GARDENING FOR LITTLE GIRLS 



grew $50.00 worth of vegetables, — enough to sup- 

 ply his whole family! He got his planting down 

 to a science, however, — what he called intensive 

 gardening, ' ' so that every foot of the soil was kept 

 busy the whole summer. He fertilized but once, 

 too, at the beginning of the season, when he had 

 a quantity of manure thoroughly worked in. Then 

 between slow growing crops, planted in rows as 

 closely as possible, he planted the quick-growing 

 things, which would be out of the way before their 

 space was needed. 



Incidentally he worked out a chart (which he 

 afterwards put on the market) , ruled one way for 

 the months, and the other for the number of feet, 

 with name cards for the vegetables that could be 

 fitted in so as to visualize — and make a record of 

 the entire garden the entire season. Such a plan 

 means a great saving of both time and space. 



Garden soil must be warm, light and rich. It 

 must be well spaded to begin with, well fertilized, 

 well raked over, and kept well cultivated. Vege- 

 tables require plenty of moisture, and during dry 

 weather especially must be thoroughly watered. As 

 I have said before, simply wetting the surface of 

 the ground is almost useless, and often, by causing 

 the ground then to cake over the top as it dries, 

 worse than none at all, if the soil were cultivated 



83 



