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Cultivation and Weeding 
Frequent, shallow cultivation or hoeing is 
best. It requires less effort and gives bet- 
ter results. Never let the weeds get a 
start. They rob the plants of food and 
moisture. 
Cultivate after each rain or soaking, as 
soon as soil is dry enough, and as often 
between as necessary to keep weeds un- 
der control, 
1. “Destroy them young” should be the 
first principle in controlling weeds. Weeds 
rob the soil of moisture and food, Worst 
of all, if allowed to grow, they shade the 
crops that require six hours of full sun- 
shine to grow normally. Plan to spend half 
an hour a day hoeing weeds and the 
average garden can be kept up without 
difficulty. 
2. Keep the soil from caking or cracking 
because when rain comes, it cannot pene- 
trate the hard surface and may run off 
and be lost. A prong cultivator will leave 
the surface loose and ready to absorb rain. 
3. Air is vital to plant growth: stir the soil 
as soon as the ground is dry enough after 
a rain or after watering, This also saves 
moisture. Use the hoe and save the hose. 
4, When cultivating stay as far away from 
the plants as you can to avoid packing 
the soil around the roots. 
Harvesting 
The big advantage the home gardener has 
over the commercial grower is that he can 
pick his vegetables one minute and have 
them in the kitchen the next. All vegeta- 
bles are better if left on the plant until 
ready to serve. Sweet corn in particular 
loses sweetness every minute it is off the 
stalk. Pick only what vegetables you can 
use right away and not until you are 
ready to use them. 
SQUASH, 

PEPPER 
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White Bush Scallop q 
Most vegetables, particularly summer 
squash, sweet corn, cucumbers, carrots, 
beets, peas and string beans, should be 
used much younger than usually harvested 
by the commercial growers. Learn the 
‘feel’ of an ear of corn that is ready to 
pick. The tip of the ear will feel full and 
the silks should be turning brown, 
Muskmelons do not get sweeter after pick- 
ing. For full flavor leave them on the vine 
until a crack appears all around the point 
of attachment between the stem and melon. 
The free end should feel definitely soft 
when the melon is ready. 
Avoid harvesting beans while the plants 
are wet with dew or rain, as moisture 
spreads disease, 
Cover crops--after vegetables 
--to improve your soil 
Save and improve your soil and plant food 
supply by growing cover crops. After a 
row of vegetables has been harvested (if 
you aren't planting a succession crop in 
this spot) sow some quick-growing plant 
that will take up any excess fertilizers and 
store them in its tissues. Plow under that 
plant just before the next crop goes in, 
and decay will release that plant food 
just in time to do the most good, Also, 
the rotting vegetable matter produces hu- 
mus, without which good crops cannot be 
grown. Ask us for advice on cover crops 
for the garden, 








Ask us also how to control root 
maggots that harm cabbage, Brus- 
sels sprouts, onions, radishes, and 
turnips—also how to guard against 
the carrot rust fly. 
For insecticides 
seedsman! 
always see the 
Tend 
These Vegetables STORE Well 
Beets, Carrots, Turnips, Winter Radishes— 
Do not wash. Pack in loose moist sand or 
fine moist soil. Store in unheated cellar, or 
in ventilated room away from heat. 
Cabbage—Roughly trim heads, cut off 
roots. Store in temperature of 40 to 60°, 
with high humidity or cover heads with 
moist soil or sand. 
Celery, Kale, Chinese Cabbage, Endive, 
Leeks—Store in trenches outdoors or in 
boxes of soil in basement. Outdoors must 
be covered with straw to prevent freezing. 
Squash, Pumpkins—Harvest as they ma- 
ture, leaving 3 or 4’’ of stem. Cure for a 
few days at 80 to 85°, Store in dry place. 
Peas, Beans—May be picked off plants or 
the whole plant pulled and placed in dry 
airy place to cure. After thoroughly dried, 
shell, clean, sort and store in jars or cans 
in cool, dry, dark place. 
Onions—Pull as soon as most of the tops 
fall over. Place in racks or spread out on 
dry wooden floors—or hang in dry airy 
place. Store in dry well-ventilated place at 
a temperature just above freezing. 
Parsnips, Salsify, Horseradish—Not injured 
by freezing, and may be left in the gar- 
den, or stored in moist soil or sand in 
coo] building. 
Potatoes—Should be kept in slatted bins 
for ventilation and left uncovered. Protect 
from strong light. Keep longer at 36 to 40°, 
but cook better if stored at higher tempera- 
ture. 
Sweet Potatoes—Dig as they mature or 
after first killing frost. Sort them as dug, 
and place in crates, Cure for two weeks at 
80 to 85°F. before storing. Best storage 
temperature 50 to 55°. 
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