492 
VEGETABLE GARDENING 
may also be used in forcing crops to maturity during the 
winter season. See Chapters XI, XII and XIII for in- 
formation on these subjects. 
697. Management. — High fertility and frequent tillage 
are essential to success in home vegetable gardening. 
The plot devoted to this work should receive annual 
dressings of stable manure at the rate of 25 to 50 tons 
an acre. Rotten manure will be most satisfactory, al- 
though fresh manure may be applied before plowing, 
except for tomato, pepper, eggplant, the cucurbits and 
the root crops. If manure is used freely enough there 
will be little necessity for the employment of commercial 
fertilizers, although these can often be used advantage- 
ously in home garden work. Nitrate of soda should be 
kept on hand for topdressing about growing plants. A 
complete fertilizer containing about 4 per cent of nitro- 
gen, 8 per cent phosphoric acid and 10 per cent potash 
will be beneficial under most conditions. 
Special attention is usually given to cultivation, hoe- 
ing and weeding. A hard surface crust should not be 
allowed to form, and tillage between the plants should be 
so thorough that weed seeds will not be permitted to com- 
plete germination. Fall plowing is an advantage in some 
heavy soils. When deferred until spring, plowing should 
be done at the earliest possible date, so that there will be 
no delay in starting early crops. A soil deeply and thor- 
oughly fined is essential to complete success. 
698. Plans. — Economy of labor is one of the most im- 
portant considerations in making plans for the home 
garden. The old-fashioned garden, where everything is 
planted in beds between boarded walks, requires a max- 
imum amount of labor. This plan should not be used 
unless in the very small plats of town or city. It is 
much better to plant all classes of vegetables in rows, 
running lengthwise of the plat. On farms, where there 
is plenty of available land, the rows should be far enough 
