ITS EASY TO BE A SUCCESSFUL 
GARDENER WHEN YOU USE GOOD SEED AND 
OBSERVE THE SIMPLE RULES OF PROPER PLANTING 
Siz D Bay OUR sts Ole DEE REY 
Observe the young lady on the left digging her future garden. You will note 
that the tines of her spading fork have completely disappeared. She has pushed 
her fork straight down at right angles to the ground. All she has to do now 
is to bend back the shaft, displace the earth and lift up a generous amount of 
soil which she will turn over and crumble. She can now mix compost, peat 
moss, fertilizer or anything else necessary to condition or strengthen the soil.’ 
You’ve got to DIG! DIG! DIG! to prepare a good garden plot. Plant life, 
right down to its very roots, has to breathe air. That’s why you’ve got to go 
down deep to loosen that soil. 
LIME T OC REANT SEED GINS LEX Ars 
In the vegetable garden the rule in Texas is “Git it started in the morning so’s 
you can eat it for supper.” That means that real early planting in January is 
not too soon to begin. Won’t hurt to gamble a little with old man Frost. Start 
off with onion plants or sets, cabbage or collard plants and English peas. Later 
on in the month or in February, follow with seed planting of carrots, beets, 
radishes, kale, and any greens you like. Plant early and you'll be sure to have 
one good early crop before the hot weather sets in. Radishes can be planted 
practically all year round and remember that the leaf lettuces are more heat 
resistant than head varieties. For hot weather planting you may plant okra, 
sweet pepper, egg plant, squash, blackeyes, and purple hull peas. 
STARTING PLANTS INDOORS 
You can grow seedling plants successfully in the winter and 
spring in shallow boxes of soil placed in south or east windows. 
The preparation of the seed box is simple but it needs care. 
Cigar boxes or especially prepared “flats” may be used. But what- 
ever the construction, these boxes should have holes bored in 
the bottom to insure proper drainage. Spread pieces of broken 
crockery, or small pebbles, on the bottom of box, adding a 
} coat of coarse soil on top of it and following with a topcoat of 
of finely sifted garden soil. 
Firm the soil and sow the seed thinly in rows. The general rule for depth of 
planting is about four times the diameter of the seed. Thin sowing is economy. 
The tiny plants crowd each other when planted too thickly. 
Cover the seed box with a damp cloth or paper until germination begins and 
place a pane of glass over the top. Remove the paper or cloth as soon as the 
first sprouts break through the soil. Wipe off glass when water collects on it 
from evaporation. This will prevent moisture from dripping on the little plants 
and perhaps causing “damping off.” Prop up one edge of the glass during 
the day for proper ventilation. 
Keep the seed box moist but not wet or waterlogged. The best way to water 
ie pe by setting the seed box in a pan of water or in shallow water 
in a sink, 
When seedlings are two or three inches high a 
dlings gh, they are ready to be transplanted, 
either to individual pots or out-of-doors. J if 
DEEP SPADING IS A MUST TO G ° ° . 
MAKE A GOOD GARDEN BED andening 4 Fascinating 
You'll have such fun . . . such nerve-soothing recreation . . . and such a 
feeling of accomplishment as you discover new pleasures in gardening that 
TWENTY-EIHGT you'll wonder why you didn’t have a garden long ago. 
