Daily Kennebec journal., 1902-03-25
Advice About the Family Garden.

/ den, asks for information u eiiduie Iel
| to make a success as planter OF seeds
To tell one just what to do would be
quite an undertaking. l know OF a
! family that uses no vegetables, ana so
far as | know never had a garden.
Other families live largely on fruits
and vegetables. If | had family of
eight to provide for and all We're as
partial to garden products as l am,
would want half acre OF Soou lahd Tor
nv garden. Yet much can be raised
y on half that amount. l would ADVISE
| to send for seed catalogues from those
| whose names appear in our advertising
| columns, and look them over carefully
Reading catalogues will not make a
skilled gardener, but it will heip TO
educate one who is learning. Select
such kinds as are liked best, or as are
not too difficult to produce.
| No vegetable is planted by so great
a number as the tomato. Thls Is part
ly because the plants are sold so ex-
Itensively. 1t is a crop, too, that is not
difficult to raise. Two dozen plants
ought to give a large family an abund-
ance Of fruit for using fresh and for
preserving, both ripe and green To-
/
land to induce early ripening, and TO
prevent an oversrowth of vine. Proba-
| bly, no vegetable is of such universal
use as the potato. 1t may be cheaper
| TO purchase than to grow them, accord
ing as one has land, fertilizer and
skill.
A small piece of land can be worked
at a profit by hand labor, but large
garden should be worked by horse
power; for that reason the land should
be laid out so as to give long rows. A
| garden to be easily worked should
| have been under culture last year in
| some kind of tillage crop. The best
| garden will have a variety of soil, a
| thin. dry soil for early planting and
deep heavy loan for later crops and
to endure drought. Some crops do bet
| ter on land recently in sod. provided
| the sod is well turned under and deep
| enough to be out of the way of culti-
walton. Potatoes, SquaShes, cucumberS
| and other vines usually do better on
| land that has not been long under cul-
| tivation. Beets, parsnips, peas and
beans are more easily grown on land
| that has been made fine by previous
| cultivation.
| Whether the bulk of the potato sup
| ply is grown or bought, l would plant
| a few for early use while the price is
high Set a few seed potatoes in a
| sunny south window to warm up and
make short sprouts before the time for
planting. Whole potatoes weighing
not more than two ounces each are
suitable for such forcing. They
| should be planted about Is inches apart
in burrows six inches deep. with an
inch of earth covering. AS the shoots
show themselves the earth between the
rows should be cultivated and the fur
rows gradually filled. Level culture is
the best. A few quarts of such pota-
toes well cared for will yield enough to
carry family along between the time
of old stock and new ones at reasonable
prices.
For a full supply of small fruits one
must begin a year or more in advance
of the time of harvest. A portion of
the garden should contain strawber-
rieG, raspberries, blackberries, cur
rants, gooseberries and grapes, a row
of asparagus and a few roots of rhu-
| bard.
For the whole garden the ground
should he deeply plowed and the soil
well filled with good manure or fertili-
ger. The house wastes of all kinds
should find their way to the soil where
natures laboratory will transform
them into plant food. The seeds of
beets, parSnips, onions and peas for
early use should be put in as early as
the ground can be suitably worked, but
never till then. If worked too early,
while wet, it will cake and lump and
remain in poor condition the season
through. Corn. beans and most kinds
of vines had better wait till the ground
is well warmed. Beets, corn and peas
of different varieties should go in
every week or ten days for success
sion, according to the tastes of the
family. I usually plant corn from the
first or second week in May to the
same time in July, often having ten
paintings during the season. But we
like corn every day and more than
. once day. 1t is one of the best and
, cheapest foods for those who have land
and can have the ears on the table in
Is minutes from the field. Those who
depend on the market hardly know
: how good corn tastes.
II / would advise a beginner to try to
cultivate few of the easiest grown
: crops rather than a great variety of
those more difficult to raise. 1t is
+ getting to be a trade of itself to raise
f melons and squaShes successfully on
account of insects and fungus diseases
Cabbages would be easy to raise if it
5 were not for the green worm that pene-
: trates the head. Market gardeners
work their land SO deeply and so often
that many insects are destroyed which
would remain undsturbed in the
average tillage garden.
| would not like to get along without
: a hot-bed and a few cold frames for
starting early crops, especially for
growing radishes and lettuce in the
spring, when they are more appre-
, ciated. But frame culture is almost a
: trade in itself, although not difficult
= to learn. Glass covered beds cannot be
!, , neglected or out of mind for an hour
! in the variable weather Of April.
The lady requested list of the best
varieties and a statement of the
amount of seed required, but without
knowing the preferences of the family
1t would be like shooting in the dark
to make such a list. l would advise
, | Selectino we'll known standard Snrte