50 
& Garden 
THE WAR GARDEN DEPA R I V. ENT 
Last year was our first real “war garden” season, and yet it has been officially estimated that $350,000,000 worth of vegetables were the result. 
In 1918 we must maintain all our zeal of last year, with the greater effectiveness which comes of larger garden experience. To do its bit 
toward this end, House & Garden each month will devote this page, as well as others in the magazine, to attaining greater productiveness in the 
home garden. The practical side of raising vegetables and other food crops will be strongly emphasized. Should you wish additional infor¬ 
mation or suggestions touching your own particular war garden, we shall be more than glad to assist you personally. State your problem 
clearly and in detail, enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope for reply, and mail it to The Information Service, House & Garden, 19 
West 44th Street, New York .— Editor 
D. R. EDSON 
M ARCH is the month of waiting. The skunk 
cabbage beneath its mulch of sodden leaves 
in the swamp, the violets under the moss on 
the sunny slope, the March butterfly in its somber 
chrysallis, and the impatient gardener behind his rain- 
beaten window—all are waiting. I like to think of 
March as the dark hour before the dawn, which 
means so sudden a change that the long-expected day 
always arrives with surprising suddenness. 
Are you prepared for an early spring? If, after 
this almost unprecedented winter which we have been 
through, the ground is ready to plant by March 15, 
you will have things ready to go ahead with the 
work ? If so, you are an unusual exception to the 
general rule. Many things which might be done now 
to save time later on are often not attended to until 
after work outdoors is begun. 
The most important work for March, 
so far as the gardener himself is con¬ 
cerned, is to carry out last month’s 
start towards getting a supply of 
strong, sturdy plants. The three es¬ 
sential factors in producing first-class 
plants are: good soil, plenty of room, 
and plenty of air. The hardest part 
of tire work is to get the little seed¬ 
lings strongly started as described last 
month. Many gardeners leave the 
seedling plants that they have sown 
directly in the hotbed or cold-frame, 
until they are ready to transplant into 
the open garden. The best plants can¬ 
not be obtained unless the seedlings 
are transplanted so as to produce a 
bunch of fibrous root growth in place 
of the single long tap root which the 
plant naturally sends down into tire 
soil while small. 
Start with Healthy Plants 
There is only one way to secure the 
very best plants. Each one must be 
potted individually so that it will have 
all the room it can use and not suffer 
disturbances of its root system when 
it is put out in the open. In the old 
days of clay pots alone, this was quite 
a serious undertaking even with the 
moderate number of plants required 
for the average home garden. Not 
only was the work of getting the plants 
into the pots considerable, but in order 
to give the roots all the soil they 
needed for full development very large 
pots had to be used. These dried out 
so rapidly in the sunny days of March 
and April that it was next to impos¬ 
sible to keep the soil properly moist 
even if watering was done every day. 
With paper pots it is quite different. 
Since these are square instead of round 
they hold almost twice as much soil 
as clay pots of the same diameter, and 
if they fit closely together they do not 
dry out by evaporation nearly as quick¬ 
ly. In transplanting the plants do not 
have to be knocked out, as in the 
case of clay pots. You simply tear 
aside the paper pots after the plants 
have been distributed along the row, 
and there you are! The paper pots or 
bands are merely fitted together and 
packed into an ordinary seed flat or 
other box of convenient size where they 
can be filled with the compost or trans¬ 
planting soil. Each unit or flat full 
is handled and watered like a box of 
plants until it is time to set them 
out. Even individual cabbage and let¬ 
tuce plants can be handled to advan¬ 
tage in this way. By using 2" or 3" 
pots almost as many of them can be 
put in a flat as if they had been 
pricked off in the ordinary way. They 
are no more trouble to care for and 
less trouble to plant. 
This takes care of the factor of 
room, which is the one most common¬ 
ly neglected. Good soil may be made 
CAMPAIGNING FOR CROPS 
To help beat the Kaiser there were cul¬ 
tivated, in 1917, over 3,000,000 war gardens, 
aggregating 1,150,000 acres. The yield was 
valued at $350,000,000 or $17.50 per family. 
Housewives preserved 500,000,000 quarts of 
fruits and vegetables. 
Can you better this record in 1918? 
Measure off 
your garden 
before you 
start to plant. 
Use a line to 
get the rows 
straight. Or¬ 
der in the 
garden makes 
for easier 
cultivation 
and better 
ap p earances 
§'m 
Soil that is finely broken up gives quicker results to the 
growing plants. Use fork, wheel-hoe and rake for this work 
from good garden loam with which very thoroughly 
rotted manure has been well mixed in the proportion 
of one-half or two-thirds manure to one of soil. A 
little very fine bone dust added will make it still bet¬ 
ter. The soil should be mixed up a couple of weeks 
or so in advance of using, if possible, particularly if 
the bone dust is to be added. 
Most people are too timid with young plants in 
regard to fresh air. Try to give ventilation every 
day, particularly if the frames are new and tight. 
Only on the stormiest days should the sash be left 
on altogether. Fix the sash so that the opening is 
away from the direction of the wind, as there should 
be no cold draft on the plants and no danger of the 
wind lifting the sash. During dark, cloudy weather 
watering once in several days will be sufficient; but 
on bright, dry days after the middle of the month, 
watering will be required almost every 
day to keep the soil right. 
How early is it safe to plant? 
Where the soil has a good deal of 
clay in it and the drainage is poor 
the ground may remain too wet and 
soggy to work for days or even weeks 
after the frost is all out of it. On 
lighter, sandy soils that are well 
drained planting may be begun just 
as soon as the frost is out of the 
ground. In fact, some things may be 
put in before it is all out. When the 
ground is ready to dig or plow, turn 
over a forkful and test it in the hand. 
If, upon being slightly squeezed, it 
compresses into a sticky, muddy ball 
instead of crumbling apart readily in 
the fingers it should be left for a 
while longer. Plowing ground that is 
still too wet to be forked will put 
your gardening operations back seri¬ 
ously instead of pushing them ahead; 
it may, in fact, injure the soil for 
several years to come. 
Manure, of course, should be spread 
on the ground before plowing and 
spading are done. Before it is spread, 
or just afterwards, it should be gone 
over with a fork to take out all long 
and decayed pieces of bedding, etc. 
These will come in handy for summer 
mulching, or they may be put in the 
compost heap. They will not rot 
quickly in the soil, are difficult to turn 
under and may give trouble through¬ 
out the summer by catching on the 
teeth of the wheel-hoe. Practically all 
fertilizers should be applied broadcast 
after spading or plowing, but before 
harrowing or raking. 
The first things to go into the 
ground in the way of vegetable seeds 
and root crops are: onion sets, horse¬ 
radish, asparagus, radishes, early peas, 
spinach and onions. The first flower 
seeds to plant are sweet peas. Their 
care and culture are covered in detail 
on pages 44 and 45 of this issue. 
New Shrubs and Roses 
Nursery stock will be shipped to you 
whenever you are ready to receive it, 
or, if you leave the matter to the nurs¬ 
ery, as soon as conditions are right 
for planting in your vicinity. Fruit 
trees, ornamentals, etc., are dug and 
shipped while dormant. They can be 
planted just as soon as you can dig 
the ground, even when it would be 
too wet for the planting of seeds. 
While a fruit tree or shrub will live 
for at least a year or two in almost 
any soil, nevertheless, if you want good 
growth, it is just as essential to pre¬ 
pare the place where they are to grow 
as it is to make your garden soil rich. 
If manure is available, thoroughly mix 
in several forkfuls with the soil where 
each tree is to be set, and some ground 
bone. Coarse or knuckle bone is espe- 
(Continued on page 72) 
The first 
stage of the 
plant is its 
beginning un¬ 
de r glass 
from the seed. 
Then comes 
the second 
when these 
seedlings are 
hardened off 
in a cold 
frame 
