The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1913-05-22
BACK YARD FARMER
Interesting Pointers on Garden
ing for the City Man or
.Suburbanite.
WHAT TO PLANT AND WHEN
Advice by an Expert or Agricultural
Matters-care II the Garden
Raising Sweet Peas-Hot
Weather Pointers.
BY PROF. JOHN WILLARD 5oLTE.

BY PROF. JOHN WILLARD BoL (.
Every man with available land
should make some kind Of a garden
on il. About one man In three who
could have a nice little garden plot in
the city has one. Almost everybody
in the suburbs has both lawn, flowers
and vegetable garden.
The fascination OF this delightful
pastime is amply demonstrated by the
fact that so many people make gar
dens every year and yet the majority
OF these gardens are failures to a
greater or less degree. They start
out beautifully, with the warm, fresh
mellow earth turned over from its
winters rest, and the little delicate
seedlings following the warm rains.
The first crops, small things like
radishes and lettuce, develop fairly
well and the gardener puts in his
late crops with great expectations.
When the hot, dry weather Of late
June and early July arrives the plants
begin to shrink and shrlvel. They
turn brown and enter into kind OF
dormant state, neither advancing nor
retreating, worthless as food provid-
ers and certainly unhandsome to view.
This unthrlfty summer condition
knocks out the most satisfactory
crops, corn, beans, tomatoes, cucum.
hers. etc The worst of II Is that the
same thing happens to the same gar
dens. year after year. and the best OF
Il is that It need not happen at all
If the gardener will use his head as
much as his back, and use both OF
them q good deal.
The two great causes of garden
failures are lack of proper cultivation
and lack Of available plant food. In n
humid climate It should never be nee.
Is in proper condition to hold the nat
ural rainfall. 1t needs to be plowed
deeply, cultivated finely. firmed down
we'll to make capillary connection be-
tween the soil water below and the
plant roots above. and then the sur
face must be hoed. and hoed and
hoed. Never let up on the hoeinE
A single weed will evaporate many
times its own weight In valuable soil
water every day. II you permit the
top soil to bake or a crust to FORM
direct means Is established for the
soil water to evaporate and II will
leave the soil as rapidly as it would
an open dish and possibly more rap
idly. Do your best to keep your gar.
den covered with an inch of fine. dry
dust all the summer through. The
roots will so deep and the plants will
get all the water there is.
Next, fertility: A garden must con-
tain plant food and the best plant
food is rotten vegetable matter. Make
a compost heap IL some out.of.the-
way corner or in large box Here
throw your stable manure, grass clip.
pings, leaves, waste vegetables, hen
manure, in fact. anything that will
rot, Keep 1t moist and keep flies
away from it. Grass sod is an excel
lent foundation for a compost heap
and II is extensively used by florists.
Use plenty of the compost on your
garden, blowing il under, and be care.
ful not to put in too much straw, as
that will dry out the soil. The com
post will increase the water-hodins
capacity of the soil. it will permit OF
better ventilation. 1t furnishes plant
food of all kinds, 1t lightens a heavy
soil and stiffens a sandy one.
If you wish to brace up weak
plants and force them this summer
Ill barrel half full of manure and
cover with water The liquid result.
ing is the finest kind of quick acting
fertilizer. Pour 1t about the plants
TO be forced, and the effect will be
Immediately perceptible.