WATERMELON 
Dixie Queen 
CARROT 
Chantenay 





BEANS, Fordhook 
Bush Lima 
BEETS, Crosby’s 
Improved Egyptian 

GARDEN GUIDE POSTS 
PREPARING THE SOIL 
Continued from Page 10 

Trenching 
The trenching method does not pay 
for a temporary garden, but should 
be practiced if you plan to work 
the same plot year after year. 
In this method a trench is dug two 
full spades deep. Manure or compost 
is spread over the top of the entire 
garden and also at the bottom of 
each trench as dug. The second row 
of soil is thrown into the bottom 
of the trench and the layer just be-~ 
low it is thrown on top of it. In 
this way the entire garden is turned 
upside down and the ground is loose 
to a depth of nearly two feet. 
Because considerable subsoil is 
mixed with the upper layer, an extra 
application of fertilizer to the gar- 
den after digging is good practice. 
From the second year on, the soil 
should get better and better, even 
though it is only turned over one 
spade deep each year. 
PLANTING THE SEED 
Place a stake at each end of the row 
and stretch a line tightly between 
them. Don’t try to make rows with- 
out a line or straight edge. 
Make the furrow for the seed witha 
hoe. Fine seed (onion, lettuce, cab- 
bage, etc.) should not be planted 
more than 14” deep. Medium seeds 
(okra, spinach, cucumber) 1” deep. 
In heavy soils, beans, squash, onion 
sets and peas need not more than 
1” but the soil must be moist. In 
lighter soils, 2” is deep enough. 
The old theory that seed should be 
planted deep enough to come in 
contact with soil moisture still holds, 
but in dry weather the soil should 
be watered thoroughly before plant- 
ing so the moisture will be right at 
the surface. If the row is then cov- ° 
ered with a board until the seed 
germinates, it will not be necessary 
to bury the seed even though the 
weather is dry. 
Good seed germinates freely, so it is 
a mistake to plant it too thickly. 
This is especially true if it is treated 
with ROOTONE, which speeds up 
germination and root growth. 
One of the common errors in plant- 
ing squash, melon, cucumber, etc., 
is to assume that a hill really is a 
hill. Actually, a hill is a hole since 
these vine crops are planted in de- 
pressions about 2” below the sur- 
rounding surface to catch water. 
Incidentally, all vine crops love 
humus or well-rotted manure. If 
they can be planted in depressions 
filled with soil from a compost heap, 
they will produce extravagantly. 
How to plant fine seed 
In planting fine seed, tear off one 
corner of the packet and, if Rootone 
is used, drop in a pinch and shake. 
The seed can be tapped out of the 
torn corner of the packet one at a 
time. Fine seed is often mixed with 
dry sand so that it will spread out 
better, but this will only work if 
seed is not more than twice the size 
of the sand grains. 
Large seeds should be poured out 
of the packet into a cup or bowl so 
that they can be dropped individu- 
ally into the furrow. Beans and peas 
should be treated with a legume 
inoculation before planting, even if 
this was done last year. Improved 
legume cultures are constantly be- 
ing propagated in the laboratories 
and give superior results to natural 
inoculation. 
WHEN TO SOW 
Seed catalogs and garden books 
usually offer you a list of definite 
planting dates. We’d like to do 
this, too, but experience has taught 
us that such dates are often danger- 
ous: Weather variations from year 
to year are likely to make the most 
carefully compiled dates look fool- 
ish. 
Here’s a guide to planting time 
that doesn’t rely on dates, but 
rather on Nature’s own signs. 
FULLY HARDY CROPS: Sow 
as soon as the ground can be 
worked in spring, or when the 
farmer plants oats. In some 
years crocuses and snowdrops 
may be in bloom at this time, 
but if the ground is ready sooner, 
plant anyway. These crops include 
lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, carrots, 
cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, parsnips, 
radishes, rutabagas, spinach and 
turnips. Also round-seeded peas. 
HARDY CROPS: When the daf- 
fodils and earliest tulips bloom, 
or when maple trees are in 
full flower, plant these: Beets, 
wrinkled peas. Swiss chard, and 
onion sets. 
TENDER CROPS: When the 
Lilacs, Darwin Tulips and Apple 
Blossoms are in full bloom, plant 
these: Bush beans, sweet corn, 
pumpkins, and squash are included. 
TROPICAL CROPS: When the 
petals on apple blossoms will 
have fallen and the tall late 
irises are in full bloom plant: 
Okra, Lima beans, Pole _ beans, 
muskmelons and cucumbers, and 
set out plants of tomatoes, peppers 
and eggplant. These can’t stand 
frost and should not be planted 
until the weather is warm and 
settled. 
TRANSPLANTING 
Seedlings can be transplanted 
any time after the second pair 
of leaves has formed, provided 
the weather is suitable. 
The effects of ‘hardening off” seed- 
lings by exposing them to cool air 
is not very effective; even a fully 
hardened cabbage plant will lose 
its frost resistance if subjected to 
warm weather for four or five days. 
Therefore, even in the case of crops 
that are seeded very early, seedling 
plants should not be set outdoors 
until the weather is warm and 
settled. 
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