
| Handbook for the Garde 
te Cultural Information On 
Vegetables, Flowers, Bulbs, Shrubs and Fruits 

LOCATION OF THE GARDEN 
The farm garden should be placed as near to the house as possible 
so that it will be but a few steps away from the kitchen. This will 
save much time in going back and forth to gather vegetables and will 
enable one to do garden work at odd times. The town garden should 
be located so that it will get as much sunshine as possible and in a 
place where the roots of shade trees do not penetrate. Choose, if 
possible, a level location or if there is a slope, it should be towards 
the South. A windbreak, such as a hedge, fence or wall on the North 
and Northwest will increase the earliness of the crops. 
SOIL 
The soil for at least a foot in depth should be prepared so that it 
will be rich, mellow and friable. Leaf mould and rotted stable manure 
are splendid for plowing under.-In the city garden where these are 
. not available, shredded cattle manure or pulverized sheep manure 
hd will be found very satisfactory. For early crops it is desirable to use 
rich, sandy, quick acting soil. This is best also for plants, such as 
“ vines and tomatoes, which need much warm weather to mature well. 
E Late root crops—cabbage, etc., do best in slightly heavier soils, which 
; 

eee outed from the drying south winds by sloping to the North 
or East. 
FERTILIZER 
To grow the finest vegetables and flowers, a liberal quantity of 
- plant food is essential. Both manure and commercial fertilizer should 
be used, the manure to add humus and fertilizer to supply potash, 
nitrogen and phosphoric acid. On one-quarter acre garden 5 to 8 
dumploads of manure are not too much to dig in with one hundred 
to two hundred pounds of a complete high-grade commercial fer- 
tilizer. A tablespoonful of commercial fertilizer stirred in the soil 
about the roots of each plant two or three times during the season will 
also be found very effective. If the soil is acid, it will be improved by 
a liberal application of ground limestone. See page 40. 
DRAINAGE 
at If the subsoil is gravelly or sandy, no further attention need be 
given to the matter of drainage. If the sub-soil is stiff clay, it should 
be under-drained with tile three feet below the surface and not 
farther than eighteen feet apart, all sloping slightly to an outlet. 
‘a CULTIVATION 
The kind of cultivation to be used should determine the plan of 
the garden. If the work is to be done by horse tools, the arrangement 
should give the longest possible rows. The garden should be free 







