HOUSE AND GARDEN 
November, 1914 
298 
heavy soil was not ideally adapted to them), one and one-half tools 
dozen tomato plants, three dozen cabbage plants, a dozen egg- * jading fork . 
plants and half a dozen peppers. The weather at this time was 1 hoe 
exceptionally dry, and it was necessary to use the garden hose in 1 spray for hose.. 
order to keep the plants growing. At the second week after 
planting it was an easy matter to tell 
the thrifty from the weaker plants, 
and, as it had been my aim to work 
the spot intensively, the replanting was 
begun. Every available space was 
utilized, and sweet corn, string beans 
and miscellaneous small truck was 
seeded in and between the rows 
originally set. Rains finally came, and 
soon the rear of the house grew more 
inviting than the front. 
When the crop had acquired a good 
start I began to find it difficult to keep 
as busy as was the case earlier in the 
season. Accidentally my eye hit upon 
the extreme slope, which was too thin 
of soil and too steep to cultivate. At 
once I seeded it to grass, with the idea 
of fencing the remaining two sides of 
the inner fence to form a poultry run. 
Although it was getting late in the 
season, there was no harm in trying; 
therefore, a friend’s incubator was 
borrowed, in which 142 pure-bred 
White Leghorn eggs were set. In the 
meantime, as the days flew by, a dry- Pole beans were trained to be accessible—on strings connecting 
goods box was molded into a neat the poles, which also prevented the vines from slipping down 
■ . $1.00 
.75 
. .75 
.75 
$5.15 
HARVEST Cr. 
Potatoes, 10 bushels. $5.00 
Potatoes, sweet, 3 bushels. 4.00 
Cabbage . 1.20 
Eggplant . 2.00 
Peppers . 1.50 
Sweet corn. 3.40 
Beans . 1.60 
Tomatoes . 5.30 
Lettuce, radishes, onions, etc. 3.00 
Result of harvest.$27.00 
Expenses, seeds and tools. 5.15 
Balance net return on garden. $21.85 
EQUIPMENT Dr. 
Eggs for hatch. $3.00 
Cheese cloth . .25 
Nails . .25 
Wire, 30 yards . 2.60 
2 by 2 lumber. 2.00 
Siding, 250 feet . 3.00 
Roofing . 1.60 
Feed for five months (table refuse excluded) 3.00 
$15.70 
Cr. 
Chickens hatched and raised, value to date 
(60, at 15 cents per pound), weight, 2 
pounds each . $18.00 
Realized. $18.00 
Cost of equipment . 15.70 
Balance in favor of chickens. $2.30 
little brooder house, 
which, under the mild 
conditions of the weather, 
needed no artificial heat. 
The hatch came off be¬ 
yond all expectations, and 
7^ chicks, all whole and 
hearty, were the result. 
Their growth was so rapid 
that it was but a short 
time before larger quar¬ 
ters for them were re¬ 
quired. The building of 
the larger coop, together 
with the cultivation of 
the garden after every 
rain, gave a goodly allow¬ 
ance of things to do until 
the winter months and 
harvest approached. 
In calculating the re¬ 
turns from the enterprise 
1 tried to be honest, and, 
to make exaggeration im¬ 
possible, I charged against 
the respective place where 
same were used the entire cost of tools and other accessories pur¬ 
chased. My books showed the following: 
SEED Dr. 
Potatoes (Early Ohio), 1 pk . $0.25 
Potatoes, sweet, plants. .35 
Cabbage, two dozen plants. .20 
Eggplant, one dozen plants . .25 
Pepper plants. .10 
Sweet corn seed . .05 
Beans . .10 
Tomatoes, three dozen plants. .50 
Lettuce, radishes, onions, etc. .20 
This statement should 
reveal beyond doubt that 
back-yard gardening 
yields, under most unfa- 
varable conditions, over 
ioo per cent. The keep¬ 
ing of home poultry, dis¬ 
regarding the egg factor, 
warranted in this case 
about io per cent, on the 
money invested. 
These truths, though 
not miraculous, should 
bring the message home 
to every city man that his 
back lot can be improved 
at a profit to himself in a 
personal, as well as in a 
financial, way. If this be 
true under adverse condi¬ 
tions in the initial year, it 
is easy to estimate the pos¬ 
sibilities thereafter when 
the soil, enriched by 
proper care and culture, 
will yield far more abun¬ 
dantly. Further original outlay is greatlv reduced, and with it 
comes a corresponding net return increase. It is entirely pos¬ 
sible for the urbanite to add to his earning capacity by at least 
ten per cent, and in part solve the “high cost of living” in a 
healthful, pleasureful way. 
The secret of the experiment was system, not only in selecting 
seed, but also in preparing the ground, and, finally, in the de¬ 
termination to allow a specified time each day to cultivation. 
After a day in the office there was nothing to compare with an hour or so of pecking at the 
soil in the garden. It brought a hundred per cent appetite and a corresponding reduction 
in the high cost of living 
