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THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



June, 1914 



EARLY BUSH BEANS 



EARLY CORN 



ENDIVE 



LETTUCE 



TOMATOES 



BEETS CABBAGES 

 CUCUMBERS CELERY- 

 SWISS CHARD KALE 

 RADISHES SPINACH 

 TURNIPS PEPPERS 



EGGPLANTS 



Let us analyze this list. Of tomatoes, 

 cabbages, egg plants and peppers, secure 

 the sturdiest plants money can buy. Look 

 at the roots rather than at the tops. Many 

 seedsmen are in a position, during June, to 

 supply tomato plants in little paper pots 

 at as low a price as 50 cents per dozen. I 

 would rather have one dozen of such plants 

 than two dozen field-grown plants at 25 

 cents per dozen. The same applies to all 

 the other vegetables which start life in your 

 garden as ready plants. Always make sure 

 that their root system is good and you won 't 

 experience any trouble catching up with the 

 season. 



It is very seldom that I consider it ad- 

 visable to apply hurry methods to garden 

 work. Still, under the circumstances, I 

 feel justified in submitting a schedule and 

 plan, which is bound to work out satisfac- 

 torily if your heart is with your work. 



As a basis for our calculations, let us sup- 

 pose that this issue of The Garden 

 Magazine reaches you on June third. Get 

 a man at once, if necessary at a premium, 

 and have him dig, on that very day, at 

 the north side of your garden a strip about 

 ten feet wide. Secure tomato plants at 

 once and, on June 4 you should be able to 

 set out four dozen tomato plants 2 feet space 

 between the plants and 2\ feet between 

 the rows. Plant also a few rows of beans 

 and beets and call the day's work done. 



If your local seedsman cannot supply 

 the sorts mentioned, select any of the early 

 sorts of beans and beets mentioned in the 

 complete table printed with last month's 

 Garden Magazine. But for the rest of 

 the vegetables, insist on sorts named on plan 

 as they are the best for the season at which 

 they will mature. While you are planting 

 the north side of your garden, shift your 

 man to the south side. Let him start dig- 

 ging at the fence again and working clear 

 across the garden toward you. On the 

 evening of the fifth, enough ground should 

 be dug to plant Swiss chard, endive, carrot 

 and several rows of Golden Bantam corn. 



Next, finish digging and planting section 

 B, finally winding up the work in section A 

 on June 7th. A study of the plan will make 

 reasons for my suggestion obvious. In the 

 first place, beans, beets and tomatoes are 

 easily the most popular of the "long-season" 

 crops, hence my desire to get them started 

 quickly. By arranging the garden as indi- 

 cated, section A will be the space for suc- 

 cessive crops, while section B may be termed 

 the "long-season" garden. All the vege- 

 tables in section B will require the rest of 

 the growing season to mature their crops. 



On the other hand, section A is a ready 

 field for practicing intensive cultivation. 

 On August 10th, the four rows of beans may 

 be sown to turnips. Long before that, the 

 rows now devoted to radishes should be 

 sown to beans for a succession of crops, while 

 the two rows of lettuce should be utilized 

 for late sowings of beets, as soon as the 

 quality of the lettuce begins to get poor. 

 Golden Bantam corn will make room for 



spinach by end of August and don 't forget 

 that all through June, radishes and lettuce 

 can be grown between the rows of "long- 

 season" vegetables in section B. Of course, 

 celeryplantsmaybe planted for a succession 

 instead of beans; cucumbers will mature as 

 well as corn, from seeds planted in June. 

 But the whole garden plan is, of necessity, 

 subject to adjustment to the personal likes 

 and dislikes of the gardener. 



So much for the practical working out of 

 the plan. One point I like to emphasize 

 in connection with all seed sowing opera- 

 tions during June and July is; sow your 

 seeds somewhat deeper than you would during 

 the early spring, when the soil abounds with 

 moisture. Make it also a point to press 

 the soil in firm contact with the seeds, es- 

 pecially in the case of beets and swiss 

 chard. While, as a rule,I am not an advo- 

 cate of using a hose, I will concede that a 

 thorough watering with a fine spray im- 

 mediately after planting will prove a great 

 boost to the June garden. But let me 

 warn you not to make it a practice, and 

 especially do not throw any water on the 

 tomato plants after they begin blooming. 



It is always safer to depend on thorough 

 cultivation than on watering. A dust mulch 

 will do the garden more good during dry 

 weather than constant sprinkling. After 

 the tomatoes, peppers, etc., have made such 

 a growth that cultivation between the 

 plants becomes difficult, mulch the whole 

 section with coarse manure, lawn clippings, 

 leaves or any handy litter. It is taken for 

 granted that the tomatoes are staked and 

 pruned. 



How the June planted vegetable garden will look in August. A June planted garden has a value all its own then, when the earlier gardens will be running out 



