Becker Seed Store, 101 and 103 Federal St., N. S., Pittsburgh, Pa. • GARDEN HINTS 



How to Start and Maintain a Food Garden 



Since most of the soil in and around our city is a heavy clay, thorough digging is one of the 

 most essential requirements in the making of a good garden. It is really a waste of good seed 

 and time to scratch the top of the soil and then sow seeds, hoping that the plants will "make 

 out somehow." 



Fertilize, Dig and Rake Thoroughly! 



If you can get manure, by all means dig lots of it into the soil. Cover the surface of the ground' 

 with it to a depth of 4 inches and dig it under. If you can get exceptionally well-rotted manure 

 it is better to put it on top of the ground after digging and then rake it into the surface. In that 

 way the plants will get the benefit of it much quicker. 



When it comes to raking, let us urge you to do it very thoroughly. An hour spent in raking 

 a piece of ground, size 20 x 40, will prove the best working investment you ever made. A well- 

 pulverized surface will make it easier for you to get rows straight, to get them of uniform depth 

 and thorough raking will result in making cultivation easier all summer. 



About Sowing Seeds 



There are two ways of sowing the seeds. With the coarser seeds, such as Beans, Corn, and Peas, 

 it is best to drop each seed singly. Additional directions as to how much to sow or how to space 

 it in the row are given under the different chapters. A safe rule to follow in covering the seed 

 is to cover it about twice its thickness. Finer seeds and all flower seeds should not be covered 

 any more than is sufficient to prevent the wind from blowing the seeds away or the birds from 

 eating them. 



To Fight Insects 



On page 78 you will find listed a complete 

 assortment of both liquid and dry poisons with 

 which to fight the enemy of the garden. 

 Broadly speaking they are divided into 

 two classes — the leaf-chewing and the sucking 

 insects. Leaf-chewing insects, like potato bugs 

 for instance, are easily poisoned by sprinkling 

 powder on the plants and the bugs will chew the 

 poison along with their food. It is not so easy, 

 however, to get rid of the sap-sucking insects, 

 of which the aphis and plant lice are the most 

 common. It takes a contact poison, like Black 

 Leaf-40, Aphine and other nicotine solutions to 

 destroy them bodily. 



Dig as soon as the soil becomes dry 

 enough so that it crumbles readily 



Cultivation and Watering 



All plants, in order to do well, need to 

 have the soil loosened about them. This 

 is necessary so that the roots may get some 

 air, also that the water may reach them 

 instead of running off the top and settling 

 where the ground is low. As soon as the 

 young seedlings appear, get busy with your 

 hoe on both sides of the row. Where the 

 spacing of plants in the row permits, culti- 

 vate also between the plants. Cultivation 

 is half the battle in the garden. If you do 

 it conscientiously, in most cases plants grow 

 strong enough to take care of themselves and 

 to ward off insect attacks and plant diseases. 

 A splendid line of both hand and wheel culti- 

 vators, as described on page 73, will turn 

 cultivating from a job into a joy. 



If the natural water-supply fails during 

 a long period, it is well to water the garden. 

 Remember that about 90 per cent of nearly 

 every vegetable is water. When watering 

 the garden, remember that one copious 



Proper spacing of seeds in the 

 row insures a satisfactory stand 

 and normal yield 



drenching once a week is 

 better than a little sprink- 

 ling each evening. That is 

 the worst thing you can do, 

 because it tends to cause the 

 roots of the plants to seek 

 the surface rather than go 

 down where they belong. 

 Never turn the hose on 

 plants that produce their 

 fruits on vines. Watering 

 during the blooming season 

 will wash away pollen nec- 

 essary to effect fruiting. 



ter of labeling each row in 

 the garden is by far the most 

 important, since it constantly 

 keeps before the gardener the 

 name of. the variety and he 

 soon learns to look upon 

 vegetables and flowers as 

 individuals rather than as 

 nameless waifs. We provide a 

 collection of garden-record 

 labels below for those whose 

 garden is small. Other Re- 

 cord Labels are offered on 



You Should Keep Records 



The way to better gardens leads through 

 paths lined with wooden stakes or labels on 

 which should be written the variety name and 

 date at which seeds were planted. Those who 

 take things seriously will carry the matter of 

 records a step farther and keep a book to sup- 

 plement the garden labels, in which book dates 

 of maturity should be entered. But the mat- 



Hoeing saves moisture, besides 

 giving roots a chance to breathe. 

 Hoe often. 



• page 75. 



Collection of Garden Record Labels $1 



To encourage keeping of records in the garden, we will 

 supply twenty 10-inch Garden Stakes and twenty-five each of 

 8-inch, 6-inch, and 4-inch Labels respectively, for $1 postpaid. 



A Good Book Helps 



Home Vegetable Gardening, from A-Z. By Adolph Kruhm. 

 The most comprehensive book on the subject to date. About 

 300 pages, printed on high-class, coated paper, fully illus- 

 trated with more than 200 photographic reproductions, and 

 32 four-color illustrations. Cloth, postpaid, SI. 30. 



Mark every row in the garden 

 with a wooden label showing va- 

 riety name and planting date. 



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