Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-04-04
THE HOME GARDEN FOR
PLEASURE AND PROFIT
Suiting The Soil to the Plant
BY JOHN BARTRAM

IN A small garden, OF course, u - HoI
i possible TO give each vegetable just
the kind OF soil in which it is most prolific,
but it is possible to approximate the meth
DDS Of those who practice diversified gar
dening on large scale by using little
ingenuity,
The better care you take of the soil
the better the crops and the less chance
of disappointmcnts. If soil is bit
heavy and you wish to put In root crop
that requires a mellow soil for the roots
to strike down into and form perfect speci-
mems, this particular row can be dug
dceplv either with the plowshare of the
garden cutivator or with a spade. The
ground turned two or three times, be-
comes mellower with each operation and
the admixture of sand or hes, or bet
ter. half of each
IL a highly fertile soil Is needed for
some gross feeder. such as rhubarb, the
place can, for the specified area, be rich
ened by plenty Of COW manure dug In
we'll
some plants require TO be brought
forward very rapidly MS soon as they
have made their initial growth
Lettuce and cucumbcrs, for example,
should he rushed to maturity. without
such speed the lettuce is likely to go to
seed instead of to head In this case
dig trench at the bottom Of the row
where the seedlings are TO be transplanted
and spread about half foot OF very
rich. wel-rotted horse manure along the
! lotion to within a half foot Of the sur
face Of the ground. Fill in with light
,riablc soil with which has been in
corporatcd some fine manure. When the
plants are ready to head they will have
rooted down to the stores Of food pre-
pared, and there need he no worriment
about crisp, firm heads
The hills for bush or pole lmas should
have as q foundation a very liberal spade
ful apiece of mixed horse and COW manure.
For suuashes, heaping spadeful is not
too much fertilizer for hill two and
half feet by two and a half feet Trench
ing the soil Is very valuable for peas,
either garden or sweet, and this may be
done to a depth of two feet where n
siN-inCh layer of well-Totted manure
should he laid on this the top soil dug
out should he filled in about six TO eight
. more inches, first having been thoroughly
pulvcrl2ed and blended with some very
fine manure. Then plant the peas, about
ten of them TO an inch, and cover a couple
Of inches. As the peas push their way up,
keep covering till the ground level Is
reached This promotes deep root
growth and insures plenty of moisture
when the surface of the garden is dry.
All vegetables prefer light open soil.
Some. like cabbage and brussels sprouts,
will stand moister soil than others. In
general it is safe rule to have n deeply
prepared soil for the root Crops--beets.
turnips. parsnips, carrots, oyster plant
so that the roots may go down easily and
grow without malfOrmations.
Leaf crops. such as lettuce, cos. cab
bage. Chard and crops with fruit, such
rs tomatoes beans, cggplants, peppers. do
not need such deep digging, but their
ground should be thoroughly pulverlzed
and fine manure Incorporated in it,
The vine crops, such as cucumbers.
cantalopes, squash, pumpkins do best in
hills before making which the ground that
is to be beneath should be spaded some
what to make drainage and release nutri-
ticnt elements.
one advantage Of proper depth of dig
ging for various types of crops is that it
aids I'm economical cultivation.
The deeply dug crops can be cultivated
deeply. The others must be cultivated
lightly as they throw out many surface
rootlets, which should not be cut by sharp
cultivation,
1t is thus easy by planning in advance,
to adapt ones own tiny plot to the various
crops wanted But one must read care
fully the cultural directions that come on
the packets or are given by advisers.