The Little River news., 1916-04-08
ORCHARD AND GARDEN CROPS
No. 5.-The Home Garden,

''S' 'S ''o'bS Se+' GSii.
 By J. s. Knox, Extension Eorticultur-
 ist, University of Arkansas
 No other area on the whole farm will compare ill value with the hcale garden. If properly prepared, fect!I, fzed, planted and cultivated, a one acre garden is easily worth S1G0G0 to the farmer, and, if he counts in the garden truck at the same price ha pays for it at the grocery store, he will find that $10000 is a low csti- mate of the crop grown in the gar den. There are hundreds of tc..aea in the state of Arkansas where, ex- there is nothing to be had from tae garden. and every year we arc send ing thousands of dollars to other states to buy vegetables that should be grown in our own gardens. We do not need a better market for what we can grow in a small garden than that of supplying our own tables,
 Location.-In selecting a location for the home garden the following points should be considered: CD Tne Soil. In order to grow vegetahl.a that are of the highest quality it is necessary to have & deep, rich, l9cas and misunderstanding soil. Vegeta, bles grown on poor soil where growth is slow are very apt to ls tough and stringy or unfit for eating purposes. The moisture-retainiEg property is also a desirable one, es, pecialfy during the dry, hot days of summer. Unless the soil is loose it is very hard to get stand of the small seeded plants. because they do | not possess the necessary vitality to push their way through hard, crusty soil. Then. too, it is very difficult to cultivate small plants when the soil | Is compact or crusty.
 CD Site.-The garden should if possible. be located on gentle south or southeast slope. Such slopes ara more. exposed to the sun and will warm up some earlier in the spring of | the year. If there Is considerable slope and elevation 1t will be all tho l better. l have noticed in several diff ferent instances that vegetabels locat~ l ed on a slope are not killed so early in the fall by frost as are those in | the level lowlands. It quite often happens that we have a killing frost early in the fall, and after that it may be month before we have an- other frost This was true this last fall, and the gardens on the sloping places could therefore be used to ads vantage some weeks later. (3) Near ness to water supply. If an abundant supply of water can be had, it is so much the better. Considerable water may be needed in the transplanting of the different vegetables. (4) Near ness to home, This I consider a very important factor, because gardens that are located long distance from :, the home seldom receive the attention thev deserve The garden should, if possibit be located near the home, so that it Will require only a few steps for the housewife to gather the days supply of vegetables.
 Seed.-Too litHe stress is generally laid on the importance of good seed for planting purposes. No matter how ideal the soil, climate, site, rainfall, etc, one cannot get best results when only half of the seed gerMinate. This can partly be overcome by sowing twice as many seed as are necessary. but the plants are also apt to lack in vitality. It is therefore a good idea to test garden seed before planting, or at least to get them from some Ter liable seed house. Any farmer can, within very short time, prepare s seed tester at home. The following kind is very satisfactory:
 | Take an ordinary dinner plate and place on the shelf Now take a piece, | of heavy cotton flannel and wet itI thoroughly, put one end into the plate, and onto this count 100 seed of thsI kind which you desire to test. Now| fold the other end of the cloth overI this and press firmly. so as to bring itl in direct contact with the seed. Nextl invert . second dinner plate over this| 1 one and place the tester in fairly warm room, where the temperatareI does not fall below 86 or 70 degreed3 F. Keep the cloths moist for eight or ten days, then remove the top plate and the cloth cover and count tho number of seed that have germinated (sprouted). The number that aps xerminated will be the per cer examination. The above is q simple and inexpensive way of & mining whether or not your e
 seed are worth planting, and can be done during the winter 1 fore the planting season is q should always be done.