D. M. FERRY & CO., DETROIT, MICH. 13 
How to increase the possibility of 
SUCCESS wiTH your GARDEN 
Good Soil 
A rich, sandy loam is the best, but a fair degree of success may be secured from any soil which can be made 
rich and friable. Vegetables of the best quality cannot be grown on barren sand, a cold, hard, lumpy clay, nor 
in the shade of orchard or other trees. 
Liberal Manuring 
Well decomposed stable manure where straw bedding has been used is the best; manure where sawdust has 
been used for bedding is not so good. Often wood ashes at the rate of one peck up to one bushel to the square 
rod will be of great benefit. 
When good stable manure is not available, commercial fertilizers may be used at the rate of four to twelve 
pounds to the square rod and the more concentrated forms, such as Nitrate of Soda, Guano, Dried Blood and 
Potash Salts, at the rate of one to six pounds to the rod, the larger amounts preferably in three or four applications 
and at intervals of about ten days. A massorlump of any of the commercial fertilizers, evenifitis but a quarter 
of an inch in diameter, is liable to kill any seed or young plant which comes in contact with it, so it is very 
important if such fertilizers be used that they be thoroughly pulverized and mixed with the soil. 
Thorough Preparation 
Rich soil and liberal manuring will avail little without thorough preparation. The soil must be made friable 
by thorough and judicious working; if this is well done all that follows will be easy; if it is neglected, only partial 
success is possible and that at the cost of a great dea! of hard work. 
The garden should be well plowed or dug to a good depth, taking care, ifit is a clay soil, that the work is not 
done when it is too wet. If a handful from the furrow moulds with slight pressure into a ball which cannot 
be easily crumbled into fine earth again, the soil is too wet and if stirred then will be hard to work all summer. 
The surface should be made as fine and smooth as possible with the harrow or rake. It is generally desirable to 
plow the whole garden at once and to do this in time for the earliest crops, but the part which is not planted for 
some weeks should be kept mellow by frequent cultivation. 
Good Seeds Properly Planted 
There is no more prolific source of disappointment and failure among amateur gardeners than hasty, careless 
or improper sowing of the seed. A dry seed may retain its vitality and remain unchanged for years, but after 
germination has commenced a check of a day or two in the process may be fatal. Thereisnotimein the life of a 
plant when it is so susceptible of injury from the over-abundance or want of sufficient heat and moisture as 
at the period between the commencement of germination and the formation of the first true leaves. It is just 
then that the gardener should aid in securing favorable conditions. These are: 
FIRST—A proper and constant degree of moisture. The soil should always be moist, never wet. To 
secure this cover the seed as soon as it is planted with well pulverized, freshly prepared earth pressing it firmly 
over the seed. This firming of the soil is very important as it brings the particles of earth into close contact 
with seeds and roots, prevents the drying out of the soil and facilitates quick growth. The best results are 
obtained in small gardens by laying a board on the row and then walking upon the board, or the back of the hoe 
may be used, but for truck farms and field crops a roller is equally satisfactory. 
SECOND—A proper degree of heat, secured by sowing the seed when the temperature of the soil is that most 
favorable to the germination of the seed of that particular plant. Too high a temperature is often as detrimental 
as one too low. The proper temperature for each sort may be learned from a careful study of the following 
pages and the experience of the most successful gardeners in your vicinity. 
THIRD—Covering the seed to such a depth that while a uniform degree of heat and moisture is preserved 
the necessary air can readily reach the germinating seed and the tiny stem push the forming leaves into the 
light and air. This depth will vary with different seeds and conditions of the soil and can belearned only from 
practical experience. In general, seeds of the-size of the turnip should not be covered with more than half an 
ee of earth pressed down, while corn may be an inch, beans an inch to two inches and peas one to three inches 
eep. 
FOURTH—Such a condition of soil that the ascending stem can easily penetrateit and the young roots speedily 
find suitable food. We can usually secure this by thorough preparation of the ground and taking care never 
to sow fine seeds when the ground is wet. Occasionally a heavy orlong continued rain followed by a bright sun 
will so bake and crust the surface that it is impossible for the young plant to find its way through it, or a few 
days of strong wind will so dry the surface that the young plants will be killed. In such cases the only remedy 
is to plant again. 
