40 
House & Garden 
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN IN JULY 
Irrigation , Mulching and Other Essential Methods of Maintaining the Quality of the 
Crops and Helping Them to Withstand Dry Weather 
WILLIAM C. McCOLLOM 
N ATURE does very 
well, up to a cer¬ 
tain point, then man is 
forced to come to the 
rescue. 
We, of course, all real¬ 
ize that artificial water¬ 
ing of any kind is not 
to be encouraged any 
more than is absolutely 
necessary, and practical 
gardening reduces this 
practice to the very mini¬ 
mum. The ideal con¬ 
dition would be an equal 
distribution of natural 
rainfall which would 
supply the roots with the 
moisture they require, 
but as nature oft-times 
fails us, we are forced to 
resort to other means. 
One method is to supply 
the earth with the neces¬ 
sary moisture by sprin¬ 
kling systems of various kinds; an¬ 
other, to conserve the soil moisture 
by deep and constant cultivation, 
or the application of loose mate¬ 
rials to the surface—which has the 
same effect. 
When watering is needed it must 
be done thoroughly. Any attempt 
at frequent and light applications 
of moisture to the surface will re¬ 
sult in failure. Light sprinkling 
causes surface rooting, and the 
evaporation is so rapid as to leave 
the plants in a far worse condition 
than if they had not been watered 
at all, so it is always advisable 
when watering plants to saturate 
the soil thoroughly. Use a stick to 
see that the moisture has penetrated 
to at least the depth of the rooting 
evenly and is broken into 
such small particles as 
to be classed really as 
mist. This eliminates 
the packing of the soil 
and assures the maxi¬ 
mum penetration, but of 
more importance is the 
fact that these systems 
can be operated at night 
which is the ideal time 
for such operations. 
Proper mulching is 
our best means of con¬ 
servation of the soil 
moisture and if more 
generally practiced, con¬ 
siderably less watering 
would be required. The 
most simple method of 
mulching is to keep the 
surface constantly stirred 
to sufficient depth to es¬ 
tablish a dust mulch 
which will arrest the up¬ 
ward passage of the soil moisture, 
thus conserving it for the use of the 
plants. This should be done once 
a week after every rain, only wait¬ 
ing long enough for the surface to 
dry. The best tool for this work 
is a wheel-hoe with the cultivators 
attached so the ground can be 
worked deep. A flat bladed hoe is 
of little value at this time as it 
only scratches the surface. 
Another method of mulching is 
the application of considerable 
loose material to the surface of the 
soil to prevent the escape of the 
moisture. This method is more 
generally employed in the mulch¬ 
ing of fruit trees or isolated speci¬ 
mens. Cut grass, loose unrotted 
(Continued on page 58) 
Artificial watering must sometimes be resorted to, and when it becomes necessary an irri¬ 
gation system is the thing to use. Here is a simple one designed for small gardens 
You can start gathering the A vegetable garden without a 
potatoes now, digging only wheel-hoe is one of two things 
enough for a couple of days —a failure, or a cause of much 
at a time extra work 
system, and immediately following such opera¬ 
tions the soil should be deeply cultivated to 
prevent the rapid evaporation of the moisture. 
Early morning or late evening is best suited 
for watering; the latter is preferred as the 
moisture will continue to penetrate into the 
soil during the night. Never water the plants 
during the daytime, particularly with a strong 
sun, or the leaves are almost certain to be 
scalded. 
Modern irrigating systems have accom¬ 
plished much in the application of water to 
the ground, as the water is distributed very 
If the tops of the oniotis are Anything that will shade the 
bent over the tendency will lettuce reduces the loss due 
be to increase the size of the to the plants going to seed in 
bulbs hot weather 
