Transplanting in the Vegetable Garden — By Adolph Kruhm, 



HOW MUCH SPACE TO ALLOW — INCREASING THE ACTUAL YIELD AND IM- 

 PROVING THE QUALITY OF VEGETABLES BY PROPER AND TIMELY THINING 



Ohio 



HAVE you ever observed that the 

 bush bean plant at the end of the 

 row usually bears from 2 to 3 

 times as many pods as the plants 

 all along the row? The reason for this 

 lies in the fact that the first and last plants 

 in a row have a chance to develop per- 

 fectly in three directions. Those in the 

 row can only expand on two sides and then 

 only in proportion to the distance between 

 the rows. 



The "thinning" or proper transplanting 

 of seedling vegetable plants is but one 

 phase of intensive cultivation. Some gar- 

 deners believe in making the ground very 

 rich, and thus force nature to yield heavy 

 crops. Others water freely and cultivate 

 often, thus making available all the stored- 

 up fertility of the soil. But the proper 

 way is to practice all these things 

 and then give each plant as much attention 

 as time permits in order to encourage the 

 most perfect development under best 

 conditions. 



No plant can do the very best that lies 

 in its capacity if it grows in a crowded row. 

 The tenement child of the city never de- 

 velops like the country lad, who can stretch 

 and exercise his body, and his mind, in all 

 directions. The same principle applies to 

 plants. Strong, healthy, well-developed 

 plants bear more and better vegetables 

 than their less fortunate brethren which 

 grow in crowded rows and cannot stretch 

 their limbs. 



For the sake of largest yields from smal- 

 lest space, the rows in the home garden are 

 usually placed a great deal closer together 

 than they would be under ordinary cir- 

 cumstances. For this reason the question 

 of maximum yields from the row lies with 

 the development of each individual plant. 



The questions are: how much space is 

 required by a plant to develop in an ideal 

 way; and how many plants can be crowded 

 into a row without curtailing the produc- 

 tiveness of the individual plant? In this 

 matter, as in all others, the thing may be 

 over-done, and both space and fertility 

 wasted since the over-anxious beginner is 

 apt to leave in the row fewer plants than 

 the row can well support. 



During ten years of practising "inten- 

 sive" gardening I have evolved some 

 perfectly definite rules to govern these 

 problems, and these are here given. 

 All are subject to variation; plants are like 

 human beings, in that varying climate, 

 soil, season, and care make all the dif- 

 ference in the world with them. But for 

 a basis upon which to carry on further 

 experiments, these observations will prove 

 valuable. Only vegetables, the plants of 

 which are produced by sowing the seeds 

 into the open ground where they will 

 bear the crops, are considered. For egg- 



plants, cabbages, peppers, tomatoes, etc., 

 the distances differ according to the soil, 

 variety and method of cultivation. From 

 2 I to 2>h iee t apart each way is the usual 

 distance in which these vegetables are 

 grown in the home garden. 



For the sake of system, I like to group 

 the leading vegetables into three classes, 

 according to their habit of growth, thus: 



The angle trowel is the most convenient trans- 

 planting tool, and indeed, is a handy all around 

 implement in the flower border too 



A. Vegetables that bear their products 

 on bushes or vines. 



B. Vegetables grown for their roots. 



C. Vegetables grown for their foliage 

 portion. 



VEGETABLES THAT BEAR THEIR PRODUCTS 

 ON BUSHES OR VINES 



All " vining" plants, among which may be 

 counted cucumbers, melons, etc., can, at 

 the start, be eliminated collectively, by the 

 suggestion to let the three strongest plants 

 grow on each hill. It is customary to sow 

 at least a dozen seeds of the various vining 

 vegetables to the hill. When the danger 

 of insect pests is past, reduce the plants to 

 three of the strongest. If more plants 

 grow to the hill, the soil must be very rich, 

 or the size and the quality of the product 

 is apt to suffer. 



Foremost among vegetables that bear 

 their products on bushes are beans and 

 peas. In the case of beans, seeds are 

 usually dropped from 2 to 3 inches apart 

 in the row. When the young plants are 

 beginning to form the third pair of leaves, 

 thin them out to stand from 4 to 6 inches 

 apart in the row, according to the habit of 

 growth of the different sorts. The observ- 

 ing gardener soon learns that plants of late 

 beans, like Refugee, make a much stronger 



249 



growth than those of the early sorts. It is 

 a fact that plants of beans grown in straight 

 rows, from 4 to 6 inches apart, will out- 

 yield the same number of plants standing in 

 hills with 2\ to 3 feet between the hills. 

 Discard the old method of growing beans 

 in hills. AH the plants grown on hills 

 will show a lopsided development. 



Even experts differ as to which is the 

 best distance for pea plants to stand apart 

 in the row. It is a settled fact that most 

 firmly "fixed" varieties of peas will bear, 

 on an average, just so many pods to the 

 vine. The question then is, how many 

 vines should grow in a row. The practice 

 of sowing peas thinly, so as to have the 

 plants stand finally about 2 inches apart 

 in the row, is the most successful. 



VEGETABLES GROWN TOR THEIR PRODL'CT 

 BENEATH THE SOIL — ROOT CROPS 



Among these are included such impor- 

 tant vegetables as carrots, radishes, turnips, 

 onions, etc. These permit the application 

 of a broad rule: Thin out the seedling 

 plants to stand about that distance apart, 

 which the finished produce will occupy 

 when fully developed. To illustrate: We 

 have early as well as late carrots. The 

 very early sorts, when at their prime, and 

 ready for the table, would not average 

 more than 1^ inches to 2 inches in diameter. 

 Consequently, such sorts as Early Scarlet 

 Horn, Golden Ball, etc., should be thinned 

 to stand about 2 inches apart in the row. 

 For the larger and later varieties, corres- 

 pondingly more space must be allowed be- 

 tween the roots. 



In the case of radishes, this matter is 

 equally as important, only we have a still 

 larger number of sorts and it pays to get the 

 different varieties just the right distance 

 apart. The extra early spring radishes do 

 not require more than an inch space for 

 proper development. The larger growing 

 midseason and summer radishes should 

 be left to grow at least 2 to 3 inches apart. 

 The still later and larger winter varieties 

 finally require from 4 to 6 inches. 



Here is a suggestion which will make the 

 solution of this problem in connection with 

 root crops easy: Before you start on the 

 work of thinning out the different varieties, 

 go back to a seed catalogue with depend- 

 able descriptions, and read about how large 

 the product will be when fully developed. 

 Then thin out accordingly. It. may be laid 

 down as a safe rule, that in connection with 

 the majority of root crops (excepting a few 

 large radishes and turnips) 4 inches is the 

 happy average. 



VEGETABLES GROWN FOR THEIR FOLIAGE 



This third and last class includes all 

 salad plants, spinach, etc., and presents some 



