VARIETAL DESCRIPTIONS OF VEGETABLES 
KEYSTONE SEEDS 
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GARDENING SUGGESTIONS 
Whether you live on a farm, in the suburbs, or the city, a vegetable garden is an 
important asset. The desirability of including an abundance of vegetables in the diet is 
quite generally admitted. Food from the garden is fresh, palatable, full of vitamines, 
calories, minerals, and bulk. All are needed to keep the body active, in health, and 
working at maximum efficiency. 
Moreover, the garden offers one of the most valuable means of effecting savings in 
the family budget. A well-kept garden will yield very profitable returns for the time and 
labor expended. Experiments conducted by the Missouri Agricultural Experiment Sta¬ 
tion from 1919-1921 inclusive with a garden containing one-fourth of an acre resulted 
in an annual net return of $134.14. This garden paid $1.79 an hour for the labor required. 
Aside from the practical aspects of gardening, anyone who has ever “grown his own” 
food can attest to the pleasure experienced in picking a luscious red tomato or a cool 
crisp cucumber from his own garden. 
THE SMALL VEGETABLE GARDEN 
The primary needs for successful vegetable gardening on a small scale are the same 
as those for larger plantings. On limited plots, however, greater emphasis must be 
placed on intensive culture and carefully arranged rotation so that every available foot 
of space may be made to produce the maximum yield. 
Location and exposure cannot always receive much consideration in gardening 
small plots, since there is ordinarily little room for choice. When a possibility for the 
exercise of choice does exist, however, several considerations should be kept in mind. 
It should be recognized that frost is less likely to injure vegetables planted on high 
ground than in low places or valleys; that crops will mature more rapidly on land that 
has a sunny southern exposure; that the garden should be fairly level, but well drained; 
and that a warm, sandy loam will produce an earlier crop than a heavier soil that retains 
more water and less heat. 
An ideal garden soil has a rich sandy loam surface, with silt or clay subsoil. The 
surface soil should be six to ten inches deep and free from sticks and stones, sod, and 
rubbish. The soil must contain a large amount of decayed vegetable matter and a good 
supply of plant food. Soils lacking in plant food cannot produce crops of any kind; 
therefore it is necessary to make them productive by the addition of rotted stable ma¬ 
nure, hen or sheep manure, or fertilizers manufactured from waste from slaughter 
houses and packing plants. These are usually distributed before the crop is planted or 
near the rows of plants and worked into the soil. They should not be allowed to come 
into contact with the foliage. 
Early and frequent cultivation is necessary. Very little labor is needed, however, to 
keep a garden in good condition and free frcm weeds, if the work is done at the right 
time. The best time to kill a weed is before it appears above the surface of the ground. 
Stirring the soil with a rake or similar tool destroys thousands of unseen weeds. 
Poor seed is dear at any price. Buy your seeds early and insist on KEYSTONE Seeds. 
Unless good seed is used, the crop will not be a success even if the weather is favorable 
and proper care is given. 
THE FARM GARDEN 
The actual value of a farm vegetable garden in a great many instances is overlooked 
by the gardener. Many gardeners plant small vegetable patches but hesitate to plant 
large gardens for fear that too much labor will be involved in caring for them. The way 
to reduce labor in a farm garden is to increase its size and introduce field methods of 
tillage. Land is cheaper than labor. Half or two-thirds of an acre of land devoted to 
vegetables planted on this long-row system and cultivated with horse-drawn tools, will 
yield more net return than any other area of similar size on the farm. 
The farm garden should be an all-year-round garden. It should furnish a large 
assortment and continuous supply of vegetables throughout the summer, and may also 
be made the means of furnishing a winter supply if, in addition to canning and drying 
certain products, a proper provision is made for the storage of other vegetables in the 
fresh state. 
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