38 
April, 1918 
Slower (Brower 
My War Garden. 
By Clarence Wedge before Minnesota State Horticultural Society. 
I N ORDER to encourage the planting 
of small war gardens last spring I 
furnished our county papers with a 
planting plat that might be used for a 
garden of 2 square rods, one-eigthieth 
of an acre. Its publication aroused so 
much interest, provoked so many ques- 
tions and was adopted by so many 
people, that not being a professional 
gardener I became somewhat worried 
lest I had made mistakes and led my 
followers astray. And so in order to 
vindicate myself I felt compelled to 
plant one at home on the same pattern. 
The plat is given herewith and is so 
plain that it speaks for itself. It was 
not intended as a pattern for large 
farm gardens where land is plenty and 
horse cultivation is possible, but rather 
to encourage town people who have a 
little idle ground at their back door to 
plant a garden. My object was to 
show them how large a supply of vege- 
tables for the family could be grown 
on a little patch hardly bigger than a 
large room. 
C — Corn, 136 ears ; 1 pkt. Golden Bantam. 
1— Lettuce, 40 heads ; 1 pkt. Black Seeded 
Simpson. 
p— Parsnip, \ bush.; 1 pkt. Improved Hollow 
Crown. 
r— Radish, 72 roots ; 1 pkt. Early Scarlet 
Globe. 
c — Carrot, b bushel ; 1 pkt. Danvers Half 
Long. 
k — Kohl Rabi, 24 heads; 1 pkt. White Vienna, 
b — Beans, 33 plants ; 1 pkt. Stringless Green 
Pod. 
i — Onions, § peck ; 1 pint Yellow Bottom 
Sets. 
. . Peas, J bushel ; \ pint Alaska or 
Grad us. 
T— Tomatoes, 2 bushels; 1 pkt. Chalks 
Jewell. 
o— E. Cabbage, 24 heads; 1 pkt. Copenhagen 
Market. 
v— Beets, | bushel ; 1 pkt. Detroit Dark Red. 
s — E. Potatoes, 2 bushels ; J peck Bliss 
Triumph. 
M— Cucumbers, 1 bushel ; 1 pkt. Imp. Long 
Green. 
R — Late Cabbage, 4 heads; 1 pkt. Danish 
Ballhead. 
A space of ground 1 rod wide and 2 rods 
long is required to plant this garden. 
Each above paragraph shows an estimated 
yield, followed by amount of seed required. 
The letter at the left of each paragraph is 
the key to the planting of the different vege- 
tables. 
To be sown in April or as soon as possible. 
May be sown as late as May 15, if not able to 
do so before. 
Lettuce, \ inch deep. 
Parsnip, J inch deep. 
Radish, \ inch deep (may be sown any 
time). 
Carrot, £ inch deep. 
Kohl Rabi, £ inch deep. 
Onion sets, deep enough to cover bulbs. 
Peas, 2 inches deep. 
Early Cabbage, 3 inch deep. 
Beets, 3 inch deep. 
Early Potatoes, 3 inch deep. (Cut to one or 
two eyes). 
To be sown May 15, or soon after. 
Sweet Corn, 1 inch deep. 
Beans, 1 inch deep. 
Cucumbers, 1 inch deep. 
Late Cabbage, \ inch deep. 
Tomatoes, J inch deep (or buy plants). 
c 11111 c 11111 c 11111 c 11111 c 11111 c 11111 c 11111 c 11111 c 
pppppppppppppppppppp 
CrrrrrCrrrrCrrrrrCrrrrCrrrrrCrrrrCrrrrrrCrrrrCrrrrr 
ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc 
C kkk C kkk C kkk C kkk C kkk C kkk C kkk C kkk C 
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb bbbb 
Ciiiiiii Ciiiiii Ciiiiii Ciiiiii Ciiiiii Ciiiiii Ciiiiiii CiiiiiiiCiiiiii 
T 00 T 00 T 00 T 00 T 
T 00 T 00 T 00 T 00 T 
T 00 T 00 T 00 T 00 T 
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv 
ssssssssss sssss 
M R MRMRMRM 
ssss sss ssssssss 
sssssss ssssssss 
Besides this I wished to discover if 
there might be a real profit in such 
gardening. There’s a common idea 
that the work may be wholesome and 
pleasant for those that like it, but that 
as a business venture it doesn’t pay. 
So I kept a careful record of every 
minute put into the work and the cost 
of all seeds, tools and stakes, some of 
which will be just as useful another 
year. Harvesting has not been figured 
in. Any family would be glad to gather 
fresh vegetables at their back door as 
they needed them in preference to tak- 
ing them from the huckster’s wagon at 
the same price. The only tools used were 
a common hoe and an iron rake. lama 
great believer in the rake as a garden 
tool and did practically all my cultivat- 
ing with it. The following is the 
record. It will not only show the 
amount of time put into the garden, 
but when and how it was put in. It 
may also be something of a guide to 
the beginner as to what to do and when 
to do it: 
Date Minutes 
April 10. Spading garden 60 
April 11. Stake out, sow early seeds _ - 120 
April 21. Plant potatoes 45 
April 30. Plant early cabbage and kohl 
rabi 30 
May 4. Rake all 20 
May 12. Rake all 25 
May 16. Rake all __ 20 
May 16. Bush peas, plant corn and 
beans _ _ _ 70 
Date . _ _ _ Minutes 
May 19. Set tomato plants (first lot) _ 10 
May 24. Rake all, sow cukes 30 
May 26. Thin carrots and parsnips. __ 20 
May 30. Set 12 extra tomatoes 25 
June 2. Thin beets 15 
June 5. Rake all 25 
June 9. Rake all 20 
June 15. Rake all 30 
June 19. Plant 1 row of potatoes after 
peas 15 
June 21. Stake and tie tomatoes 60 
July 9. Rake, pull peas, make trellis 
for cukes 100 
July 10. Tie cukes 10 
July 14. Tie tomatoes 50 
July 19. Tie cukes 10 
July 19. Tie tomatoes 25 
July 28. Tie tomatoes 15 
Aug. 6. Tie cukes 20 
Aug. 15. Tie tomatoes 60 
Aug. 15. Rake 10 
Total labor (15§ hrs.) 940 
Cost of Garden. 
Labor 15§ hrs. at 30c ... $4.70 
Two loads manure at $1.00 2.00 
Seeds 1.00 
Hoe and rake 1.60 
27 (2x2—6 ft.) tomato stakes 2.00 
Total cost. $11.30 
I certainly had my share of troubles. 
Some "varmint,” perhaps a woodchuck, 
took nearly all the beans as fast as 
they formed. The only beans I man- 
aged to get were set after the bushes 
had grown beyond the reach of the 
enemy. My late cabbages simply re- 
fused to make heads, and the cucum- 
bers were attacked by some of Prof. 
Washburn’s creatures that riddled the 
roots and stems at the surface of the 
ground. So that three of my crops 
were failures. I tried to offset these 
reverses by planting potatoes as a 
second crop after the double row of 
peas, between the row of tomatoes and 
corn, but the short, severe drouth of 
August spoiled the plan, and as much 
as I would have liked to have used a 
little irrigation at that time I refused to 
do so, wishing to have the experiment 
go on in a way within the reach of 
everybody. After the garden was 
planted I decided to nearly double the 
number of tomato plants by putting out 
one between each plant indicated, and 
to tie them to stakes. It will be seen 
that the cost of stakes and the time 
spent in tying them makes up a pretty 
large share of the cost of the garden. 
But the quantity and quality of the fruit 
I think fully justified the cost, especially 
in such a cold season, when the plants 
needed all possible exposure to the sun. 
In spite of all my reverses the follow- 
ing carefully measured products were 
harvested from the two square rods : 
Product. Value. 
115 Radishes $0.70 
1 bu. (8 lbs.) lettuce 1.00 
21 heads Kohl Rabi .70 
1 bu. Peas 2.56 
22 heads E. Cabbage 1.65 
6 qts. String Beans .48 
139 ears Sweet Corn 1.73 
118 lbs. Potatoes 1-96 
2 lbs. Cukes -30 
4| bu. Ripe Tomates-- 9.00 
J bu. Green Tomatoes .25 
441 lbs. Beets 1.33 
263 lbs. Parsnips 1.30 
