CALM INSTEAD OF COMMOTION 
ADOLPH KRUHM 
And Common-sense Analysis of the Little Things That Dis- 
tinguish Between Success and Failure in the Vegetable Garden 
jL&gO ONE appreciates more than 1 do the meaning of 
•* failures nor speaks of them with more authority, for I 
Jbl \ have scored them for nearly twenty years under widely 
111 II li|! i varying soil and climatic conditions, in greatly separ- 
ated sections of the country! And one thing I long ago firmly 
determined: 1 would some day take Garden Magazine 
readers into my confidence and tell them the results of mv own 
analysis of failures; because if you know what not to do, doing 
the right thing is easy. 
I N THE matter of soil preparation, for instance. It is easy 
enough to tell a gardener not to dig or plow until the soil 
is in proper shape. But when is the soil in proper shape? About 
eighteen years ago 1 had a lesson which I never forgot. We were 
standing before a rather wet piece of ground on one of the lar- 
gest experiment stations in the East, and the manager and the 
farmer had an argument as to the fitness of the. soil for im- 
mediate preparation. It was early in June and getting late for 
the sowing of cucumber trials which were to be conducted on 
that particular spot. 
After many pros and cons, and under the farmer’s protests 
the soil was plowed. Then it was harrowed and dragged; and 
when we started raking there wasn’t enough “soil” on that 
piece of ground to cover the cucumber seeds in the hills — for it 
was entirely composed of “ lumps.” The result was that we 
secured a very poor stand; seeds that did come up were weak 
sprouts; the beetles got most of these, and the experiment was a 
failure all around. 
I herefore make it a point never to dig or plow while the soil 
is so wet that when you take a handful and squeeze it it will 
form a firm ball. The soil will crumble after squeezing when it 
is ready to be worked. Until it does, let it alone. 
T HE trouble with most of us is that we are in too much of a 
hurry to get started. The matter of a start at the right time 
means so much more than just early activity can possibly mean 
that the thing to do is wait. Until soil and season have com- 
bined to produce the correct conditions all attempts to hasten 
work are simply courting disappointment. Make due allow- 
ance for all suggestions that you see in all sorts of books and 
catalogues by discounting them a week or ten days and you 
will be the gainer. Thus, if it is suggested that you should sow 
any time after the middle of May in your neighborhood, wait 
until the end of May and you will be safer. Chances are that 
plants coming into the world earlier than this will receive a set- 
back; and it always takes a plant longer to get over the effects 
of a set-back than it does to start later and grow right along. 
Of course while the garden season is young and the garden 
fever consequently at its height the enthusiastic gardener wants 
to get on the ground every minute of spare time, regardless of the 
condition of the soil. But — one of the great big monumental 
facts that should never be forgotten is that it is more detrimental 
than anything else 1 can think of to walk and work over soggy 
ground — outside of plowing and digging at the wrong time! 
IV alking over soggy ground will compress the soil so that subsequent 
cultivation cannot go as deep as it should nor be done as thor- 
oughly. For where the ground is tramped down while soggy 
it forms chunks which the cultivator teeth will tear up. What 
is more those chunks or lumps will remain there all season. They 
will not “melt ” though many seasoned gardeners so claim. 
W ill LE we are talking aboutmoisture let mecaution against 
one of the biggest mistakes made — don’t go in your bean 
patch while the vines are wet. Last summer 1 called across the 
way to a good neighbor of mine who was busily picking pods 
immediately after a big shower and told her that 1 felt sorry for 
her bean patch. She didn’t know what 1 meant until two weeks 
later when all the new pods in that patch had black and brown 
spots and the plants themselves were beginning to die. She was 
inclined to blame this on blight or another fungous disease be- 
yond her control— for hadn’t she gardened all her life and didn’t 
beans somehow always act the same way around that time of 
the year? It took me considerable time to convince her that 
she started the trouble, but 1 believe that she is now cured of 
picking beans immediately after a rain, or early in the morning 
while the dew is on the plants. 
We are all inclined to believe that plants need moisture very 
badly, and in endeavoring to provide sufficient moisture we 
often put it where it doesn’t belong — with the result that bearing 
is cut short in unnecessary fashion. All plants of which we use 
the seeds yield their crops as the result of blooming of course 
and the matter of proper pollination or fertilization of the 
flowers enters in largely. These should never have their tops and 
foliage drenched with the hose. This applies particularly to 
tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and the whole “vining” family, 
such as cucumber, squash, melons, pumpkin, etc. Turning the 
hose on these washes away the pollen which is so essential to 
proper fertilization, without which no fruits will set. 
In most instances the garden needs cultivation a whole lot 
more than moisture. Frequent cultivation really accomplishes 
the same thing as occasional moistening, because it keeps the 
moisture beneath the ground where it can do the greatest amount 
of good. Frequent watering on the other hand draws the roots 
to the surface and the slightest drouth will affect the plants far 
more seriously than where cultivation has induced the plant 
roots to go deep down for moisture. Therefore a wheel hoe, or 
one of the modern hand cultivators is a practical alternative 
for a hose! 
H AVE you almost given up trying to raise radishes because 
they are usually eaten by maggots, and are wormy? This 
simply means that you have disregarded one of the funda- 
mental rules in the garden which is this: first cousins among 
the vegetables should never be planted on one and the same 
piece of ground during the same season or even two seasons in 
succession. The whole cabbage family, for instance, thus 
draws maggots — and when you follow kale with cabbage and 
cabbage with radishes and radishes with brussels sprouts, etc., 
etc., you are cultivating the presence of Mr. Maggot quite as 
effectively as you are cultivating the crops. 
T IME and again I have had home gardeners come to me 
to show me corn that was very irregular in its rows, with 
only a few filled rows and the kernels very irregular on the cob. 
In ninety cases out of a hundred this fault is due entirely to the 
wrong method of planting the corn. Never plant corn in long, 
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