The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-03-30
FARMER AND MECHANIC. {
A VERY SUCCESSFUL GARDEN
JudiciOus Planting, Careful Cultivation
and Common Sense Pay Well III
Gardening.

JudiciOuS Planting, Careful Cultivation
and Common sense Pay Well IN
Gardening.
by Mrs. William Saffern.
Does gardening pay? Well, that Ge'
ponds. If one had to buy or rent d
garden spot and pay for all of the Ia
Dor l doubt if it would pay Tor a sInati
family; but has been a great say
ing to us, as we'll as a pleasure, and it
certainly has maid
My husband spaded the ground and
assisted me to repair the soil ana
plant the seed. and between the two
of us. by getting up an hour earlier
each morning, we managed to cult
vate the garden without any trouble.
Our garden is laid out in beds, the
beds having Ike inch boards on the
edges. This enables me to plant close
to the edges of the beds. In the paths
between l have gravel, which enables
me to go around in wet weather With
out getting muddy. During a drought
l irrigate my garden by filling these
paths with water from our large sup
ply tank. for the garden is-rlght close
to the windmill.
[ first laid out a bed three feet wide
around the fences. The remaining
ground l made into four long beds.
with an 1S-inch path " the beds
and around the for" beds in the cen
ter. My garden was covered to the
! depth of three inches with well rotted
manure and spaded twice the depth OF
/. the SPADE
One bed at a time, as was read 20
plant them. | prepared my soil by
spading lightly again and raklng thor
oughly until there was not a lump III
it. Meanwhile my seeds had sprouted
in a little hotbed and the plants were
ready to be transplanted. And let me
say here hat YOU VIII find this the
cheapest and most satisfactory way to
start your plants, for then Q know
Just exactly what you are getting, and
hv MA ming SlocpSSjEPtV can arrange
to have successive crops of lettuce
etc.
From 5 cents worth of celery seed
planted in the house. then transplant
ed to the hOtbed. where it remained
until it vas 6 or s inches high, I sold
200 plants,t the other 200 being reserved
for home use. / should also state that
before putting this celery in I had that
part of the hOthed full of delicious.
crisp lettuce. AS soon as my peas dl1
down I set my celery out permanently
in that place, for it is usually the rich
est soil, as peas require lots Of f%erti1iZ-
ing.
Here is a good way to force squash.
Melons, pumpkins and cucumbers q
month ahead of your neighbor'S. Save
Ill of your berry boxes. fill with good
! rich soil and plant several seeds IN
each box. You can usually find space
here and there among the things in
your hOtbed to set these boxes. When
the time comes to plant out of doors
prepare your hills. cut the bottom out
Of the berry boxes, being careful not
to disturb the contents. and place in
the center Of the hill. Pull the sides
up just a little. and. should the nights
prove cold, a newspaper placed over
the top Of each box will be protection
enough.
Our garden is fenced with wire net
ting, and against this We have Crap
vines planted on two Of the sides. On
one Of the Other sides | planted but
ter beans. which covered the fence in
a short time. Or the remaining ienct
1allOwed my cnculnberS to CLIMB. |
cut the pickles each morning after the
vines began to bear and realized a tld;y
sum from them. besides having all
berries on the two sides in sront "f
the grape vines. and the second year
had a great OF delicious
berries. On the other sides I set cab
bage and when it was large enough -
eat I pulled every other mead 0nd IN
their place planted egg plant and pep
per plants.
In the first of the long beds I plant
ed carrots. parsnins, beets. union sets'
and down the center q row of celefF-
In the second I planted tomatoes. tuf-
nipS and wax beans. and in the third
peas. In the fourth I planted ROCKY
Ford melons and harvested q tine
crop. I for got to say that l had d
small row of Okra. satisfy and parsley
As soon as the produce Of q row Is
utilized the old plants should be re-
moved. the sol! stirred thoroughly. a
little fine fertilizer worked IN ana d
new crop started. The early varieties,
such as lettuce, peas, radiSheS, etc
should be PLANTED in adjacent rows
while such plants as parSHiDS. Sa.Slll'
etc, which grow all through the sea
son, should be nut by themselves.