HOUSE AND GARDEN 
April, 1911 
249 
(Continued from 
page 244) 
make a list of the 
v e g e t a b les you 
want in your gar¬ 
den and the amount 
(in number of 
rows) of each. This 
will take only a few 
minutes ; and it will 
not require many 
more to rule off 
your garden plan 
a c c o rdingly. Be 
careful to keep 
crops that remain 
the entire season in 
one place and tall- 
growing things like 
corn to the north 
of low ones, like 
beans. This will 
give you a planting 
plan similar to the 
Pulverize the soil by a backward-and-forward one illustrated in 
motion of the rake the January issue. 
The advantage to 
be derived from the plan is that you will know exactly what will 
be required for your garden during the entire season. Mount this 
plan along with the Guide and Record on a large sheet of card¬ 
board or stiff paper, and your campaign for the whole season is 
mapped out; and in addition you have a convenient and easily 
kept record of the garden work, which will assist you wonderfully 
in planning next year's garden to produce maximum results and 
minimum waste. 
From your planting plan and the table you will know just what 
seeds to order, and this should be done at once. You will know 
also just what vegetable plants you will need. If you can, get them 
directly from the man who grows them, as they will be in better 
condition and you will have a larger stock from which to select. 
Don’t pick out the largest and greenest. Take the stocky ones, 
that have been well hardened off. Even if a few leaves are pur¬ 
ple there is no harm done. 
With the seeds in hand and the plants procured, and the soil in 
seed-bed and plant-bed properly enriched and prepared, you are 
ready to begin the planting of your garden. Make up your mind 
first of all to have every row straight as a string. Get a stout 
cord of suitable length and mark off the rows by means of this. 
It may take more time to line them off in this way instead of put¬ 
ting them at random, but you will be saving time because of the 
greater ease with which weeding and hoeing, especially wheel 
hoeing, may be accomplished. Besides this the appearance war¬ 
rants the delay. 
The matter of seed-sowing is, of course, an important one. The 
seed should, as a rule, be sown at a depth of about five times their 
diameter. They should be covered evenly, either with the hoe 
or by drawing the back of a rake across the rows. The row 
should be firmed on top lightly with the back of the hoe, to show 
where it is, in order that cultivating may be¬ 
gin before the seeds come up, and each 
variety should be tagged, using a garden 
label or strip of lath or shingle. If the 
soil is dry, firm the seed in the drill before 
covering, with the ball of the foot or hoe 
blade. For more detailed instruction in re¬ 
gard to seed-sowing read carefully the Gar¬ 
den Department on page 270. 
The setting of 
plants is no less im¬ 
portant—a n d no 
less frequently per¬ 
formed in a care¬ 
less way. Perhaps 
it would be better 
to say a wrong 
way, for the inex¬ 
perienced planter is 
more than likely to 
take too much care 
in setting out plants. 
He handles them as 
though they were 
glass, cutting them 
carefully out of the 
box or breaking the 
pots in which they 
grow, in order that 
they may not be in¬ 
jured. Fie exca¬ 
vates a neat little 
hole with the trow¬ 
el and places a 
plant gingerly in it, 
filling the soil in 
gently and possibly heaping it up about the stem in order to make 
the plant stay upright. And after all this care, they wilt in the 
noon sun and half of them die! “Beginner’s luck” is not fre¬ 
quently met in gardening. If you want your plants to live and 
“take hold” at once, you must dispense with these trained-nurse 
methods. First of all, you should have your soil in such fine 
condition that you can make holes with your hand or with the 
dibble. Secondly, if they are at all tall and green, with the leaves 
inclined to flop, shear off the upper half of the leaves. Then set 
them in the soil to about half the length of the stem—more, if 
they are spindling or long-stemmed. With the thumbs and backs 
of the fingers press the soil around them evenly; press it down 
hard! Then, when you get to the end of the row, unless the soil 
is very damp, go back over the row and press down each plant 
still more firmly by placing the balls of the feet close to the stem 
and letting your weight come evenly upon both sides at once. 
After the plants are so set, rake the whole space over evenly to 
restore the soil mulch of fine loose earth on the surface. Plants 
so set will live. If the ground is so dry when setting that they 
must be watered, water before all the soil is put about them, or 
in the holes before planting, not on the surface. If the planting 
is followed by very hot, dry weather, protection may be given by 
placing a half sheet of newspaper over each plant, like a minia¬ 
ture tent and holding it in position with stones or earth. If 
manure or fertilizer is applied in the hill, or directly to each plant, 
see that it is thoroughly mixed with the soil before wetting the 
plants; otherwise it is likely to burn the roots. 
Different vegetables, because of their different habits of 
growth, are planted in different ways—some in hills, some in 
rows, some in drills. The accompanying Guide indicates the 
usual method of growing each of the ordinary garden vegetables. 
In hills, which are usually several feet 
apart each way, several seeds are planted 
and sometimes thinned out to two or more 
of the best plants—as with cucumbers and 
melons, or all left, as with corn. It was for- 
merlv the custom in hill culture to draw the 
earth up into a sort of mound or hill about 
the plants, but this practice has rather given 
(Continued on page 277) 
In transplanting your plants from the seed¬ 
bed do not be afraid of hurting them 
