5 Facts on Site and Soil 
Even though you may not have any free- 
dom of choice for the location of your 
garden, there is still much that you can 
do to make the most of your site and soil. 
1—Locate the garden in an open spot that 
Teceives at least six hours of direct sun- 
light each day, away from the roots of 
trees that might rob the soil of moisture 
and fertility, 
2—A rich sandy loam is the best garden 
soil, but if you have either heavy clay or 
light sand, the same materials will im- 
prove both—decayed vegetable matter— 
old rotted manure, peat moss, commercial 
humus or well-rotted leaves. 
3—Don’t apply lime unless it is really 
needed. Usually a soil that will grow good 
beets is all right, If beets do poorly and 
grow irregularly, you can add about 50 
lbs. of hydrated lime or 100 lbs. of ground 
limestone to each 1,000 square feet of gar- 
den. If you have a pH tester, most flowers 
and vegetables will do well in a soil be- 
tween 6.0 and 7.0. 
4—Do supply plant food. Before digging or 
plowing the garden, apply 4 lbs. of bal- 
anced fertilizer over every 100 sq, ft. of 
garden. Divide fertilizer into two lots, sow- 
ing one with the wind and the other 
across the wind, Or, better yet, use a fer- 
tilizer spreader. 
5S—Don’t plant in wet ground. No soil is 
right for gardening that can’t pass the 
“mud pie’’ test. To make a mud pie test, 
pick up a handful of soil and squeeze it 
slightly. If it balls or packs together and 
won't crumble when you apply light pres- 
sure, it is too wet to work. 
TOMATO 
Rutgers 
How? When? | HOME GARDENING e107 |} Where? Why? 
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 without a line or straight 
edge. 
Make the furrow for the seed with a hoe. 
Fine seed (onion, lettuce, cabbage, etc.) 
should not be planted more than 1" 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 plant- 
ed deep enough to come in contact with 
soil moisture still holds, but in dry weath- 
er the soil should be watered thoroughly 
before planting so the moisture will be 
right at the surface. If the row is then 
covered with a board until the seed ger- 
minates, it will not be necessary to bury 
the seed even though the weather is dry. 
Tear the corner from the pocket. If seeds 
are very small, mix with three times their 
bulk of perfectly dry sand, then hold the 
packet over the row, tapping gently with 
your forefinger. This enables you to dis- 
tribute the seed more evenly and avoid 
sowing too thickly. 
Don’t sow seed too thickly, To do so 
wastes both seed and labor as the crowded 
seedlings must later be thinned by hand 
to allow space for proper development. 
Also, poor growth and poor quality veg- 
etables result if seed is sown too thick 
and not properly thinned, (This is true 
whether planting in seed flat, hotbed or 
in open ground.) 
TOMATO 
Jubilee 
KOHLRABI 
White Vienna 
Purple Top White Globe 
SWEET CORN Country Gentleman 
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 
dangerous. Weather variations from year 
to year are likely to make the most care- 
fully compiled dates look foolish. 
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, rad- 
ishes, rutabagas, spinach and turnips. Also 
round-seeded peas. 
HARDY CROPS: When the daffodils 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, muskmel- 
ons 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. 
CABBAGE 
Early Jersey Wakefield 
TURNIP 
