BUY YOUR SEEDS FROM EXPERIENCED AND RELIABLE SEEDSMEN FOR BEST RESULTS 
SUGGESTIONS FOR GROWING 
BETTER VEGETABLES 
TRUCK CROPS 
In the following paragraphs, we discuss a number 
of the more important commercial truck crops that 
are grown in Florida. This does not include all 
vegetable crops that are grown here because practi¬ 
cally all that can be grown elsewhere are grown in 
Florida to a greater or lesser extent and the acreage 
of some of these is increasing. 
For the information here presented we have freely 
drawn upon not only our personal knowledge of prac¬ 
tices and conditions, but also upon that of practical 
growers, and the State and Government Research 
men. Free use has been made of published state¬ 
ments from Florida Agricultural Experiment Station 
and United States Department of Agriculture and 
other publications. To all of these workers and 
sources, we make due acknowledgment. 
MARKET GARDENS 
The market gardener operates near a large city or 
in more thickly settled communities where he can 
find ready sale for his produce. He plans his plant¬ 
ing so as to have a wide variety and a continuous 
supply of vegetables throughout the season, and may 
grow two or more crops of the same vegetable during 
the year. 
HOME GARDENS 
The Home Garden is planned in the same manner 
as the Market Garden, only on a smaller scale. It 
is possible to grow vegetables in the home garden 
during every month of the year in Florida. A well 
planned vegetable garden can give a wide variety of 
healthful foods for the table. While some question 
the economy of it, others find it the means of reducing 
the household expense as well as giving a greater 
variety and quantity, as well as better quality vege¬ 
tables than would likely be available if it were neces¬ 
sary to purchase them. 
SELECTION OF LAND 
The vegetable grower must either select the land 
for his crop or select the crop for the land. Any lack 
of suitability increases the odds against success. 
With too many odds, the operation becomes simply a 
gamble which the grower with any investment should 
not take. 
Not all lands in Florida are suited for the plant¬ 
ing of vegetables; on the other hand, some crops may 
be grown on a wide variety of soils. Each crop has 
its particular requirements that should be given con¬ 
sideration. The grower should be guided more large¬ 
ly by the past production record of the particular crop 
on lands of the same type and of similar location in 
the community where the planting is proposed. 
SEED BEDS 
It often happens that the success of the crop is de¬ 
termined in the seed bed. The character of seedlings 
grown there has a direct relationship to the way the 
plants will develop in the field. Mysterious troubles 
sometimes develop in the plants in the field that are 
not at all due to conditions there, but are the outward 
manifestations of troubles carried from the seed bed. 
Therefore, the first step in growing crops of celery, 
tomatoes, peppers, egg plant, lettuce, cabbage and 
other crops started in seed beds is to produce sturdy, 
healthy plants for transplanting. It has become 
pretty thoroughly established that the cost of spray¬ 
ing, dusting and other care is materially reduced if 
only good plants that are properly grown are used 
for planting. The grower who uses weak plants 
from improperly located and poorly maintained seed 
beds surely courts trouble. It is more economical to 
put extra expense into the seed bed than to put it into 
the making of the crop. 
The method of feeding the seedlings influences the 
character of plants produced. The seedlings need 
complete feeding just as much as do plants in the 
field. Sufficient potash makes plants that are more 
sturdy and hardy. Ammonia, unbalanced with the 
other food elements, makes plants of weak, sappy 
constitution that are susceptible to diseases and other 
unfavorable conditions. 
The plants in the seed bed need lime as a plant food 
as well as to correct soil reaction. They require all 
of the other food elements used by plants in the field, 
but probably in different proportions. 
TRANSPLANTING 
The transplanting of seedlings from the seed bed 
to the field always results in some check to growth. 
Other conditions being good, the check is proportional 
to the size of plant at transplanting. There is less 
check to growth in the younger plants and they more 
quickly resume growth. There is more check to 
growth in the older plants and they do not respond 
so well after transplanting. Improperly grown seed¬ 
lings in the seed bed and poor transplanting have 
caused many crop failures that have been attributed 
to other causes. Leaving lettuce too long in the seed 
bed causes it to “go to seed.” Stunted tomato plants 
seldom yield satisfactory crops, although they may 
later make a luxuriant vine growth. 
Every care should be taken by the grower to pro¬ 
duce healthy, sturdy plants in his seed bed by pro¬ 
viding the best conditions possible for their growth. 
In transplanting, he will cull the plants closely, dis¬ 
carding those that show any inferiority. In planting, 
he will make the holes sufficiently large to spread the 
roots properly. He will wash the soil in well around 
the roots, see that they are covered with plenty of 
soil and that it is packed down well. With this done 
PAGE 60 
HOWARD SEED COMPANY, 126 BROAD STREET, JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA 
