T 
Selecting Vegetables to Meet the Rising Cost of Living 
ADOLPH KRUHM, ^ 17 , 
FILTERING OUT THE ESSENTIAL POINTS ABOUT VARIETIES THAT WILL REALLY MEET REQUIREMENTS— HOW 
TO BUY YOUR SEEDS ECONOMICALLY AND HOW TO PLAN FOR EFFICIENCY IN THE GARDEN 
I I IS with considerable pleasure that I 
have noted in each succeeding year the 
ever increasing demand for qualit}^ 
among vegetables, and with the greatly 
increased cost of living as a real problem 
before us, it is nothing but plain common sense 
for us all to see that we get the greatest effi- 
ciency from the ground we cultivate. 1 his 
means not only choosing the particular kind 
of vegetable to satisfy our needs, but the 
selecting of the proper type and variety that 
actually measures up to our needs. 1 his 
can be done. I have proven in my own garden 
that by a proper selection of varieties and 
planting on definite dates, I can keep the 
ground constantly occupied, constantly yield- 
ing, and at no time producing a glut; or the 
o|iposite, an absence of useable vegetables, 
just how to gather together the various 
vegetables and organize their productive 
qualities for better results bas long been a 
fascinating study with me, and the sum and 
substance of these experiences of past years 
I now present with the assurance that an ad- 
herance to the methods here outlined will 
make the average home garden more successful 
— more efficient. 
The season’s new crop of catalogues is 
available now with their more than 30 distinct 
classes of vegetables for consideration. .Among 
such popular classes as beans, cabbages, corn, 
etc., as many as thirty distinct varieties 
claim attention for one reason or another. 
Ihe total number of varieties offered for 
possible use in our gardens is never less than 
5CX3, often more! Where to draw the line, 
how. to make a choice, what to grow and why 
- — those are a few of the questions that tend 
to complicate matters for home gardeners in 
quest of certainties. The solution of the 
problem lies in a proper analysis of needs and 
a correct understanding of the value'of space 
and time. 
For all practical purposes, vegetables may 
be divided into three classes; viz. those that 
you need, those that you would like, and those 
that are luxuries. A comparatively small 
space can be made to yield the vegetables 
you need. Before you start to grow the 
vegetables you like, ask yourself “are they 
practical.^’’ and “is the product worth the 
space and time it takes to produce it?” .As 
to vegetable luxuries their growing should be 
attempted only where space is abundant and 
when the labor required to raise them is not 
done at the expense of the things you need! 
NEED V.S. DESIRE 
"I he vegetables you need are the standard 
kinds to grow in any sized garden. .A garden 
of 30 X 60 ft. will grow enough of them to 
keep body and soul together for a family ot 
five during five months of the year. But to 
be successful in the attempt, you have to 
enlist the aid of the best bred kinds in each 
class, such as are recommended in subsequent 
paragraphs. Each square foot of garden 
space will have to be properly utilized and 
considerable planning and scheming has to 
be done. Still, I find that to be most of the 
fun — and so will you. 
A’ou may like Brussel sprouts, after you read 
the alluring descriptions as to the flavor ot 
this vegetable; yet, it may be cheaper for you 
to buy enough to satisfy the occasional appe- 
tite, rather than to attempt to grow them 
yourself at a prohibitive cost of labor and 
space. Okra and melons may tempt you; 
yet tbe usefulness of one is so limited and the 
season of bearing of the other is so short, 
after a long growing season, that the results 
may have to be adjudged “poor.” 
Vegetables, which I consider luxuries, are 
those that require an unusual amount of skill 
to grow them, a long season in which to 
mature, and which yield a limited crop after 
an unusual amount of skill and time have been 
employed. Cauliflower, egg plants, peppers, 
etc., are neither essential to our physical 
we Ifare nor can thej^ be produced economi- 
cally in the average home garden. However, 
always remember that these are purely per- 
sonal opinions. While they are based on 
many years of practical experience and obser- 
vation, they are given here at the risk of 
having many readers differ from me as to 
needs, likes and luxuries! 
I ypical vegetables that prove profitable 
in any sized garden are bush beans, beets, 
lettuce, peas, radishes — in short, all that bear 
their crops in limited space or in ample time to 
tnake room for other crops. I'herein lies the 
value of quick growing crops for small gardens. 
The “behaviour” of the different classes is 
the same in all parts of the country. .All that 
is needed is a readjustment of varieties for 
different sections, seasons and soils. 
.Again, other vegetables are suitable only 
for large gardens and profitable only in sec- 
tions offering favorable climate and soil. 
Melons thrive best in a sandy soil and in warm 
climates where the plants have a long growing 
season. The same may be said of late lima 
beans, although early pole limas may be made 
profitable as the by-product of even a small 
garden when the plants are afforded a chance 
to climb up on clothes poles or fences. Always 
ask yourself, when planning the vegetable 
garden, “is such and such a class practical” 
and “will the product pay me for time, labor, 
land and seed invested.” 
PL.\NNING TWO W.\YS 
There are two ways to plant a vegetable 
garden. One way is to plant all seeds at 
once, depending on crop succession by selec- 
tion of varieities maturing one after another. 
The tables recorded on the following pages 
will make this an easy problem. The other 
method is to make repeated sowings of de- 
pendable .sorts suitable for the different 
seasons in which the crop is to mature. 
For instance, it does not pay to attempt 
extra early butterhead varieties of lettuce 
during the hot summer months; better depend 
on your All Season Butterhead or crisp head 
varieties. .Among radishes, do not attempt 
to grow the small round spring sorts after 
July first; they will grow pithy over night, 
whereas summer varieties will remain in fit 
The well kept vegetable garden will have long rows to make cultivation easy, and some irrigation arrangement to provide an adequate water supply 
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