WISCONSIN HORTICULTURE SUPPLEMENT February, 1919 
None of these statements should be 
construed as an argument against the 
use of fertilizers. The market gar- 
dener knows that he can make money 
by using- extraordinary quantities of 
fertilizers; in fact he is not apt to 
make much money unless he does use 
a liberal amount. Your case is dif- 
ferent, you are not so much concerned 
about making a profit on your land 
and time as in growing a respectable 
crop of vegetables. You can do it 
without any fertilizer if you handle 
your soil right. 
Coal Aslies : 
Heavy soils may be much improved 
by a liberal use of coal ashes. Unless 
much wood has been burned in the 
furnace in addition to the coal there 
is no danger in using too much. It is 
better to sift the ashes to remove 
clinkers which prove a source of an- 
noyance when hoeing. Coal ashes con- 
tain little or no fertility. 
Plowing : 
Small plots, say 20 by 50 feet or 
even larger, may be spaded, but when 
the plot exceeds one-tenth of an acre 
and is so situated that a team can be 
used it will pay to have it plowed if 
it can be properly done. 
A farmer knows how to plow, but 
the average city man who happens 
to own a plow, doesn’t. He thinks he 
does, but he doesn’t. If possible, get 
a farmer or an ex-farmer to plow 
you won’t need to tell him how to do 
it; he knows more about it than you 
do. If you are so unfortunate as to get 
a city farmer to plow suggest to him 
that all of the soil ought to be turned 
over; that a plow that is made to cut 
only 10 or 12 inches cannot by any 
possibility turn 16 or 18 inches, the 
rest will merely be covered by the soil 
really plowed. This is the "cut and 
cover” trick, a money maker for the 
man who is plowing by the job but 
poor business for the gardener. 
Further suggest to him that it is a 
saving of horse-flesh to plow only 4 
to 6 inches deep rather than to root 
if 
Seed sowing usually proves a stum- 
bling block to the beginner in garden- 
ing. He gets along very nicely after 
the plants are up but his trouble lies 
in getting them started. 
There are apt to be many vacant 
rows in the beginner’s garden, while 
he waits impatiently for the plants to 
appear and blames the seedsman for 
selling poor seeds. In most cases the 
seed is all right; the trouble lies with 
the planter. More failures result 
from improper planting than from 
poor seeds. 
around in the clay subsoil and turn it 
on top. This will please him and 
help you. 
The Harrow: 
If the garden-to-be is sod, plowing 
is not enough. The time and strength 
required to work down tough, sod- 
plowed land with hand-tools is really 
more than the crops that can be 
grown on it will be worth. A disk 
harrow will thoroughly pulverize and 
level the ground after plowing and is 
the best tool to use. In lieu of this a 
heavy spike-tooth harrow may be 
used but once is not enough. Five or 
six times will be much better. 
Spading; 
There is a knack to spading that 
can be acquired only by practice. It 
is quite as easy to cut and cover 
as in plowing. The spading fork with 
four flat tines is better than a spade 
for digging; it is lighter, penetrates 
hard soil easier than a spade and is 
easier to keep clean and bright. A 
gardener who has had long exper- 
ience in spading describes the pro- 
cess as follows: 
“Strong shoes with good solid soles 
should be worn when spading or the 
feet will become sore.” 
“Start at one corner of the garden 
with the back toward the ground to 
be spaded. Shove the spade well into 
the ground using the ball or the foot 
to push the spade in. In solid ground, 
especially in starting, several shoves 
may be necessary to send the spade 
well in. Lift out the spadeful of soil 
and throw it from you across the hole, 
turning it over as it is thrown out. 
If lumpy, as it is apt to be, hit it with 
the back of the spade. Move side- 
ways the width of the spade and Te- 
peat the operation until the other side 
of the garden is reached. Then step 
back and work over to the starting 
side again, but throwing the dirt this 
time forward into the ditch made the 
first time across. Take as large a 
spadeful as may be sliced off quickly 
and easily.” 
SOWING THE SEED 
Frederic Cranefield 
Part I. The Art of Seed Sowing 
Making a Seed Bed: 
For best results the soil must be 
mellow, moist, and free from lumps. 
If the surface has dried since plow- 
ing or spading and is lumpy it will 
pay to turn over two or three inches 
of the surface soil with a spading fork 
so as to have a moist and mellow bed 
for the seeds. Then rake and rake 
again until the surface soil, for a 
depth of at least two inches, is fine 
and mellow. In this connection let us 
quote from Circular No. 4. 
Halving: 
If spading is a knack, raking a 
freshly dug garden is a fine art. By 
a proper use of the rake lumps are 
broken and the surface leveled. Of 
this the expert quoted above says: 
“Level the ground and make the 
soil fine with a hand rake. The use 
of a rake offers opportunity to de- 
velop considerable skill in moving 
dirt quickly from high spots and fill- 
ing in low places in the operation of 
raking. 
"If the garden is small and maxi- 
mum results from the space are de- 
sired, further working of the soil will 
pay. If the soil is of a heavy clayey 
nature and the spading and raking 
fail to break up the lumps we usually 
’tramp’ the ground to further break 
the lumps. That is, we step back and 
forth over the garden with footsteps 
close together so as to pack the soil 
and crush lumps. A roller would do 
the work more quickly and easily. It 
is then raked over again, and, if 
necessary, we spade and rake it a 
second time. 
"Even in the gardens that have 
been plowed with a horse it will often 
pay to spade up corners not well 
plowed or that have been heavily 
packed where the horses have turned. 
“All of the garden will not be 
planted immediately following the 
first working of the soil and if the sur- 
face is packed with beating rains it 
must be worked over again before 
planting. 
‘‘It is very important tl*at the soil 
be in the best possible condition be- 
fore seeds and plants are put in. 
“No amount of after cultivation 
will make up for careless work in the 
first preparation of the garden." 
This cannot be emphasized too 
much especially in the case of the 
smaller seeds. The infant of the plant 
world is not unlike the infant of the 
animal world; it must be afforded the 
best possible opportunity for develop- 
ment. 
“It is very important that the soil 
be in the best possible condition be- 
fore seeds and plants are put in. No 
amount of after cultivation will make 
up for careless work in the first prep- 
aration of the garden.” 
Have Straight Rows: 
Rows should be straight, not alone 
for the sake of appearance but for 
convenience in cultivating. In small 
gardens the garden line Is most prac- 
tical. Hemp rope of clothesline size 
is excellent. Use strong stakes that 
can be driven with the back of the 
