Griggs courier., 1891-07-03
AMATEUR GARDENING.
ATTEMPT OF A CITY MAN TO GROW
HIS OWN VEGETABLES.

ATTEMPT OF A CITY MAN TO GROW
HIS OWN VEGETABLES.
success After Season Of Apparently
Hopeless Failure-The Trouble with
Docks That Treat of Farming and
Gardeninc-How He Learned.
Unreservedly want to give my expert
ence with a kitchen garden. l had never
tried anything Of the kind before and a
more absolutely ignorant person as to
horticulture and gardening generally
never placed a spade in the earth or
turned up a grub worm. had no one
to lean upon for instruction and there
foreI attempted to make vegetable
garden of about half an acre, with no
other assistance than that furnished in
the books on the subject.
These books utterly fail to take into
account the fact that city bred people
know nothing whatever about tilling the.
earth, sowing seed and stimulating the
growth of plants. was that kind of a
person and rashly attempted to make
my own garden.
am very glad, however, that made
this attempt, for l learned, after the
many grievous failures in the first sea-
son, that these books really did have
meaning and that most of them We're full
of sound advice, but they were not writ
ten for absolute beginners, but for those
who understood their technical jargon
and who had also had more or less ex-
perience.
For instance, when I read in my book
that I should plant this seed in drills
and that in hills was as ignorant as be-
fore, and did not know what to do. But
did what seemed to me to be intelli-
gent, and in most cases was wrong.
The greatest mistake made was in
planting everything too deeply and also
in using too many seeds. And right
here had as we'll give rule about
planting which learnd from Mr.. Bur
net Landreth, Of Philadelphia. There
may be exceptions to this rule, but for
the moment do not recall any, except
that of green peas, and that exception
is only qualified one.
In planting seeds cover them with
earth to u depth equivalent to four times
the diameter of the particular seed plant
ed. In regard to peas, old fashioned
gardeners will insist that they must be
buried very deeply, else the yield will be
poor. This is quite true in regard 10
peas planted for very late crops, for the
roots Of suchmus be deep enough to with
stand the whitening sun of midsummer,
but for the early varieties it is a decided
disadvantage to put the seed down sofar
that the heat of the spring sun cannot
readily reach them.
THE GENTLE ART OF HUsBANDRY.
But am way ahead of my story. My
purpose in writing this is to encourage
gentlemen living in the suburbs to culti-
vate this gentle art of husbandry and
make their own gardens. The first sea-
son nearly everything failed, though ]
did get some lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes
and cucumbers. Indeed, I got all that
we needed Of these. During the succeed
ing fall and winter literally went to
school to every gardener ana farmer ]
came in contact with. From the gar
deners got as ~ rule very inteliyentad.
vice, and this put into my book in the
| shape OF marginal notes.
From the farmers got little inforlna.
ton worth the having. They seemed to
think that for the likes of me to expect
that garden truck would grow was little
less than presumptuous. Well, with this
information, added to my experience
and that set down in the books, made
regular plan for my second garden,
and very attractive map it seemed
when it was finished.
| Ibid not attempt to economic space
because had more than needed, and
therefore laid off beds with paths be
tween each and broad paths at eithel
end. These beds were thirty feet Ions
and four feet wide, the paths between
being foot and half wide, and thos,
at the ends three feet wide.
!. BETTER RESULTS.
so apportioned my beds that should
have all the vegetables l wished in sea
son. l tried peas, tomatoes, lettuce
spinach, radishes, squashes, sweet corn
peppers, bush beans, lima beans, cucum
bers, parsley, okra, eggplant, caulidower
cabbage, carrots, celery, onions, garlic
satisfy, potatoes, musk and water mel
ons. succeeded admirably with all Q
these ventures except with the melons
Either the ground is not favorable 70
the growth of these or the season wa
bad, or what is quite likely, have no
learned the knack of cultivating them.
} The cost was nothing at all. don
count the labor put on the garden a
an outlay at all. It was an incom
rather. It took the place of saddl
, horse, a bicycle or gymnasium, fo
during all the time that was workin
in the garden put in as many hours 8
my desk as it was wholesome for one I
do, and this outdoor work was exercis
which was really needed.
paid money for manure and othe
fertilizers, it is true, and also for sect
but in balancing my books found tn,
the ten bushels of onions and the twent
bushels of potatoes sold more tina
, paid for my outlay in money. The fa'
is that was some six or seven dolla,
ahead, besides the summer supplies an