Location and Plan of the Home Garden 
A level, well drained piece of ground, conveniently located 
to the house should be selected for the garden. If possible, it 
should be located where it can be irrigated if necessary. The 
garden should be located away from hedges, large trees or the 
shade of buildings, and on the farm it should be well fenced 
to protect it from rabbits, chickens and other animals. 
After selection of a location, and determining the size of the 
garden, a list of vegetables to be planted should be made. In 
selecting the vegetables to plant, primary consideration should 
be given to the likes of the family, also to the size of the garden 
plot available. The use of a large number of vegetables gives 
variety to the diet. 
In order to obtain the maximum yield of vegetables at a 
minimum expenditure of time and money, a map or plan of 
the garden should be made out on paper, showing the various 
vegetables to be grown, and their position in the garden, indi- 
cating length of rows and the space between rows. In the case 
of a small, backyard garden, entirely worked by hand, the 
rows should be placed as close together as possible, so that 
large quantities of vegetables may be produced on a limited 
space. However, in large farm gardens that are most often cul- 
tivated by mule drawn tools, or other equipment used in the 
fields for this purpose, the rows should run the long way of the 
plot, and all crops should be in rows at least 2 to 24% feet apart. 
A half acre Florida farm garden properly planned should provide 
enough fresh vegetables and for canning to supply a medium 
size family the year around. A small city garden, cropped in- 
tensively, may be made to produce enough fresh vegetables for 
immediate consumption throughout the year for a small-sized 
family. 
The planting data given on page 3 of this catalog will help 
greatly in preparing a plan since seed requirements, planting 
depths, planting distances and time of maturity, which are 
necessary for the design of any garden plan, are given. 

Making a Seed Bed to Start Vegetable Plants 
Small seeds such as lettuce, cabbage, collard, pepper, eggplant, 
tomato, etc. should always be sown in a seed bed and the young 
plants transplanted to the field or garden. A shallow box or flat 
may be used for this purpose, or a small plot in the garden may 
be set aside to use as a seed bed for starting plants for trans- 
planting. The soil in the seed bed or flat must be put in perfect- 
ly fine condition, and in the seed bed it should be made into 
beds four to six inches high, to prevent overflow in case of 
heavy rains. When the soil in the seed bed is in condition— 
thoroughly and finely pulverized, fertilized with 2 to 3 pounds 
per 100 sq. ft. of a commercial fertilizer such as Vigoro or a 
5-10-5 Victory Garden fertilizer mixture, applied at least a 
week to ten days before sowing seed, moist, and made perfectly 
smooth and level—sow the seed in rows about six inches apart. 
Very fine seed, like celery, should not be covered with soil, 
but may be pressed lightly into the soil with a light roller or 
with a wide board. Larger seeds like tomato, pepper, and 
cabbage may be covered, not over 1% inch deep. 
We recommend the use of burlap or white muslin as a cover 
over the seed bed, stretching it on a three or four foot wide tent- 
shaped or slanting frame built over the seed bed, with the 
sides about 10 to 12 inches from the ground to provide ample 
circulation of air under the cover. If plants are being started 
in late summer for fall planting, the seed bed cover will serve 
as a shade to protect seedlings from the hot sun, also to break 
the force of heavy rains. If plants are started in winter for a 
spring crop, this seed bed cover will protect seedlings from 
frost or freezes. It may be also advisable to use ground covers 
of burlap or old fertilizer bags. When seeds begin to germinate 
these ground covers should be removed immediately to prevent 
leggy or spindly plants. After the seed is sown, it is desirable 
to sprinkle every evening or oftener if necessary with cool 
water by means of hand sprinkling pots in order to keep the soil 
cool and moist, which tends to increase germination of seeds 
during the hot summer months. 
Success in getting transplanted plants to grow satisfactorily 
depends very much upon how the plants are grown in the seed 
bed. For a week or ten days before transplanting, the plants 
in seed bed should be gradually hardened. This means leaving 
the cover off the plants for a week or so before transplanting, 
and water should be withheld from the plants during this pe- 
riod. When plants in seed bed are about six inches high they 
are ready to transplant into the field or garden, preferably on 
a cloudy day or toward evening. Water the plants thoroughly 
several hours before removing from seed bed, and again im- 
mediately after setting. To grow good vegetables, a large sup- 
ply of moisture and fertilizer is essential until the crop is ready 
to harvest. 

Preparation and Fertilizing of the Soil For the 
Home Vegetable Garden 
The soil in the garden should be carefully and well prepared. 
Bermuda grass and weeds should be removed with all roots. A 
little extra time spent in preparing the soil for planting will 
save many hours of hoeing later in the season. It is best to 
spade or plow, and apply commercial fertilizer to the soil ten 
days to two weeks before planting in order to avoid burning the 
seed or young plants. 
Well rotted animal manure may be used as a fertilizer, at the 
rate of approximately 25 to 30 lbs. of manure, and 214 to 3 lbs. 
of Acid Phosphate for each 100 square feet of garden. If 
manure is not available, leaf mold or black muck or hammock 
soil are ideal materials to work into the garden soil. If none 
of these materials are available, a two or three inch layer of 
horticultural grade peat moss (Page 58) may be worked into 
the garden soil. This material is clean and easy to handle. 
and is a wonderfully effective material for breaking up hard 
soil, making it mellow, or for adding humus to sandy soil, 
making it more retentive of moisture and fertilizer materials. 


special Victory Garden fertilizer such as a 5-10-5 mixture (see 
page 58) should be used, applying one of these fertilizer ma- 
terials broadcast at the rate of 4 to 6 Ibs. per 100 square feet. 
If this material is raked into the surface soil a week or ten 
days before planting you will have the foundation for an ex- 
cellent vegetable garden. If the fertilizers are applied just 
before planting, they are very liable to burn the young seedlings 
as they emerge from the seed. 
After the vegetable plants are well started in the garden, a 
complete fertilizer such as Vigoro, or a special Victory Garden 
fertilizer mixture, 5-10-5 formula, (see page 58) applied light- 
ly on either side of the row of vegetables, but not in contact 
with the leaves or stems to avoid burning, every two or three 
weeks will make thrifty plants which produce an abundant 
supply of high quality vegetables for the home table. 
; Note:—All materials indicated above, such as Wizard Brand 
Sheep Manure, Peat Moss, Acid Phosphate, Vigoro, and the 
After this peat moss is worked into the soil, an inch or two  5-10-5 Victory Garden fertilizer mixture, are available at all 
inch layer of Wizard Brand Sheep manure along with a liberal Kilgore Seed stores, and in our mail order department at Plant 
application of a good garden fertilizer such as Vigoro or a City, Florida. (See page 58). 
4 Kilgore’s Florida Stores: Plant City, Belle Glade, Gainesville, Homestead, Miami, 
Pahokee, Palmetto, Pompano, Sanford, Vero Beach, Wauchula, West Palm Beach 
