134 



THE (I A HI) EN MAGAZINE 



A p in 



19 18 



sit [8 inches apart there will be 33 to the 

 row 01 264 in the eight rows. 



Forecasting the Harvest 



Pill way such a plan should work out 



-■■ will be about as follows: The various 

 vegetables will occupy the inner-row spaces 

 one or not more than two seasons. Prefer- 

 ably all the first and not more than the first 

 half of the second. If strawberries are used 

 instead of truck, the ever-bearing kinds 

 between the trees and shrubs will yield 

 during the fall of one year and the summer of 

 the next, those in the other rows the season 

 following planting and perhaps the succeeding 

 year. The currants, gooseberries, rasp- 

 berries, etc., may begin to fail in from four 

 to six years after setting because of the shade 

 and the food and water demands of the trees. 

 They must be destroyed as soon as this is 

 noticed, because they are temporary, whereas 

 the trees are the permanent investment. 



Probably the dwarf trees will begin to fail 

 in six to ten or twelve years and will have to 

 follow the berries because the standards will 

 need the space. Perhaps the peaches will 

 fail between eight and fifteen years, though 

 under good management they may live 

 twice as long. If commercial orchardists — 

 a few of them — make the peach live and 

 continue profitable for thirty years, surely 

 the amateur should do at least as well — 

 unless the other more permanent trees need 

 the space. The plums may last for ten to 

 twenty years or even twice as long. The 

 sweet cherry has the natural longevity to 

 continue for upward of fifty years and so 

 have the apples. In this plan it is only a 

 question of the space needed for each. 



The carrying out of such a plan as here 

 outlined demands considerable "backbone," 

 for as each more important but slower grow- 

 ing plant needs more space its demands must 

 be met by the removal. of the less important ones. 

 Unless this is done the latter will not only 

 fail more and more each year to produce well 

 but they will rob the former and impair both 

 the yield and the health of the trees. 



Keeping it up Later 



/"^LEAN cultivation is the next essential. 

 ^^ Keep the surface inch or two of soil 

 loose and open until midsummer. Then if the 

 fruit plants are making good lustrous green 

 foliage sow buckwheat or crimson clover or a 

 mixture of both on the bare parts to serve as 

 a cover crop. The buckwheat will be killed 

 by the frost; the clover probably by the 

 winter at least in the North. It is desirable 

 not to have the crop live through the winter 

 because in the spring it might not be plowed 

 soon enough to prevent its robbing the trees 

 and bushes of water and plant food. On this 

 account rye and winter vetch are often 

 objectionable, at least so long as the berry 

 and currant bushes are leafing. Earliest 

 plowing and harrowing possible is the in- 

 variable rule in areas large enough to be 

 worked by a horse; digging and raking in 

 smaller ones. 



Where Grapes Fit 



TT WILL be noticed that this plan takes no 

 •*• account of grapes. These had better be 

 kept by themselves because they do not fit 

 well with the tree and bush fruits. A good 

 way to manage with them is to train them 

 on the canopy or Munson trellis, the lowest 

 wire of which is 4! or 5 feet from the ground 

 thus permitting currants and gooseberries to 

 be planted in the same rows with the vines 



and under the partial shade of the foliage. 

 I he plan which is satisfactorily followed by 

 commercial planters in the Hudson Valley and 

 elsewhere, has special value for home 

 plantations because it conserves space. If it 

 is followed, eight more black raspberry plants 



Ready References for Busy 

 Planters 



Here's a practical planting chart for the home plot to in- 

 clude both fruits and vegetables. This scheme is based on 

 rigid adherence to the plan of cutting out temporary trees and ' 

 bushes as the permanent ones develop. 



Key. A, Apple; C, Currant; D, Dwarf; Pe, Peach; G, 

 Gooseberry; PI, Plum; Sw Ch, Sweet Cherry; RR, Red Rasp- 

 berry; PR, Purple Raspberry; DB, Dewberry; B, Blackberry; 

 S, Everbearing Strawberry; T, Truck vegetables or ordinary 

 Strawberry;BR, Blackberry. 



may be planted in each orchard unit block 

 already discussed. 



Plans such as these in which rieavy demands 

 are made upon the soil because of the in- 

 tensive planting cannot be worked success- 

 fully unless the soil is well fed and well 

 managed, and unless the trees, bushes and 

 other plants are pruned and trained to "stay 

 put." For this reason they have special 

 interest to amateur planters because they 

 afford such splendid opportunities to excell 

 the best efforts of commercial fruit growers. 



Make Sure of the Food Reserve 



"XITHEN preparing to plant be sure to have 

 » » the land well drained, plowed, and sub- 

 soiled, if large enough to work with horses; or 

 trenched if not. With lavish hand broadcast 

 phosphate fertilizers such as raw and treated 

 phosphate rock. For potash use unleached 

 wood ashes from the fireplace and the stove — 

 if you burn wood. In each hole dug for a 

 tree, a bush, or a vine throw all the old 

 bones obtainable in the neighborhood. To 

 supplement these — for there are sure to be 

 too few to be liberal with all the trees — add 

 ground bone or bone meal which is obtainable 

 of the seedsman and fertilizer dealers. No 

 damage need be anticipated from such 

 materials. 



Be chary in using nitrogenous fertilizers 

 because they tend to make sappy growths 

 which may be injured by winter. The only 

 safe time to use them is in the spring. If the 

 soil has been manured or if it is well supplied 

 with vegetable matter there will probably 

 be no need to add any nitrogenous plant 

 food. The way to determine whether or not 

 any is needed is to notice the color of the 

 foliage. If this is a pale, jaundicy, yellow- 

 ish green during May then scatter about a 

 pound to each 400 square feet (20 x 20 ft.) 

 as long before June first as convenient — not 

 later. 



rV)NT keep on gardening with antiquated 

 *-' tools. Learn to enjoy the quick and easy 

 operation of a wheelhoe. There is lots of 

 fun in having a plow, a cultivator, a weeder 

 and what not at one's disposal via the con- 

 venient means of a wrench. Man was never 

 intended to stoop ever while working. The 

 wheelhoe gives him a chance to exercise his 

 prerogative as a man — to walk upright. 



l~"\ON'T forget the many novel helps available 

 ■ L ' to push garden operations rapidly ahead 

 this month. The sun is high enough this month, 

 but cold winds generally undo part of the 

 good work of the sun. Plant forcers, forcing 

 frames, cloches, and many other handy 

 inventions are designed to increase results 

 from early garden efforts. Take advantage 

 of such helps. 



Depth to Cover Seeds 



DEANS 2 inches; Beets 15 in.; Carrot \ 

 *~* to |; Corn 2 in.; Cucumber f to 1 in.; 

 Lettuce J to I in.; Onion sets 1 to ij'in.; 

 Parsley \ to \ in.; Parsnip | to 1 in.; Peas 2 

 in.; Radish \ in.; Salsify f to 1 in.; Spinach 

 1 to \\ in.; Turnip \ in. 



Vegetables Required for One Person 



"DEANS (bunch) 10-ft. row; Beans (pole) 

 ■*-* 4 hills; Beets 10-ft. row; Cabbage 10 

 plants; Carrot 7^-ft. row; Cauliflower 5 plants; 

 Celery 30 plants; Corn 8 hills; Cucumber 2 

 hills; Eggplant 5 plants; Lettuce 10-ft. row; 

 Onion sets 10-ft. row; Parsley 5-ft. row; 

 Parsnip 10-ft. row; Peas 20-ft. double row; 

 Pepper 5 plants; Radish 25-ft. row; Salsify 

 5~ft. row; Spinach 15-ft. row; Tomato 8 

 plants; Turnips 10-ft. row. 



Distance Apart to Plant 



"DEANS (bunch) 2-in. rows, 3 ft.; Beans 

 •*-* (pole) i\ ft. each way; Beets i|-in. rows 

 \\ ft.; Cabbage 18 in. x 24 in.; Carrot i-in. 

 row, \\ ft.; Cauliflower 18 in. by 24 in.; 

 Celery 5-in. rows, 3 ft.; Corn (sweet) 2§ ft. 

 each way; Cucumber 5 ft. each way. Egg- 

 plant 2§ ft. each way; Lettuce sow thinly in 

 rows 15 in. apart; Onion (sets) if -in. rows 

 10 in.; Parsley 2-in. row, 15 in.; Parsnip i-in. 

 row, \\ ft.; Peas a in. in 8-in. double rows 

 2 J ft.; Pepper 2 ft. apart each way; Radish 

 i-in. rows, 10 in.; Salsify i-in. rows, I \ ft.; 

 Spinach 2-in. rows, 12 in.; Tomato 2§ ft. 

 each way; Turnips ij-in. rows,, \\ ft. 



Early Potatoes in the Small Garden 



POTATOES are not generally the most 

 *■ profitable thing to grow in the small 

 garden; do not plant them until you are sure 

 you have room enough to grow all you will 

 want of most other vegetables for both 

 summer and winter. Then for sure and certain 

 early growth, start tubers into partial growth 

 before planting. They may be spread 

 outside in a warm place, or, better still, cut 

 into pieces suitable for planting and placed 

 on moist sand in a frame or in the green- 

 house. Put in full sunlight; keep watered. 

 Roots will develop rapidly while the tops 

 remain short and stocky. Plant as usual 

 covering up tops completely; they will be 

 through the ground in two or three days, 

 and be ten days to two weeks ahead of seed 

 planted in the usual way. 



