The sun., 1915-03-21
GARDEN INDISPFNSABI F
TO A COMMUTERS HOME
Vegetable Patch IS Necessity as Well Peasure- Care
of 1t Produces Health and Larger Bank Roll
-E1nts on How to Start One

The commuter and his wife should
take their garden seriously. at least
as seriously as they take poker and
/ bridge. The earth laughs easily II you
! tickle II at the right time in the right
! place, hut makes no response 10 an
| unlntolligent poke with hoe
II wonder why We can't make things
grow" II would be a wonder II any
| one could IN defiance OF natural law.
| Pants need food. sunlight. water and
air. Ii Is hopeless to grow anything
whore there is more shade than sun.
/ whore trees rob the earth OF plant
| food and where there is not enough
enrichment and where the soil is al
/ lowed 20 bake hard and dry. The first
principle is plenty OF cultivation: the
ground broken up hv plow or spade
and then The surface kept loose TO let
| In air ana conserve moisture.
Hoe or cultivate after every rain
I and az intervals between infrequent
rain spells. Artificial watering Is
! hardly ever needed: Il often hurts
moro than IL helps Beside the prime
principle of cultivation Is that uf Civ
| Ing enough room for each plant. The
amateur hates to puil mp and throw
away any Of the thickly clustered
/ young plants IN % row; ne leaves ten
| plants in the space that one should
occupy. The best lesson for him ~ to
thin out one row severely ana leave
another with crowded plants, then
watch the outcome.
! \ good book on the garden should
b" bought and studied 10y the commits
( ter and his T m.iN. l.. H. Bailey
/ has written some first class works oa
| the subject in plain English After
/ reading Bailey or any other author
! .ty. YOU do not need To follow his ad-
vice TO the letter. His remarks may
not apply To your special conditions.
! The main thing is TO be grounded in
general principles. In the app!ca-
| tion of principles TO your backyard
/ n little common sense goes long
way. II is best 10 dig ont and
establish details for yourself because
| then YOU will know them absolutely,
! Besidcs. no expert can tell YOU how
many tomatoes your family Will con-
sumo or whether YOU can be per
/ suaded 10 like cabbage salad. There
are pecuiar.ties OF taste and consump-
, ton in every household.
J among the easiest ana ln'Nt r'hHupN
| things to grow are onions from onion
! sets. radish, lettuce beets, string
/ beans. sweet corn. tomatoes and pep
! pers from plants kale, chard and cab
bage. The practical home gardener
b avoids vegetables which are too fancy
or become ined!ble too quickly, like
okra, and also those which are dif'icui,
( 10 prepare for the table, like spinach
/ Chard Is equal 20 spinach and easier
to wash. Dwarf varieties of string
4 beans, lima beans and peas save the
/ trouble OF brush or poles. In some
| places peas grow poorly and the ANA
/ teur IMPLY docs not try 10 wrcstle
with them. \ fair sized tomato Is
better than the big or very small
sorts Summer squash is a great and
easy grower. Cucumhers and musk
melons do well herea bouts, while tho
watermelon is mostly an experiment
J The most useful winter crops are po-
tatoes, parsnips, heets, satisfy, carrots
/ turnips. cabbage and celery. all OF