1 
VOL. LXXXIII. 
Published Weekly by The Rural Publishing Co., 
333 W. 30th St. New York. Price One Dollar a Year. 
NEW YORK, AUGUST 30, 1924 
Entered as Second-Class Matter, 
Office at New York, N. under the c. 
the Post 
a 3, 1879. 
NO. 
Three Things Necessary to Gardening, Success 
| It may be said that the proper time for an article 
like the following would be in Spring. At this time we 
are face to face with ‘the evidence of “what might have 
been” if we 'had handled our garden just right—so per¬ 
haps this will serve as a double remiuder.] 
OIL, SEED AND WORK.—The three most 
essential things in making a success .of the 
growing of vegetables, either for market 
or home nse. are fertilization, good seeds, 
and stick-to-itiveness. One can take most 
any kind of soil, and it may he as 
poor as the proverbial “church mouse,” but with the 
proper fertilization it can be made productive. Then 
if your seed is poor your labor and hope will be a 
failure. Still, if you have the two former and lack 
the third, it was better you never made a start, for 
there are very few business undertakings that have 
as many discouragements attached to them as the 
growing of vegetables and fruits. For anyone with 
little capital, undertaking this business on poor soil, 
a good grade of fertilizer is the best to use, as it 
can be applied close to the plant where it will lie 
immediately available, and with less labor than 
using manure. The second year a green crop should 
lie plowed under where it was possible to sow such 
a crop the previous Fall. I followed this custom on 
a 30-acre farm I rented for 19 years. A numiber of 
the acres did not have a pound of manure on them 
in all those years, and were in a higher state of cul¬ 
tivation when I left the place than when I first went 
there. The continued cultivation of the soil will 
also add materially to the feeding of the crop grown. 
By so doing the earth retains the moisture it draws 
up from beneath, as well as the rains and dews from 
above. If the soil is not stirred frequently it be¬ 
comes hard and dries out very rapidly, so that the 
plant food in the soil is not available. 
APPLYING FERTILIZER.—The best results are 
obtained from the fertilizer when it is applied broad¬ 
cast and harrowed or raked in, for crops that feed 
on the entire plot, such as spinach, lettuce, radishes 
and beets, but for crops in rows, such as peas and 
potatoes, it is better to sow the fertilizer in the fur¬ 
row before planting the seed, then drag a chain 
through the furrow, Which thoroughly mixes the 
earth with the fertilizer, or sow the seed in furrow, 
then pull a little earth on the seed, then scatter a 
handful of fertilizer every three feet on top, then 
pull more soil on that, so that the fertilizer is not 
exposed to the air, or it will lose considerable of the 
ammonia. In applying it to set plants, such as cab¬ 
bage, tomatoes, peppers, etc., care must be taken 
that the roots do not come in direct contact with 
the phosphate, or it will retard the plant from tak¬ 
ing root. The best way is to apply it after the plant 
is set by putting a half handful in a circle around 
the plant after it is rooted, and hoe or cultivate in 
the soil. In applying phosphate to strawberry beds 
in the Spring, it should be applied as early as jk>s- 
sdble—as soon as the mulch is removed. Sow it 
broadcast on a still day, When the plants are abso¬ 
lutely dry; then take an old brush broom and run 
over the bed, so that the phosphate will not burn the 
hearts or leaves. 
TESTING SEEDS BEFORE PLANTING.—A fac¬ 
tory would not put out a machine until it had been 
tested and would do the work it was represented to 
do. Most of the reputable seed houses do this, but I 
only know of one that prints on each package of seed 
the percentage that will germinate. The surest way 
is to purchase your seeds early; then before plant- 
mmm 
Now we show a Massachusetts cow- 
^^ et r S eSkSe ha in USCVS,' fe^aTvShe" rA*™ The ta. ohlf «. dropped i„ 1000. 
ouite as remarkable m anotnet way. ^ ^ me 0 | them have made great records as milk producers or herd sires. Such a cow deserves a monument. 
quite as remarkable 
eight bulls and eight heifers. 
from the Agricultural College—- 
There were 
