m ' 
Lay potsherds over the holes in the 
bottom of the seed flat to insure 
proper drainage 
A BOUT the most exciting thing that happens during the first 
part of February is the arrival of the new catalogues. If 
the seedsmen would only send out the same catalogue each year, 
making out the seed order would be a much simpler undertaking. 
One is tempted to try the luscious new musk- 
melons, pictured in full colors, in preference to 
the variety that is given only a few lines of cold, 
black type, even though the latter sort may have 
been tried and found satisfactory. The brand 
new sort, one suspects from former experiences, 
may have nothing new about it excepting the 
name on the packet; still, one can’t be sure, and, 
according to the printed page, it is so fine that 
one hates to take a chance on missing it. As a 
general rule, it is safer to depend on sorts with 
which you are familiar for your garden, and to 
buy these new things only in amounts large 
enough to give them a fair try-out. Most of the 
standard varieties and the newer sorts which all 
seedsmen list will be found satisfactory if you 
get good seed—seed that will not only show a 
strong percentage of germination, but that has 
been carefully grown from selected stock and 
that is true to type. Deal onlv with firms in 
which you have confidence. 
Though selecting the various varieties is in¬ 
teresting, the problem of deciding just how much 
to order is as important. This should be figured 
out accurately so that you will be sure to have 
neither too much nor too little. The amount of 
seed or the number of plants of the different 
vegetables required for each fifty feet of row is approximately 
as follows: 
Asparagus, 50; beet, 100-150; cabbage, 35; cauliflower, 35; 
carrot, )4 oz.; celery, j/2 oz.; endive, 3/2 oz.; lettuce (seed), 34 
oz.; lettuce (plant), 50; leek, y 2 oz.; onion, y 2 oz.; onion (seed¬ 
ling), 150; parsley, 34 oz.; parsnip, 34 oz.; peas (smooth), 1 pt.; 
peas (wrinkled), 1 pt.; potato, 34 pk.; radish, J4 oz.; salsify, 
Your Saturday Afternoon Garden 
A DIVISION OF GARDEN WORK ACCORDING TO YOUR AVAILABLE 
SPARE TIME—MAKING FLATS—HOW TO START SEEDS INDOORS 
D. R. Edson 
Y\ oz.; turnip, 34 oz.; French broccoli, 35 ; and Swiss chard, Y\. oz. 
For late or tender crops the following applies: Beans (early), 
1 pt.; beans (wax), 1 pt.; beans (lima), 1 pt.; beans (pole), 34 
pt.; beans (pole lima), 34 pt.; beets, 1 oz.; brussels sprouts, 35 ; 
cabbage (late), 25-35 i carrot, >4 oz.; cauliflower, 25 ; corn, y 2 pt.; 
cucumbers, Rj oz.; egg plant, 25 ; lettuce, 34 oz.; melons (musk), 
34 oz.; melons (water), 34 oz.; peas (late), 1 pt.; peppers, 
25; pumpkin, 34 oz.; radish, 34 oz.; squash, 34 oz.; tomato, 
15-20 ; turnip, 34 oz. 
If you know how many rows of each of the vegetables you 
expect to plant and how long your rows are it is an easy 
matter to figure out just how much seed you will need. The 
proportionate amount of seed contained in a package of the 
various things can be approximately estimated by the price 
per ounce. Of those seeds that are cheap, you will get a 
larger amount in the package than of the high-priced 
sort. 
At the same time that you make out your seed order the 
planting plan for the garden should be made. Take the 
sketch of the place, drawn to scale, that you made last month, 
and on a separate piece of paper draw an outline of the gar¬ 
den, making it as large as is convenient, so that a foot of space 
in it can be plainly shown. Usually it is more convenient in the 
garden in which many things are to be grown, to run the rows the 
short way of the garden. It facilitates the weeding later. 
In arranging the 
different crops in the 
plan, they should be 
placed with regard to 
convenience in plant¬ 
ing and cultivating, 
t and to putting in the 
succession or follow¬ 
up crops, which will 
occupy during the 
latter part of the sea¬ 
son the places in the 
garden which have 
been cleared of ear¬ 
lier crops. The very 
first classes of things 
to go into the garden 
are the hardy plants, 
such as cabbages, beets 
and lettuce and, a lit¬ 
tle later, cauliflower, 
and such cold-weather 
seeds as onions, par¬ 
snips, salsify, rad¬ 
ishes, spinach. 
Beginning at one 
end of the plan, put 
down the various vegetables as nearly in the order in which they 
will be planted as possible. The amount of space each item will 
require should, of course, be drawn in to scale. It is not im¬ 
portant, however, to show on the plan the length of the row, and, 
therefore, a vertical line may be drawn through the plan or 
through as much of it as will be available for the second planting 
and for the succession crops. 
WHAT TO DO 
FEBRUARY 
IN 
6th —Consult your garden 
plan, and according to the di¬ 
rections given there make out 
the seed order. 
13th — It’s about time to get 
your frames ready. Work this 
afternoon would complete the 
job. 
20th —If your Hats are made, 
start your seeds to-day. Mak¬ 
ing Hats takes but little time 
and the planting can be finished 
before supper. 
27th —Measure your garden 
plan by the table given here so 
that the planting can be carried 
out systematically. 
86 
