April, 1912 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
35 
This final raking off should leave the surface of the seed bed as 
fine and level as possible. The importance of doing this thor¬ 
oughly is very great, for without such a finely prepared seed bed 
many seeds will come up poorly and unevenly, if at all. The 
thing to look out for in planting is to get the plants in firmly 
enough. 
The Vegetable Garden Guide, on pages 32 and 33, is arranged 
for the busy man or woman. As soon as your ground is ready — 
and ready it should be made just as soon as the ground is dry 
enough to work in the spring — go ahead with your planting. 
The dates suggested are for average regions in the latitude of 
New York. If you live farther north, or if the spring is usually 
late, you will have to delay the beginning of operations corre¬ 
spondingly. If, on the other hand, you can get a start before 
April first, so much the better. 
While the vegetables are to be planted or sown in the groups 
suggested in the table, so that if desired the work can be carried 
on in a few hours’ work one day every week or two, the simplest 
way of considering their culture is to take together the sorts 
that need similar 
treatment. 
These groups are 
three: the root crops, 
such as beets and car¬ 
rots ; the leaf crops, 
such as cabbage and 
lettuce; the fruit 
crops, such as melons 
and tomatoes. 
THE ROOT 
CROPS: Beet, leek, 
potatoes, carrot, 
onion, salsify, kohl¬ 
rabi, parsnip, rad¬ 
ish, turnip. All these, 
with the exception of 
potatoes, should be 
sown very early in 
shallow drills. As 
the radishes mature 
very quickly, the best 
way to handle these 
is to sow a row or 
two every week in 
the seed bed, or some 
handy corner near 
the house. The quality is best only for a 
are large enough to eat. 
The soil for all root crops should be rich and finely worked, in 
order that the edible portions may develop quickly and be smooth 
and even — in poor or half prepared soil they are likely to be 
stringy or misshapen. 
Extra early potatoes may be had by starting the cut pieces in 
flats of medium coarse sand, during March. When setting out, 
if the sprouts are short they can be covered over without harm. 
Simply sprouting the seed in full sunlight, before cutting, will 
give them an early start. 
All root crops should be thinned out to the proper distances 
as soon as well started, the work done preferably on a cloudy day 
or late afternoon. 
THE LEAF CROPS: With the leaf crops are considered those 
of which the stalk or the flower heads form the edible portion, such 
as celery and cauliflower. This group includes asparagus, cauli¬ 
flower, kale, rhubarb, Brussels sprouts, brocolli, celery, lettuce, 
spinach, cabbage, endive, parsley. 
All of these plants like a deep strong soil, and their quality 
depends very largely upon growing them rapidly, with no check 
One should be on the lookout for garden pests just as soon as the plants come up; it saves 
disappointment later 
short time after thev 
at any stage of development. They are all great nitrogen con¬ 
sumers, and therefore should be manured liberally. If the ground 
in which they are planted is not already very rich, apply manure 
in the hill — a forkful of barnyard manure, or a handful of cotton¬ 
seed meal and bone meal mixed. Chicken manure is also good, 
but must be thoroughly mixed with the soil or it will burn the 
plants. 
For early use, most of these crops are started under glass and 
later transplanted into final position. As soon as established after 
planting, a light dressing of nitrate of soda will help them 
greatly. It should be sprinkled on very thinly, care being taken 
that none of it lodges upon the leaves, and worked into the soil. 
Cabbage, cauliflower, etc., are often hilled up in cultivating, 
but on most soils this is work wasted. They should not be grown 
where similar crops, or turnips, have been grown just before, and 
all are benefited by an application of lime to the soil — as long 
before planting as possible. 
Celery can be grown perfectly well in any home garden where 
it is possible to give water during very dry weather. When set¬ 
ting out the plants be 
sure not to set them 
so deeply that dirt 
^ gets into the heart of 
the stalks. Give fre¬ 
quent level cultiva¬ 
tion until the middle 
of August, and then 
the earth must be 
drawn up about the 
stalks to blanch them ; 
or boards or tiles may 
be used for the same 
purpose. Never 
work in the celery 
while it is wet. 
THE FRUIT 
CROPS: These are 
the vegetables of 
which the seeds, or 
the seed - containing 
fruits, form the edible 
portion, as beans, 
dwarf, pole and lima ; 
corn, cucumber, egg¬ 
plant, melons, okra, 
peas, peppers, pump¬ 
kins, squash, tomatoes, and other equally well-known species. 
All of these plants, with the exception of peas, dififer from most 
of those in the other groups in their affinity for warm weather, 
and while earliness cannot be overurged in regard to the former, 
nothing at all can be gained by attempting to sow or set out 
these plants until all danger of frost is over and the ground 
thoroughly warmed up. 
Another thing in which they dififer is that the soil should not 
be made too rich, especially with manure or fertilizers high in 
nitrogen, such as fresh barnyard manure. Under such conditions 
there is sometimes a tendency to make too much vine and foliage 
to the detriment of the fruits. 
If there is any variation in the garden soil, use the heaviest 
of it for the leaf crops, the lightest and sandiest for the fruit 
crops — with the exception of late peas. The fruit plants I'equire 
more room than the others for development, and are planted for 
the most part in hills rather than in drills or continuous rows. 
For best results these hills should be especially prepared by dig¬ 
ging out the soil to a depth of eight to ten inches and a foot 
and a half square, and working into the bottom soil a good 
forkful or two of well-rotted, old manure. Half a quart of cot- 
