April, 19^7 
WHAT A FIFTY-FOOT GARDEN WILL GROW 
Ample Returns in Fruit and Vegetables Achieved 
by System and Careful Distribution of Space 
MARY RANKIN THOMAS 
A FIFTY-FOOT garden can be made 
to supply the table of the average 
family of five persons with fresh vegetables 
almost the year round. If supplemented 
with a three-sash hotbed it will furnish 
green things several weeks in advance of 
the season. If surplus vegetables are 
canned at home, the garden’s products may 
be enjoyed during the entire year. 
There are two ways of planting a garden 
to give the best results, depending upon 
what the owner wants it to do for him. 
He may make a perma¬ 
nent garden which will 
include some of the ber¬ 
ries, bush fruits, smaller 
fruit trees and perennial 
vegetables, besides the 
ordinary “truckor he 
may plant only the cus¬ 
tomary annual vege¬ 
tables. Either method is 
worth while, though, of 
course, where the home 
is owned, a permanent 
garden is better, not only 
for its greater variety 
but also because it is 
less expensive in the 
long run. But where a 
place is temporarily 
rented, it would be bet¬ 
ter to utilize the entire 
space for the short time 
vegetables. If there 
should happen to be too 
many for family con¬ 
sumption, during the 
summer, none need be 
wasted, for canning may 
be done at home so 
easily and cheaply, and 
the home canned vege¬ 
tables are so good, that 
a supply of them would 
go far towards reduc¬ 
ing the winter living 
expenses of the family. 
The suggestions in 
this article are for a 
permanent garden, but 
the only changes to be 
made for temporary 
planting would be the substitution of Irish 
and sweet potatoes for the fruit, rhubarb 
and asparagus, with the space given to 
more of the vegetables usually planted, the 
varieties and quantities being governed by 
family tastes. Potatoes are omitted from 
the permanent garden because they require 
horse cultivation, which is deeper than can 
be given with the wheel hoe. 
Expense and Care 
The expense of the garden may be small 
or great, the cost depending upon whether 
the work is done by a hired man or by 
members of the family. One plan is for 
the man of the house and his wife to 
assume responsibility for the garden, with 
the help of the children. If he happens to 
be the lover of nature which makes of him 
a born gardener, he will not pass on to a 
paid worker the pleasure that is to be found 
in digging the ground, in planting, in watch¬ 
ing the little green things come up, grow, 
blossom, and mature. He will keep this 
happiness for himself and his family, espe¬ 
cially for the children. It is well to have 
a man spread a two-horse load of manure 
over the ground and then plow it in deeply, 
but all other work may .be done by the 
householders in the early mornings and late 
afternoons; for a little, regularly done 
every day, gives much better results than 
a day’s work once or twice a week. 
Vegetables should be planted in long rows 
running north and south, if possible, since 
they will then receive the maximum amount 
of sunshine and be easily cultivated with 
the indispensable wheel hoe. The old-fash¬ 
ioned beds are things of the past. 
We will assume the garden to be a square 
SCy X 50', with a 2' walk down the middle. 
The permanent features, which will be 
taken up first, are the hotbed, rhubarb and 
asparagus beds, and fruit. Place the hot¬ 
bed and plant the rhubarb across one side 
of the garden nearest the house, according 
to directions farther on in this article, and 
set out along the side fence, from the house 
to the back fence, and 2' from it, a row of 
twelve raspberries. 3' apart, either the old 
reliable Cuthbert or the new, ever-bearing 
St. Regis. Cuthberts are larger, but the 
St. Regis bears the first season after plant¬ 
ing and continues to fruit until frost. 
The Eruit Trees 
Three feet from the back fence, on one 
side, place three Bartlett pear trees, or two 
Bartletts and one Duchess, 10' apart. Six 
grapevines are trained over the back fence, 
three Concord (black) on one side, three 
Niagara (white) on the other, 8' apart. On 
the opposite half of the 
garden, 3' from the back 
fence and on a line with 
the pear trees across the 
walk, place three peach 
trees, 10' apart, one 
Mountain Rose (early), 
one Elberta (mid-sea¬ 
son), and one Late 
Crawford. Along the 
lower end of the fence 
on that side of the gar¬ 
den, place three plum 
trees, 10' apart, one 
Green Gage, one Abun¬ 
dance, one Burbank. Be¬ 
tween the plums and the 
upper boundary line of 
the garden, set out five 
Victoria currant bushes, 
3' apart. Eor a year or 
so, while the fruit trees 
are small, a row of early 
vegetables may be plant¬ 
ed in between, such as 
lettuce, radishes, peas, or 
beans. The fruit may be 
planted in either the fall 
or spring, in October, 
March or April. 
In the spring the first 
thing to do is to make 
the hotbed, which we 
will locate, in a space 
6' X O', next to the cen¬ 
tral walk and on a line 
nearest the dwelling 
house. This hotbed of 
three sash will give all 
the seedlings 'for trans¬ 
planting, besides early 
and late lettuce and radishes for the table. 
The space should be dug out 18" deep and 
a little larger than the frame of boards 
which is built around it, 2' high at the 
upper side, 1' lower at the opposite side. 
Good stable manure is now put in to a 
depth of 18", then a 6" layer of good soil 
mixed with sand, half and half. The sash 
is put on and the bed allowed to heat. The 
temperature will rise rapidly for a few 
days, then subside. When it reaches 90° 
the hotbed may be planted. The best way 
to do this is to take a piece of board, 2' or 
3' long, and make shallow rows by pressing 
an edge of the board into the soft earth, 
spacing the rows 6" apart. Now sow the 
tiny seeds and with the hand or trowel 
cover them lightly; then firm the soil with 
{Continued on page 66) 
Intensive gardening as mapped out on the plan above will bring remarkable 
returns if proper attention is given to cultivation. The first year's yield of 
vegetables should be worth $30 to $40. The outlay for the first year should be $25 
