Volume VIII Madison, Wisconsin, March, 1918 Number 7 
PLANT A GARDEN AND HELP WIN THE WAR 
Circulars One and Two, War Garden Series. 
GETTING HEADY FOIl THE WAR 
GARDEN 
Prof. J. G. Moore, Dept, of Horticul- 
ture. 
(War Garden Series No. 1). 
Most folks think February a poor 
gardening month but the fact is that 
the work done in February and 
March may largely determine the suc- 
cess of the garden. It is time now to 
begin to make definite plans for the 
garden work which is to be done later 
on. The planting season will be here 
before we know it. 
Don’t waste your effort next sum- 
mer in gardening in competition with 
trees and shade. It can’t be done 
successfully. Hoeing, watering and 
fertilizing cannot make up for lack of 
sunlight. Many gardeners tried to 
make this substitution last year and 
failed. Good garden tracts may be 
spoiled by worthless, often self-plant- 
ed, trees or shrubs. Cut them out 
so your vevetables may not have to 
compete with them for sunlight, food 
and water. You will probably find, 
also, that your back yard looks better 
without them. 
If it. is impractical to remove the 
offending plants, or if buildings shade 
your garden for the greater part of 
the day begin at once to make ar- 
rangements f.or a suitable garden 
tract. Ask the aid of the local or- 
ganization which is helping to get 
gardeners and the garden tracts 
together. 
That Garden Plan 
What kind of a house would 
a carpenter build without a plan? 
How would a garden which was 
planned, row by row, while the 
planting was being done compare 
with one carefully planned in ad- 
vance of planting? The professional 
gardener finds a plan necessary for 
best results, A definite plan is of 
even more importance for the small 
garden if the best results are to be 
secured. Hap-hazard, hit-or-miss 
garden planting usually results in 
poor use of the soil and lessened pro- 
duction. A good plan saves much 
valuable time at planting because the 
gardener doesn’t have to stand around 
and figure out where things are to go. 
As soon as you know where your 
garden is to be, measure your tract 
and then plant your garden on paper. 
A good working plan should show: 
1. Rocation of the different crops. 
2. Distances between rows. 
3. If more than one crop is to oc- 
cupy the same area during the sea- 
son. 
4. Approximate dates for making 
different plantings of lettuce, peas, 
radishes or other vegetables of which 
more than one planting is made. 
Use heavy paper and ink so that 
your plan will stand a season’s use in 
the garden. 
It is well to use a definite and fairly 
large scale in showing distance be- 
tween rows. For a small garden 
one-fourth or one-half inch on the 
plan to every foot in the garden is a 
convenient scale. The more care- 
fully your plan is made the greater 
will be the returns from your garden. 
In making a war garden there are 
certain things to remember. 
1. Make every foot of land work 
all the time. As soon as one crop is 
harvested another should take its 
place if there is room for its proper 
growth. Practically all of the gar- 
den should grow two crops and part 
of it ought to produce three. Warm 
season crops such as beans and toma- 
toes, and late seeded crops like tur- 
nips may follow early cold season 
crops such as lettuce, spinach, radish- 
es arid onion sets. 
2. Vegetables which can he stored 
for winter use should l>e considered 
first. The vegetables will be more 
appreciated when the supply is low 
arid the price is high. 
3.. First plan for the long season 
crops — the short season crops will 
take care of themselves. Grow short 
season crops (lettuce, radishes, spin- 
ach) between the rows of long sea- 
son crops. -Globe radishes may be 
grown in the rows of carrots, pars- 
nips and beets. They can also be 
grown between the young plants of 
cabbage, tomatoes, or corn in hills. 
4. if your garden is small you 
cannot afford to grow crops requiring 
lots of space. Potatoes, corn and 
vine crops should usually be left out 
of the small garden. If these are 
grown the smaller, quick-growing 
crops should occupy the space until 
it is needed by the permanent crop. 
5. Foliage crops (lettuce, spinach) 
are likely to do better in partial shade 
than tin- fruit crops ( tomatoes, 
beans) . 
<>. Do not plant high-growing 
plants (com, tomatoes to bo staked) 
where they will shade the sun-loving 
plants. The difficulties arising from 
shading can be greatly lessened by 
having the rows run north and south. 
7. Unless you have had previous 
experience do not waste your time on 
cauliflower, peppers, egg plant or oth- 
er crops that are hard to grow or of 
doubtful value. These crops so often 
fail due to weather conditions or 
slight errors in culture that it is ad- 
visable to give their space to more 
certain crops. 
8. Remember that in a small gar- 
den there is plenty of snaee “up and 
down" but it is limited sidewise. 
Tomatoes should be trained to trel- 
lises or stakes. Tall growing peas 
trollised and planted between rows of 
smaller vegetables require no more 
space than dwarf varieties and usual- 
ly produce larger crops. If you think 
you must grow cucumbers try the 
trellis method. 
ft. “Variety is the spice of life.” 
Provide for as large a variety of vege- 
tables as practical. You might get 
^ired of a steady diet of one kind, 
