
for it must stand rough usage and pounding. 
If you intend to work in any commercial fer- 
tilizer, rake first then spread the fertilizer evenly 
and work it into the soil with the rake. If you 
want to get the fertilizer you are adding down 
Ferti 
To obtain successful growth of vegetables, the 
soil must contain plant food of the proper kind 
and in proper amounts. Some soils already con- 
tain everything needed, others do not and the 
missing element or elements must be added if 
one wishes to obtain maximum. growth and 
best results. 
The three principal elements needed are nitro- 
gen, phosphorus and potash. There are many 
ways to add this plant food, such as barnyard 
manure, wood ashes, bone meal, dried sheep 
manure, cottonseed meal, and many other sub- 
stances. However, for the average home gar- 
dener, it is much more satisfactory to buy com- 
mercial plant food. 
These commercial plant foods are practically 
odorless and have a fine granular texture that 
makes it easy to distribute them evenly. Com- 
position of such fertilizers is designated by 
4 or 5 inches, use either a 4-tine speedy culti- 
vator or a 5-tine adjustable cultivator, instead 
of a rake. These cultivators will do as thor- 
ough a job of cutting in as will a farmer's disc 
harrow. (Shown on Page 15.) 
formulas which tell you the percentage of the 
three major food elements. Thus a 4-12-4 an- 
alysis means that it contains 4% nitrogen, 12% 
phosphorus and 4% potash. The other 80% 
is made up of material required to carry the 
active fertilizer elements. 
Before the war, this 4-12-4 analysis was the 
most popular for general garden use. War Pro- 
duction Board specifications now require a 
3-8-7 analysis called “Victory Garden Special,” 
which is to be used only for the growing of 
food products, but it is very possible that this 
WPB ruling will also be modified before spring 
planting starts. Consult your dealer. 
If in any doubt about the quality of your soil, 
send a sample to your state agricultural school 
or experiment station for free analysis. Send 
about a pound, made up of. small amounts from 
various parts of your garden to give an average. 
Planting 
Vegetables are easily cultivated when planted 
in straight rows which can be made by stretch- 
ing a string about 6 inches above the row and 
opening a furrow of the desired width and 
depth just beneath the string. Space your fur- 
rows carefully according to your paper plan. 
For making your seed rows, use a warren hoe 
which opens a neat furrow with its point. Plant 
the seed, then turn the hoe over so that its 
two “‘ears’” straddle the furrow and it will pull 
soil back in to cover the seed — a time-saver. 
For best results it is necessary to plant when 
Culti 
The purpose of cultivating is to facilitate the 
release of food elements in the soil by aeration 
and stirring, to keep the surface of the ground 
from caking and baking, to conserve subsoil 
moisture and to eradicate weeds. Thus, regular 
and thorough cultivation is absolutely essential 
to proper success. 
Begin early, keep the cultivation up and never 
give the weeds a chance to get ahead of you. 
the soil is moist. The proper depths for plant- 
ing seed, the amount of seed to plant, together 
with practical spacing distances between rows 
are all given in the planting table on Page 11. 

Covering seed drills 
with top ears. 
Opening seed drills 
with Warren hoe. 
vating 
Every weed that grows is robbing the soil of 
just that much plant food and moisture which 
ought to be going into the vegetables. It will 
shorten your hours of work if you will cultivate 
as soon after every rain as the ground can be 
worked without stickiness. This promptness will 
also save much watering since well-cultivated 
ground is a natural moisture-protecting mulch. 
The fastest, easiest and best way to do this cul- 
tivating between plant rows is with a 4-clawed 
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