

 as you figure you need plants. One ounce of 

 Brussels sprouts contains about 3,000 seeds, cab- 

 bage and cauliflower likewise; one ounce of celery 

 contains about 5,000 seeds, eggplants and peppers 

 about 1,000 and tomatoes about 1,500. 



Using the above as a guide, it is rather an easy 

 matter to figure up just how much seed you will 

 require. If you want six rows (each 50 ft.) of peas 

 you will need three quarts of seed. If you sow 

 during the season twelve rows of beans you will 

 need three quarts of seeds, and if you want two rows 

 of parsnip you will require one-half ounce of seed. 



While we all have our favorite varieties of various 

 species, one must always remember that others 

 may think differently. If it were not so the seeds- 

 men would handle but one variety of each kind. 

 I am not infallible, but speaking generally 

 the varieties here mentioned will, I think be found 

 satisfactory. Where there are early and late veget- 

 ables of one species I give the best variety of both. 



Asparagus 



Bean, bush 



Lima bean, bush 



Bean, bush, wax 



Bean, pole lima 



Beet 



Broccoli 



Brussels sprouts 



Borecole 



Cabbage 



Cabbage, red 



Cabbage, Savoy 



Carrot 



Cauliflower 



Celery 



Corn 



Cucumber 



Egg plant 



Endive 



Leek 



Kohlrabi 



Lettuce 



Lettuce, Cos 



Muskmelon 



Okra 



Onion, yellow 



Onion, red 



Onion, white 



Parsley 



Parsnip 



Pepper 



Peas 



Peas, best quality 



Peas, biggest cropper 



Pumpkin 



Potato, early 



Potato, late 



Rutabaga 



Salsify 



Spinach 



Spjnach, summer 



Squash 



Tomato, early 



Tomato, main crop 



Turnip 



Watermelon 



Palmetto, Early Argenteuil 



Black Valentine 



Burpee's 



Currie's Rustproof 



Ford's Mammoth 



Eclipse 



Walcheren 



Long Island Improved 



Dwarf Green Scotch 



Wakefield Early 



Drumhead 



Drumhead Savoy 



Guerande 



Extra Early Erfurt 



Chicago 



Golden Bantam Early, Stow- 



ell's Evergreen 

 The Davis 



New York Improved Purple 

 Broad-leaved Batavian 

 American Flag 

 White Vienna 

 Big Boston 

 Paris White 

 Emerald Gem 

 White Velvet 

 Danvers 

 Wethersfield 

 Southport 

 Extra Moss-curled 

 American Hollow Crown 

 Cardinal 



Alaska, earliest of all 

 Gradus 

 Telephone 

 Large Cheese 

 Norton Beauty 

 Carmen No. 3 

 Long Island Improved 

 Mammoth Sandwich Island 

 Long Standing 

 New Zealand 

 Vegetable Marrow 

 Earliana 

 Freedom 

 Strop-leaved 

 Cole's Early 



Do not make out your seed list and then go around 

 looking for the man that can supply you the cheap- 

 est. Do not buy cheap seeds. We Americans 

 buy seeds too cheaply; if seeds in England were 

 offered at the same price that they are in America 

 they would not be considered worth planting in a 

 garden worthy of the name. In England, their 

 novelties in peas, for instance, sell for seventy^five 

 to eighty cents per pint, while here they are retailed 

 at twenty cents. I honestly believe you will get 

 full value for your money, whichever you buy, by 

 which I mean that their seeds are better than 

 ours. Do not infer from this that American seeds 

 are not good. They are just as good as the English 

 seeds in germination, but we have not attained the 

 perfection of qualities in the varieties that they have 

 over there. It is good economy to buy the highest 

 grade of seeds offered. 



Get a sheet of drawing paper, make a plan to scale, 

 and allot space low for the year's crops 



It is not -easy to destroy the vitality of seeds, but 

 a little care will avoid trouble in the busy season. 

 When you receive your seeds store them in a cool, 

 frostproof place where they will be perfectly dry. 

 If you are troubled with mice and do not think you 

 can afford a proper mice-proof seed chest, use an 

 old bread tin. 



Now is the time to go over your tools carefully 

 and see that you have everything necessary for 

 proper gardening. Do not try to run your garden 

 with a spade and a hoe; but on the other hand, 

 you do not need a 2 -horse cultivator for a small 

 garden. The following tools I have found very 

 useful: spade, digging fork, manure fork, asparagus 

 knife, draw hoe, scuffle hoe, hose and sprinkler, 

 12-inch labels, garden line and reel, raffia for tying, 

 shovel, trowel, watering pot and wheelbarrow. A 

 roller is also very useful; if you do not wish to go 

 to the expense of buying one, make it yourself. 

 Make a cylinder of sheet iron, riveting it securely. 

 Run an axle shaft through the centre and fill the 

 cylinder with cement. After the cement hardens, 

 put on a handle and it is ready for use. A roller for 

 seeds should weigh about 150 pounds per running 

 foot. The size can be easily figured out, as cement 

 weighs a trifle over 100 pounds per cubic foot. 



A measuring rod is also a useful garden tool. 

 Get a 12-foot stick about one inch square, and paint 

 one side white. Then measure accurately and at 

 every twelve inches cut a notch quite deep and 

 all around the stick. Then mark the feet, begin- 

 ning from one to twelve, using black paint or 

 indelible pencil. Cut a small notch in between 

 each large notch for the one-half foot measure. 



For large gardens the wheel cultivator and seed 

 drill are very useful, but small gardens can exist 

 without them. A spray pump, however, is indis- 

 pensable to a successful garden. If you haven't 

 any, you can easily rig one up. 



All old tools should be looked over carefully at 

 this time and repaired where necessary. Do not 

 throw away a spade or fork because the handle is 

 broken; buy a new handle and put it on. All tools 

 should be in first-class shape and ready for the busy 

 season. Clean out the tool house or place where 

 the tools are kept, put up pegs to hang the tools 

 on, dip all the metal parts in kerosene and rub with 

 a rag and a little vaseline to prevent them from 

 rusting. Keep the tool house in a neat, tidy con- 

 dition — have it so that you can go in at night and 

 be able to pick out what you want without a light. 



Now is a good time to cut pea brush. You have 

 plenty of time to cart the sticks home, sharpen them 

 and stack them for spring. Some people grow 

 dwarf peas that do not require staking, but I would 

 not grow such varieties because they are at best but 

 a miserable imitation of a pea and are only sold 

 for the benefit of the lazy gardener. 



You may be able to purchase manure at this time 

 of the year more cheaply than in the spring, when 

 everyone wants it, and carting will also be cheaper. 

 Another advantage in getting it now is the better 

 quality, for if you cart it now and turn it once or 

 twice it will be in splendid condition by the time 

 you need it. 



Long Island. W. C. McCoixom. 



[Editor's Note — Next, month we will discuss 

 the sowing of vegetables — how to do this with or with- 

 out the convenience of a greenhouse. We will tell 

 you how to raise monster onions, big, heavy-stalked 

 celery and various other things which, if wanted 

 at all, must be thought of in February.] 



