252 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



May, 1913 



necessary, unless possibly the first year. A 

 spaded garden is said to be better than 

 one which is plowed, and it is possible to 

 do a little spading each day, thus obtaining 

 better results without any expense. Plow- 

 ing, of course, is much quicker, but unless 

 the plowman is very careful and has plenty 

 of room in which to turn his horses, plow- 

 ing is not satisfactory and consequently, 

 spading is always to be recommended for 

 a backyard garden. But of this, however, 

 I will treat in detail in a later article when 

 it is time to think about spading. My pur- 

 pose now is to show the real dollars of 

 profit in a backyard garden where the 

 work is done by the family. I huve also 

 found that when having the garden plowed 

 with a horse, it is sometimes necessary to 

 have a man for half a day to take out the 

 turf, and do some heavy disagreeable work, 

 which the plowman did not do; thus the 

 plowing and making ready has cost me 

 about $2 per year. However, as above 

 suggested, if at the time of planting I had 

 lived near the garden, I would have done 

 a little spading each day, and so "made 

 ready" as I spaded and entirely eliminated 

 the first expense. 



My first expenditures were 50 cents for 

 a hoe and $1 for a good spade, and these 

 are the first two purchases for the reader 

 to make. I also purchased two small 

 loads of manure at $1 per load instead of 

 one large load. The first load I spaded 

 in before the garden was plowed and the 

 second load I used for putting in the drills 

 and hills just before planting. To give 

 this double dressing, however, is un- 

 necessary, and an amateur may possibly 

 obtain the best results from one small load 

 of manure and fifty to one hundred pounds 

 of fertilizer. The cost of garden manure 

 varies greatly with different sections of 

 the country and with the location of the 

 lot. If the reader's backyard happens to 

 be near a stable, he may obtain one load 

 delivered for $2; while if some distance 

 from "the source of supply," he may be 

 obliged to pay $4 or more. The price 

 of fertilizer is usually standard the country 

 over, and can be purchased in fifty or one 

 hundred pound bags at about $3 per 

 hundred pounds. Therefore, it is fair to 

 assume that my initial expense was less 

 than $5, including the hoe and spade, up 

 to the time of planting. The preparation 

 of a backyard garden can be commenced 

 as soon as the frost is out of the ground, and 

 by doing a little work each pleasant morn- 

 ing it is only a little while before the plant- 

 ing is over. In fact, many people com- 

 mence planting too early and finish too 

 soon. It, therefore, is perfectly safe to 

 allow one month between the time when the 

 frost is out of the ground and the time of 

 planting, and experts strongly advise wait- 

 ing at least two or three weeks or until 

 the ground is warm and "mealy." 



There are two or three things, however, 

 which can be planted almost as soon as the 

 frost leaves the ground or planted in that 

 portion of the backyard which is first 



spaded. These are beets and spinach. 

 In fact, all root vegetables can be planted 

 early. By root vegetables I mean veg- 

 etables of which the eatable parts are 

 underground, including turnips, beets, 

 radishes, etc. However, of these details I 

 will treat in a later article when it is time 

 to consider planting; now I will simply 

 give some figures which show how I in- 

 creased my assets $1,000 by developing 

 a backyard garden. In short, my total 

 expense for seed was $2.08, as follows: 



Golden Bantam corn for 120 hills 



One quart green beans . . 



Two ounces New Zealand spinach 



One half pound Early Red beet 



One quart American- Wonder dwarf peas 



One package Long Green cucumbers 



One package lettuce (Black-seeded Tennis 



Ball) . . _ 



One package radish (French Breakfast) 



One package Swiss chard 



One package summer squash .... 

 One dozen tomato plants 



.20 



25 



•25 



•38 



.40 



• 05 



■ 05 



• 05 



■ 05 



• 05 



•35 



Total $2.oS 



Adding this $2.08 to the $5 for tools, 

 dressing, fertilizer, etc., made a total 

 expenditure of $7.08 for the first year. 

 Now, this is not a guess nor an estimate, 

 but is an actual statistical fact. Of course 

 certain critics have claimed that I should 

 add a proportion of my land taxes, a pro- 

 portion of the water bill and even my 

 subscription to The Garden Magazine; 

 but these are expenses which I was under 

 long before I thought of a backyard garden 

 and consequently they cannot justly be 

 counted. The $7.08 does, however, include 

 every additional expense to my house- 

 hold which the garden has cost me, and 

 when I say everything I mean everything. 



Moreover, it is impossible to give an 

 exact result of what I gathered, and the 

 following is very conservative: 



24doz.com at 20 to 25c $ 5.46 



71 qts. beans at 10c 



30 pecks spinach at 20 to 30c. . 



(This New Zealand spinach lasts all 

 summer and is gathered by cutting off 

 leaves each day with scissors. It is as 

 fresh in September as in June.) 



41 bunches Swiss chard at 10c. 



51 bunches beets at 5c. 



49 qts. peas at 10 to 15c . 

 cucumbers at 2c. . . . 



24 heads lettuce at 5 to 10c . 



10 bunches radishes at 5c 



10 Summer squash at 5 to 10c 



Miscellaneous 



Tomatoes 



7 



10 



7 



50 



4 



10 



2 



55 



2 



55 



1 



75 



1 



40 





50 





76 



2 



00 



17 



14 



Total $55-76 



Of course, there were some hot hours 

 while I was hoeing this garden; but really, 

 the care was very slight after the original 

 planting and the first hoeing. A lot of 

 weeds grow during the first month of a 

 garden from seed carried over the winter. 

 If, however, this first crop of weeds is 

 properly and promptly killed, when only 

 a fraction of an inch high, it is easy to keep 

 the rest under control. 



As to picking the vegetables, this was 

 really fun. I did not plant potatoes, 

 celery, nor other vegetables requiring hard 



manual labor to keep up. To gather a 

 dozen ears pf corn or. a few tomatoes re- 

 quires only two or three minutes, and often 

 the maid found it easier to run to the 

 garden than to the telephone. From an 

 original investment of only $7.08 I obtained 

 crops $50 in value. The garden also gave 

 us splendid fresh vegetables twice a day, 

 eliminated an expensive and unhealthy 

 meat bill, and, to my mind, was the best 

 investment of $7.08 possible. Some of my 

 Wall Street friends say that "Babson likes 

 to preach better than to practice," and 

 probably this is so. I do, however, prac- 

 tice my preachments on "Getting Back to 

 Earth." 



Although a fairly busy man, I personally 

 raise all the vegetables which my .family 

 and servants eat, excepting potatoes and 

 celery. I emphasize the word " personally ' ' 

 because the man who takes care of my 

 places is not allowed to go near the garden, 

 which is in my own care. To my mind 

 the cost of living can be checked only by 

 each of us producing more foodstuffs in 

 our own backyards. This is a homely 

 remedy I know, but I have yet to find an 

 economist who disputes the statement. 

 Therefore, let every reader of this paper 

 who has a backyard of any size get busy at 

 once — this week — and help solve the 

 cost of living for himself, and at the same 

 time add $1,000 to his assets by increasing 

 the net earnings of his place $50 per year. 



Beautiful lawns are all right for people 

 of means; but for the average man to 

 "raise" a lawn and then hire someone to 

 cut the grass each week is a waste of space, 

 fertility, labor, and money, especially 

 when Western farmers cannot get help 

 enough to gather their crops. No wonder 

 the cost of living is increasing when you 

 and I will pay 10 cents a head for lettuce, 

 and then ourselves raise only grass — 

 while we have to pay $35 or more a year 

 for the privilege of playing golf in order 

 to exercise. Moreover, there is a principle 

 herein involved which should be preached 

 in pulpit and press. Most of my employees 

 have gardens. Some raise hens and have 

 obtained wonderful results, which should 

 be studied by all. Having a flock of 1,000 

 or more hens is likely to result in loss. 

 Small flocks of ten to twenty are, however, 

 very profitable. 



In short, as I stated last month, our 

 great social problems will not be solved by 

 any President or Congress excepting as 

 they increase production and eliminate 

 waste. They will be solved only when 

 you and I and the rest of us voters make 

 the best of our opportunities by producing 

 more foodstuffs ourselves, going to market 

 ourselves, paying cash, bringing home our 

 own purchases, and then eating them 

 instead of throwing them part into the 

 garbage pail. So long as we let every one 

 from the grocer to the doctor run and serve 

 us whenever a want comes into our heads, 

 so long may we expect the cost of living 

 to increase, whoever is President of the 

 United States of America. 



