Give Your Garden a Good Start 
PLANTING HINTS (Continued) 
LETTUCE. Sow lettuce seed as soon as the ground can 
be worked. Make rows the same as for carrots and beets. 
Sow the seed thinly, letting it run out slowly from the corner 
of the packet. Cover with about one-fourth to one-half inch 
of soil and press down firmly. If the plants of loose leaf let- 
tuce look crowded when they come up, thin them a little. 
Thin head lettuce plants so that they stand about eight to 
ten inches apart in the row. Have the rows at least twelve 
inches apart. Lettuce does best when the weather is cool 
and moist. 
MUSKMELON. In sections where summers are short, 
seed can be planted indoors or in hotbeds in small boxes. 
The young plants can be transferred to the garden when 
danger of frost is past. If practicable, spade in a liberal 
forkful of well-rotted manure at the bottom of each hill. 
The rows should be at least five feet apart, and the hills 
two to three feet apart in the rows. In general, the culture 
is the same as that for cucumber. 
WATERMELON. Raising watermelons requires about the 
same culture as muskmelons except that the vines need more 
room. Hills should be liberally manured, and cultivation 
careful and thorough. 
MUSTARD. Sow at the same time as radishes and lettuce. 
Make the rows in the same way. Sow the seed thinly and 
e Se : cover with one-fourth to one-half inch of soil. Press down 
In preparing the soil, drive the wae or spading firmly. When the plants are about two or three inches high, 
fork straight down full length with your foot thin them so that they are four to eight inches apart in the 
row. Mustard plants make the best greens when they are 
given plenty of water so that they grow quickly. 
OKRA or GUMBO. Okra seed does not germinate well at — 
cool temperatures, and planting should be delayed until 
the ground is warm. Drop four or five seeds to the foot and © 
cover one-half to one inch deep. Thin to about two feet in 
the row and keep thoroughly cultivated. 
ONION. Onion seed germinates well in cool weather. Plant 
as soon as the soil can be prepared. Shallow planting is 
advisable,—one-fourth to one-half inch. When a few inches 
tall, the young plants can be thinned to prevent crowding, 
and the plants removed can be used as green onions. After 
that, they can be pulled as needed, and those left to become > 
fully ripe can be stored for winter. 
PARSLEY. The seed is even slower to germinate than pars- 
nip. It grows best in rich mellow soil and should be sown as 
early as possible in rows with a covering of not more than 
one-half inch of soil firmly pressed down. When the plants 
are well up, thin them to three to four inches apart in the 
row. As soon as those of the curled varieties are about three 
inches tall, cut off all the leaves; the new growth will be 
U se the back of the rake to help break up clods; use brighter and better curled. Every cutting will improve the 
the tooth-side to make the soil fine and smooth quality of the leaves. 
PARSNIP. Parsnips grow best in loose, rich, sandy loam 
but will make good roots in any soil that is reasonably rich 
and deep. Stony soil and raw manure are likely to produce 
branched or misshapen roots. The seed requires steady — 
abundant moisture for germination and should be sown as — 
early as practicable. Sow in rows and when well up thin to 
three to six inches apart in the row. Keep the ground moist © 
if possible. Parsnips are improved by freezing, and a portion — 
of the crop can be left in the ground all winter to be dug in © 
spring when the ground has thawed. | 
PEAS. Peas need moderate temperature, plenty of mois- — 
ture, and long daylight hours. They are not injured by light 
frosts and may be planted as early in spring as the soil will 
permit. By planting some of several varieties at the same 
time, a well-arranged succession can be obtained, extending — 
over a period of 30 days. Successive plantings of a desirable 
variety will also provide a succession, but this cannot be © 
extended over as long a period with good results. All a ) 
eties more than one and one-half feet tall do better if stake 
up or otherwise supported when four to six inches tall. Use 
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To measure distances between rows a yard stick is a 
great convenience sharpened branches of trees set between the double rows. 
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