April, 1919 
SI 
APRIL PLANTINGS in the VEGETABLE GARDEN 
Preparing the Ground, Making Drills for the Seed, Sowing and Other Details 
—A List of Vegetables on Which to Base Your Selection 
WILLIAM C. McCOLLOM 
Swiss chard is excellent for canning. It 
is one of the vegetables which should be 
sown m drills during April 
W HY do we dig the soil? Without ques¬ 
tion it is one of the finest forms of 
exercise we have, but this is not the reason— 
witness the fact that those who need it the 
■most get the least of it! 
No, we dig for the same reason that the 
farmer plows: to bring to the surface the 
lower soils with their abundant chemicals 
which are quickly converted into plant food 
by the sun and air. Furthermore, the con¬ 
stant working breaks the soil lumps and in 
this way releases the natural plant food that 
they contain. Soils that are w’ell pulverized 
are loose and porous, admitting air and re¬ 
taining moisture. Poorly ventilated soils 
which are quickly stripped of their vegetation 
by summer droughts can be attributed to im¬ 
proper working. The subsoil strata are imper¬ 
vious to roots and moisture unless they are 
broken, and when this discolored loam is 
brought to the surface it is quickly changed into 
a dark, productive soil. In England, where the 
same soil has been tilled for centuries and has 
produced abundantly, the gardens are dug sev¬ 
eral feet deep, with the result that they are a 
mass of loose, friable earth that is retentive of 
moisture and encourages deep rooting. 
Dig Deeper Each Year 
When digging the ground it is advisable to 
make a practice of working down a little deeper 
each year until you have reached a depth where 
results are not guessed at but can be quite ac- 
It is less labor, and just as productive of 
good results, to plant the onion sets in drills 
instead of individual holes 
Radishes sown between the rows of peas will 
mature before the latter grow large enough to 
harm them 
curately estimated. Plants that have a good 
deep bed of loose, fertile earth are vigorous and 
seldom troubled with insects or disease; ordi¬ 
nary dry spells do not cause the plants to suffer, 
as the lower soil contains abundant moisture 
which reaches them by capillary attraction. 
Soils that have been worked for several 
seasons and which are well pulverized can be 
worked with a digging fork in preference to a 
spade. The fork penetrates more easily than 
a spade and there is less tendency for the soil to 
pack. In stiff, clayey soils where a spade must 
be used it is advisable to take a fork afterward 
to break all the surface lumps, because when 
Parsnips occupy the ground through ttie 
entire season, so you cannot plan to use 
their space for anything else 
these lumps are allowed to bake the live 
organisms in them are destroyed and the soil 
is rendered useless for vegetation. 
Laying Out the Garden 
After digging the ground should be raked 
level. Where possible to use it a wooden rake 
is preferred for this purpose, as it pulverizes 
more thoroughly than a steel rake. Then get 
out that garden plan suggested in the January 
issue, the seeds, garden line, measuring stick, 
hoe, etc., and start at the end of the garden 
opposite where you want the tall plants, since 
most of the early vegetables are dwarf or of 
quick maturity. The side nearest the street 
you should reserve for tall plantings later, so 
that you can work in die garden undisturbed. 
Mark labels plainly with the names, varieties 
and other information about the seeds you in¬ 
tend to sow now, and arrange them with some 
consideration of their maturity time and habits. 
Types that stay all season should be kept to 
one side, as parsnip, parsley, oyster-plant, 
herbs, etc. Those that require wide spacing 
because of their height can have a row of some 
quick maturing crop sown between them. 
Place the marked labels where the rows are 
to be located, setting them all before any at¬ 
tempt is made to sow the seed. Lay the pack¬ 
ages of seed alongside the marked labels, and 
you will then be ready for the drills. Start 
these right, putting the marking line in place 
{Continued-on page 66) 
